I just love these one-day-builds were I can go from concept in my head to finished product in only a few hours or a few evenings.
The idea is to provide some organization for the cargo area in the back of my '97 Jeep Cherokee adventuremobile. Ideally, it would:
- provide storage for the spare tire, recovery gear, tools, maps, camping gear, cooler, etc.
- be large enough to potentially sleep on while providing space bellow for all the camping gear and everything else
- work just as well for hauling things around when not in 4wheeling/camping mode, like a tiny pickup truck
- can fold out of the way of the rear seat down when hauling more than one passenger
First, I started with some 12x1s that I ripped to 10" wide on my table saw.10x1s would have also worked but would have been 9.25" tall. The three shorter boards are 30" long and longer board is... I can't remember exactly but around 45" long I think.
Next I took some 1/2" plywood and cut it to 51" x 30.75". 3/4" plywood would have been better but I wanted to keep it light weight. Then I marked the cutouts for the spare tire and the storage cubby on the passenger side, and cut those out with a jig saw. Before I put it in place, I rounded the edges with a 1/4" roundover router bit.
Screwed it into place with 1.5" Kreg self-drilling screws.
I might add drawers, I might not. Still deciding. The toolbox in the photo above is just barely too tall! I won't be able to squeeze it in there once it's secured to the floorboards.
Up next was the area where the rear seat would normally sit.
I originally thought I would remove the rear seat from the vehicle. But it's in great shape still, doesn't really weigh that much or take up too much space once folded down, and I do occasionally haul more then one passenger. So I decided to keep it.
I cut out a 48" long piece of 1/2" plywood, screwed a 10" wide board to the bottom on on side as shown below, and secured the other side to the first piece of plywood with a long piano hinge.
It pivots on the piano hinge...
...and folds all the way back...
...so the rear seat can fold back down!
It's "stow and go" storage for the Cherokee XJ!
Now obviously I wouldn't be able to see out of the rear view mirror but that's what side view mirrors are for, right? And if the rear seat becomes more permanent, I can easily remove this section by unscrewing the piano hinge while the rear section can stay in place.
As Jeremy Clarkson would say, my genius knows no bounds.
This is taking it into the two-day realm, but I took it apart and back out of the jeep so I could stain and finish it. I used Minwax Black Gel stain, followed by a coat of clear shellac. Easy to apply and dries quickly.
Then I stapled a big door mat to the top.
With it back in the Jeep, to secure it to the floorpan I didn't use any fancy hardware. I just used big zip ties. Keep it simple stupid.
The last thing to do was to fill it up with my gear! The bungy coard is so that things don't fall out if I open the hatch with the jeep parked uphill on a steep incline.
The hi-lift and shovel didn't quite fit neatly between the wheel wells. Oh well.
Last but not least, I added a bottle opener. Now it's complete!
