cerveza_king

I've been wanting some way to hide things in my Jeep for a while. I compete in pistol competitions so I always have a gun bag in my Jeep. I am also constantly called upon to run mobile car repair so I almost always have a huge bag of tools in the back. And school is about to start back up in a couple weeks so I'll have around $700 worth of books floating between my Jeep and my house. It would really **** me off if those things are stolen.

I ended up getting a piece of 3/4 inch plywood from my dad for free. While looting the garage I found boards that I ended up ripping and a box of screws to put this together with. The legs slip into the top so I can take it out if I need the room.

I'm going to put a piece of plywood to run down the back of the rear seat that ties into the top and the legs. Then I'll disconnect the electric lock to the rear hatch. Even if someone gets inside, they won't be able to unlock the hatch unless they have the key. They also won't be able to get into the rear by folding down the seats because of the panel. It'll make it more difficult to remove the entire assembly but I'm going to figure out a way of doing it without tools from inside.

I'm still undecided on putting a divider on the right side of the tire or putting the spare on top of the plywood. I'm leaning toward the tire on top so I can still put rifles in the back. I'll have to cut an arch out of the divider so it'll support the weight of the spare but still have room for longer items.

claygrassmann

looks great man, may i suggest carpet over the top for a more finished look

jiffy

u're very resourceful. that's good that you were able to concoct that with left over materials.

i have to warn you though. since u're windows are not tinted nor you don't have an alarm, thieves will be more interested at what you are hiding under that thing. i had created something similar for my 85 camaro a long time ago. i thought the same thing as you & that is to prevent people from stealing anything hiding underneath. unfortunately it didn't keep them from taking the cover that i created & some other personal belongings. chances are the people who stole my stuff prob had a camaro as well & wanted to use what i had created or they were just bored & curious on what was underneath.

overall, good job on your build & let's hope that what happened to me doesn't happen to you.

99rockies

hey ive got something very similiar, but sits with L brackets drilled into the sides. its got carpet on top witha fire extinguisher and a fan so my amp doesn't get to hot

cerveza_king

Tinted windows are out of my budget right now. Tomorrow I'll put the panel behind the seat and find a way to tie it all together from inside the enclosure, probably with wing nuts and brackets so I can remove it if need be. It will also be tied down to the floor. Then with the spare mounted to the top, even if they got inside it can't be lifted easily.

I'll be searching carpet stores for leftovers so I can cover it to look somewhat normal. Until then I'll paint it rustolium gray.

The biggest problem I have is it blocks the rear speakers. Now I can't ROCK.

cerveza_king

And it does have the factory alarm. Not that it really helps.

Tankerblade

ultimate theive protection. A massive couger!!

jiffy

you got a good plan there buddy. for carpet see if there's anyone giving away free carpet on craigslist. you never know you might get lucky!

haha funny.

foxmxrcer

since your on a budget, once ya get some money you could mount some speakers in the top of it with disconnects so they go with the "table"(idk what to call it, sorry lol) but it would give you your rear speaker sound back, and look pretty good. just my .02 tho

Capt_Gruuvy

I'm confused as to where the blender mount will be ....

metrofury

i have been thinking about doing something like this also, i have a toolbox in my cargo area that now i jus cover with a cardbord box lol, i was thinking about an old blind from a house window that i could mount to the back seat and jus pull across, the wood is better for security thanks for the post and the pics

prerunner1982

I am doing something similar as well in the future, but not quite so high. My spare will be underneath but I still want to be able to carry stuff on top without having is slide right over the back seat. How are you going to mount the spare tire?
I think for cheap and easy it looks good. I would definitely secure the whole thing to the bottom of your XJ, it will be much safer that way. Instead of house carpet you could also use marine carpet/astro-turf (in color of choice).

cerveza_king

I'm going to use the interior spare mount bolted to the middle of the panel. The problem is how to secure the tire so if I get into an accident the tire wont fly into the back of my head with the panel. I'm thinking about securing a stock spare mount to a metal plate under the plywood and another to the floor. Then a length of steel cable and a turnbuckle between the two, a few turns to tighten it down and the spare wont go anywhere. Everything should come out in a few minutes by myself when I need more room. That'll have to wait until Sunday when it warms up.

I still don't know what to do with the speakers. Stevie Ray just doesn't sound the same with only two speakers.

prerunner1982

:sings: "I've got a real, real, real, real bad fellin' that my baby she don't me no more."

I agree with FoxMXrcer...you could mount the speakers into the table. But to keep them from getting stolen which would open up two holes into your "secured" area I would suggest mounting them from the bottom. You would mount grilles on the top to keep stuff from falling in on the speakers. I would mount the speakers in the corner of the "table" (for lack of better terms, it fits well) closest to the back seat. If you mount them closer to the hatch they might get in the way of storage and loading/unloading.

Your turn buckle idea is pretty good as well and even if you don't use it to hold down your spare you could use one on each end to hold the "table" down. I would suggest using large fender washers though so your mounting points don't pull through...

Starr

factory alarms dont really do much if someone takes a razor blade to the rubber gasket that holds the back or quarter glass in.