For a long time now I wanted to find a way to have a safe storage place in my TJ. It wasn't the most easy project as apart from time, external help and money I was picky about the end result which made things even more difficult.
None of the aftermarket products (like an insta-trunk or a duster cover fitted my needs as I wanted something that should be;
- safe (the closest it could get to a real trunk)
- practical (I sold my hardtop and switched to soft top all year long, so access from the rear is not as easy as with a HT)
- good looking (aligned with interior colours and factory-like look as it get)
As a side note, I should say that although the majority of the time my TJ does not have a rear seat in place, I wanted to keep the option of being able to reinstall it if there was a need for it.
After having taken a look at various projects from which I took inspiration from and consulting a friend who's a carpenter we concluded to the following design.
The side wooden parts are based on metal structure that is welded on the roll bar. The front wood piece that separates the trunk from the front seats is not tied directly to the body of the Jeep rather than the factory hooks that are available on top of the body apart from being bolted to the side ones. Following pics should clear out more my above description.
The point was also that the whole structure could be removed by cutting the welded metal brackets from the roll bar and return to stock without leaving any traces behind.
As seen, the wooden pieces were painted black to match the interior. Marine grade plywood (if I'm translating that correctly
) so there should be no worries of it getting wet.
A closer look on the trunk in the below pics. We cut the lid in two almost similar sized pieces and put a latch in order to gain easier access from the tailgate. The whole lid is bolted to the side wooden panels with 6 (3 on each side) latches. Open just the 2 rear ones to gain better access to the whole trunk or unlatch all 6 of them to get the lid off. Then the from wooden panel can come out by unscrewing some bolts and the rear seat can get into its original place. ( the side panels are welded to the roll bar so the cannot be removed).
After everything was painted black, black carpet was used on the outside and the part of the lid that opens, to provide better insulation and better match the interior looks.
As a final touch, we added 4 tow point on top in order to be able to tie down and carry stuff even with the soft top rear and side windows removed. We concluded that he desired location was near to the roll bar in order not to be in the way in case you want to carry something bigger and flatter. The photo is before we bolted them down.
I cannot find the photos of the finished project that show how past of the lid opens, the carpet and how close to the tailgate it stands. A small preview of the carpet from the above picture though.
Will revert with more photos of how it looks finished tomorrow.
None of the aftermarket products (like an insta-trunk or a duster cover fitted my needs as I wanted something that should be;
- safe (the closest it could get to a real trunk)
- practical (I sold my hardtop and switched to soft top all year long, so access from the rear is not as easy as with a HT)
- good looking (aligned with interior colours and factory-like look as it get)
As a side note, I should say that although the majority of the time my TJ does not have a rear seat in place, I wanted to keep the option of being able to reinstall it if there was a need for it.
After having taken a look at various projects from which I took inspiration from and consulting a friend who's a carpenter we concluded to the following design.
The side wooden parts are based on metal structure that is welded on the roll bar. The front wood piece that separates the trunk from the front seats is not tied directly to the body of the Jeep rather than the factory hooks that are available on top of the body apart from being bolted to the side ones. Following pics should clear out more my above description.
The point was also that the whole structure could be removed by cutting the welded metal brackets from the roll bar and return to stock without leaving any traces behind.
As seen, the wooden pieces were painted black to match the interior. Marine grade plywood (if I'm translating that correctly
) so there should be no worries of it getting wet.A closer look on the trunk in the below pics. We cut the lid in two almost similar sized pieces and put a latch in order to gain easier access from the tailgate. The whole lid is bolted to the side wooden panels with 6 (3 on each side) latches. Open just the 2 rear ones to gain better access to the whole trunk or unlatch all 6 of them to get the lid off. Then the from wooden panel can come out by unscrewing some bolts and the rear seat can get into its original place. ( the side panels are welded to the roll bar so the cannot be removed).
After everything was painted black, black carpet was used on the outside and the part of the lid that opens, to provide better insulation and better match the interior looks.
As a final touch, we added 4 tow point on top in order to be able to tie down and carry stuff even with the soft top rear and side windows removed. We concluded that he desired location was near to the roll bar in order not to be in the way in case you want to carry something bigger and flatter. The photo is before we bolted them down.
I cannot find the photos of the finished project
that show how past of the lid opens, the carpet and how close to the tailgate it stands. A small preview of the carpet from the above picture though.Will revert with more photos of how it looks finished tomorrow.
