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Cargo solutions?????

badmix

badmix

1/2 ton status
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Nov 7, 2004
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Location
West Virginia
I have a couple ideas for securing cargo in the back of my Blazer. I carry alot of survival/camping/hurricane preparedness gear in a few heavy duty plastic boxes. I need a way of securing them. Im getting close to eliminating the rear seat all together cuz I never use it, save space and weight.

I have a roll bar and was going to put a couple horizontal braces across to seperate the cargo area from the front section behind the drivers seat. So I think this will work to keep gear back there. But I want to secure it from bouncing around.

What I had an idea of doing was like the military does in cargo planes, they have a track system that has D rings that you can move to any location. Is there anything like this for trucks? Im sure there and what kind of strength is in those. Going over bumps and off roading will put alot of stress on the tie downs and whatever else its secure to. If anyone has links/pics or more info, let me know.

All ideas, comments, suggestions welcomed :D
 
im not sure if this would work but its an idea, the newer trucks have the cargo management systems in the bed of the trucks, you might be able to rob one out of a wrecked truck and install it in the back. if done right that would probably work because those are used to secure whatever you throw in the back...just a thought
 
I suspect you'd prefer an off-the-shelf solution, but in the vein of the air cargo tracks, your local hardware store has unistrut, C-channel with holes drilled every few inches. Bolt it open-side down onto the floor (on each end, maybe in the middle if it's a long chunk) and voila! You have tracks.

You can use bungee cords for the little stuff, ratcheting straps for the big and just hook into the holes. You could go hog wild with it, weld a nut on, say, every fourth hole, and then bolt down D-rings as required... but that's work.

-- A
 
There you go. Looks nice, and you can build your own from stuff at the local hardware store for a quarter of the price :haha:

-- A
 
Yea Ill work on that. My other thing is seperating the cargo area from the back of the front seats. I want to keep the rear foot area cleared of anything, but want some kind of divider incase stuff slides forward, etc. I want something that looks good and is easy to take down if need be.

For those that eliminated your rear seats, what do you do to keep gear from moving around? I need everything mobile, portable and non permenant.
 
As far as the cargo tracks, there is something out there but I can't recall the name right now I think they used it on the trailer they made on xtreme4x4.

I am doing something similar in the back of my burb. Using c-chanel with holes drilled every 2 inches along the sides. Placing it on the floor so it looks like a U then bolting it down to the floor every few inches. I found some some small latching pins at Tractor Supply, the ones used to keep trailer hitches from coming undone. I will be able to reposition them in seconds to fit the load and they latch themselves into the c-chanel. I am also thinking of having the trailer safety chain locking caribiners as the actual "latch hook". Basically insert the locking pins into the chanel and through the caribiners inside the chanel. Then just use ratchet straps to secure the cargo.

To seperate the cargo area look at some of the gates they make to keep dogs in the back. Or find a local police car to look at, if you have never had the opportunity to check them out from the back seat. If you are doing a roll bar making a gate shouldn't be too hard. You could just add the mount brackets to the roll bar and make the gate to where it is hinged in the middle so you could fold in down half way. It would also make it easier to remove and store if it folded in half.
 
I dont have any idea on price, but toy hauler trailers usually have something along the lines of what you are looking for too. Might be worth looking if you have a trailer grave yard near you.
 
funny i came across this thread today, i just got back from the shop where i was taking care of my "cargo restraint" problem.
The first thing i did was build a frame with a center post to hold to 2 ammo boxes for my ujoints/small fluid containers/fuses etc etc etc. basically it has a square frame with a center post and a peice of flat 4x4 plate on top with a pin for quick release, the boxes cant move an 1/16 of an inch in any direction now and nothing gets in or out (even upside down)

the second thing i did for larger totes, (camping junk, recovery tote) was build 6x cargo tie downs out of 1/8x2"w-3"long flat steel, I bent them at 45* and drilled holes to hook my cargo net in and 3 holes for self tapping screws into the deck. ill have to get a pic next time at the shop but they work well enough to keep everything stationary in the cargo area of my truck and in a tight bunch!

best of all, the steel came out of the scrap and all it cost me was a few hours of fab!:D
 
Got any pics????????/

Im still looking for ideas. I have what I want in my head, but not sure how it would work out. I shouldve bought a 'burb, not a K5. lol. Ive got too much gear I want to carry.

I thinking of tracks like cargo planes have, so I could move the tie downs up and down the track. also thinking of just 2-3 bars going across and mounted to my down tubes of my roll bar. This would keep stuff in place for the most part.
 
The problem I've experienced with the K5 is the floor strength. I have no idea if the trucks are any better or worse, but I put an engine in the back of mine (oil pan sitting on the bed) and bent the hell out of the floor. Of course, a small block is what weight, concentrated on a 6x6" patch of bed? It may have been on a sheet of plywood too, can't recall.

Just something to consider. I would imagine that pulling up would be equivalent, but depends on how tight you are torquing on the straps.

That cargo solution you linked looks pretty cool, if you could use large enough bolts, you could go through the floor AND the frame to make it solid.
 
Go to your local hardware store and just walk around the aisles and see what they have.

For my main large tool/trail box I wanted something that kept it secure but was fairly easy to remove periodically for cleaning out the truck. This box does not get removed from the truck when I get something out of it on the trail, so another important item was that I could open the lid without having to undo tie downs. I found a set of smaller sized aluminum turn-buckles along with a combination of hoops (looks like a long bolt that the head has been turned into either a "C" or "O") that allows each end of the turnbuckle to attach to. A pair it bolted onto the floor and another pair into the side of the box. Simply connect the two with the turnbuckle and give it a few twists to tighten it. Been using this for years on my trail truck that gets used pretty hard. It takes way longer to empty the box so it's light enough to remove from the truck then it takes to securely fasten it in and requires no tools.

For smaller items kept in small boxes that frequently get removed (like small carry toolboxes, or my favorite military ammo cans), build a small frame from angle iron the boxes sit on, then use Jeep style hood latches attached to the frame that then attached to the box. About 10 seconds to pop the latches and pull the box out, and stays very secure. A buddy of mine has 2 Jeeps and a rail buggy he switches between pending what trails we are riding that weekend, and with this method he is able to keep two 50 cal. ammo boxes with trail specific tools and stuff needed for any of the three rigs but only takes seconds to swap them around.
 
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