james6546
Well-Known Member
That does make sense and a sliding lid would make a useful platform to put stuff on and cook on, but hard to get stuff out once it is slid out. Do you mean the floor extends out past the outside of the defender? That is kind of a cool idea for a sleeping platform, I bet it would be a pain to make the tent part though. I can get to the compartment from the inside of mine, but the idea is mostly that I'll put my tools in it, then stack stuff on top of it and it isn't really visible to anyone who might want to steal stuff. The handle I got from ebay is also recessed for the trap door thingy, works really well.Looks good. I'd been chewing over similar ideas to create hidden storage in mine and I wanted to be able to access the storage compartment from above as well. My thought was being able to get gear out but from inside the vehicle, or should anything occur that would result in the rear door being damaged/inaccessible (RTA, breakage, zombies outside, weather, whatever) so I'd been thinking of recessing several smaller compartment lids into the floor to enable me to get to specific bits of kit. I was also thinking of using yacht locker style lift up stainless steel ring handles - these recess into a space as well giving you a nice flush finish. I was also chewing over the idea of the whole top section rolling out as a oner separately (the compartment lids would be mitred into it like yours so would remain in situ when the whole floor section pulled out - compartments stay behind). The idea being to rig up some type of support for that section with either folding/pack away legs to support it from below or some type of strap to support it from above - straps going up from the furthest 2 corners to the roof rack maybe. This would give you a secure table or worktop. Does this make sense to anybody besides me?
Anyhoo, good thread, enjoying watching the ideas develop.
I used mine last weekend, and first impressions are pretty good, there is masses more space and stuff is just so much easier to move about. Especially with tea making stuff in the draw. The fridge is still usable too which was a worry as it is quite a way off the ground though. Only negative is that it seems to have stopped working except when the engine is running, but I think I have an earth problem going on so need to investigate that.
Some negative aspects that I need to think about:
- when the cooking platform is down I can't open the draw more than 20cm or so
- the matting I used dents really easily which sucks. It's comfy to sit on though
- I need a step so I can get inside!
- there is now nowhere to put the gas bottle when cooking, are there any rules involving extending the gas line?
