BACKGROUND:
I built this platform in the spring of 2018 in order to make it easier when road tripping and car camping to hold all my equipment. Total cost was $108 USD, all items were purchased at Home Depot and I had them cut the plywood pieces for the platform as well as the three plywood supports. Other cuts (for the 2x4s and drawer) were done at home.
Dimensions: width: 43 in, rear box: 29.5 inch, extension platform: 30.5 in, headboard: 11 in. Entire length: 71 in x 43 in (plus a bit for the carpet width). Flip down headboard could be built another 5 inches longer for taller individuals if the front seats are pushed all the way forward.
I looked at a number of different ideas throughout my decision process and build. The base/rear box of the platform I initially modeled off of this video and attached blog post (although I used 2x4s at the rear to hold it together rather than plywood and did a 2x4 at each vertical plywood piece to increase stability): https://youtu.be/t1SBVYEsFHY
A lot of Rav4 builds I've seen leave the back box portion open so they have easy access to the spare tire, but since I wanted to have a drawer this wasn't really possible. I kept the drawer smaller and to the right side where there is the single seat is in order to keep a clear path that would be long and wide enough to house my skis and snowboard. I live in the Boston area and wanted easy access to my rear seats so I could still carry passengers--thus it was necessary to create a product that was removable and could sit on top of the box in the rear trunk area.
Various materials I get asked about:
Draw Hinge: 90 degree surface mount hidden spring cabinet hinge
Drop Pins (purchase per bolt in store): 2.5 inch steel carriage bolts
BUILDING PROCESS:
I knew I wanted an open space on one side so I would be able to slide in skis/snowboard and other equipment and a drawer to keep some cooking supplies. I drew up a rough version of what I wanted with the dimensions of the rear of my Rav4 and the size of the cuts and headed to home depot for some plywood and 2x4s for stabilization.
(These are not the initial drawings, but are what the dimensions of the built platform turned out to be).
We started by building the rear box with three vertical rectangles of plywood and supports with three 2x4s. I included 2x4s so I would have something to drill into for the extension platform to connect with. The height of all of these vertical supports were 9".
And we added horizontal supports under the edge of the board with more 2x4s between the vertical 2x4s just to ensure there was plenty of stability for the front extension that would sit on it (probably unnecessary, but doesn't hurt).
(Obviously this was taken after I had already added the indoor/outdoor carpeting.)
Next we got started on the drawer. This was something I definitely had never built before and the whole process was mostly trial and error as the vertical plywood supports were warped in some areas, making if difficult to find a consistent distance to measure between. I used 18 inch drawer slides (if I were to do it again I would make sure to buy something with some sort of locking mechanism, as I ended up adding a barrel bolt lock to the end of the drawer to keep it from opening and shutting as I drive). I ended up about 1/4" off with the width measurement and had to add some width to the right side of the drawer so it would fit. Fortunately we had something on hand that worked perfectly.
Perfect fit! I made the drawer sides low so I would have plenty of room to work with the stove and stuff other things inside when not in use.
I really wanted to make a drawer with an extension area, so I had more area to cook with my cooking stove. So I used hinges that would allow it to go from 90 degrees to lying flat (this would allow the propane canister to sit on the fold-out).
I don't have photos of the process of cutting the front extension board, basically I just cut it to 43" x 30.5", so it would slide perfectly over the rear box to sit while I was driving and the rear seats were up. I spaced out horizontal supports underneath this piece at about the middle and near the front (with a 2x3 and a 2x4...I just said 2x4s in the video, just to make it simpler). Then I drilled holes from above the extension platform through the 2x4s for a place that the drop pins would be able to fall into for support. I cut the 2x4 vertical supports to size and used one by the middle/center of the platform and three towards the front -- fairly evenly spaced on the left, right and middle.
Then some indoor/outdoor carpeting was added (mostly with staples and some glue):
These photos are from before I added the 11" flip down headboard.
Adding on the headboard with some hinges.
THE FINAL PRODUCT:
And it works just as well for tailgates as it does for cross-country adventures!
The only thing that has changed since the final photos shown here was the addition of a barrel bolt onto the drawer to keep it from sliding in and out as I drive!
Winter setup with a couple pairs of skis:
Is the rear box 29-1/2 or 28-1/2 long? I was going to double-check measurements in our differe year RAV4, but nice to confirm yours. Also, is there any support for the fold down head board?
Thanks!
I see you have a magnet on the drawer. Did that not work in securing the drawer while driving?