P300 rear storage and dual battery
#1
P300 rear storage and dual battery
In the process of building out the rear of my new defender and thought I'd share some photos. Hopefully they will help others out.
I was a little disappointed with the rear storage space in the new defender compared to my LR4, so I had to get creative. I'd seen the under floor foam block in person and figured there was lots of space being wasted, but didn't want to pull one out at the dealership. There is a lot of room in the under floor compartment with the foam box out and many pre-tapped M6 bolt holes in the floor. So, I made a simple plywood platform that bolts to these existing holes to give myself a nice flat surface to work off of (there are studs, raised sections, etc. on the floor itself).
Having made platform, which is one inch off the floor, I placed my second battery (UB121000) and ARB twin compressor with 1-gallon tank on the platform. It fit very well and would have been a good way to mount them, but there was still a lot of space leftover. I had a two-drawer system in my LR4, so I would need somewhere to store all my stuff. Given the narrowness of the rear opening, drawers wouldn't be a good option with a fridge.
So, I did some measuring and came up with a 10.5" deep. 11" wide, and 27" long under-floor storage box. The box has a small rise in the back to clear an existing bracket. The box was easy enough to make, but replacing the floor itself was a bit trickier (unless you have a adjustable jigsaw). The edges of the floor are tapered.
For material, I used 12mm finished maple plywood. It is about the same weight as the plastic floor and didn't collapse when I climbed on it to tie down the fridge. Another useful bit of information, is the P300 has a few holes in the floor that could be used for battery cables, diff breather, etc. I still need to tackle the wiring and figure out how to run battery cables from the main battery to my redarc charger (and cables to the roof for a solar panel). I could easily run battery cables from the engine compartment and under the vehicle, but that is a lot of wire (especially when the main battery is only about 3ft from the second). Looks like I'll be pulling some trim. There are some cable channels that run under the seats, but I haven't figured out where they go yet. It would have been way too convenient if one of them led to the main battery compartment.
Thats a lot to read, but hopefully someone finds some useful info. Keep in mind that I'm not a carpenter, so it isn't perfect. I'll post more pics/info as the build progresses.
I was a little disappointed with the rear storage space in the new defender compared to my LR4, so I had to get creative. I'd seen the under floor foam block in person and figured there was lots of space being wasted, but didn't want to pull one out at the dealership. There is a lot of room in the under floor compartment with the foam box out and many pre-tapped M6 bolt holes in the floor. So, I made a simple plywood platform that bolts to these existing holes to give myself a nice flat surface to work off of (there are studs, raised sections, etc. on the floor itself).
Having made platform, which is one inch off the floor, I placed my second battery (UB121000) and ARB twin compressor with 1-gallon tank on the platform. It fit very well and would have been a good way to mount them, but there was still a lot of space leftover. I had a two-drawer system in my LR4, so I would need somewhere to store all my stuff. Given the narrowness of the rear opening, drawers wouldn't be a good option with a fridge.
So, I did some measuring and came up with a 10.5" deep. 11" wide, and 27" long under-floor storage box. The box has a small rise in the back to clear an existing bracket. The box was easy enough to make, but replacing the floor itself was a bit trickier (unless you have a adjustable jigsaw). The edges of the floor are tapered.
For material, I used 12mm finished maple plywood. It is about the same weight as the plastic floor and didn't collapse when I climbed on it to tie down the fridge. Another useful bit of information, is the P300 has a few holes in the floor that could be used for battery cables, diff breather, etc. I still need to tackle the wiring and figure out how to run battery cables from the main battery to my redarc charger (and cables to the roof for a solar panel). I could easily run battery cables from the engine compartment and under the vehicle, but that is a lot of wire (especially when the main battery is only about 3ft from the second). Looks like I'll be pulling some trim. There are some cable channels that run under the seats, but I haven't figured out where they go yet. It would have been way too convenient if one of them led to the main battery compartment.
Thats a lot to read, but hopefully someone finds some useful info. Keep in mind that I'm not a carpenter, so it isn't perfect. I'll post more pics/info as the build progresses.
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