Dano646

My wife and I live in MI. We recently returned from a two-week trip through CO (Salida), UT (Moab), AZ (Scottsdale), etc. 5000+ miles and the 2012 Wrangler ran like a champ! We traveled with the top down the vast majority of the time. I saw some similar projects on JK-Forum and incorporated my own ideas. I built this cargo box for our 2dr Rubicon so we would have somewhat secure storage (out of sight, out of mind) and as a platform for us to sleep on if we didn’t find a hotel, or were too lazy to set up the tent. It worked out great for us. We are going to take a trip to OR, WA, etc., next year. We plan to leave the box in until the hardtop goes back on for the winter. If you never had a use for the rear seat you could leave it in permanently.

Materials: Total = $140 (Home Depot and Lowe’s)
1.5 sheets of ¾” plywood ($45)
6 Hinges ($3.30 x 6, $20)
Carpet ($40)
4”x4” post ($8) This was structural overkill in the corners.
Screws, staples, and carpet tape ($10)
4 (2@8’ and 2@12’) Cam lock straps ($12)
Latch ($4)
Carabineer ($1)
Miscellaneous scrap wood found in the basement (free?)
18+ bottles of

Tools:
Cordless drill
Circular saw
Saber saw
Router
Staple gun
Tape measure
48” Straight edge
Miscellaneous hand tools

Time:
More than I anticipated, approximately 30+ hours. Needed a couple of extra trips to the big box store.

The idea was to deter an easy theft and keep us organized while rolling down the road and trail. I wanted a cargo box such that there was no access as long as the tailgate was locked. Certainly a big pry bar making a lot of noise in the restaurant parking lot could gain access, but not without drawing a lot of attention. Never worried about our loosing our stuff.

The box interior size is 34” deep, 10” tall, 36” wide (front section), and 28” wide (rear section). I used cardboard templates to insure I had the correct size and contours before I cut the plywood. After the box components were cut I used the router to round off all exposed edges and any edge the carpet would cover.

The box has slots cut into the bottom that uses the rear seat floor anchors for fore/aft and cross car positioning in the vehicle. The box is secured up/down to the body by a 12’ cam lock strap (blue) using existing tie-down loops on the vehicle. When the 12’ cam-lock strap is loose then the whole box can be rotated up to gain access to the storage area in the floor pan sheet metal near the tailgate. No modifications to the vehicle were required. Never once on the road, or trail, did the box make any rattling noises. (I think I may have lucked out on that one.) Stretching the carpet around the cargo box top panel contours takes some time and patience when stapling it down to secure it. In hindsight I think 2x4s may have been just fine for structural rigidity in the corners.

The top of the box is hinged on the forward edge to provide easy access to items in the front of the box. The cargo box top can be raised with the soft/hard top up or down. The cargo box top is secured with hinges, a latch, and carabineer. What I think is unique (maybe I didn’t look hard enough) are the hinged panels behind the front seats. Underneath these panels is a hammock type net to store things. With the seats forward you can rotate these panels to a horizontal position and gain access to the storage hammock. Eight-foot cam lock straps around the front seat headrest posts hold up the panels. I am 6’ tall and there is enough room for me to stretch out diagonally with the panels up. My wife is 5’2” so we just fit. Without any problem I sometimes found my legs over the top of the center console when sleeping. You can enter/exit the vehicle through either door when a panel is down. The panels are easy to raise or lower once inside the vehicle and easily adjusted for height by the cam lock strap. The cooler and a bag of snacks that were secured to the top of the cargo box during the day, by an elastic cargo net, were stored on the front seats and floor when we were using the top of the box to sleep.

I know this was a long write-up but maybe it will give someone else an idea to expand upon.

I'm not sure how to get all the images into this post so I may post them in a few separate ones. Here goes

Psychoink

Open her up!!! I wanna see some more pics

Dano646

Here are additional images that didn't fit in the original post.
ATTACH=CONFIG]346675[/ATTACH]

ZMagic97

I'm really interested in this. I'm thinking of doing some small trip alone in my 2 door and figured it be easier to just sleep inside of it. Been running idea through my head on how to do so with my gear and this look great!

Dano646

Last but not least the final images that didn't fit.


Done

JLsJK

Looks great! Very nice job

eastcoasting32

Ahhh I wish someone made this for a 4dr :( Anyways, awesome job!!

Treader

The act that you can get your wife to sleep on that means she's a keeper.

I know mine has gone through some shit, but that looks a little rough and very short.

Dano646

You can do it. It wouldn't be hard to do, just a little longer. I was looking at helping do this with a friend that has a 4DR. Side structure would follow the contour of the floor pan. The top could have multiple pieces and hinges so the interior of the box was accessible from the rear or the sides. Put an access door in the cargo box floor to get to the rearward storage depression in the floor pan, then you don't have to tip the whole box up. The trick is for the structure to stick to the sheet metal tangents providing for great stability.

Dano646

I agree! My wife's response to your post was "Yea, no sh-t." It was like sleeping in a very small tent or a really small, but beautifully appointed, motor home. LOL