rear storage space mod

[troyboy162]

I found this while researching getting a 99 rear panel for the increased storage space. I cant find the thread again but a guy I wheeled with once Brian has just simply removed the black box from his 96. I know mine is broken on a few of the attachment points anyhow. When you remove the box you open up much more room then even the 99-02 models have. The catch is things would be laying against the sheet metal, but those concerns can be over come pretty easily.

heres a post showing the room available back there on 96-98 and 99-02. 96-98 has more to gain, but theres more room to be had with the newer ones too.
http://www.yotatech.com/f2/more-cargo-stowage-mod-96-98-4runner-180108/

96-98 look at how much room there is! I'd almost forgotten that panel is hollow behind it.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb56/_ritz_/Cargo%20Panel%20Mod/misc040.jpg

[04 Rocko Taco]

Our 80 series is the same way. Huge spot behind that same panel. WE are hoping to use it for a sub/amp combo. Whole Hog makes a sub mount for in there, but its pricey, but I am confident that we can do something similar.

[4x4mike]

About a week after buying my 3rd gen I knew I had to do something with my cargo box. I had removed the panel to run some coax and the thought of removing the box crossed my mind. The black box has some ridges and bulges to hold some factory items and they were just in the way.

I ended up taking a dremel and cutting out all the bulges. This left some 1 inch wide 'holes' that show the white in the above pictures but opened up tons of room. In my cargo bin I can fit a fire extinguisher, 30' ARB strap, 100' 550 cord, multimeter, 2 shackles, 2 receiver pins, 3 flares, 2 sets of gloves, siphon hose, 1 roll of coreless toilet paper, quick steel, Gorilla tape, JB weld, code reader, receiver shackle holder, empty water bladder and zip ties.

Every once in a while something will shimmy through one of the strip holes and fall to the bottom and it's really hard to fish stuff out. I try to keep my flares upright in the strips as they are out of the way and kind of plug the holes but over time they slip down. I actually think I have one down there. Some duct tape would plug the holes but it doesn't bother me that much.

I bought a cargo door from an early 3rd gen, the small squarish ones, with plans of installing it on the driver side of the cargo area. I chickened out because I didn't want it to look too hacked but also because there is a lot going on back there. I have a sunroof so there are drain tubes plus there is a the filter thing on the large vent.

I keep quite a bit of stuff in the area under the rear passenger side seat as well. The little cubby is pretty big and perfect for things that don't need quick access. Under mine I've got a rain jacket, jumper cables, 4 way lug wrench, 1000w inverter, 4 ratchet straps, spare MAF, spare coil and a Gerber LMF II.