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Rear storage box


Widespot

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I have an idea for building a rear storage box on the back of my 1987 Toy Itasca ... I know the bumper really isn't built to hold a lot of weight, so I was thinking of building a box that attaches directly to the outside rear wall of the coach ... I would like it just to hold my generator (about 40 pounds), a 5 gallon can of gas and my spare tire. Anybody ever do anything like that? Am I crazy, stupid, naive ... ? All of the above?

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Widespot,

With the generator, a five gallon can of gas and a spare tire, you'll have about 120 pounds, or so, back there. I've taken the rear of my '85 Doplphin apart to repair it and there isn't very much framing there that you can attach anything to. I know some people have hung only their spare tire on the back wall and had problems with just that back there. I suppose you could do what you're proposing but you'd have to find a way to beef up the rear wall before adding all that much weight. Where is your spare tire now? Could you get by with a two gallon can of gas? Maybe it would be easier and less expensive if you beefed up the rear bumper a bit and used it to carry some of the weight.

Also, try to visualise all that stuff tumbling down the highway behind your motorhome.

John

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Thanks John ... Yeah I wondered about the integrity of that back wall ... right now I have my spare tire on a rear bumper rack ... Probably the bumper beef-up is the best way to go ... and yes 2 gallons would be fine .... I always go into overkill mode whenever I tackle a project...

My wife saw me posting this and let me know, by the way, she doesn't want a box on the back .... "It would look funky." .... whatever ...

I'm always thinking in survival mode too ... I would like to be self contained in case Armageddon breaks out ... :)) .... maybe a smaller generator and a one gallon can of gas will do ...

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sombody beefed up the rear bumper on my dolphon and it has a recever i would never tow but i bought a cargo platform from harbor freight i haul a table or my xtra dump tank on it or 1 gallon of gas for my 850 watt china generator . i carry my generator in the side storage use for battery charging or a light.

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post-6188-0-25822700-1339983785_thumb.jppost-6188-0-09621300-1339983662_thumb.jpHere hopefully are a couple of pics of my storage box. built by PO. Left side was for generator and right side storage. I use both for storage. love it would not leave home without it. Edited by 90micromini
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The box was done by previous owner , cant help on cost. But if your in the portland area and want to copy it. just holler..........

There are two recievers on each side welded to the frame and the box is capable of sliding on and off. The bumper is bolted to the frame under the recievers. The spare tire is sitting on the bumper and is bolted into the box which is locked. I even carry a white water kayak on top of the box and have had no problem...................works fine.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I found that beefing up your rear bumper/frame and adding a diamond plate tool chest is the best solution. Also adding a roof rack and Yakima boxes REALLY allows you to actually bring things with you. I keep my firewood, chainsaw, propane grill, and wet kayaking gear in the diamond plate tool chest and it works awesome. The tool chest must be a 48 inch wide chest to fit inbetween the brake lights (brake lights are 50 inches apart). My diamond plate chest is 48x20x20, perfect size to hold everything.

Timmy

www.timmystoyota.blogspot.com

post-6327-0-06071800-1341007466_thumb.jp

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I too have an87 Itasca and wished for more storage.

Had a rare afternoon off yesterday so I installed the bumper extension I had been planning on for a month. Still need a few finishing touches but managed to get most of it done in a few hours with some planning.

I picked up the 4" bumper tubing and cover off of a RV Surplus website. The shipping was costly but the material was resonable so it balanced out somewhat. The notes in the gallery images explain the process a bit but this required some welding.

Bumper 4

Edited by Back East Don
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An Update for Alan

Was adding the finishing touches to the bumper project and found that the cover really didn't open enough due to the wider at top than bottom design. I went to Tractor Supply this afternoon and found a much longer box with what I felt is a better lid lip design. Should be better at keeping water out at speed. Was $99 so not cheap but fits better and holds more.

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  • 7 years later...
On 6/29/2012 at 6:19 PM, Back East Don said:

I too have an87 Itasca and wished for more storage.

Had a rare afternoon off yesterday so I installed the bumper extension I had been planning on for a month. Still need a few finishing touches but managed to get most of it done in a few hours with some planning.

I picked up the 4" bumper tubing and cover off of a RV Surplus website. The shipping was costly but the material was resonable so it balanced out somewhat. The notes in the gallery images explain the process a bit but this required some welding.

 

Bumper 4

Don,

I'm curious if you had to strengthen your frame rails where they attach to the original Yoda frame. I know this post is from 2012.

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