So the last few nights I have been working on the storage system for the back of the car. Originally my plan was to build in two equal sized drawers, but as I thought about it more this became less appealing as much of the stuff I want to carry low down would not fit, and the additional weight and cost of the actual drawers and slides served no real benefit, plus you lose valuable width internally.
So, in keeping with my "keep it simple" moto I have built a fairly simple storage unit that is split in two, but offset to house the equipment I wanted to include. This has also been designed so it will fit in both my 80-Series and my brother's LR Discovery 3, which added an extra challenge to it all!
So first, the layout in scraps of MDF:
The unit is designed to hold: folding camping (dining) table, smaller food preparation table, large socket set, toolbox, torx set, two-ring gas hob, spare single gas hob, TMAX air compressor and the winding handle for the Maggiolina rooftent. It will also be used to help hold a 20L jerry can and small gas cylinder in place down one side of the unit. Once I had found a neat way of dividing this all up, I then set about final construction, starting with a 2440mm x 1220mm sheet of 18mm construction plywood:
For the lid, I decided to hinge it so if there's nothing on top of the unit you can easily reach the stuff stored at the back of the unit without removing all the stuff at the front:
I also hinged the front flap, added two magnetic catches to hold it in place and a smart looking handle to open and close it:
I did trial fit a pair of old upper tailgate gas struts to the lid, to hold it in the "up" position but they were just trying to tear the unit apart - too tired to hold a Landcruiser boot open, but still strong enough to bend 18mm plywood no problem! So have ditched that idea for the time being, but may come back to that at a later date.
Last thing to do was load the unit into the Landcruiser (it's surprisingly light, empty) and then fill it with all the gear:
The final thing will then be to carpet it and fit some tie down points, so when I put the wolf boxes on top I can strap them in place with an extra large cargo net or ratchet straps. The fridge fits neatly between the back of the unit and the rear seats (when tipped forward), holding it nicely in place and allowing access through the rear passenger door, under the awning. For now I have chucked a spare boot carpet on top, and it's pretty much unnoticeable unless you're looking specifically for it!
Pretty pleased with the outcome, does exactly what I want and cost less than £70 for all the materials so far, should still be under £100 once carpeted I reckon!
What next for the 80? CB radio install!