How I turned my X into a sweet work truck (lots of pics)

So, since the Xterra replaced both a 3/4 ton pickup with contractor topper on it and a subaru forester, trying to do the work of both vehicles in one, I had to make my X into a decent vehicle to work out of. So I built a relatively simple box for the back, and it turned out great.



The box, fully assembled before installation. The black you see around the edges is flat rubber molding from home depot (it was meant to be a garage door bottom seal). This stops screws and small parts from rolling off the edge, yet compresses to allow large items to be placed on top.



Side boxes to make the best of odd shaped space over wheel wells




Side boxes are removeable. Attached with countersunk screws and tee nuts. The box won't fit into the hatch with the side compartments attached.







Removed fake floor



Continued...

I used Unistrut nuts and fender washers in the channel to bolt down the box. This was a bit of a pain because I had to epoxy the washers to the nuts to stop them from sliding around.



Filler plate to support box and carpet



New floor panel. This is clever because the same board becomes the bottom of the box after it's installed to allow for access to the under-floor storage. This way I don't have to carry the original floor piece with me.



Custom cut carpet. I traced the factory cargo mat onto some cheap rubber-backed carpet from home depot. This stuff is quite grippy (much more than the factory mat), but the rubber is so soft it rubs off easily, littering the floor with little rubber kernels.



Make some cuts in the carpet to allow it to drop into the underfloor storage compartment. Also made holes to line up with the unistrut nuts in the channel.





Place box over carpet and position holes over the channel nuts. Bolt it down using truss head bolts. This is pretty tricky and resulted in my cussing a lot and kicking a drill (drawing blood in my foot) but I eventually got it.



Floor board is still out, allowing access to underfloor storage.



Continued...

Side boxes are attached with three screws each. Hinged lids allow for storage inside while keeping the top surface area nearly full width for stacking stuff on top.





Floor board still out.



With floor board inserted. This is the same board that makes the under-carpet floor board when the box is removed. (I make trips where I'll take it out for some recreation and put it back in repeatedly.)



Under-floor storage is easily accessed without removing the box.



Now I can fit A LOT of stuff in there. this is enough gear for me to do several weeks of communications contracting work as I travel between sites and have some fun along the way.



This fits six standard milk crates inside plus two tool cases, and a third in the under-floor storage. Or four 1.5 sized milk crates (like the green in this pic) plus the same tool cases. Or some other mixture. This combined with my rocket box gives me a lot of room for tools supplies and equipment (and a set of golf clubs too!). Ladder goes on the roof too using yakima's canoe brackets. Works great.

I don't have blueprints to post, but if anyone wants to try and build one I'd have plenty of data to share.

THE END

Nice work, I also built in some storage in the rear of my X. I wanted a place to put recovery gear and tools and still leave room for the dog.

Nice....I'll tell ya, Xterra Owners Have to be the most creative People on Earth...Good Job Guys !!!

Looks great! good thinking.

Yeah, definitely some great ideas. Zimbop, I like the use of the rubber seal to keep screws and little parts falling off it, thats pretty clever.

Mistah, where did you find the carpet? Looks like a pretty good match.

Both those setups look awesome! Good job!

I found carpet similar to his at Home Depot. It's thin and has no backing so its easy to wrap and glue it to stuff, it's more like really thick felt. I'll probably coat mine with something like that but I'm out of time to work on it now. "Done is better than perfect" one of my old bosses used to say. Time to pack to car and hit the road.

Looks good..

Very nice setup!

How do you plan to hold down the containers on top? As they will fly around on sharp turns. You wouldn't want them to fly around or threw the side windows in the event of an accident.

Thanks,
Stone

Items will be filling that space so they won't be flying around, they'll be penned in. The edging does a pretty good job of holding things pushed up against them. Heavier items that slide around sometimes bump over the edge. However for most of my travel this space will be filled with suitcases, and other items up to the sides of the cargo area (which is why I made the edging flexible so I can put items on top of it if necessary). The totes you see on top now will actually ride in the rocket box, except the tall blue one which may get left behind because it's just too big.

For working around town after I've arrived at my destination, most tool and equipment items will be stashed below, clothes and suitcases will be moved into the hotel room, leaving the platform vacant. It then serves as a workbench which will stay mostly vacant except when I am assembling something there, drilling, etc.

Mistah, where did you find the carpet? Looks like a pretty good match.[/QB][/QUOTE]

My stepdad drives tractor trailers and had a load of vehicle upholstery (SP?), I happened to help him with his gas milage by making the load lighter.

both are real nice work!

thats pretty dang crafty