As with everything on my truck, this project came out of a need that came up during a camping trip. On our last trip, we ended up with a total of 17 people for 4 days. As you might expect, between charging phones and speakers, there were a lot of little battery bricks floating around, and none were really up to the task by the end of the long weekend. We ended up running cars to charge batteries, which is obviously less than ideal.
I considered doing a dual battery setup, but we often camp a little ways from where we need to leave the car, so I'd rather have something mobile. So here is where I landed:
I found a nice solar generator that packed a reasonable capacity, was the right price, and was compact enough to build into the car. The best spot for this is the stock jack location.
Of course, this meant I needed to find a place to put the jack. I had been meaning to do a tailgate storage box for a while, so this seemed like as good a time as any. A buddy and I made a frame and doors out of plywood, then I used the same rubber matting that I recently covered the entire cargo area of the car with. I also took the opportunity to throw in some sound mat in the tailgate and inside the fenders
I considered doing a dual battery setup, but we often camp a little ways from where we need to leave the car, so I'd rather have something mobile. So here is where I landed:
I found a nice solar generator that packed a reasonable capacity, was the right price, and was compact enough to build into the car. The best spot for this is the stock jack location.
Of course, this meant I needed to find a place to put the jack. I had been meaning to do a tailgate storage box for a while, so this seemed like as good a time as any. A buddy and I made a frame and doors out of plywood, then I used the same rubber matting that I recently covered the entire cargo area of the car with. I also took the opportunity to throw in some sound mat in the tailgate and inside the fenders
