After 8 solid hours carpentry, I'm pooped. Quick set of pics now. More explanations as people ask questions. Maybe a how-to article later? Anyway, my BDS lift kit didn't come in, so I had to do something with a day off. Problem with loading up the vehicle with camping, cooking, tools, and recovery gear is that the stuff at the bottom gets covered up by the stuff at the top. Inefficiency annoys me. So I saw a lot of offroad folks with Cherokees and the like were making these platforms to raise the upper layer of stuff off the lower layer. Some even did it with drawers. And it all needs to be secure for jouncing and to make sure you don't have a bunch of missles coming at the back of your head in case of a rollover.
So here's my new mod, unfinished as of yet because I don't know if I want to finish it off with indoor/outdoor carpeting or linoleum or Pergo wood laminate or stain or paint.
Took about 2 hours to plan, brainstorm, bounce ideas off Mrs. Roadie, buy hardware, find all tools, and set up some ice tea. 6 hours solid construction. I sold my table saw about 10 years ago because I did so few jobs like this anymore, so this was all done with a good circular saw and a lot of careful measuring.
The final (unfinished) unit:
The basic dimensions were 44 1/2" wide (to fit between the wheel wells and allow room for a quick-release feature, plus access to the Airlift compressor in the right side storage compartment, and flares in the left side compartment), 32" deep (so the front wall would go vertically up to the rear seat back in case they are not folded down) and 18" high (front wall upper edge - if it was any higher, the rear headrests would not fold down to the rear.) The top of the platform is at 13 1/2" for two reasons. Much higher and the security shade would not work, and any lower and the drawers would end up being shorter than 11 1/2" inside depth and I have some 11" plastic tubs I wanted to use for storing stuff inside the drawers. I might need a little more gap on the top of the drawer front, since the 3/4" plywood platform deflects a bit if its load isn't distributed, and can contact the front. As it is, it only takes fingertip force to open or close - I was very, very careful with assembly so as to not bind up the ball bearing slides with variable drawer width.
This is the hinge I used four of to make it possible to remove the storage unit. When folded down, the hinge is flat and you can hide it with the OEM cargo area carpet. At least an hour of the planning and brainstorming time were spent thinking about and discarding about a dozen alternatives. I would have used the original cargo ring hold-down bolts (Torx T-50 size, by the way) except I wanted to be able to remove it fast and without tools.
When the hinge is raised, the unit slides in, and then you push the hinge back up to the box.
The box has a 5/16" carriage bolt sticking out of the side, the hinge goes over and is clamped by a T-handle nut found in the lawn mower repair parts section of Lowe's. They are usually used to hold push handles onto mowers. I use 'em for a lot of stuff, like holding my shovel on the roof rack, and they're cheaper than alternatives in the hardware section.
This is an early shot of a side view.
I used 24" long heavy duty ball bearing slides, not cheap, but rated for 100 pounds. The drawer is 31" deep, so the last 7 inches of the drawer isn't perfectly accessible vertically , but the drawer slides cantilever out the entire 24". And with clips, the slides disengage and the drawers come right out. 32" HD drawer slides were not a stock item locally.
The top of the unit is also sized to fit these two plastic footlockers, just the right size to not hit the liftgate glass. The lockers will travel with rachet straps tying them down to cargo rings (like the ones in the original floor of the vehicle) that I still need to inset into the top plywood surface. One of the lockers has camping equipment, cooking gear, and lanterns. The other carries food, utensils, condiments, and other stuff. I can see traffic behind me over the lockers.
Almost done. The chest handles here are matched by another pair on the back of the drawers so two people can carry them out of the vehicle while loaded.
The plastic tubs I wanted to put inside. 1/4" height to spare!
