rmcinak

Just an update, I've made several journeys with one and two bikes using my set-up described above (wheels up against the side forcing bike to lean over, Velcro strap to top tube to hold bike up, and a couple small straps to hold wheels in place). Has worked marvelously.

That's one idea and I've thought of that, but it doesn't offer much advantages and the problem as I see it is that it forces (due to the handlebars) a bike being in the center of the wagon, reducing cargo usefulness in my opinion. I think my Velcro set up above will work out for my purposes. Will test it out on a road trip this week. It meets all of my criteria in that it's simple, cheap, keeps mucho cargo room available, and isn't terribly difficult for one person to pull off.

Attempt 2.0. Got 36" Velcro strap to work (I am an idiot for not knowing what I was doing on first attempt), used 1" Velcro strips to secure one wheel to the rear corner floor anchors, and the other wheel to the respective inboard front seat headrest post (a little worried about using these for this purpose but they are not stressed, only keeping the wheel from bouncing/sliding around). Haven't drove around with this setup yet but have high hopes. It does not appear the Velcro straps while attached to the seat-belt anchors woule interfere with normal seat-belt functionality so I should be able to leave them attached and will just throw the strips into one of the cargo area storage bins and hope to remember I did so when needed.

I dream of having 6 sturdy attachment points! I ran some errands driving around with the above set-up. The front tire (in back of wagon) rotated around and the rear tire (in front of wagon) got pulled towards the door. I do have an attaching point at the back corners on the floor that I think was for car seats originally, so that can solve the first of those problems. I also bought a 36" Velcro strap and then got home and realized that my 36" measurement from the seat-belt anchor to the bicycle tube didn't account for 6 inches of leeway needed to use said strap. So might be digging out the ratchets, but I think their hook won't fit into the seat-belt anchor (barely got the small elastic cord hooks to get in there). Pondering and experimenting to continue. If I can get this to work, it will be so sweet to still basically have all the cargo room available while transporting bike(s).

Re the power ports, those look nice, fortunately everything is easily upgradeable later. Re the dash cam, I received my cam as a gift so I had to work with the one I had, and didn't feel like shelling out anything for more official mounting bases. The half-ass mount I made gives me the flexibility to move/change at a later time without much love (or money) lost.

I have been thinking/experimenting/pondering about securing bicycle(s) in my TC wagon LWB for a month and a half. I want to keep all wheels on if possible, be as chea, um, frugal as possible, not have anything permanent in place, be able to use it for mountain and fat bikes, and make it as quick and easy on myself as possible for the times it is way too cold out and my fingers are numb. I think I by quite accident stumbled upon a possible solution, need everybody to poke holes in this idea. I think I was making the same assumptions as everybody else in that the bike needs to be upright for anything to work, and that might not be the case. Just screwing around on the 129th time I have put a bike in just to try to inspire some thoughts on the matter, I pushed the wheels up against the side, which then forced it to lean over about 20 degrees because of the handlebars pressing against the top of the sidewall, but greatly increased the remaining available room in the cargo area. I then experimented with a kickstand-like concept, just using a 2x4 to hold up the frame, which I think has merits in its own right. But then I saw the 2nd row seat-belt anchors. With the wheels (or one wheel) already against the side wedged in nicely, all that is really needed is to keep the top part of the bike from completely tipping over. I hooked an elastic cord to the seat-belt anchor and around the top tube of the bike frame, and two minutes later while I'm typing this I can't think of any major flaws. Appreciate any input on that or on the following... I think the elastic cord should be replaced with a long Velcro strap or something that won't have as much give as an elastic cord, the elastic cord I put on just happened to be about maxed out with the distance needed for this particular bike. The handlebars are pressed up against the headliner, need to make sure they don't rub the headliner raw, maybe just a simple towel in between? I assume the seat-belt anchors can take this punishment, anybody know otherwise? I have forward-backward motion covered by my custom DIY set-up to make a ramp up and over the folded 2nd row seats, there is just a natural notch on the ramp for a wheel. The bike is fairly close to the drivers seat so I'm thinking it shouldn't be able to get to much inertia in a crash or be able to attack me from behind. I also need to work on solutions for studded tires rubbing against the plastic cargo side wall, probably just more towels. If this works, this is about as simple, cheap, and easy as it could be. I'm pretty sure there is room for a 2nd bike on the other side doing the same thing.

(Poorly) made a dashcam pedestal with a 4 inch piece of 2x2, wrapped in leftover mat material from my part-time camper conversion project, added a couple pieces of Velcro (to make it easily removable to hide in the storage bin below if desired), got some of the official connectors, used slot 43 for switched power, tied into the ground point right above the AJB, have a convenient spot to plug in my dash cam without its wires going all over the place and no longer have to worry about turning it off before the wagon sits for a while. Life is good! Plugging in the official connectors isn't difficult but I didn't have whatever official tool is used to seat them so it took a little bit of pushing with pliers and the edge of a screwdriver to do so. I'm sure there was an easy way I didn't know of. I might further hide the dash cam wires under the plastic cover and maybe move how I have the added power point placed to improve appearance.

That's exactly where mine were until this, moved them to the door bin. I am building a DIY pedestal for my dash cam, realized if I just put it right on the dash it is too low to capture things right in front of me that are at a lower height. The one I just got is a Garmin 35 which for some reason Garmin doesn't think one will ever want to remove it once it is in place as their windshield attachment is a permanent stick-on. There are some official pedestals out there for it if I fail at my attempts.

Thanks to... ...for the inspiration. That method is by far the more professional and proper way to add wiring. I just want another power point that is only live when the vehicle is on for a dash cam, along with it being in a more convenient spot for plugging in a dash cam. My half-ass lame way cuts a lot of corners. First, I have a 2015 XL LWB wagon with virtually no options (just backup sensors and trailer towing package) so I got a lot of blank space where more fancy-pants TCs have useful accessories. Most important for this application is I just have an AM/FM radio with a storage bin above it where others might have a display for camera or SYNC or whatever else comes with XLT or optioning one out. So I decided for a dash cam I want to use that small bin space for a power point and ran wires down from the removable cover that is towards the front of the wagon from that bin. I removed that cover and moved the radio out of the way ala... I removed the glove box ala DonShockey's intructions above. I then found a hole that wasn't being used by the radio or cover clips on the right side to drop wires down to where I could grab from the glove box opening. I routed them semi-professionally using ties around to the right side of the vehicle. I then removed the front (right) door sill trim. FYI http://www.chiltondiy.com/ for I think $29 for a year subscription has a lot of info on how to remove things like this. I moved (but not removed) the little trim piece between the door sill and the glove box and fished the wire to the door sill, and just taped it down out of the way of the rivets and such. I think so far I am on roughly the same page as DonShockey's methods. I then remembered I had a cable fish tool, and was able to only move the weatherstripping of the sliding door out of the way and got lucky and "fished" to the front door, so I didn't have to remove the pillar trim piece or the sliding door sill trim piece. I just ran the wire where the weatherstripping would keep it all nice and snug. Instead of removing the load area side trim piece, I was able to pry and squish and weasel the wires behind the bottom of this large piece, and then ran it up to the Aux Junction Box. So everything is perfectly hidden and I think relatively safe and secure. I am waiting on the connection thingys talked about at... ... to finish putting this new circuit on a switched power fuse I identified (#43 I think). It looks like there is a Ground point right next to the AJB that I should be able to access without having to remove the big trim piece (I hope). For the power point, I just got one of those crappy cheap auto part store ones and used Velcro to attach it to the inside of the storage bin above the radio, drilled a hole on the top of the storage bin to run its wires to the ones I added. I might make something more permanent/professional later in conjunction with a stealth dash cam holder to discourage prying hands. 20 feet of wire covers the distance from this spot on top of the dash to the AJB with a little bit to spare.

Actually, I couldn't tell you what a gallon of milk is, haven't had it in many years, do the soy/cashew/almond stuff. Prices aren't actually terrible around Anchorage, with regular flights, ferries, and even trucking from the lower 48. Fruit is certainly not too fresh by the time it arrives! It's just funny how many places will say "we don't ship international" or think they have to contract with NASA to get anything here when, as long as it isn't hazmat, we have all the same options as anywhere else. Other than the bush, where that is not the case, I can imagine HI gets a shorter stick than us being the trucks wouldn't get too far leaving CA.

THANKS for posting this. Just ordered 10 from newark.com, neither of the amazon retailers seemed to realize we've been a State since 1959 and USPS etc.. services the tundra just like everywhere else in the colonies .

Very nice work. I can tell you have more patience than me. And I don't know if I could take a saw to the door panels without having spare doors ready to go

Here is the close-to-finished "Phase 1".... First pic shows things in "cargo mode". Everything needed to convert to "camper mode" is in the van, either showing in this picture or hidden underneath the ramp section. On the right is a folded up section that is used for bed supports, it is held in place by a couple things of Velcro. Those are my only loss of cargo room and that only ends up being about 8 square inches of space. Second pic shows what I used to hide my hatchet job on the holes to access the 3rd row seat bolts if ever needed. Just some furniture grippers found at home improvement store, stuck onto the homemade hole plugs I had made. Thought that was a MacGyver-esque play, looks like it could be stock and also gives a couple of gripping points for things on an otherwise slippery surface. They can just be pulled up if a truly flat surface is ever needed. Third picture shows various pieces hidden underneath the ramp section. Forth and fifth picture show the passenger side bed in place. The obvious week points are the two portable legs on the left side of the 4th pic. Will try to think up something better. Still need to do some touch-up painting, figure a way to keep the pieces in place when in "cargo mode" (have some magnets that will be my first attempt), and make the bed more secure to eliminate the risk of things jostling out of place. Maybe some kind of button contraptions. I also need to rig up a bicycle holder to keep a bicycle stood up from going all over the place. "Phase 2" will be a box for an RV AGM battery/inverter/solar charger) to be put where the single right 2nd row seat would go but to not interfere with the double 2nd row seats. This will also be planned to help with bed support. "Phase 3" will be a "kitchen" box for a 2 1/2 g water jug, maybe some kind of pump/sink, and a place for a small camp stove. This would be at the back of the bed section and would definitely be also used for bed support. I originally planned to make the driver's side bed do the same things as whatever the passenger side bed does, in this case be up higher, but I think I will make it stay low, to be in a "buddy" arrangement if you will instead of in a "couple's" arrangement.

Been deliberating endlessly on how to tackle further bed supports with minimal material which has slowed me down. First two pictures here show the "crossframe" for the front section. Odd shaped piece is again due to trying to use scraps on hand. I think with some tinkering with the bed piece to make it all lock together it will be somewhat sturdy. Last picture is the initial stages of my current plan to support the back two pieces of the bed. The middle piece of wood will be attached in some unknown way to the interior panel and the two small pieces will swing out to provide support for one half of the back end of the middle section (the other end is supported by the contraption in the first two pictures here) and for one half of the rear section. I thought about building a big portable box to provide support and could be used for storage and may do that later, but for the time being trying to minimize space consumed. Note that I have what will be the "primary" bed on the passenger side which when in use might be a little less convenient than if it was on the driver's side to access the rest of the back or to step in/out from the back as it may require opening both rear doors (I have double swing out doors, not the liftgate). I am doing that for my desire to have bicycles standing up for any camping expeditions and I thought it was better to not have the bicycles creating any more blind spots on the right side for the driver. Otherwise if building a single bed it would probably make more sense to have it on the driver's side if have swing out rear doors.

Ahhh, my apologies for not already seeing that.

Awesome write-up. If starting from scratch without already having your add-on fuse block behind the glove compartment, what routes would you consider for running wires to the overhead shelf area? Through the side up to the front (like you have already done) and then up somehow or up from the cargo fuse box and through the headliner? Or some other magical way? I'm thinking up there would be a good spot to have a stealth switched power point.

That's the basic direction I'm thinking, and I really appreciate this and any ideas people throw at me as I basically don't know what I'm doing most of the time. I like the concept developing in my skull to make this a "stealth" camper where everything that isn't out in view for "wagon" use is small enough to hide underneath my ramp things, so I'm trying to aim for minimalism. Maybe a sheet of plywood notched into these supports like you mention, and then a simple diagonal hole drilled through both to put in a wooden dowel to lock everything together. Also need to solve the overhang of the bed piece in relation to the width of the supports to prevent one from tipping the whole thing over if weight is put at the edges, so whatever I do needs to tackle two issues at once.

Day 3: Preface this, and prior and future parts, by saying that other than the initial purchase of the 6 quarter-sheets of plywood and the vinyl mat and an allowance for minor hardware pieces and miscellaneous items, I am trying to use scrap wood I have on hand from past projects. So my solutions to problems and the measurements of a few things are being made based on the sizes of the scrap pieces available and may not be the most ideal or efficient way. First two pictures show my solution to supporting the front section of the bed. Using a scrap 3/4" x 24" x 20" piece of plywood and basing measurements on what that would yield along with other pieces I have, I cut out two pieces at odd shapes and notched out an inch near the bottom to hook into the existing 2nd row seat supports that are exposed when the seat is stowed. I still need to come up with a way to provide horizontal stability but this will handle vertical support. These should (I only roughly eyeballed) fit underneath the "ramp" to not take up any room when not in use. A different solution will have to be made for the driver's side bed as 3 of the 4 seat supports are on the passenger side, perhaps some kind of modification and tying in to one of my passenger side supports. In the upper right of the first picture it is visible that the supports are more oddly shaped than necessary, they are so only because of the limited size of the scrap piece I am using. There is no reason they couldn't be a simple 'L' shape. Third picture shows my horrible job at cutting the mat to expose the rear seat attaching bolts/hole and my equally bad job at cutting plugs to fill those holes. I thought of trying to use a router with a laminate cutter to trim the mat but I fear it would tear out and rip sections not desired so I just used a simple utility knife. I am quite sure there were better ways to do that.

Day 2, here's the concept of what I'm shooting for. The black vinyl mat really sucks the light out of the area for picture taking! The bed is three two-foot long sections of plywood, two that comprise the ramp showed above and one on the 2nd row seat back. The milk crate in the first picture here is playing the role of a future gear/storage box. By pulling open the rear section over the storage box, it begins to raise up the middle section as they are connected by a hinge. A piano hinge is shown but I am reserving the right to swap that out at a later time if the hinge "bump" is still noticeable underneath whatever I use for a mattress. I wanted the front section of plywood to also be connected via hinge to the middle section also as my initial plan was to be able to fold them all back out of the way to use the 2nd row seat if needed, but as shown above the front section is wider than the rear section to cover the seat back, so it wouldn't fold back. I liked covering the entirety of the seat back so I didn't go with the option of simply trimming it to match. I'm going to attach it via some removable way like Velcro so if needed it can be removed entirely if the 2nd row seat is needed. So the rear section will have the storage box thingy as a support, leaving me to think up some way to support the two front sections. I know I could just leave it low so the front section can use the seat back as its support but I would like this thing to be about a foot off the floor to have storage use underneath. I like the idea of housing a small battery and whatever other necessary "glamping" gear in a portable storage box that would be one bed support, and that would need to be at least a foot high I reckon. Anyway, I have a creative idea rattling in my head to support the middle section but supporting the front section ingeniously is kind of stumping me right now. The back two sections are planned to be able to be lifted up for 2nd row seat use and basically be the seat back for that.

Me too, the good/bad of making things up as one goes is not knowing what the end result will be. Already changing last night's visions to account for today's measurement reality.

First picture here shows the two floor sections. The larger section doesn't have the vinyl mat attached to the plywood yet as I mis-cut the mat, not leaving a nice lip to go up against the back deck. The vinyl mat in my opinion was a good purchase as it matches with the existing decor quite nicely. The second picture is the next sections of plywood being laid out. There is a method to my madness. Makes a ramp for bicycles to roll up and avoids the whole mess of coming up with a fancy solution for the network of different heights and shapes around the 2nd row seat mounting area. As far as I got on day one.

Started today modifying my 2015 XL LWB Wagon to have some camping usefulness. Will try to share the agony and progress. My individual goals: Not interfere with the "wagon" part of Wagon, keeping full functionality of 2nd row of seats. Minimal reduction, if any, of cargo carrying room, particularly being able to roll in 1 or 2 bikes upright without removing any wheels. Lightweight modifications to not tax the Focus suspension. Easy-ish removal of anything added. Flexible bed for 1 or 2 people as needed (or not needed). Cheap Pass for not being too cheap. Day 1: After coming up with a rough idea in my head (not much for detailed planning), decided that first order of business was to make a flat floor. Went to the local home improvement store and bought 6 sheets of 1/2"x4'x2' plywood, "TrafficMaster" brand 48"x96" black vinyl garage mat, and a can of contact cement to get the ball started. Hoping that will be able to recycle other material lying around the house to minimize cost. Chose 1/2" plywood vs 5/8" or 3/4" to try to lineup with the back deck and lip around the cargo area, sacrificing some rigidness. Chose 4x2 to try to make it easy to work with when cutting out notches and holes and such. My first suggestion if somebody else attempts to replicate some form of this and is confident in their measuring and cutting skills, working with a half-sheet 4x4 for the floor would have been better. First picture is the obligatory before. 3rd row seating removed. Second picture is a couple of added supports. Some 3/8" plywood would have come in handy and been perfect, I only had 1/4", added some of those tile spacers to get the height where I wanted above the existing 3rd row bolts, and cardboard in the rear corners as there is no ridge there. I screwed the first piece of "flooring" into the supports that are themselves attached via the existing seat bolts, so this piece of flooring is secure yet easily removable by taking off the seat bolts. Third picture is the second piece of plywood along with more supports for the front "cargo" area that will slide under the first piece of flooring. By this point I got smart and de-laminated one layer off some of the 1/2" plywood scraps to make something close to the desired 3/8" I was looking for. Note a lot of the ridges in the cargo area particularly in this area are not solid, just foam.

Have a '15 XL LWB. Took out the 3rd row. With 2nd row in place and upright, dogs are well contained by the relatively high seats in the far back with minimal chance for being thrown around.

I believe I saw your thread and it is on my list to follow along as it looks like finding existing wires in this thing is a bit of a challenge.

I wouldn't disagree with you as I can see the benefits of the constant power and in 99% of the Country it wouldn't matter most of the time. I live in the 1% where this thing has a chance of being left overnight or for a few days at -30 with no outlet for a block heater or battery blanket (if one will even fit in the tight space of this thing) within many miles, and I don't forsee having the patience to go through the 30 minute battery removal process to haul it in to a warmer spot that this vehicle require. In short, my battery will at some time in the future freeze. Having experienced that several times over, I can testify that every last amp not taken by a dash cam or phone charger accidentally left on is literally a life saver when one uses the last bit of frozen juice with a whole lot of praying to get a vehicle started. I just noticed AGM car batteries are making it into the mainstream which will solve the frozen issue if not the constant on draining issue.