Tacoma 1st gen double cab rear seat platform

[austintaco]

This project is not finished, but I thought I would post up some photos while it was raining. I borrowed ideas from Sierra Expedition's platform and Box Rocket's. When we go out on a trip, it's just me, my wife, and our two Boxers. They always ride in the cab, and after a few hundred miles they have proceeded to get hair and slobber on everything in the rear seats. We have a durable cover over the seat, but I keep my MV-50, tools, and a little other small items on the floor board. In addition, the two of them really don't have that much room to maneuver around.

After removing the rear seat, I was amazed at the amount of room in the back. However, without a seat, it gets loud from the road noise. I wanted to use the existing bolts, but I didn't want to lose the floor board space so I had to come up with some interesting cuts. BTW, I am a complete novice at wood working with only a small deck off the front of my house on my resume.

Here's a shot off the basic frame work for the platform. I don't have the main piece in place, but you can see the sides that I built off of the cupholder bolts. I tied them into the deck board that goes along the front and uses the existing front seat bolt on each side. The front has 3 cubby spots and the lids are set in place in this picture:

Here's a close up of the passenger side with the cubby hole lid screwed in place. It wasn't quite level, so I did this for a day to let it get the right shape. Lazy man technique, but it worked!

Each of the rear sides has brace that is bolted into one of the rear seat bolts. This is the passenger side:

Here's how the platform looks laid out. It's not bolted in, but you can see the hinges and the basic fit. It will also be bolted in the back center with the existing seat bolt holes.

The middle cubby that will most likely have travel food items for us and the dogs:

Passenger side with the door flipped back. I put the hinges on so I could flip the lids open 180 degrees if I had a large item to put on the floorboard:

If you look at the space under the platform, I cut a semi circle so that I could stow stuff under there and be able to reach it. I thought about doing an access panel, but there wasn't that much space to access. Some recovery gear, first aid, etc..can go there and be easily reached. This is a picture of the shape of the side panel for one of the sides. I traced this onto some Home Depot indoor/outdoor carpet and applied with some staples and 3M adhesive:

I have the platform carpeted, but I don't have a picture of it yet. For the back, I will using small eyebolts to bolt into the three catches on the back wall. The top of the back piece will make a nice spot for dog leashes, dog bags, bowls and other small items. I also bought some flush mounted tie downs that I am going to put into the main platform area, but I am waiting to see how I want to arrange everything. With the added space, I will be able to move our 5 day cooler from the back of the campershell, to the platform, and it will fit lengthwise from the the cab wall to the front seat. The dogs will have the rest of the area for travel time.

When I finish, I'll put up new photos. Thanks for all of the great ideas. Hope this helps out someone else.

 

[YotaPilot]

Looks nice, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. I may do this or something similar with my DC.

 

[Montana Cruiser]

Great work, I too with my dog and have been considering moving to a double cab Tundra when my 4Runner dies (could be a while) and would be doing something similar to you.

 

[austintaco]

Finished it last night

Everything always takes me twice or three times as long as I had planned. This was no exception, and I have already thought of how version 2.0 would look.:Wow1:

Here it is:

Note: The tie down points on the back are going into the plywood and through the clasps on the back of the cab. Getting the bolts to thread on in that tight space was difficult, but achievable. That secures the tie down to the board and then the truck. There is another bolt that holds the tie down just to the plywood. My only regret is that it looks like speakers and I am afraid someone might try to break into my truck now.

Jack location:
Like FlyingWil's , I left my jack in the stock location. If I would do the platform over, I would have raised it higher than the jack mount and then made another access hatch to it. Oh well. I made a hinged door to gain access to the jack kit:

This is a better shot of the side and the amount of space under the platform. I am thinking tow strap, first aid kit, recovery gear, spare batteries, rain jacket...the stuff you need to get at without unloading the truck.

Finally, the front storage. These spaces have already come in handy. We use that space on our trips and I didn't want to lose it. For work, I can still put my cooler and food items there without worrying about the cooler tipping over.

It's solid. I was back there finishing it up and with all of my weight on different areas, it didn't creak or flex. I might re carpet the cubby hole doors to match the carpet on the main floor area and will most likely put carpet on the backside of those doors. I will also add tie downs to the floor, if needed.
Stay tuned. My truck is going in the shop next week for 4.88 gears, an ARB up front, Tire Carrier added, frame plates, and sliders! Woo hoo

 

[Mc Taco]

That looks fantastic! I really want to do something like this on half of the rear area of my DC. I keep the seats folded down most all of the time and have my 'earthquake kit/B-O-B behind the driver's seat full time. Only really need one rear seat.

Since you just finished removing the rear seat on yours, do you think there is a way to install a single seat on the passenger side?

Again, great job. Looks good and useful.

 

[austintaco]

Anything is possible, but I would think that it would not be that hard to do. Just build a frame to match the existing bolt holes and then weld the frame to the seat you want to use.