CARGO FLOOR EXTENSION HATCH PT. 3

[B0NE]

I then slapped the mat back down and cut out the rubber around the hatch cutout.

 

Dropped in the hatch, popped in the step trim, and screwed down my cargo tie downs.

Finished product, thanks for looking at my creation, feel free to ask about anything I might have left out!

[Don Ridley]

Looks like it came from the factory. Well done.

[jrm223]

You should have kept this all in one thread instead of three separate posts. But the end result looks awesome! Good job. You definitely win the "OEM type appearance" compared to my setup, haha.

 

I completely took out all the false floor pieces and have a 48" tool chest in there, shown in the pictures. I've thought of putting this one at the back doors, but now that I have my hammock hanging in the van, I don't think they'll fit together - I'm already rubbing on the tool chest now, lol. I had to put some wood support blocks (I think they're 1x1" or 2x2" by 3ft long or so) under this chest because it wasn't wide enough to sit on the brackets that the plastic steps originally mounted to (second pic). You can kind of see that wood support at the right side of the second pic and they run on an angle front-to-back. 

 

But, I have a 60" that I need to fix a strut on so I can swap the 48" out for the 60" - yes, the big one does fit cross-ways in my cargo van (just barely), lol. At least the 60" box will also sit about an inch or so lower than this 48" one is and I'll be able to put some rivnuts in the step brackets and bolt down the 60" box. Unless I change my mind and try to build a more custom setup since I still have some wasted space under the tool chest.

[windguy]

@bone - great job on your installation. Thanks for sharing your work.

I too captured this storage space in my 2015 cargo with a different approach.

I couldn't stand the vinyl cargo mat so used carpeting on plywood instead.

I separated the foam from the vinyl mat and used that as filler under the plywood, which is very good sound proofing material.

It's great to have the extra storage space making use of this dead space. 

 

Time for you to finish those bare door panels next!

I used black paint on mine. Gives the van a nice finished detail.

 

 

[Bill Jackson]

This looks awesome. The Gen1 TC has a much smaller footwell but I am going to use this info and make what I can of the space. I was disappointed after all the work to remove the cover over the footwell....is that all? But space is space and tools or even batteries or removable water tanks would fit really well in that space. Thanks for the informative post.

[Fifty150]

On 5/23/2019 at 11:14 AM, Bill Jackson said:

 I was disappointed after all the work to remove the cover over the footwell....is that all? But space is space and tools or even batteries or removable water tanks would fit

Install a hidden safe.  Great if you need to lock your wallet & such while you're surfing.  Maybe stash your handgun.  

[Bill Jackson]

Perfect suggestion especially for a van. Having a known secured space that would take a good amount of time for someone to discover and then have the tools to get into is a great advantage these days. Thank again to Fifty150 for the sage advice.

[herb]

On 5/24/2019 at 8:08 PM, Fifty150 said:

Install a hidden safe.  Great if you need to lock your wallet & such while you're surfing.  Maybe stash your handgun.  

 

Surfing ? People at our age don't surf , very grateful that i can still walk .

[wrightcoast]

Hope you don't mind a newb asking questions from the get go, but this is what I need to do to my 2015.  Can you tell me what size that Hatch is? I would love to do this to mine, possibly do 2 small hatches one behind each seat if that's possible? 

 

[B0NE]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017NA9UDC

 

This is the hatch I used, a bit pricey, but it has held up well so far. Many different sizes to choose from.

[KevinRollin]

6 hours ago, B0NE said:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017NA9UDC

This is the hatch I used, a bit pricey, but it has held up well so far. Many different sizes to choose from.

Thanks for the link!  

[wrightcoast]

Yes thanks for the link!!!  I just got my TC the other day and this is high on my list of wants right now.  Just need to figure out if I want to do one large or two small hatches.

if you don't mind, what did you use as a template for the wooden bracket? 

 

[B0NE]

At first when I was getting ready to cut the supports, I just visualized what needed to stay and what didn't. I wanted to use as much of the existing hardware as possible and not take away the structural support. It was a little nerve wracking to be cutting things out of a new vehicle lol. Once I was sure, I used chalk to mark my lines and used a sawzall with a metal cutting blade. Once all the metal was cut, I put it back in place and put cardboard over top and carefully marked and cut it to shape. Folded it half and traced the other side which gave me a perfect match on both sides. I put the cardboard back on top, poked holes for where I wanted the bolts to go through and hand tightened them down to make sure it was a perfect template. Took it all apart and traced it onto 3/4 inch ply. I used a circular saw and jigsaw with the capability of angling the blade on a 45 to cut it out. I wanted to take the edge off the ply to make it a smoother transition from foam to wood once I placed the mat back down over top. Cutting the foam from under the mat was a pain, I used some black craft paint on the wood and pressed the mat with foam down on top. That gave me a rough idea of where to cut the foam. Slowly but surely, I kept taking bits of foam away until it fit smoothly over top. Measure twice, cut once.

 

I can say now, that it was so worth the extra effort and money. I went on an extended roadtrip this summer and I was able to hide all kinds of stuff in there. It's amazing how much space is wasted in that area. I should mention that there is even more space to be had under the front seats. There's styrofoam inserts under there about 3 inches thick (once you pull the extension floor out, you can see what I mean). I decided to leave them in there for two reasons. One, insulation and road noise. Two, if you pull them out, the mats won't sit down in that space correctly without cutting them, so I let it be.

[mdarren]

Nice modification! Having a hidden storage is definitely a good idea.

[wrightcoast]

8 hours ago, B0NE said:

At first when I was getting ready to cut the supports, I just visualized what needed to stay and what didn't. I wanted to use as much of the existing hardware as possible and not take away the structural support. It was a little nerve wracking to be cutting things out of a new vehicle lol. Once I was sure, I used chalk to mark my lines and used a sawzall with a metal cutting blade. Once all the metal was cut, I put it back in place and put cardboard over top and carefully marked and cut it to shape. Folded it half and traced the other side which gave me a perfect match on both sides. I put the cardboard back on top, poked holes for where I wanted the bolts to go through and hand tightened them down to make sure it was a perfect template. Took it all apart and traced it onto 3/4 inch ply. I used a circular saw and jigsaw with the capability of angling the blade on a 45 to cut it out. I wanted to take the edge off the ply to make it a smoother transition from foam to wood once I placed the mat back down over top. Cutting the foam from under the mat was a pain, I used some black craft paint on the wood and pressed the mat with foam down on top. That gave me a rough idea of where to cut the foam. Slowly but surely, I kept taking bits of foam away until it fit smoothly over top. Measure twice, cut once.

 

I can say now, that it was so worth the extra effort and money. I went on an extended roadtrip this summer and I was able to hide all kinds of stuff in there. It's amazing how much space is wasted in that area. I should mention that there is even more space to be had under the front seats. There's styrofoam inserts under there about 3 inches thick (once you pull the extension floor out, you can see what I mean). I decided to leave them in there for two reasons. One, insulation and road noise. Two, if you pull them out, the mats won't sit down in that space correctly without cutting them, so I let it be.

 

Thank you for all of this I'm ordering that hatch today. 

I took the panels out to see what was down there and saw the foam blocks under the seats and I'll probably leave that for the same reasons you mentioned. It would be hard to access anyway.

[windguy]

Regardless of what hatch design you use, if you want to optimize the amount of storage space then I would recommend removing the existing carpet and foam. Cut it back to the edge of the foam blocks under the front seats. I did that for my storage area and it gives you a little extra space and keeps the storage area flatter. I added back two layers of sound proofing but that's probably not necessary and a layer of grey carpet that I used for the rest of the cargo area decking. Carpet found at Home Depot sold be the linear foot off a 6ft wide roll. If you store a bunch of stuff in there like I have that will provide enough sound proofing to muffle any road noise.

 

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by windguy

[windguy]

Sound proofing pics

 

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by windguy

[jrm223]

I don't have all these hatches and such, just an open well currently (my previous pic had a 48" wide tool chest, but that has been moved to the back doors), but I also removed the foam & vinyl like Windguy did. I have pictures in my album that shows depth measurements with and without the foam/vinyl in my XL. Obviously some have carpet instead of vinyl, but I'd suspect the thickness is roughly the same.

[B0NE]

@windguy Nice work! What kind of deadening/insulation is that?

[windguy]

6 hours ago, B0NE said:

@windguy Nice work! What kind of deadening/insulation is that?

 

Thanks BONE.

 

For sound proofing, I used two layers per the mfg recommendations.

For the ceiling and doors (sliders and rear), I used Kilmat 50mil butyl sheets (one 50sft ft box) as a lightweight option.

The Noico 80mil butyl sheet material was my first choice but after feeling how heavy the sheets are, I switched to the Kilmat 50, which are much lighter than the Noico 80.

I used the Noico 80mil (one 36sq ft box) for the cargo area flooring and also the rear upper side panels.

The second layer for all surfaces was Noico 150mil liner sold in rolls, which provides a combination of sound proofing and insulation (two 36sq ft boxes). It's now in 170mil rolls.

Buy the Noico roller and expect to spend a lot of time doing the install. The ceiling work is tiring working above your head.

 

As I said above, I'm not sure the sound proofing on the flooring areas is very effective. After I removed the rubber cargo mat I fitted a 5/8" sheet of ext grade plywood. Since the bed of the cargo area has numerous ridges and pockets, I separated the foam liner from the rubber mat and used the foam as a liner under the plywood and is good for leveling. That offered very good sound proofing from road noise. The sound proofing on the ceiling, doors and rear side panels is very helpful. The only noticeable noise I pick up now is from the slider panels that I painted. I need to work on that. Another poster added a thin layer of liner used for wood flooring installs to the panel and that seemed to work out nicely.

[elytonobserver]

Super detail work. I agree your mod certainly looks factory to me!

[teamworker]

Edited March 24, 2022 by teamworker