Self lifting 5 Ply cargo shelf/cover
Gidday Folks
In Roo1, I made a nifty ply based shelf to replace the almost totally useless cargo blind. The same kind of almost totally useless cargo blind that is in Roo2 ... and in RonnyRoo, too, for that matter.
One of the big problems is that with the cargo barrier fitted in Roo2, the existing cargo blind must be removed.
This morning I have been measuring up for the same kind of cargo shelf I made for Roo1 to fit in Roo2 with the cargo barrier installed.
What prevents this ATM is that the cargo blind housing extends towards the front of the car, mostly closing the gap between it and the back of the rear seats. This gap is currently ~15 mm. The cargo barrier is 20 mm thick at this crucial point.
However, the actual mounting points for the existing cargo blind have sufficient clearance if one uses a piece of aluminium rectangular box section with measurements of 1380+ mm long by 20 mm thick and 70 mm high. The actual trim to trim
socket length in my car is 1382 mm in the indented part. The bar needs to be 1380 mm long
at this point. It needs to be longer than this at the top and shorter at the bottom, so allowance must be made for this so that it can be shaped to fit neatly. After making to fit at the top, it needs to have the ends shaped to fit the trim properly.
The measurements in YOUR car may be slightly different, so it pays to measure twice, and cut once ...
:lol:
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The ends of the aluminium box section need to be shaped to fit the topology of the trim from top to bottom at the ends, such that the bottom of the bar rests on the top of the trim of the strut tops. The f/r of the ends also need to have cuts made so that the existing spring clamps hold the bar in place.
I plan to make a mock up using some 70*20 mm wood first and try this with the cargo barrier just sitting in place.
At 70 mm high to the top of the existing trim cut outs, the gap between the aluminium and the back of the rear seats increases to around 30 to 35 mm.
Just enough for the cargo barrier to fit with some clearance.
The cargo barrier brackets may need to be altered to put it in exactly the right position. I plan to use the child safety capsule mounts near the rear hatch frame for mounting the upper cargo barrier brackets, so these will need to be made to measure anyway.
I got the basic design many years ago from a Ford Laser luggage cover that worked the same way. Made a similar design to fit Roo1, and it worked an absolute treat for the next 17+ years. Heaviest load I ever had on it was 3 x 20 Kg bags of pool salt. It bent rather alarmingly, but not permanently
. It was made from lighter 5 ply than I intend to use for the one in Roo2. It was also reinforced with aluminium channel along the load bearing edges, and also on both sides of the centre transverse piano hinge. Covered it with grey
Naugahyde. Looked great, and worked very well.
The shelf itself will be in two parts. A rectangular section closest to the back of the rear seats that will measure about 1385 to 1390 wide and about 380 mm from front to rear PLUS maybe a flap that completely closes the gap between it and the cargo barrier (a scoop made from a bit of canvas with Velcro strips to attach it to the cargo barrier?) - either that or a stop that prevents small bits from falling off the rear of the shelf and behind all your luggage ...
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The trailing edge of the front section will be reinforced with a hardwood strip about 30x20 mm, with a piano hinge along its entire length where it joins the rear section. The reinforcing strip is both glued and screwed onto the bottom of both pieces of the ply shelf either side of their join. The piano hinge is screwed into this, NOT into the ply ...
The rear section of the shelf will lift automatically when the tailgate is opened. In Roo1, I just looped some light nylon cord over the tops of the hatch struts and tied it off under the shelf at an appropriate point. When carrying anything heavy on top of the shelf, I just slipped the cords off the strut tops. As easy as ...
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With Roo2, this is slightly more complicated, as the cord would cross the hatch seal if done this way (it didn't do this in Roo1). Seems that the best thing will be to make a small aluminium reinforcing plate for the plastic trim on the sides of the gate, then loop the lifting cord over a small tang made in this plate. Attach the plates with 4 to 6 small rivets on each side.
The bottom of the cord is put through a hole drilled through the lifting section at the appropriate point, then tied off so that it is just slack when the tailgate is fully closed. When I have determined some of these measurements, I will post them.
The rear section is the same width as the front at the join, and for about 50-100 mm towards the rear of the car. The sides then need to be shaped to both fit the car trim, and allow clearance when the shelf lifts. This is the tricky part! The shelf varies in F/R length from about 380 mm at the sides to a 'hump' of 420 mm in the centre. At the rear sides, it will rest on top of the existing support for the ends of the existing cargo blind.
My plan is to shape the under-side edge of both sections so that they rest on the trim of the car below the rear quarter windows. Attach some felt or leather pads to both car trim and the shelf so that they do not chafe each other. Ditto for the aluminium bar.
With the one in Roo1, I designed it so that the 2 sections could be folded flat against each other, then placed across the car behind the front seats when not wanted. I am not sure that I can achieve this design objective with the one for Roo2. I will have to do some careful measurements of width and depth of the rear seat and across the car behind the front seats. I have just done some measurements, and the shelf needs to be about 1370 mm total width to stand a chance of fitting. This could possibly be achieved if the aluminium bar were removable from the shelf. Have to think about that part ... :iconwink:
The lift is about 150-200 mm at the rear edge of the rear section of the shelf when the hatch is opened fully. It doesn't sound like much, but it means that you don't have the roll up and unroll the bloody cargo blind in order to comfortably put a shopping bag in the cargo area!!
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