WaterBrick holder for cargo area

[Robinhood4x4]

Well, my much loved laundry detergent water carrier finally bit the dust, quite literally by falling out and hitting the ground. You know those big costco liquid laundry detergent containers make fantastic water containers because they're cheap, don't leak, and you can fill them so they almost don't make any splashing noise. Unfortunately, they don't make them as big as they used to so I had to find a replacement.

Here's where I start my rant...Why can't somebody make the perfect water container?!?!?! All I ask is for one that doesn't leak, comes in a 3 gal and 5 gal size, can stand rigidly on it's own and be stable, and most importantly, the spout angles straight down, not crooked. Is that so hard?

I still haven't found it, but the WaterBrick is adequate. It definitely has it's shortcomings. The spout is on the very end of the brick so you have to prop it up at an angle to get all the water out. It's too long. It's impossible to get all the air out so it makes splashing noises all the time.

Sigh...

Anyway, I decided to make it work so I had to come up with a way to keep it from flopping and sliding around in the back of the 4runner. My usual method of using a strap to hold it down wasn't going to work because it's too tall and flops over. Plus, the nozzle rubs on the tonneau cover a little.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-PJ2TSwP/0/XL/i-PJ2TSwP-XL.jpg

I decided the best way to hold the WaterBrick was to make a frame for it that bolts to the floor and angle it slightly. This tucks it away in the corner and lowers the nozzle slightly. I used the existing cargo area hold downs.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-c3TJJD5/0/M/i-c3TJJD5-M.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-D9VQhhn/0/M/i-D9VQhhn-M.jpg

Next, I made the frame
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-S6dq25J/0/XL/i-S6dq25J-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-KCZN5kx/0/XL/i-KCZN5kx-XL.jpg

And then the bolt
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HxH6pVz/0/XL/i-HxH6pVz-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-56FwtvV/0/XL/i-56FwtvV-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-jmSTMXX/0/XL/i-jmSTMXX-XL.jpg


I happen to have a nice piece of square plate laying around and a carriage bolt with rolled threads. Rolled threads mean the diameter of the threads is larger than the non-threaded portion so the plate is captured.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-zvgfQbR/0/XL/i-zvgfQbR-XL.jpg

[Robinhood4x4]

Here's the finished product
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-j8s2k8S/0/XL/i-j8s2k8S-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8Cz5RWX/0/XL/i-8Cz5RWX-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WcxJ9qg/0/XL/i-WcxJ9qg-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3xrLQjt/0/XL/i-3xrLQjt-XL.jpg

I did end up stuffing some foam between the WaterBrick and the side to keep it from bouncing around too much. It would be much more rigid if I had bolted it down in a couple places but I was too lazy to do that.

So far so good though.

P.S. the tonneau cover still rubs on the nozzle, but...oh well...

[Seanz0rz]

Nice! I was looking at putting a couple of RotoPax inside the LX and one inside my Fusion for emergencies. But, I think I will stick to the portability of bottled water and swap it out every 2 weeks as I rotate through bottled water for work.

I really like that container. I have always been so disappointed with water jugs. Every single one sucks.

[Robinhood4x4]

I was thinking about the rotopax too, but those things are expensive and I didn't see a spout for them.

[4x4mike]

That's some good looking fabrication Steve. I've looked at the Water Bricks as a store very close to me has them. I like how you can stack them so easily. The Scepter MWC's are nice and strong but with the rounded sides, don't stack well.