DIY Rear Seat Storage

[A8050266]

DIY Under Rear Seat Storage
I thought I'd post this as some encouragement for those of you looking for some more things todo to your PS

Materials:
Fiberglass Material Mat, 1/2 Gallon Fiberglass resin, 1/2 -Sheet 5/8 Plywood, Small piece of fleece fabric
carpet to match your vehicle.
2" masking tape, spray glue, misc screws and or nails. oh an 1 large garbage bag

Steps-- 1:
Make the mold of your trucks floorboard.
Clean out the area. using the 2" tape cover from side to side the entire rear seat area.
then do again from front to rear. your doing this so if any resin drips/seeps it wont destroy your carpet.
once done spray with cheap spray cement (use the cheap stuff) and layer over the garbage bag. this is so
your mold will release.

then over the desired area with some fiberglass you want it to be about 1/8 thick so 1 layer of mat and 1 layer of woven
or 2 layers of mat. keep in mind it needs to be just larger than the footprint of the storage unit.
once dry.... trim to fit. then set aside.

Step--2:
make the lid piece. fold bout seats down and using a cardboard box or tracing paper draw the shape of
the seats onto the paper. once satisfied and done. (trimmed to fit around the seat brackets)

transfer this to the plywood and cut out. then cut the doors as you see fit. can be 1 big door or however many you need.

step--3: (the hardest step)
here you will need to be creative. with the lower mold piece in the truck and the lid also in place.
you clearly cannot join the two while in the truck for fiberglassing you will need to add some makeshift
brackets or temp holding pieces. all the pieces need to be within the two parts and cannot be hanging out.
with the parts secure.
you should be able to remove the entire unit as one. in fact it should fit in and out a quite nicely loose is better.

step--4:
get your fleece and wrap it around the two parts (I did mine in 2 steps) this is where the magic happens.
once wrapped and in place. paint some resin onto/into the fleece and only onto and near the edges and in between
(be care full not to get any on the excess since you will have to spend more time trimming and sanding.)
do a google search on howto make a fiberglass sub enclosure lots of pics same techinque

step-- 5: trim sand grind fill the final part for a good fit... keeping in mind the carpet/fabric will add about 1/8
to 1/4 on the entire surface.

step--6: now using some good glue 3m 8080 or better (contact cement is ideal)
cover with your matching carpet.

now pat your self on the back.

here is the result of my efforts to build some under seat storage.


Build your access door I used 3/4 inch plywood 8 layer stuff. I cut the doors so that
I would not need a hinge, also I left plenty of play for the carpet.
Then I rigged the top piece to the bottom piece using some temporary wood wedges.
once the upper and lower pieces were in alignment. I wrapped the 2 pieces with some
fleece. (basically a baby blanket or similar) once i was happy with the shape I used
fiberglass resin to saturate the fleece into shape. wait to dry then trim.
Also I installed a few braces for strength .
Once dry Grind to smooth and go get some carpet. (dont forget to trial fit many times....)
see pics below.
while doing this keep in mind how you will want your access lid to turn out.


this is installed side view (again NO CARPET YET)

view from front looking back

looking in from Drivers rear door

close up of door countersink

nice side view from psg side One seat down one seat up.
Now some out of the truck views

the whole box UNDERSIDE with doors in background

the underside basically the mold of the rear floorboard.

A close up of my internal gussets/aka braces

NOW the finished unit well, almost finished.
Still needs some door pulls and the door opening painted flat black(to cover up the contact overspray)
Otherwise just a quick cleanup and its done.

View from behind the psg seat looking back Notice the carpet I sewn in to look like what factory might have been (I Should have remove the seat covers for a better photo) but Im some what lazy.

Sive view lookin in from the R/psgr door I placed carpet on the lower section
to reduce scuffs from getting in and out (I forgot to replace the hinge cover Dohh.)

Another same view with seat in up position

Same view Access door removed . I have yet to decide on a door latch,pull,Lock or the sorts. when I decide Ill install it then. Also notice the 2 screws in the box they are the original screws that held the fold out thingy.

a better front view. I wanted to use as much vinyl as possible cuz carpet looks cheap.
IMHO. I french stiched all the seams. (a Triple stitch) too bad it does not show up on the carpeted side.

Both seat in up position and doors installed.

also notice the carpeted section to break up the big vinyl section.
guess I could have cleaned it up before I took the pics>

same view but from the drivers side

same view but with some of my new place to hide stuff

close up side view.

Another close side/frnt view.

I think in the end, I ended up with more storage room than expected. now I can stack stuff up
to the brim near the front edge of the seat. prior to this, anything near the front edge would have spilled out
and most def when hitting the brakes hard. I'm happy with the turn out. and would encourage any one to build the same.

[Goose350]

Dang, thats really nice. Good work

[Raul@Stealth Automotive]

wow man... you got some skill..... great job

[kinghawg98]

Impressive..

If only my seats folded up in my truck, but I'm pretty sure the back just folds forward.

[A8050266]

Thanks for the compliments.
I know I prob don t contribute much. but, Ive found lots of use full info here since
buying my first PS. so I do what I can to give back to the community!
Thanks again!

[A8050266]

Originally Posted by kinghawg98

Impressive..

If only my seats folded up in my truck, but I'm pretty sure the back just folds forward.

my buddy has a 02 and his bottom does not fold up just the back folds down.
perhaps a similar design only add some glides/slides kind of like a drawer?

these big trucks are great. but I hate seeing the back seat turn into a junk yard
if you get my drift.

expand on the drawer idea. I bet youll go far.

[navret99stroker]

Man that is a sweet job, been looking to do something like that with my 03' extended cab but I have less room and have the jack and jack handle to deal with. Still have ideas floating around my brain about how and where to relocate them, now that winter is here I need to get of my azz.

[A8050266]

Originally Posted by navret99stroker

Man that is a sweet job, been looking to do something like that with my 03' extended cab but I have less room and have the jack and jack handle to deal with. Still have ideas floating around my brain about how and where to relocate them, now that winter is here I need to get of my azz.

yea man "do it"

[kinghawg98]

A drawer idea, interesting, if I have some free time this week, I might just look at it..

[stump0331]

bravo very nice set up