Did another project over the last month. Finally buttoned it up yesterday. I've had an ARB fridge for ages. Even hard wired in the ARB harness to my house battery. I knew that driving around with it just sitting in the cargo area wasn't smart so I typically left it in the shed and only took it out for trips. Even on trips it would bang around and felt unsafe. I like the idea of having something that is reversible and didn't want to just start drilling holes in the floor. For ages those 4 cargo tie downs in the FJ62 (sorry 60 owners) have just looked like prime places to build out a flexible cargo solution. I wasn't sure what I would do or want long term so I decided to turn the tie down points into risers mounts for some basic aluminum extrusion. I came up with a concept and 3d printed, fit checked and then decided to machine them out. I've made a few changes since this was all done.
It's hilarious that I cut the carpet for these tie downs ages ago, but never really realized how much I missed by?
It took a ton of measuring and prototyping to get the distances close. One thing I wanted to achieve is that all four risers are the same part. So the whole thing is symmetrical. The truck tie downs are at different widths front to back. That is to say that the ones near the back seat are closer together than the ones near the tailgate. So I had to "split the difference" and flip the risers around. A photo will show it later and hopefully that makes sense. You'll see that I slotted all the holes in my part so the slop could be taken up and part of that was to accommodate any poor measuring I did. I also wanted to make sure I could square up the extrusion rails. The 3d printed parts were good but they can bend easily when you're putting this kind of stress on them so I wasn't fully convinced after just printing them. One of the pictures below shows one really bent. Not sure if that was mounting or just being out in the sun with PLA. I was trying to pull down the extrusion to the carpet so it was nice and tight.
I had to buy some 2x4 extrusion. Which is the biggest chunk of aluminum I've ever bought. Put it in the falling bandsaw and cut out four blocks. It took ages to cut.
You can see those crusty tie downs in the background ha! My part is in that block of aluminum somewhere. Just got to get it out.
Here is the basic process. 3 operations in total, the last being the slotted holes in the base. The next version if I ever make them isn't as bulky and has more clearance for the bolted holes. It's getting fun to do these projects on the CNC. I'm no professional and in fact I broke my first endmill making these. Learning a ton and it keeps me busy.
All four of them are DA sanded. The machining marks were a bit unsightly so I decided to just touch them up. Once it's all done I don't think you'll see these, but I like them better with this satin finish.
I used 1x2 extrusion for the basic rails. You'll see them here in a second. I had to buy these main pieces cut to specific length and have them end tapped. I guess I could do that myself but it just seemed easier to order it that way. I was a bit nervous that I goofed the lengths. I left all the fasteners loose so I could shimmy stuff around and get it square. I left that gap at the top so I could slide the t-nuts in without having to undo it. One of the changes I made to the model after all this was to shorten the end of the riser so the same could be done for the sides.
Here's the first rail in place. Did pretty well on the fore and aft measurements so the whole thing snugs up nicely with the slotted holes.
The main square. So many options for sliding the cross beams where I want them. Can lay whatever I want right on top of this platform.
Adding more pieces and ready for the fridge slider. I wanted the fridge to be over as close the wheel well as it could be so I put that 4" side piece in to kick the slider over. The longer piece near the front too. I could shorten it up if I didn't want it visible I guess?
I have had this slider for years. It's awesome to finally see it installed.
Little bit of wiring to clean up. I printed some t-nut wire ziptie pieces for
@NookShneer and he project he was doing but they don't fit my extrusion so I'll have to find something different.
My now "vintage" ARB fridge in place. The slide amount is good. I can't go any further forward because of the design. To be honest, there is only a few inches before the tailgate would become a problem when closed. I like it. I'm going to try and convince a coworker to CNC route a nice piece of plywood for the empty space. I contemplated a drawer but I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. Maybe I'll shop around. Thanks for reading along.
@red66toy says he already wants a set of these so they must be cool. Sorry to any FJ60 owners I guess drilling and nutting these down would be an option?