Hi all,
Just bought my first Excursion and I'm loving it! I have a question and would appreciate any input. I'm thinking of building a "chest" to go in the very back to store things that most people would put in their trunk or tool box if they had a truck. Has anyone seen one before that one can buy? or have you made your own also? What is the dimisions if you made one yourself?
Thanks for any help,
JoeKan

 

I just used one of those huge rubbermaid storage containers. It's strapped down with the cargo net that came with the X. Hasn't led me wrong yet.

 

Ditto the huge Rubbermaid container. Mine's so heavy it doesn't move around on the carpet (not strapped down).

 

Are these the 50 gal. rubbermaid containers that are sold at Home Depot for $44?

Joe

 

No. I think mine is closer to30 gallons with a snap-on lid. Got jumper cables, jumper battery, tie-down straps, extra fan belt, and many other misc. road-stuff in mine.

 

I've been using a milk crate for years in my SUV's. It holds some oil, antifreeze, spoke wrench, hand cleaner, some rags, jumper cables, and a few tools.

 

Have you guys ever seen the truck vault? Check this out:

http://www.truckvault.com

Quite pricy, but these things look awesome. Maybe one day...

 

A friend of mine has something like this in his pickup... He loves it.

 

I built a shelf for behind the 3rd row using plywood and 2x2's. It is 4 feet wide and I'm not sure about the depth, but it takes up the entire cargo area. There are 2x2's along each side a couple inches from the top so I can slide my tailgating table under there and get to it first when I unload. The top of the shelf is the same height as the 3rd seat when folded down.

 

Another proponent of the 30 gallon rubbermaid container! Holds everything I need to carry for emergencies (except my cold weather gear). It seals pretty good, locks, and it is easy to move out of the vehicle if I need the room!

 

I guess I am a tool nut. I took out the third row seat, and mounted the top half of a Sears Roll-A-Way tool cabinet behind the back of the second row seat. I can fold the seat back down for full access to 12 drawers of tools. I also put plastic rubbermaid silverware drawer inserts beneath the second row seat bottoms, where the trays fit perfectly between the seat sliding brackets. The seat bottoms lift up for quick access to common tools. Since I did not want a 500 pound tool box flying around, I mounted a 1.5" x 1.5" x 1/4" aluminum angle iron along the entire lenth of the back of the tool box, right at the bottom, attached with about 20 "TEK" 3/4" #8 hardened steel self drilling sheet metal screws. I pre drilled the angle iron in a drill press. The angle iron is attached via easily removeable wing nuts to the floor of the truck by two 1/2 inch by 2" stainless steel bolts with 3" backing plates, sealed with caulk and bolted in place. The hardware is all Boat/Dock building stuff, obtained from Jamestown Distributors, the best source for stainless at 1/4 the local prices. I also mounted two leatherette "Truck Organizer" pockets (with a dozen or so pockets each) on the two back swinging doors. The "Truck Organizer" pockets are about 4 feet long. I cut them to size, then fastened the cut ends with "Jiffy Rivets", which you place in a pre-punched hole, and simply hammer the two piece rivets together. The 4 layers of leatherette material is too thick to sew with a home sewing machine. I attached the pockets with #10 x 3/4" self tapping screws and 3/4"#10 "Fender Washers" (Big washers with a small hole). After several months, the weight of the pliers and screwdrivers in the door pockets pulled the top screws right through the plastic door backs, so I had to use a stronger attaching method. I used "Jack Nuts", which are small versions of Molly Bolts. Specifically I used 6-32 Jack Nuts, with a 0" to 3/16" grip range, which mount in a 5/16 hole. (Molly Cat. No. CD 4-XS). These have held up for over two years of constant rough use. I use the back swinging door tool pockets almost daily, The under seat tool/silverware drawers several times a week, and the big tool box only when disaster strikes, or the job requires an exotic tool, like tamper proof torx drivers, or taps and dies. Of course, I have a Rubber Maid Tough Tote beside the toolbox, full of things like a timing light, spare hoses, a belt tension release tool, dozens of spare bulbs, a gas siphon vacuum bulb plus hose, ets. I also carry a set of 3/4" drive, 1/2" drive, 3/8" drive, and 1/4" drive metric & SAE sockets. I also adapted a 12 volt battery powered electric drill to run off a cigarette lighter plug, with a 20 foot wire (from an old vacuum cleaner - good quality wire). So my drill is always ready. I have designed (but not yet built) a belt high vice mount to fit my front and rear 2" trailer hitch receivers. I custom welded the front receiver, which bolts to an extension I added to my front Stainless Steel Push Bars, and the underbody crash protector sub frame. This is actually quite tricky, since you can not get a wrench inside the closed box frame member. I turned down the first 1/2 inch of threads, and then ground two flats on this turned down section of the 3/8" by 1.5 " stainless bolts I used, so that I could insert the bolt into a prepunched access hole, work it down to the mounting hole I drilled, attach the support bar to the sub frame at this point, finger tighten the NYLOCK lock nut, then grip the bolt flats with a pair of vice grips, and tighten the lock nut - all on the outside, vice grips almost touching the wrench - with nothing holding the hex bolt head. Worked fine. I use the front hitch to park my 8 foot wide 25 foot long boat trainer in an 8.5 foot wide boat storage structure. I could never back it in, but it is rather easy pushing it in with the front hitch. You can see everything directly, no mirrors, no limited vision.

 

walmart has a heavy duty plactic tool box with a hinged top. It also has a small plastic tray that fits in the top perfect for nuts, bolts, etc. its about the size of the 30 gal rubbermaid tub but much thicker plastic that you can stand on the top. it cost about 30 bucks but well worth it.