Rotopax Mounting on the Inside

[WODWorldWide]

Rotopax Mounted behind the Seats Modification

So I figured it out and decided I'd do a little write up on this just in case anyone else was curious on this. Since I don't have a Gobi or any other style basket yet and wanted to use some RotoPax, I decided to do a little modification. This is my first official mod on my 2014 TE that I picked up last week. So here goes.

1. You want to first carefully remove the back cover off of the seat. If you start with where the seat connects to the frame of the car, there is a little clip in there you can carefully pop up. Once this one is popped, you can go around popping all of the clips out and it will remove.

2. Once you pop off the back of the seat, remove the baby seat plastic piece. This is where you will want to position the mount so that the seat can still recline.

3. Flip over the seat and position the mount over the baby seat connection area. This is where you will want to drill your 4 holes. I used 1/4" screws that were an 1" in length

4. Mark where you will drill and drill a pilot hole, then the actual size hole. Once you do this, you can mount the mount to the opposite side and pull the screws through. I also used a lock washer to secure the screws for the long haul.

5. Once you secure everything, you can pop the back of the seat back on in all of the latch locations.

6. Mount the RotoPax on and go. The seats can fully recline in this location.

Enjoy

 

[jrandom]

Screwing anything into a seat back sounds scary and I would not recommend it. It may work just fine, I personally wouldn't do it. Besides being pointy and sharp, I don't think screws would hold the 17~lbs of water and whatever the roto-pax weighs reliably with such a small contact surface that the mount has, particularly if you are bouncing around off-road.

If anything, pull the backing up and drill some bolt sized holes and use a flange bolts with large fender washers or back it out with a small piece of thin 18~ gauge sheet metal.

 

[STX4Runner]

Yeah, I don't think the seat back plastic is sturdy enough to hold all that water sloshing around. Even if you used a large washer or piece of sheet metal I don't think you would want all that weight on the plastic. Maybe you could build some sort of frame that attaches at the tie down D rings bolt. I think [MENTION=49581]SeattleMike[/MENTION] did something like this for his rear drawers platform.

 

[WODWorldWide]

Thanks for the information. I took most of your ideas and went with them but this is actually really sturdy on the back of the seat.

Screwing anything into a seat back sounds scary and I would not recommend it. It may work just fine, I personally wouldn't do it. Besides being pointy and sharp, I don't think screws would hold the 17~lbs of water and whatever the roto-pax weighs reliably with such a small contact surface that the mount has, particularly if you are bouncing around off-road.

If anything, pull the backing up and drill some bolt sized holes and use a flange bolts with large fender washers or back it out with a small piece of thin 18~ gauge sheet metal.

 

[WODWorldWide]

Yeah I may do something different with the water. This one will hold light first aid stuff and some lighter objects. I'll figure out something to do with the water and see if it works out.

Yeah, I don't think the seat back plastic is sturdy enough to hold all that water sloshing around. Even if you used a large washer or piece of sheet metal I don't think you would want all that weight on the plastic. Maybe you could build some sort of frame that attaches at the tie down D rings bolt. I think [MENTION=49581]SeattleMike[/MENTION] did something like this for his rear drawers platform.

 

[jrandom]

Nice, that looks pretty damn good Good choice in location too, that should be about the strongest part, seeing the thickness and the shape. I think the first aid kit would be fine it doesn't weigh nearly as much as a fluid tank.

I would still worry about one filled or even worse only half filled with water. Half full has a much greater force created from the water shifting back and forth. Although, if you could find a way to use the kiddie seat latch that my be the ticket? The only reason I suggest it, is I can imagine the seat back cost more than a $100 if it gets damaged or worse breaks and you need to repair/replace. Slightly overkill is always better than underkill

 

[WODWorldWide]

I may cut a piece of sheet metal to mount to the 4 bolts and figure out a latch that will attach to the seat bar back there. It'll give me an excuse to walk around Home Depot for awhile.

Nice, that looks pretty damn good Good choice in location too, that should be about the strongest part, seeing the thickness and the shape. I think the first aid kit would be fine it doesn't weigh nearly as much as a fluid tank.

I would still worry about one filled or even worse only half filled with water. Half full has a much greater force created from the water shifting back and forth. Although, if you could find a way to use the kiddie seat latch that my be the ticket? The only reason I suggest it, is I can imagine the seat back cost more than a $100 if it gets damaged or worse breaks and you need to repair/replace. Slightly overkill is always better than underkill

 

[swimmerdude1127]

Wow man, that looks good!

 

[jambo]

So I figured it out and decided I'd do a little write up on this just in case anyone else was curious on this. Since I don't have a Gobi or any other style basket yet and wanted to use some RotoPax, I decided to do a little modification. This is my first official mod on my 2014 TE that I picked up last week. So here goes.

1. You want to first carefully remove the back cover off of the seat. If you start with where the seat connects to the frame of the car, there is a little clip in there you can carefully pop up. Once this one is popped, you can go around popping all of the clips out and it will remove.

2. Once you pop off the back of the seat, remove the baby seat plastic piece. This is where you will want to position the mount so that the seat can still recline.

3. Flip over the seat and position the mount over the baby seat connection area. This is where you will want to drill your 4 holes. I used 1/4" screws that were an 1" in length

4. Mark where you will drill and drill a pilot hole, then the actual size hole. Once you do this, you can mount the mount to the opposite side and pull the screws through. I also used a lock washer to secure the screws for the long haul.

5. Once you secure everything, you can pop the back of the seat back on in all of the latch locations.

6. Mount the RotoPax on and go. The seats can fully recline in this location.

Enjoy

Looks awesome. Just wondering if its legal to cover child restrain attach points.

 

[The Waco Kid]

Looks awesome. Just wondering if its legal to cover child restrain attach points.

Maybe not in Canada...

 

[WODWorldWide]

Looks awesome. Just wondering if its legal to cover child restrain attach points.

Thanks. Fortunately, I don't plan on having kids anytime soon nor do I get my car searched by the police. Either way, all I have to do is pop out the mount and pop back in the restraint. Plus the child restrain piece covers the screw holes.

 

[mace.]

I was actually thinking of mounting a universal rack from springtail solutions with some sort of quick disconnects from the back seat but decided against it. I think I may still have something fabbed up that mounts to the floor instead.

 

[MikeDeuce]

Neat! I wouldn't sweat it too much, hell, if it ends up cracking all you need is a little epoxy, and at that point you could probably epoxy in some sheet steel for extra reinforcement.

 

[WODWorldWide]

I ended up reinforcing it with two zip ties (100lbs tensile) to the child restraint latch behind it. It isn't going anywhere.

Neat! I wouldn't sweat it too much, hell, if it ends up cracking all you need is a little epoxy, and at that point you could probably epoxy in some sheet steel for extra reinforcement.

 

[CXS]

After seeing this in person today I have to say it's plenty strong.