Storage in the rear seat of a 4 x 4

Rick,

the greatest problem you'll have is the angle of the door making it hard to get things in and out, particularly something the size of an Engel or Waeco. Easily done if you're half handy with a welder to make something up in the way of storage units. Is is possible for you to put both fridges in the rear and then just use the area in then passenger compartment for storage using those plastic boxes of various sizes from Crazy Clints or the $2 shop. They stack up well and can be secured with a tie strap.

Your biggest consideration is ensuring that what ever you store there is anchored securely enough to prevent it being the last thing going thru the driver or front seat passengers mind in an accident (or even a solid braking event). A cargo barrier is a major consideration.

I have the rear seats removed and a black widow cargo system with front barrier, Great alternative although somewhat expensive. I had a similar set-up to what you need made for my Navara by going down to a local engineer with the vehicle and a set of rough drawings. He made me a steel frame work that utilised existing seat mounts and I just painted it and screwed ply to the top of the bar work. Not too many bucks and very little pain.

Cheers
Mick.

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We did a Simpson Crossing a few years ago with some mates in other vehicles.

One of the vehicles was a GU Patrol with 3 blokes in it.

The owner had removed the passenger's side rear seat and made up a contraption out of plywood to fit in the space. They had a section at floor level to store 2 (or was it 3?) gerry cans for water and diesel. Above that, there was a compartment for a plastic tub and then above that (at about the height of the top of the front seat) there was a top cover with a border of about 100mm height, which is where they kept cameras etc, ready to be grabbed quickly etc.

They only had one fridge (70 litre) in the back.

A fridge in the back seat area would have to be in a fixed position, it will not slide out. This means you can't store much on top of it.

Whatever you fit/build in the passenger compartment must be very strong and very well anchored as other wise it will break free in a prang.
Plenty of people have been killed by stuff a lot smaller than a jerrycan flying around in the passenger compartment.
Anchoring a rigid frame to the seat mounts is fine but it shouldn't be used to carry/hold any heavy stuff like jerrys, toolboxes, crates of food etc. The mounts would not be designed to take the stresses of an accident with such a heavy rigid load.
Better to put the heavy stuff in the back behind the cargo barrier and put soft stuff like clothes, sleeping gear and tents next to a passenger. It is preferable to get as much weight forward but in this situation passengers shouldn't share the space with heavy, possibly flying objects.
I've got the frig mounted where one rear seat would normally go and it is very well mounted. The rest of the cabin space only has clothes bags and jackets.

Hi Rick,

I took out both seats and put in an aluminium cargo platform (as low as I could). Then I was able to put a fridge there without a slide.

I have heard that this might somehow make the car illegal, but I don't really care about that if it's true. Stupid rules make me angry.

Now I can store a heap of gear in this huge area.

Chears,

Willie.

Hi Rick

Been down that path and it worked quite well , but currently I have my 25 waeco fitted between the front seats after removing console and this mates up a flat , rasied,. framework holding 2 single beds which extends to the back doors.
Both use same framework method as below.

With the first setup I removed the seat behind the driver and seat belts and sort of extended the rear floor almost to the back of the driver seat. Making a single bed space.

To make this space I made to vertical brackets from 1 inch angle iron that mounted to seat mount at front of seat. Made another using 1 inch flat bar which hangs from the seat belt mount against body. Made a fourth bracket that goes from the catch that allows seat to fold forward. These 4 don't form a square and so some cross pieces of mostly 3/4 inch angle iron were used to create a square in which 12mm ply wood sits. At one stage I also used a bracket off the passenger seat near where the armrest is across to the body to form a brace where the back of the removed seat would have been. But this proved a pain.

If I was to mount a fridge onto the base that I made , I think I would make a rectangle out of 3/4 square tube that fitted over the fridge, and use some flat bar straps down to the base I made.

I am a poor tradesman , but have now made 3 very effective configuration setups for my GU, using basic tools and steel angle and flats, some welds and 6mm phillips head bolts and nuts.

One of the things that made it possible for me was use of a simple 100amp wire feed welder. This allows me to tack all sorts of things in place , often while they are rough clamped inside the car still.

G'dy Rick,

Plenty of good ideas here and here is one more.

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You could consider only half a platform. The steel I had bent at a sheet metal place and it simply screws to the timber and uses the existing seat bolts.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards

Rick,

You probably have enough to work on from the above suggestions but here's what I've done.

For extended trips I take both seats out and have made a platform using the light black slotted angle you can get from Bunnings. It's very easy to use and comes with nuts and bolts. It's basically like using a large mechano set. I use the seat bolt holes and the third row seat bolt holes as mounting points. Some 9mm ply for a top and ity makes a very strong platform to then use plastic boxes for storage.

I also have a front cargo barrier which mounts to the platform.

You could use the same approach with one seat removed.

Cheers

Peter

Hows it going Rick,

This is my take on things , pretty simple but does the job.

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I use the seat mount bolts and the cargo barrier as tie down points for the fridge,

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I made a platform for the fridge with some ply and angle brackets so it is level from the bottom of the cargo barrier , I use 5 medium good quality cable ties around the bottom of the cargo barrier and through holes in the ply to stop the platform moving. with the fridge fitted and secured the whole thing is quite solid

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Gives easy fridge access , Engle 40lt opens fully .

Have been using this set up for almost 3 years with no problems.

Glenn.