Removing 3rd row flooring, what to fill recesses with?

[mikez71]

Wondering what I should use to flatten the floor. Should I fill the recesses with more jute padding or is there something better?

 

[Trey Hardy]

Get you a weather tech or similar cargo area cover and forget about it it’ll be out of sight out of mind

 

[mikez71]

Already bought vinyl flooring. Gonna look saggy without more padding at a minimum. The seat ramps really bugged me, and now the little recesses bug me. (old knees, I feel the bumps crawling in there) I want the floor to look and feel flat. (I'm OCD like that)

Something for the big voids and more padding is the plan, so far. Maybe a project for the 3D printer my son wants..

I swear every 1 mod turns into 3 minimum.

 

[Geotrash]

Already bought vinyl flooring. Gonna look saggy without more padding at a minimum. The seat ramps really bugged me, and now the little recesses bug me. (old knees, I feel the bumps crawling in there) I want the floor to look and feel flat. (I'm OCD like that)

Something for the big voids and more padding is the plan, so far. Maybe a project for the 3D printer my son wants..

I swear every 1 mod turns into 3 minimum.

Anything soft and moldable that you'll fill those cavities with is going to annoy you because it will give more than the steel it's stuffed into will, and your knees will still hurt. Best thing I can think of is resin if you don't mind an irreversible solution. Or, create a plaster mold and use resin to fill the mold. Then pop the molded resin pieces in there.

 

[Mean_Green]

What's your goal? What are you looking to accomplish in the end as far as use back there?

I have a plan for mine, but I don't know if it will do you any good.

 

[mikez71]

Anything soft and moldable that you'll fill those cavities with is going to annoy you because it will give more than the steel it's stuffed into will, and your knees will still hurt.

Roger that, was thinking the same thing. Another thing I was thinking about was making some plates that bolt in. (Even then I think about a bump around the bolt head.. rounded edges)

No special plans, sometimes I crawl in a bit just to get spilled groceries. Would like to not have to worry about getting jabbed in the knee anytime I crawl in there.

I have thought about drawers so I could sleep at the height of the 2nd row seats.. Also have thought about a bed-slide so I can keep most of my height for loading stuff. If did either, the flat floor will have been for nothing. But it may never happen, so a flat floor to start.

Want to get it right so I won't have to pull interior pieces out again.. afraid of snapping plastic bits!

What's your plan Meangreen?

 

[Mean_Green]

Plywood, covered with carpet. Something softer could be under it to conform to those humps. Wood deck would be bolted down using some of the factory holes.

Then E Track Mounted above the carpet. That gives a knee friendly surface that most things won't silde aound on, plus a secure way to tie things in place. The kit I'm looking at has what they call beam sockets that accept a 2x and are fully adjustable.



I've looked at them in stores and they can be oriented to hold a beam crosswise of the cargo area between the wheel wells. That gives the option of using as many or few as needed and moving them forward or back to adjust the size of any given area to account for your load, groceries, luggage , boxes, etc.


Crude sketch, but something like this:



2x6s would be tall enough to contain most things, but one set could be 2x8s if needed.

When not needed, they could all be removed and left in the garage. Other types of eTrack hardware could be used to secure other things.

 

[Sparksalot]

When I took the powered third row out of thethirdtwin.

 

[mikez71]

Interesting.. simpler than drawers, easy to remove..
Maybe have a folding lid that can cover and sleep on..

More to think about, thanks for the info mean, sparks, geo and trey!

I'm going to still level the stock floor first, but definately be thinking about these options while I'm working on it.. Hopefully get started in a week or two..

 

[Mean_Green]

I'll be leaving the stock carpet in, so I won't really be concerned with bumps as much. But I was thinking, maybe some packing foam? Not peanuts or bubbles, but the stiffer closed cell foam cut into strips. Comes in different thicknesses and may be available at local office supply stores. Shouldn't be any issue of moisture retention.