Boot / Parcel Shelf

[ir803]

I am in the process of buying a Rav4 2006 XT-3. they have the standard rollerblind style parcel / boot shelf cover. is there a rigid version available OR does anyone make a rigid version. I will be carrying expensive equiptment in the boot and allthough it is insured I'd rather it be secure, I have thought of making a shelf and attaching it using the slots already there OR converting a dog cage but I thought I'd bounce it off the forum first.

any ideas are most welcome. (might save some dodgy DIY ;) )

[anchorman]

I am in the process of buying a Rav4 2006 XT-3. they have the standard rollerblind style parcel / boot shelf cover. is there a rigid version available OR does anyone make a rigid version. I will be carrying expensive equiptment in the boot and allthough it is insured I'd rather it be secure, I have thought of making a shelf and attaching it using the slots already there OR converting a dog cage but I thought I'd bounce it off the forum first.

any ideas are most welcome. (might save some dodgy DIY ;) )

Welcome to the club

I'm not sure that a stronger parcel shelf is going to be any use. If they are in the car they only need to tilt the seat forward and they are in the load space. I think you need a lockable strong box and fashion some kind of secure fixing to the boot floor.

This kind of thing;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aluminium-Tool-Safe-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck

[ir803]

woo hoo it's done.

So to start with i'll say, this is not to be a bomb proof cover it's just to cover the boot better, hide whats in it and it looks more solid so hopefully is a visual deterant too.

this is the raw bit

this picture shows the shelf covered in speaker box felt fabric.

> this picture show the aluminium bar fitted into the original holes the original soft shelf sat in. it is locked to length with two bolts which keeps it very solid. (it won't need to come out often for me anyway)

last one - two shots of the shelf in place from the front and the back. It's pretty solid. and because of the height of the Rav boot I can get gear in and out without lifting the shelf. If I had more money/time/patience/sanity I would have sliding bolts at the edge of the boot so the shelf could lift or rotate for more access. but this serves my purpose.

[local hero]

woo hoo it's done.

So to start with i'll say, this is not to be a bomb proof cover it's just to cover the boot better, hide whats in it and it looks more solid so hopefully is a visual deterant too.

this is the raw bit

this picture shows the shelf covered in speaker box felt fabric.

> this picture show the aluminium bar fitted into the original holes the original soft shelf sat in. it is locked to length with two bolts which keeps it very solid. (it won't need to come out often for me anyway)

last one - two shots of the shelf in place from the front and the back. It's pretty solid. and because of the height of the Rav boot I can get gear in and out without lifting the shelf. If I had more money/time/patience/sanity I would have sliding bolts at the edge of the boot so the shelf could lift or rotate for more access. but this serves my purpose.

IR 803 this is great, I posted a topic asking for ideas for a parcel shelf and got virtually no response, and you have just upped and done it, well done, couple of questions, where do you get the speaker box felt ? and how do you get it to follow the contours so well, is it stretchy, did you use original shelf as a template, Woodwork part would be no problem, but not sure about the covering. once again great stuff, nice to see someone trying something different

[Guest Snowy3]

Thats pretty darn good! i'd like a parcel shelf but i do need to drop my seats quite often (for horse stuff) so am thinking of tinting the back windows instead. Good job!

[Robert6920]

'Struth, I'm seriously impressed! It looks better than the OEM version by a very long way. I take my hat off to you

[dave.m]

IR803, thats an excellent job, is that insulation board you used ? Good call if it was

[anchorman]

Mot too painful if you get it rammed in the back of the bonce either!

Nice one

[ir803]

thankyou to everyone who has helped with suggestions on this.

firstly, it's Wicks 1inch thick insulation board (foil backed) double layered (that kind of happened as I made it, but seems to work well) I basically took an offcut and drew a rough shape of the corner and then cut it and tweaked it with sand paper until it was a snug fit bearing in mind fabric was going on after.

as I've said before - it's for as much peace of mind as it is a visual deterent, it just looks mre substantial, it's hard to move if you were to break the window from the back because it fits so well. It has to be slid in from the front with the seats down, I'm going to have a heavy duty seat cover made with some kind of Shell stitched in to cover the seat levers as I don't use then very often and again it's something to slow down oportunist thieves (paranoia is really fuelling this, oh and my love for my new toy) the speaker felt came from Halfords...not cheap. £17 for 2 metres and sadly it doesn't quite cover all underneath, there are two small bald patches which I will re cover at some point, as for applying it to the shelf, I used extra strong aerosol carpet glue, spray it on, wait a minute or two then stretch to shape and smooth (you get very messy and very furry).

As for safety - I am confident if I had a bang from the back the shelf would snap, crumble, shatter, all of the above, and as it sits below the top of the back seats it shouldn't cause any injuries. At the end of the day it's just foam board, it can support some weight but hit it hard and it will snap.

Once again thanks for the feedback, I was begining to think I was being ridiculous with this idea, but I feel a lot moe comfortable now it's there, and I am still thinking of tinting the windows too as extra privacy and security.

[Hoovie]

Looks a very neat job Great idea using foam for the safety aspect

I assume that you have lost out on adjusting the recline on the rear seats while the shelf is in place, but a very minor loss really

[LUIGI_]

That's a great idea and it looks amazing!! Any ideas for making one of these for a MK1 5 door (measurements, how to fix it to the boot ETC.)?

[Briawis]

Superb Job - I desperately need something like this for a '54 Plate 3 door - You have given me ideas.

Cheers

You should go into business :-)