Diy under seat storage

I ended up going the route mentioned by some other people. 2 layers of 3/4” plywood and catering trays. Sprayed everything with bedliner. Ended up being very inexpensive and a great solution. I prefer the raised bins for deeper storage and the seats act as lids when they are down. Took a bit of tweaking here and there to get everything squared up and tucked under. Works like a charm now!

 

Well done!!!

 

I like it. With the exception that it will be a PITA to take the floor liner out to clean or just in general.

 

With it being a truck and have kids, inside the bed and the back seat are the two areas I’ve given up trying to keep clean. Lol. Love the Weathertech floor trays. I just wipe them down or wait for the kids to spill a water bottle to clean them. I had a lockable cover on my previous Tundra that allowed me to have a tool box strapped down inside the bed for storage. Haven’t decided if I want to bite the bullet and buy another cover, so this was the best way for me to keep my stuff secure and organized.

 

Since everything just drop in and is not bolted down, it is actually fairly easy to remove.

 

Been wanting to do this mod since I got my “new” 2015 Platinum a couple of months ago.

Started on it today.

Outer dimensions that I cut carpet and foam to:
Driver Side - 12” Wide x 14”
Center - 15” wide x 14”
Passenger - 11” wide by 14”

- Used yellow crayon to mark carpet.
- Made cardboard templates. An improvement I would recommend is connecting the three templates to align properly. Like saybng shows earlier in thread.
- Cut carpet with utility knife (new blade). Cut as deep as you can to get carpet and first layer of soft foam.
- Cut thick layer of hard foam with a multitool with wood blade. Mostly made it down to the metal floor. It was a snap to cut and make straight cuts.
- Used metal ruler to chop any foam sections still connected before I could remove the foam in one piece.
- Trimmed up the carpet and soft foam with scissors.
- Used multitool to clean up any hard foam to form nice boxes.
- See pics attached.

Next steps are:
- Make wood walls for each box
- Run wood strip to connect the front of the boxes
- add wood divider to make the small areas in front of the seat bolts
- paint black
=> will publish next phase when done

 

Phase Two: Today I made the boxes, painted them and installed them. While I have the skill and tools to make the boxes with some kind of joinery, or glue and nail, I was getting lazy on this mod when I remembered I had my Kreg pocket hole jig. Boom, 3 boxes in 20 mins.

Box sizes were not exact to what I listed above since I was not 100% accurate in cutting to the crayon outline. So, I measured each box wall separately and cut to that size to fit the hole. I decided on 4” height, but could have done 4 1/2” height to meet up with the bottom of the seat.

After installing each of the boxes, I realized why the original poster put the front and side extra wood. It is like a trim and I was considering doing that. I did not think the extra little space was worth the additional effort.

When I put my WeatherTech back down, it kind of hides the storage, but does not really look good near the door, as the liner is raised about 2” from the door sill. I will cut the liner to open up the holes and then I will not have to make the “trim”, as the liner will hide the carpet to box wall transition.

Worst part? Getting the soft foam that was under the carpet out of the carpet in the truck. It seems like it got everywhere!

 

I think the weather tech or similar mat is the way to go for me. I travel with my dogs and was trying to figure a way to have a lid on the storage. Initially considered a hinged lid across the entire length to accommodate a long gun. Bu think I will have to go with the bin strategy. New to the group (2020 platinum) so pleased with all of the help available.