that is the dumbest thing I've heard this week....... I wish I had 6cubic feet less of storage because it allowed 2 cubic feet maybe of storage.
Someone needs to come to the rescue with a solution. There is a little bit of a well. I would gladly spare some cargo room and raise the floor up for some storage. There’s some room on the driver‘s side to make some sort of filler piece.
How did you remove the floor above this well? Fasteners are not apparent.Someone needs to come to the rescue with a solution. There is a little bit of a well. I would gladly spare some cargo room and raise the floor up for some storage. There’s some room on the driver‘s side to make some sort of filler piece.
That's not wasted space that was created for cup holders, that's the wheel well. You know how the rear wheels have lots of articulation when going off road, guess where the tire goes when it's up high in the body.Regardless of the well below the floor, I have to think there's a lot of dead air space inside the big wasted outgrowth of interior plastic that Toyota created just to accommodate cupholders for the small number of 4runners that have a 3rd row kiddie seat. On both sides.
Using a zoomed portion of Vincenzo's photo:
If someone were brave enough to take a multitool and cut out an opening like I show here in the black area, a 3rd party could make a plastic storage insert that slides in (leaving about 1.5 inches of margin all around the cutout so the storage insert has a surface for a flange to bond to).
Seems like the only thing that would be inside this dead air space would be the sheet metal for the wheel well, at the bottom. And this storage insert could even be shaped so that it slides in with more storage area toward the front of this air space (like the yellow arrow). The access door could just be a pop-in/out panel as long as it had some rubber insulation so it doesn't vibrate.
If reasonably priced, the creator of this aftermarket storage bin would probably sell a kit to nearly every 4runner owner that doesn't have 3rd row seats--which is most 4runners.
It would even be useful if the creator of this only made it for the driver's side since it seems like a good amount of space--probably 3-4x the center console storage space.
OR: Alternatively, maybe the top cupholder portion is just snapped in place, and some sort of top-loading drop-in storage could be done.
This whole area could’ve been storageRegardless of the well below the floor, I have to think there's a lot of dead air space inside the big wasted outgrowth of interior plastic that Toyota created just to accommodate cupholders for the small number of 4runners that have a 3rd row kiddie seat. On both sides.
Using a zoomed portion of Vincenzo's photo:
If someone were brave enough to take a multitool and cut out an opening like I show here in the black area, a 3rd party could make a plastic storage insert that slides in (leaving about 1.5 inches of margin all around the cutout so the storage insert has a surface for a flange to bond to).
Seems like the only thing that would be inside this dead air space would be the sheet metal for the wheel well, at the bottom. And this storage insert could even be shaped so that it slides in with more storage area toward the front of this air space (like the yellow arrow). The access door could just be a pop-in/out panel as long as it had some rubber insulation so it doesn't vibrate.
If reasonably priced, the creator of this aftermarket storage bin would probably sell a kit to nearly every 4runner owner that doesn't have 3rd row seats--which is most 4runners.
It would even be useful if the creator of this only made it for the driver's side since it seems like a good amount of space--probably 3-4x the center console storage space.
OR: Alternatively, maybe the top cupholder portion is just snapped in place, and some sort of top-loading drop-in storage could be done.
I'd be surprised if the top of the wheel well sheet metal went much higher than the bottom of the cutout I drew in. The gas filler tube may take up some space inside this area though.
Does seem objectively dumb but stay with me… The flatter floor would be so much nicer for me and easier for my two dogs too, at least I’m guessing it would. They’re older and not appreciating the seat height difference in the back. The height to jump in isn’t the issue but they haven’t figured out what to do with the mismatched levels. When I have them in the just cargo area they complain the whole time since that’s not what they’re used to.
The hybrid does have a little storage bin.
