home made instatrunks

[yjwrangler]

have u guys made a instrunks for your jeeps??? if so steps, please

[RikRotorhead]

I am interested in this subject also.
I am taking my YJ to SteelNutz to make some additions to my roll cage, and I spoke with him about fabricating a larger trunk below the cross bar the kids' five point harnesses connect to.

My input;
I want it to have securely mounted eyes/strap hooks to tie everything down
I only want it to be accessed by opening the rear door for security and safety. The one I have now has two cam locks on the top lid that could easily be popped out, or the cams bent open in the event of a rollover and something heavy inside hitting the lid.
A door on the rear would be a good idea to keep things inside when you open the rear Jeep door, so the stuff does not fall out on your feet.
The door should be hinged at the bottom and have support chain/cable to only let it go flat and no further, so that said falling pieces don't go far, and the fold down door can double as a work surface/table top.
Lining it with indoor/outdoor carpet would keep the noise down a bit also.
That's all I've come up with so far.

[muddy93]

I made a trunk/tonneau system for my YJ. I started by building storage boxes over the wheel wells, that come up flush with the top edge of the body. then I made a trunk section that fits behind the rear seat.
here's where it gets fun, with the rear seat removed, the trunk section can be moved forward to just behind the front seats(where the floor steps up). with the trunk moved forward, I can install the tonneau/lid section, which covers all of the rear.
pics might explain it better.
side boxes before lids were made,


trunk section, with the rear seat installed,

and here are a couple with the trunk section moved forward, and the tonneau installed, I've also mounted my hi-lift to the trunk section.

[RikRotorhead]

Nice job. What holds those lids closed tho'? I'd hate to get hit in the head with that D-ring in a roll over.

[rrisher]

Originally Posted by RikRotorhead

Nice job. What holds those lids closed tho'? I'd hate to get hit in the head with that D-ring in a roll over.

Better yet, the hi lift jack...

[RikRotorhead]

Originally Posted by rrisher

Better yet, the hi lift jack...

Yer right! Looks like the handle is just snapped into one of those broom holders. Hope it's velcro'd down where we can't see it in the pic. If it gets loose, it could poke your eye out!
I saw a video of a guy crawling over a small rock on an off camber trail. When he rolled two times down the hill, all kinds of stuff was flying out of his Jeep, including his cooler with his beer in it. Sure made a big mess, but I wonder how much of it hit him.
I have kids in the back of mine, so everything is in a box or tied down. I'm even installing safety netting on the roll bar sides to keep branches out of the rear seat area. (and to keep them from putting their hands out). The five points will keep them put inside the cage, but debris would be bad. I make them get out and walk on the stuff I'm not sure about of course. I was even thinking of making them wear bicycle helmets, but they rejected that idea.
Roll overs happen. I'm one of those "when" not "if" types. Make's me more cautious.

[EdwinALink]

crawled!!!

[muddy93]

ok, sorry for the delay in getting back.
the lids on the two side boxes are held closed with a padlock hasp. you can see it in the 4th pic above. when I'm on the trail, or going to be getting into the boxes a lot, I keep them latched with spring clips. when I'm in town, or someplace where security is an isue, I just swap out the spring clips for padlocks.

the jack is bolted to steel brackets that are bolted to the trunk section, and the trunk is anchored to the floor of the jeep in 4 places, so I don't think it's going anywhere.
as or the jack handle, it's just held down by two of those "broom clips", however, I must have gotten some really good ones, it's been like that for about 2 years, and has never came loose, but if it will make you all feel better, I'll see what I can do about strapping it down some other way.

also, to the OP, sorry, I kinda got off topic, and didn't include any build steps in my first post.
basically, I just took a bunch of measurements on the jeep, and started sketching out what I wanted.
then I double checked my measurements, and started cutting out pieces. by the way, everything is made out of 3/4" plywood, and sprayed with bedliner.
then it's just a matter of assembling the parts, and fitting everything to the jeep.

[RikRotorhead]

I thought that was how you did the lids, just wasn't clear.
Maybe for the hilift bar a simple velcro strap would probably work.
Your setup look's like it works well. 3/4" should be plenty strong enough to hold up too.
But where's the beer tapper?