Organize rear seat area help!

[hoyden]

Some of you know that last year (or so?) I took out the rear seats in my Tacoma doublecab and built a platform for my no-destination adventure .

The platform had remarkable timing, as it finally broke apart three days after I moved into my new house in Missouri! (I stupidly hadn't welded any crossbars, and the months of slight back-and-forth movement finally broke the welds that held the legs to the top. But it did it's job!)

Since I don't have access to a welder (yet), I took the platform top inside and it now sets on two boxes and serves as my living room coffee table.

With the loss of the platform, my rear seat area is now horribly disorganized! Help!
I have to keep half - behind passenger seat - clear for my doggie!

Do y'all have some not-too-difficult / expensive suggestions for organizing this mess?

Thank you!

 

[CougarCouple]

That's a tough one hoyden. I would say since it's temporary got to grocery store and look for some fruit boxes. Oranges or Bannanas are pretty strong.

Russ

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Mind find this useful.

 

[hoyden]

Mind find this useful.

Hi!
The solutions I really like there take more building-of-stuff than I have time or tools for right now! The Tacoma has two little cubbies in the floor that I'd like to be able to access so putting a plywood right on top is no good. I suppose I could take the jumper cables and jack out of the cubbies and put a fitted plywood to act as a nice flat floor, but seems that'd be waste of space.

hmmmm

 

[Happyjax]

http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/question-of-the-week/back-seat-storage-solutions/

Just a few ideas

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Some of you know that last year (or so?) I took out the rear seats in my Tacoma doublecab and built a platform for my no-destination adventure .

The platform had remarkable timing, as it finally broke apart three days after I moved into my new house in Missouri! (I stupidly hadn't welded any crossbars, and the months of slight back-and-forth movement finally broke the welds that held the legs to the top. But it did it's job!)

Since I don't have access to a welder (yet), I took the platform top inside and it now sets on two boxes and serves as my living room coffee table.

With the loss of the platform, my rear seat area is now horribly disorganized! Help!
I have to keep half - behind passenger seat - clear for my doggie!

Do y'all have some not-too-difficult / expensive suggestions for organizing this mess?

Thank you!

back seat mess resized.jpg

Lady Bug,we use the plastic storage drawers to hold mostly our clothes.But you could store anything in them.They are inexpensive
and keep things organized.I don't have any pictures and as I am in Barcelona can't take any of the truck/camper.
I have a Tundra AC cab with the seat removed and use one stack of drawers on each side.
Frank

 

[Happyjax]

In keeping with Franks idea here is an inexpensive walmart dresser thingy. Buy 2 and put a board on top for the pups??

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-3-Drawer-Wide-Weave-Tower-Espresso/49527350

 

[hoyden]

Lady Bug,we use the plastic storage drawers to hold mostly our clothes.But you could store anything in them.They are inexpensive
and keep things organized.I don't have any pictures and as I am in Barcelona can't take any of the truck/camper.
I have a Tundra AC cab with the seat removed and use one stack of drawers on each side.
Frank

Barcelona?! Forget Expo, I'm gonna come join y'all! Ha! That is on my List of Places to Go. Greece is high up there too (from my years studying Philosophy in college)

I have a couple of plastic storage drawers I was using for food inside the camper, but I think they are too small and not sturdy enough for the back seat area. I'll look see if there are more bigger sturdier ones.

 

[hoyden]

In keeping with Franks idea here is an inexpensive walmart dresser thingy. Buy 2 and put a board on top for the pups??

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-3-Drawer-Wide-Weave-Tower-Espresso/49527350

Funny you send a link to that particular drawer - that was my first clothing storage in the camper when I first got the camper! ha!
I sold them eventually because I realized I didn't need that many clothes, even on my long trips I really only needed a couple of t-shirts, jeans, and a mess of undies and socks and a warm over-something. That doesn't take up much space. It's been rather fun toying with different storage solutions. I wish I was a woodworker or metalworker, and while I can do basic stuff, my brain doesn't work fantastically in 3-D.

Anyway... those drawers aren't sturdy enough for this. Also, one of the issues with it all is securing to the truck somehow.

More and more I'm thinking I need to find a welder person and fix my platform. Of course, then I'll need to find a coffee table....
The platform still wasn't ideal, but it kept things semi organized underneath and also from flying around in case of accident. Hmmm

 

[ntsqd]

Rebuild the platform frame using 80/20. https://8020.net/ They can cut the extrusions to your exact lengths, and then it all bolts together using their variety of different brackets and plates. Not the least expensive option, but it works well. I use it to frame entire production machines at work and rarely use anything larger than the 1" square size.

 

[hoyden]

ntsqd - I forgot about that stuff. It's neat! My step-brother sent me a link last year or so when we were talking about building out a camper van :-D

Hmmmm.

 

[OpenSpace]

I'm in the same position. Took out rear seats in truck for more space but have an unorganized mess! I was going to build some wooden boxes but decided to go with Plano boxes as seen in frst post here: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13745-storage-boxes/?hl=%2Bstorage+%2Bboxes

I like the modular aspect, less work than building aspect, fact that I could use them for other things, and ease of putting seats back in if I want.

 

[hoyden]

OpenSpace - thanks for that thread link! I'm thinking I might get a couplea Plano boxes. As much as I'm not fond of top loading (cuz of the often digging to find things and shortness of stature of me), it might just be the best solution for now.

A work friend has a welder and has offered to help me fix my platform, so perhaps I'll be back in business, and with a Plano box or two, by end of this weekend!

 

[Missing Link]

This is our current set up (Ford Super Cab) but we had the same truck as you, and did the same thing. A simple plywood panel provides a good base and we like to use these Rubbermaid boxes. They are inexpensive ($6.00 or $7.00), lightweight, quite durable (for inside applications), not too deep (minimizes the problem of having to dig stuff out of the bottom of a deep box), and available in a variety of colors (the red box contains safety and survival stuff, the green box contains snacks and dry food, etc. - not to sound like a sexist, but the pink box contains any extra clothing that my wife can't fit in the camper cabinets). For our last trip, we left the single seat in place on the Ford but plan to remove it as well for future trips. Good luck!

 

[Trout1 Project]

Milk crates..... Super durable, stackable and inexpensive on Craigslist. You can see what's inside through the slots when they are stacked together and double as functional campsite furniture. Three of four high in the back, bungee them together so they dont shift or fall.... You get the idea

 

[hoyden]

I really like milk crates, but I need something enclosed. One of my reasons for having the platform was the ability to store things under it so they won't fly around during a crash. Last thing I want is a leveler or camp chair whacking me in the head.

Thanks, MissingLink! My platform is taller, but the containers look like a reasonable solution!
Your truck is much cleaner than mine.

I stopped by Ace on my way home from work today - there's one super close and at this point we all recognize each other... hahaha! I checked out the Rubbermaid containers they have, and they have a number of different sizes. Tomorrow I'll go pick a few out, then Sunday I'll repair my platform! Woot!

I'll post pics!

 

[hoyden]

I got three Rubbermaid containers this morning - two larger, one smaller. One larger has the dogs and my life jackets and other kayaking-related stuff and it currently in the garage, and the other has various helpful truck safety stuff, water hose, extension cord, etc. That one is in the truck.

Instead of welding the legs back on, I decided to go thicker and sturdier, I got wood pieces cut and screwed em on. This time, I included a support cross beam. I used tie downs to secure it into the truck. Oddly, even though the legs were the same length as the metal ones, the right front one came up short wobbly after I installed so I put a wedge under the foot.

Done!
(I did try to vacuum the dog hair, but gave up. I'll get it 'later')

Unfortunately, now I have no coffee table! Hahaha!

(hope everyone can see photos)

 

[CougarCouple]

Hi
Looks good. Move those boxes together and wala.

Russ

 

[hoyden]

I forgot that I have some particle board stuff in the garage!
It ain't pretty, and it's probably tippy (should put another couplea boxes under), me n dogs will probably get splinters from it, and it's too big, but I had it lying around in the garage, so it'll do for now.