SeattleMike's cargo project

SeattleMike said:
Slowly but surely, this is coming together. I made some changes to the design and "hired" a friend to do what I haven't had the time to deal with over the last couple weeks. It helps that he has the right tools, too.

Anyway, the first drawer is built. I'm waiting on warmer weather to spray glue the carpet over the bare surfaces but this first section's design is done... for now. Once the carpet is on, we'll secure it in place and the dog will have a new spot with a better view.
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Interesting idea. I've been looking at different options for my dog. I have a minature datschund. On my 4th gen, I'd just put his crate on the "shelf" (securing it with the tiedowns so that crate+doggy don't end up as a flying projectile) and then he was pretty much at window level. He hates the new truck since he can't even see out, I've been lowering the "middle" of the 2nd row when I put him in so he can at least "see thru the 2nd row" to me. Poor little thing. You've given me something to think about here, thanks!
 
SeattleMike said:
We're going with 4 inches of foam from a local company. If that can't resolve it, I'm too much of a candy ass to go camping.
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I have used 4" foam for camping. It is heavy as sin but comfortable. I built my own "vacuum bag" to reduce bulk. It is fairly simple: Find a plastic bag large enough to encompass the entire mattress with some extra sticking out. To build my "seal" at the end I used: Qty 2 - 3/4"X1"X36" boards. I used a table saw to cut a slot down the middle of the 1" side, used a screen door screen retaining seal in the slot (to seal the bag and protect it from the wood) and clamped both pieces of wood together over the unsealed end after vacuuming the air out of the bag. Worked great when I used it.
 
kmiller8821 said:
Interesting idea. I've been looking at different options for my dog. I have a minature datschund. On my 4th gen, I'd just put his crate on the "shelf" (securing it with the tiedowns so that crate+doggy don't end up as a flying projectile) and then he was pretty much at window level. He hates the new truck since he can't even see out, I've been lowering the "middle" of the 2nd row when I put him in so he can at least "see thru the 2nd row" to me. Poor little thing. You've given me something to think about here, thanks!
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Too bad you live so far away, I have a taller box that was too small for my lab, but it can't be broken down for shipping and I don't think it'd survive UPS.
IMG_5012.JPG
 
SeattleMike said:
We took it for a shake down overnighter last weekend, so here you go:

Don't believe the smile on my wife's face, that mattress was like a brick. We were so sore from trying to sleep on it that we broke camp @ 3am and drove home, rather than toss and turn for the rest of the night. Everything was great until we tried to sleep. The awning and mesh walls were a great place to watch a movie on my laptop, the dog loves his "spot" in the back of the truck, and the annex (while a HUGE pain to set up) made a great changing and storage room for clothes, boots, and bags.

We have another shake down in two weeks, which will hopefully include our pantry drawer. I might skip the annex next time, depending on the weather, because it is an incredible pain in the butt to install.
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Wow, that looks really cool. The only downside I can see is if you needed to actually use your truck to go anywhere, but seeing as how your camping (and building enough storage in your truck for a small supermarket) I don't see that as an issue. I really would have never thought about putting a tent up there like that, very unique concept. If harper has one of the most unique limited "TE's", you definitely seem to have one of the most UNIQUE TE rigs I've ever seen. Looks great!
 
kmiller8821 said:
Wow, that looks really cool. The only downside I can see is if you needed to actually use your truck to go anywhere, but seeing as how your camping (and building enough storage in your truck for a small supermarket) I don't see that as an issue. I really would have never thought about putting a tent up there like that, very unique concept.
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That is one drawback. The other is the width of the full set up. It's 3 trucks wide at ground level. But we can set up the awning for shade and lunches, as needed, and then save the full set up for when we are done traveling for the day. We're not the kind of people that stay in one location for multiple days unless everything we are doing is within walking distance but I do agree that it requires tradeoffs.
If harper has one of the most unique limited "TE's", you definitely seem to have one of the most UNIQUE TE rigs I've ever seen. Looks great!
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Thanks. I'm just trying to avoid it looking like this:
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Keep up the quality work! I have two questions: 1) Do you plan on keeping the storage unit in the back full time and 2) Have you calculated the weight yet?

Oh, the pic you posted above of the "hillbilly" ride was probably taken near where I live. That is usually what the Rafter, Kayak, Mountain Bike, Rock Climber and Skiier crowd pack with them when they vacation down here for the weekend. Now if you could only photoshop a Subaru underneath all that stuff you would have them nailed! Just kidding all of you guys that come down here for adventure sports, just kidding!
 
1engineer said:
Keep up the quality work! I have two questions: 1) Do you plan on keeping the storage unit in the back full time and 2) Have you calculated the weight yet?
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It's modular, so it can be removed if I absolutely HAVE to carry passengers for some reason. But I think it serves me best to be ready for the Zombie Apocalypse by leaving it in there.

I haven't calculated the weight yet, but as it sits right now, I am a couple of cheese burgers away from the load limit with everything in it. I am going to wait until it's fully loaded, then go visit a scale for the Front/Rear/Total numbers before I call OW for a kit. Of course, I also have to ad an allowance for more equipment in the future, but I should be fine in the mean time.
 
The pantry box went in today. Tonight we'll install the drawer and fine tune the slides. Here's some pics (with Dutch in his bunk for reference) I took this afternoon:
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Here you can see the small access hole and the steel retaining plate. I used grade 8 bolts to secure the box to the frame, making it as secure as possible and preventing it from tipping when everything is open.
IMG_5039.JPG


I also secured it to the floor and the dog's bunk box using screws and 4 of these braces. It's not going anywhere unintentionally.
IMG_5040.JPG


More to come later this evening...
 
Pantry drawer, installed!

First, changes were made in mid production that resulted in ugly gaps. Second, working with plywood makes things easy on the wallet and hard on the eyes; warped wood stays warped. However this is a prototype and I'm fine with the ugly because the damn thing WORKS!

Closed, locked in place:
IMG_5041.JPG


Pantry, locked open:
IMG_5042.JPG

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Table, closed and locked:
IMG_5044.JPG


Table retainer:
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Table, open and locked:
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Pantry locked closed, table locked open:
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Next task is to build shelving to go into the drawer for smaller stuff and add some sort of cords/bands to keep the storage containers in place when the drawer opens.
 
SeattleMike,

That is awesome!!!!

You can tell that a lot of thought went into the project, looks great.

Good work my man, good work!!!
 
SeattleMike said:
Wife's first comment upon me opening the lift gate: "That's ugly". :ybrick:
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No worries, just paint it to some nice matching color. Or stain it to look as some expensive wood : ) The storage itself is great, I'm sure that a few finishing touches will make you wife like it.
 
looks great Mike. What are you using to keep the dog in the back? I see some sort of wire mesh thing going on.
 
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i think it looks great!

cut a whole in the table top towards the end and place a bucket in the openning like a sink :)

keep going!!!

joel
 
Thanks for the compliments. The real test comes when we go camping out at Port Townsend in ten days. I may end up redoing the whole thing, based on how it performs. It has quite a bit of sway in it when fully extended, which means I might have to add some legs somehow. But we'll see.

scanny said:
No worries, just paint it to some nice matching color. Or stain it to look as some expensive wood : ) The storage itself is great, I'm sure that a few finishing touches will make you wife like it.
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The outside box eventually will be carpeted, but I'm waiting to see if this design prevails. No point in wasting carpet.

mtbnole said:
looks great Mike. What are you using to keep the dog in the back? I see some wort of wire mesh thing going on.
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I bought a Remington Vehicle Barrier and used two of the 4 pieces. There was cutting and screwing involved, but it's solid. It's attached to the dog bunk with screws and fender washers, which locks the grate into the wood. There is a one inch gap between the headliner and the grate. Now I can roll down the back windows and he gets all the air he wants. I'll add a small fan to the grate to help circulate the air when we use the AC. He seems pretty happy with it.

javendan said:
i think it looks great!

cut a whole in the table top towards the end and place a bucket in the openning like a sink :)

keep going!!!

joel
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, there is no way to mount a sink (or bucket) into the table without leaving a permanent hole there. But... the sliding tray will actually hold a decent size steamtable pan from a kitchen supply store, which can be stored in the pantry drawer:
renderImage.image


That and a stout scrub brush covers my clean-up duties.
 
:trophy:

Looks awesome Mike...can't wait to see the trip report!

Two things you never have enough of.....

Storage and flat surface....great design!
 
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