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Even before I finally got my 2 Door Black Diamond back in late November I knew that I was going to be removing the rear seats. I drove from Maine to Utah as I had moved to Utah after placing my order at a Maine dealership. That trip solidified the need to remove the rear seats and build some drawers.
I decided that I wanted the flexibility to be able to put one seat back in, so I designed the drawers to be in two halves, with the driver's side being narrower to allow ample room for the rear passenger seat.
The drawers are not intended to act as a built-in kitchen system but rather simple storage for my gear that is in Pelican cases, as I do not want to be "tethered" to the back of the Bronco when I make camp. The tops of the boxes have tie down rails recessed into them, so that I can secure my water jugs, cooler, and food, and it provides a nice flat surface when I am not on a trip.
The drawers are made from exterior grade baltic birch plywood that I stained black. I put some weather stripping on the underside to keep the plywood from being in direct contact with the Bronco floor. The drawers are secured to the Bronco using the existing seat mounting points.
After gluing up the drawers I became aware that the floor is not completely flat and level, but rather slopes to either side. As a result the drawers are tight at the bottom, but have a gap at the top. I attempted to shim to level them, which worked to an extent. However I ended up needing to add a piece of weather stripping at the top between the two to fill the last of the gap.
My initial design had the top and backs wrap around the cup holder to have a complete top, but I realized that I would not have been able to get them in because of the shape. I will probably put a MOLLE grate there so I can mount some bags or something. I also thought about putting MOLLE grate on the entire back, but will probably end up just mounting my Maglite flashlight and other stuff like that there instead.
Not that I plan on remaking the entire thing, but I do kinda consider it to be a prototype as there are a number of things I would do differently. I will be taking it on a shakedown cruise next weekend to Moab and will no doubt discover more things I could improve on.
I decided that I wanted the flexibility to be able to put one seat back in, so I designed the drawers to be in two halves, with the driver's side being narrower to allow ample room for the rear passenger seat.
The drawers are not intended to act as a built-in kitchen system but rather simple storage for my gear that is in Pelican cases, as I do not want to be "tethered" to the back of the Bronco when I make camp. The tops of the boxes have tie down rails recessed into them, so that I can secure my water jugs, cooler, and food, and it provides a nice flat surface when I am not on a trip.
The drawers are made from exterior grade baltic birch plywood that I stained black. I put some weather stripping on the underside to keep the plywood from being in direct contact with the Bronco floor. The drawers are secured to the Bronco using the existing seat mounting points.
After gluing up the drawers I became aware that the floor is not completely flat and level, but rather slopes to either side. As a result the drawers are tight at the bottom, but have a gap at the top. I attempted to shim to level them, which worked to an extent. However I ended up needing to add a piece of weather stripping at the top between the two to fill the last of the gap.
My initial design had the top and backs wrap around the cup holder to have a complete top, but I realized that I would not have been able to get them in because of the shape. I will probably put a MOLLE grate there so I can mount some bags or something. I also thought about putting MOLLE grate on the entire back, but will probably end up just mounting my Maglite flashlight and other stuff like that there instead.
Not that I plan on remaking the entire thing, but I do kinda consider it to be a prototype as there are a number of things I would do differently. I will be taking it on a shakedown cruise next weekend to Moab and will no doubt discover more things I could improve on.
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