Rebuilding the Jeep for 2021
After living out of my Jeep Wrangler the last 6 months, I’ve dialed in my priorities.
I also have an Ursa Minor J30 waiting for me in San Diego to pick up in February…
Subfloor + Floor
I cut a sheet of half inch plywood to the shape of the floor I was looking to create. This is what the tongue and groove vinyl will be sitting on. I also chose to anchor the “Kitchen box” to this floor, to keep everything tight & connected to each other.
For the flooring, I used a single box of tongue & groove vinyl. I measured & cut each piece to fit the subfloor, and made sure to offset each one by around 1/3 of the distance of the last piece. The tongue and groove stuff all locks together & doesn’t require an adhesive, but I put some spray adhesive on the bottom to help keep it stable anyway. I felt this was needed because it’s such a small space.
There is also a small hidden hatch that allows access to the “basement” where I store my jumper cables, yank strap, and random other stuff I don’t expect to use very often.
Finally, to keep it all locked together & reinforce the edges, I used 1/8” angle aluminum as trim. I cut it all to size & drilled holes to screw it into the subfloor. This really solidified the edges, and I’m super happy with how it looks.
The “Garage”
The garage is behind the Kitchen Box, where the drivers-side rear seat would be. This is a large, open space where I will be storing all of my climbing gear, random camping/ backpacking gear, and various other bulky stuff like camp chairs, etc.
It’s made with 1/2” sanded birch plywood, with the 1/8” angle aluminum trim. It is also bolted to the kitchen box, as well as to the sub floor to keep it reinforced and stabilized.
I also put a piece of angle aluminum under the top piece of plywood to reinforce it. There will be a heavy sliding cabinet system built on top, and didn’t want the wood to bow or flex under the weight.
Eventually I’d like to put a light in this space!
The Shelf.
In order to stay a little more organize (and regain some storage from the “under the bed storage” of 2020) I built a two level shelf that sits above the “Garage.”
I designed it to fit the space, with different sized cubbies for different things. There’s a lot of space in here, I’m still not exactly sure what to store in it. But it’ll hold a TON. Will definitely store my basic clothes & toothbrush/dopp kit.
My dad had an awesome idea to use sliding doors, to avoid large drawers or doors that swing out into the “living space.” Suuuper smart, so I routed 2, 1/4” grooves along the front, and then fit two 1/4” sanded plywood doors that slide.
I last minute had the idea using peg board as the backing of the cabinet. I’ll end up using this as part of the “garage” space, with different peg board mounts on it. Still not sure what to put here…
It ended up coming out PERFECT. Love it so much, super clean. Excited to see how this storage space ends up being best utilized!
