FJ40 Storage solutions? Post up your pics

[Rezarf <><]

Thanks for the pic, that looks like a nice setup! I have thought about a tub high platform as well... kind of like a tonneau cover but the logistics of supporting it make the project pretty involved.

Here are a few of the storage bags I use. I got a set of 3 identical soft tool bags at a local pawn shop for $30. It was a good deal on some heavy duty bags. I need to black out the logo so people don't bust out a window to grab a bag full or $10 of oil They are triangular-ish in shape and tuck in perfectly behind the seats and in the depression of the fj40 tub. One roll has recovery gear in it, one has spares fluids, CO2 stuff and oils... these two ride in the truck 24/7 while the 3rd one is full of tools and only gets loaded in for trips.

I use a Tuffy in the center console. I am always looking to organize that better. The CB is mounted to the front, the CD/MP3 player in the little compartment.

I have hard mounted my CO2 tank to a few spare open nuts on the tub rail.

And since I was just unloading my gear from Elk hunting this weekend, I thought I'd throw up a pic of what rides in the tool roll. These things are awesome for cramming a lot of gear into a semi-organized spot.

 

[1911]

I use a Tuffy in the center console.

I do too, but I don't use it for any real storage space, just stuff I want real handy like maps, wallet, flashlight, gloves, rag, magazine re-loads for my pistol, etc.

I have hard mounted my CO2 tank to a few spare open nuts on the tub rail.

I put mine in almost exactly the same place, but clamped to the "B" pillar of the roll cage. I don't have a great picture of it but you can see it here:

 

[Rezarf <><]

So I bought a Pelican 1700 case for cheap on the Bay...

It should fit perfectly attached to my tailgate. I threw a board over the rear section like Jonathan showed and it is a near perfect fit, I bet there is an inch gap. I measured the gap between the wheel wells and I could get two of the 1700's under a rear shelf and still have enough room for a camp chair down the middle... all without having to fiddle with making a set of drawers, and most likely saving a good bit of rear weight in the process.

I might make a slide for my fridge and mount a couple of more boxes to the "deck" and call it done! What say you?

Here is the pelican case I scored...

Here it is behind where the tailgate goes... I might chop the handle off and hard mount it upside down so when the tailgate swings down the case opens to become a shelf.

Here is the clearance where a deck could go. The 1700's have a lot of mounting options in the rear of a 40. They were a perfect fit to run along the top of the wheel wells in an upright position, and they fit inside in a vertical position as well. There was about an inch gap between the case and the "deck."

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

Nice!

 

[1911]

So I bought a Pelican 1700 case for cheap on the Bay...

It should fit perfectly attached to my tailgate. I threw a board over the rear section like Jonathan showed and it is a near perfect fit, I bet there is an inch gap. I measured the gap between the wheel wells and I could get two of the 1700's under a rear shelf and still have enough room for a camp chair down the middle... all without having to fiddle with making a set of drawers, and most likely saving a good bit of rear weight in the process.

Thanks for the info and photos, those do look like a nice fit. Would still be hard for me to get access to them (under a shelf anyway) because of my bolt-on tail gate, but they would be nice for when the top and ambulance doors are on.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Thanks for the info and photos, those do look like a nice fit. Would still be hard for me to get access to them (under a shelf anyway) because of my bolt-on tail gate, but they would be nice for when the top and ambulance doors are on.

Yeah I hear you. I will have to mod my tailgate to be a flip down verses a bolt up version. I have a few ideas, but it will most likely wait till spring when the top comes off for the summer.

 

[Rezarf <><]

So I have been scouring C'list over the past few weeks. I scored two more pelican cases. A 1600 and a 1620 as they both take up the same footprint with the 1600 being roughly 8" tall and the 1620 being 13" tall. You ready for this... grand total out of pocket for all three boxes= $140!

I may keep searching CL and the Bay for a duplicate of the 1600 and 1630 and call it done! Then I could have the 5 cases in the tub with the larger cases on the bottom, and the smaller ones on top and the long case bolted to the tailgate.

I just gotta' rework my rear tire carrier to accept the fridge.

The 1600 fits in a lot of spots on the 40... mine may end up here.

I am thinking about steeling SidVicious track platform idea to be able to have those adjustable tie-down anchors... I might add a track to the front and rear edges as well.

 

[Rezarf <><]

So my quest to find every deal on Craiglist for Pelican cases has paid off. I have done a lot of horse trading of different things and have landed several deals. Here is what I think I am going to run for now.

1 Pelican 1630 trunk for large items and bulky stuff for camping.
1 Pelican 1650 for all things kitchen, stove, fuel canisters, pots, tableware, mugs... etc.
2 Pelican 1600's(one on each wheel well) for spares, and dry food storage
Fridge for cold stuff
Soft cases for 24/7 stuff, like straps, fluids, and recovery gear.

When I throw in a couple of dry bags for clothes, I am all set.

I am looking for a deal on some load tracks to begin the great tie down adventure that awaits. I may still end up building some sort of shelf like the pic below if I can bring myself to bolt the fridge onto the rear tire carrier. I like having it inside for a myriad of reasons, elements, theft, general wear and tear of being outside. However, if I do move it to the rear carrier, I could run two of these 1630's inside since I got them in a two for one deal

 

[1911]

... if I can bring myself to bolt the fridge onto the rear tire carrier. I like having it inside for a myriad of reasons, elements, theft, general wear and tear of being outside.

Yeah, one of my requirements is to have the fridge inside where I could reach it when I'm driving (I like to snack and drink while I'm driving). But I have thought about bolting it to a custom plate that could replace the jerry can basket on my swing-out bumper. More likely that I will make a plywood mount for it that can replace the passenger seat; my womenfolk don't enjoy the 40 for camping/overland duty as much as I do and I frequently go alone when in it.

Your Pelican cases are nice though, and you can still see over the top of them.

 

[4Rescue]

...

...

SO... don't get me wrong mate, your wife's certainly a pretty lady, but I think your cruiser is making eyes at me :drool: I think that's officialy one fo my favorite SWB 40-series cruisers. I love the fender bars, reminds me of life in Australia.

Per the OT: this may not be what you're looking for, but in my experience with a Jeep YJ (same same but different ) it was alot like backpacking. We learned what NOT to take. That said, I really like the dirveshaft in the ABS idea. We learned that all to close to the end of the YJ's life and it was a great storage idea in a truck that small. The Tuffy speaker boxes are so good IMO they should be built like that from the factory. As a rafter who uses alot of Pelican boxes, I really want to get myself some of those BIG guys. For a 40 with a soft top they seem like they'd be ideal. Maybe mount your shovel/saw pick hilift on the outside of the rear cage section like the Series/Defender Rover guys do. I'm always amazed at how something so reletively small like the shovel or other little odd shaped but nessescary things can become a total pain the butt and I've got alot more room in my truck then in a 40 so. The shelf tied into the rear cage is great too if you don't have rear passengers. Good excuse not to take any more eaither

Cheers

Dave

 

[General Automag]

More possible FJ40 storage solutions

We're currently restoring an FJ40 and are looking for space as well (a radio would be nice too.

We've had good luck with these "action packers" in our FJ40.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
With the jump seats folded up, you can fit two of these side by side and then stack these for total of four (4) cases. This is assuming that you don't have much else in the back. We are an outfitter and we sell Pelican cases. They are great cases, but they are very expensive. You can get these tough boxes for less than $20. I've seen them for sale at Walmart too. We have been using these for over two years and with every tub labeled, when it's time to go, we just pull out the "cooking" and "camping" boxes and we're pretty much ready to go.

We have also had these strapped atop many roof racks, and as long as you tie them down, you are good to go. They have holes in the lid where you could put on a lock if needed, but I don't see the point as someone could just carry the box away. These are extremely tough and we've stacked them six (6) high without the lids collapsing. I also bring one for food items as they are waterproof, and you can leave them outside and not have to worry about rain or humidity ('keeps the toilet paper and any paper towels dry too).

I am also looking at these from Springtailsolutions.com: http://www.springtailsolutions.com/subpage6.html (scroll down for all of the pics)
Basically, these racks/mounts can bolt on the rear swing out doors, to the metal backs of the front seats, and on the front doors under the window cranks. Then you attach the different packs to the mounts. I'm waiting on "Doc" there for some prototypes, so I'll let you know when I hear from them. They look pricey, but we'll see.

Also were looking at some overhead storage. We plan to keep the hard top on, and since there's a lot of headroom, hopefully we can use the space. Our plan is to mount "shelves" on the front and rear like these http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/96428-rotw-my-yoda.html (scroll 2/3 down the page for the pics) or http://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/83336-fj40-overhead-visor-console.html. I've seen folks make enclosed boxes in the rear, and since you can make it almost any depth, you can add a lot of storage space there.

Next for use of the overhead space is an overhead gun rack like this one: http://www.bigskyracks.com. I plan to utilize the roll bar as well for perhaps a flashlight mount or a rod holder.

I also found this one awhile back and it has about a $250 price tag: http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1256. This looks to be a cool mount for the rear spare. Since we plan to keep our vehicle rather stock and use the stock spare tire carrier, this seemed like a decent alternative to replacing the rear bumper with a one that has a swing out tire carrier.

Last, you can use the "hitch haul" carriers like these http://www.jcwhitney.com/cargo-net-for-hitch-haul-carriers/p2004441.jcwx, but the obvious downside is that you have to load up your FJ40 first and then install and load the hitch haul carrier. We have a cheap one of these and we strictly use it to haul firewood when we go on longer camping trips. Having one of these will kill your departure angle and will scrape if the slope is too steep, but it is what it is...

If anyone has any pics of anything that has worked in your FJ40, please do post them. Thanks!

 

[roberto]

Rezarf

it looks good, I was thinking of doing the same in my BJ42 but . I took my LX rear seats out and actually only going to carry my Waeco CF50 and Kanz kitchen in cruiser so those will sit in-between the wheel-wells on floor. Rest of the camp crap will go in my CDN M101.

R

 

[Rezarf <><]

We're currently restoring an FJ40 and are looking for space as well (a radio would be nice too.

We've had good luck with these "action packers" in our FJ40.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
With the jump seats folded up, you can fit two of these side by side and then stack these for total of four (4) cases. This is assuming that you don't have much else in the back. We are an outfitter and we sell Pelican cases. They are great cases, but they are very expensive. You can get these tough boxes for less than $20. I've seen them for sale at Walmart too. We have been using these for over two years and with every tub labeled, when it's time to go, we just pull out the "cooking" and "camping" boxes and we're pretty much ready to go.

We have also had these strapped atop many roof racks, and as long as you tie them down, you are good to go. They have holes in the lid where you could put on a lock if needed, but I don't see the point as someone could just carry the box away. These are extremely tough and we've stacked them six (6) high without the lids collapsing. I also bring one for food items as they are waterproof, and you can leave them outside and not have to worry about rain or humidity ('keeps the toilet paper and any paper towels dry too).

I have been running Action Packers for almost 10 years. They do OK with rain and water when standing still, but anything more than a drizzle while driving and I have found everything inside gets a good soaking. I run the 40 with the top off most of the year and the lack of being waterPROOF is prohibitive. My two other complaints with them is they allow tons of dust to enter them, its my biggest gripe. The other thing with them is they are terrible inefficient on interior space. I bet I loose 1/3 of my cargo space due to the ridges in the action packer to make them rigid. Otherwise they are a great interior cargo box. I have decided to move on from them, however they have held up to hard use for over 10 years now.

We're currently restoring an FJ40 and are looking for space as well (a radio would be nice too.
I also found this one awhile back and it has about a $250 price tag: http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1256. This looks to be a cool mount for the rear spare. Since we plan to keep our vehicle rather stock and use the stock spare tire carrier, this seemed like a decent alternative to replacing the rear bumper with a one that has a swing out tire carrier.

That is a cool concept. Thanks for sharing it.

As for a radio, I have one tucked into my tuffy console with my CB mounted to the front of the console. I hope to move the CB and install HAM radio into a roll bar overhead console this spring.

Last, you can use the "hitch haul" carriers like these http://www.jcwhitney.com/cargo-net-for-hitch-haul-carriers/p2004441.jcwx, but the obvious downside is that you have to load up your FJ40 first and then install and load the hitch haul carrier. We have a cheap one of these and we strictly use it to haul firewood when we go on longer camping trips. Having one of these will kill your departure angle and will scrape if the slope is too steep, but it is what it is...

If anyone has any pics of anything that has worked in your FJ40, please do post them. Thanks!

I have used one of these and you have already listed the major drawbacks. It ruins your departure angle and kills the ability to open the rear of the truck. However, for firewood/carrying a dead deer they work great

Thanks for the other idea's. I haven't thought about the overhead gun rack before. The overhead shelf is a great idea and has been well executed by a lot of vendors.

How about a few pics of your 40(s)?

 

[Rezarf <><]

Bringing this old thread back to the top.

I am interested if anyone has a pelican case stored under the front drivers seat of their FJ40 and if so what size it is?

I am once again looking at storage in the 40 so any new ideas... feel free to post up!

 

[TheoM]

My old packing system was functional

but eventually I got gatvol of schlepping those ammo boxes around so it was time for a change.The only requirement was that it had to be completely (bolt in and out) removable.I eventually settled for teflon slides as opposed to the conventional bearing type drawers.

Aluminum drawers

At the same time I built a box for the water container and moved the Fini to a semi-permanent spot which was otherwise wasted space

Easy in and out and only OEM boltholes used

I has some OEM tie downs left over from our previous 105 and 120 series so ...

All done