Replacing rear seats with storage box

Title pretty much says it all. Im looking for pictures and ideas. I took my back seats out and i want to make a storage box where they used to be ive seen a few guys do it and i like the idea. Write up would be nice if you know of one.

when i first read the tittle i tought u were making seats out of like milk crates or something haha sorry

thats one way to cut down on weight

cas

hey, an idea, look for some of those tool boxes that fit along the side of truck beds, We found a pair of em for 50bucks, alum diamond plate. didnt put em inside, instead bolted them to seperate cargo raks that go into hitch reciever.

lazarus said:

hey, an idea, look for some of those tool boxes that fit along the side of truck beds, We found a pair of em for 50bucks, alum diamond plate. didnt put em inside, instead bolted them to seperate cargo raks that go into hitch reciever.

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Thats a bit much im lookin for something a little more low profile.

From IntrepidXJ's site: http://www.myxj.net/tech/storagebox/.

I have a large rubbermaid action packer bolted to the floor and seat brackets where the rear seat used to be. Works great and fits great in that location. I would post a pic but I don't have on of it currently.

Mambeu said:

From IntrepidXJ's site: http://www.myxj.net/tech/storagebox/.

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x2

Something that might be worth looking into: a van option was offered on some years of the export-model XJs; basically, this meant no rear seats and no glass in the rear doors or side windows. From what I remember, the floors were also flat behind the front seats, but I don't remember if this was done with a removable piece or something that was permanently welded-in. It may be something to investigate, however.

casm said:

Something that might be worth looking into: a van option was offered on some years of the export-model XJs; basically, this meant no rear seats and no glass in the rear doors or side windows. From what I remember, the floors were also flat behind the front seats, but I don't remember if this was done with a removable piece or something that was permanently welded-in. It may be something to investigate, however.

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I would really like to see one of these......

96XJCLASSIC said:

I would really like to see one of these......

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Been trying to find a photo of an older one, but only the KJs with this option are turning up: look here. If I can find an XJ, I'll post it; this was the first bodystyle XJ I ever drove, so would like at least find a reference to them if nothing else.

Edit: think I've found a couple. It's a little difficult to tell in some pictures, but the giveaway is in the rear doors - if they don't have the vertical divider for the windows in them, it's probably a solid metal panel. Other giveaway: to the best of my knowledge they will always have the 2.5-litre turbodiesel with manual transmission, and be described as a 'commercial'. Links below are all to classified ads, so hopefully people will be able to see them before they finish their run.

Ad with interior shots: http://tinyurl.com/gb6nu
Better interior shots: http://tinyurl.com/emy98
One in blue, showng the window panels a bit better: http://tinyurl.com/hgyf5
Grey, showing the window panels pretty well: http://tinyurl.com/r55vz

http://tinyurl.com/eufk7
http://tinyurl.com/krjso
http://tinyurl.com/zjoj6

This was a factory-supplied option, and is actually pretty common in Ireland (and other European countries) on lots of different types of vehicles, not just trucks and 4x4s. Basically, by removing the rear seat and windows and selling the vehicle with a diesel engine it's considered to be for commercial use rather than as a private passenger vehicle. As a result there are breaks given on road tax (which is based on engine displacement), insurance, and sales tax, and some fuel costs can be recouped in income tax. And yes, they did come that way in the earlier body style as well; the first one I ever drove was (IIRC) a '93 or '94 van.

Here's a simple storage compartment I made for the backseat. (looks better with Hurculiner on it now!)



Gary

OBX Fisherman said:

Here's a simple storage compartment I made for the backseat. (looks better with Hurculiner on it now!)

Gary

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I like this one. Keeps the box at the same level as the rear area. Should be able to fit longer items in there when necessary.