Cargo barriers - a good idea with a fully loaded boot?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Cargo barriers - a good idea with a fully loaded boot?

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Ge0rge

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#2970308 19-Sep-2022 21:05

jonathan18:
Ge0rge: So you have a local Spotlight? They sell all things fabric.

Sure thing we have a Spotlight; I’d assumed, possibly erroneously, that they’d not have had automotive felt, boot liner material, whatever it’s called, but certainly worth checking them out…

Absolutely worth a look - otherwise, and I've used this before for a set of DIY built-in drawers, have a look in Mitre 10 or Bunnings for their Marine Carpet - it has a rubber backing making it rot-resistant, and very easy to stick to ply with Ados F2 or similar.

jonathan18

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#2970313 19-Sep-2022 21:38

Ge0rge: otherwise, and I've used this before for a set of DIY built-in drawers, have a look in Mitre 10 or Bunnings for their Marine Carpet - it has a rubber backing making it rot-resistant, and very easy to stick to ply with Ados F2 or similar.

Great idea, thanks; I reckon something like this from Bunnings will be hard to beat:

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/q-decor-2m-light-grey-resin-back-velour-marine-carpet_p0313185

I’ve also found PU ‘leather’ on Ali Express, the advantage being it has 3M adhesive already on the back, but I think the texture and finish of a very basic marine carpet like this will be more far more suitable.

MikeAqua

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#2970377 20-Sep-2022 09:41

That looks rubbishy. In the event of collision you don't know if that barrier will still be held in place effectively. Looks to me more like the sort of barrier you use to keep a pet in the boot.

I'd go with a full height barrier, then you have the hole backseat preventing it form being pushed forward.

Also pack denser objects low and less-dense objects up high. Good from a centre of gravity perspective, but also if it's harder for a barrier to tilt back at the bottom, this mean's it's less likely to tilt forward at the top.

Or ... take less stuff 😃

Mike

trig42

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#2970381 20-Sep-2022 09:58

The issue with full height lump of ply is that you are losing space due to the angle of the rear seats. If you have the ply vertical against the top of the headrests, then you have lost all the space in the triangle from the headrests to the floor and forward to the bottom on the rear seats. If you have the plyflat against the rear of the seats (so angled backwards) you lose all the space above the top of the seats.

jonathan18

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#2970430 20-Sep-2022 11:05

trig42:
The issue with full height lump of ply is that you are losing space due to the angle of the rear seats. If you have the ply vertical against the top of the headrests, then you have lost all the space in the triangle from the headrests to the floor and forward to the bottom on the rear seats. If you have the plyflat against the rear of the seats (so angled backwards) you lose all the space above the top of the seats.

Yeah, I was mentioning exactly this point to my wife earlier today; I’ll need to check out the angle of the seats, but wouldn’t be keen on having them more upright to minimise this as that’ll make it less comfortable for the kids. Depending on the size and shape of the void, one option could be to pack relatively narrow stuff in the space (think tent poles, if we were taking a tent!) so as to pack it out so the barrier sits at 90 degrees.

duckDecoy

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#2970445 20-Sep-2022 11:59

jonathan18:
trig42:

The issue with full height lump of ply is that you are losing space due to the angle of the rear seats. If you have the ply vertical against the top of the headrests, then you have lost all the space in the triangle from the headrests to the floor and forward to the bottom on the rear seats. If you have the plyflat against the rear of the seats (so angled backwards) you lose all the space above the top of the seats.

Yeah, I was mentioning exactly this point to my wife earlier today; I’ll need to check out the angle of the seats, but wouldn’t be keen on having them more upright to minimise this as that’ll make it less comfortable for the kids. Depending on the size and shape of the void, one option could be to pack relatively narrow stuff in the space (think tent poles, if we were taking a tent!) so as to pack it out so the barrier sits at 90 degrees.

That's basically what we used to do, you'll find tons of stuff to fit into that empty triangle. We used to fill it with shoes and slippers and dressing gowns etc, stuff that can be easily stuffed in and squashed.

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trig42

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#2970473 20-Sep-2022 13:10

Another idea would be to have the plywood 'n' shaped, so there is a hole at the bottom you can pack stuff through.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#2970540 20-Sep-2022 16:07

I would probably go with having the plywood angled, although you'd want to investigate how much space you'd actually lose behind the headrests. I suspect not much. It would also lend itself to having very light, soft things packed there - pillows?

I'd probably go with 12mm or thicker structural ply. We're talking about forces large enough to potentially break headrests.

MikeAqua

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#2970994 21-Sep-2022 15:25

I'd be tempted to get mesh barrier and shape it to suit the back profile of the seats.

Or go with straight and accept the lost space.

Mike

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#2971009 21-Sep-2022 15:49

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned chicken wire and tek screws.

MikeAqua

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#2971990 23-Sep-2022 09:45

I keep my chicken wire in reserve in case I catch burglars.

Mike

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xor

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#2975589 30-Sep-2022 16:41

jonathan18:
Ideally the felt-like vehicle fabric (what’s the proper name for this?

Alcantara?

jonathan18

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#2992268 5-Nov-2022 17:35

Right, I finally got around to making this boot divider today, based on the really useful advice in this thread.

Went with 9mm ply in the end as I wasn't convinced that 12mm would fit in the 'groove' behind/to the side of the seats which means the board stays in place without support (and also means it is angled with the seats; actually wastes very little room above the seat height).

I had been going to use tape along the top to ensure the carpet edge stayed down but didn't realise how strong the adhesive was, hence the bits of ados you can see along the top from the back view! I also worked out after I'd bought the carpet I was best to wrap the ply from side to side with the join in the back (as it ensures clean edges against the sides of the car), so had to add an additional piece as it wasn't long enough. Oh well, I'd get it completely right next time!

Thanks again for all the ideas - GZ to the rescue once more...

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