My intent is to contain as much dog/fur as possible. Gridwalls wouldn't work in that case. With how much GSDs shed, simply opening a window usually results in air circulation and an immediate mouthful of fur. So the original idea was to make a fully enclosed crate (with small openings for air flow), making it fit the interior contours as much as possible (to maximize room). That idea fell through for two reasons: it's impossible to make that crate and get it into the vehicle through either the rear hatch or the doors, and it's ridiculously hard to match all of the interior contours, as many of them have bends in two directions simultaneously.
As part of this idea I built what you see in the photo, because that's the maximum amount of material that I can still fit through the rear hatch (at an angle). Now that it has fallen through, the next best thing is containing as much as possible, but not having a roof or some parts of the driver's side wall. No roof means no artificial limit to height, which then means the right wall can be a bit shorter, which then means the crate can be easily slid in through the rear hatch without being titled, which then means the front wall can be taller, as it will longer interfere with anything (since it's not being slid it at an angle). Phew.
What I've already done, but not pictured, is attached a pice of clear, 1/4"-thick plastic to the upper (open) half of the front wall (which sits against the 2nd row seats). This means that the dog/fur is largely contained, and the only visual obstruction to my rear-view is the 1/2" profile of the big plywood wall (ie. minimal).
I'm going to add a similar, but much smaller "window" to the driver's side wall, which will encourage the dog to stay laying down instead of popping up to see out the window, make a few small trims for better fitment around the seat belt hardware, make the mounting/attachment setup, and then it'll be ready for stain/finish. Will share the final result!
new shoes Ray 10s, wrapped in K02s 275/70/18
