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The First Mod Every 6th Gen 4Runner Owner Should Consider: Double Your Usable Cargo Space
- Thread starter AmericanAdventureLab
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@AmericanAdventureLab
Any update on the Hybrid model options or the possible second row delete? I had your platform on my last Wrangler and loved it and used the heck out of it. I am hoping to get a similar product with second row delete on my hybrid.
Any update on the Hybrid model options or the possible second row delete? I had your platform on my last Wrangler and loved it and used the heck out of it. I am hoping to get a similar product with second row delete on my hybrid.
So my system came today and I installed it this afternoon. It consists of:
The base/platform (of course)
2 - 6” drawers
1 - fridge slide
It’s definitely not the fanciest setup, but due to the modular nature I could always add more if wanted/needed to.
First off, every part/section was shipped individually and packaged better than anything I’ve ever received. I’m sure the boxes could have fallen out of the back of a semi with no damage! Every piece was in perfect condition after unboxing (which took a bit due to the multiple layers of packing).
Secondly, this stuff is built extremely well. I had pretty high expectations, and they were definitely exceeded. The way everything bolts together definitely makes for a very stout system that I expect will hold up to anything I’ll put in it, as well as many miles of travel. I haven’t driven the 4Runner with it installed yet, but i don’t expect any rattles or noises.
They do mention it’s advisable to use medium duty (blue) thread lock on all fasteners, so I did, and likely would have anyways as I use thread lock on anything attaching to a vehicle.
I only have two critiques over the install process.
The first is that the base frame gave some difficulty with aligning to the factory bolt holes they chose to use. There are six substantial attachment points. It took quite a bit of tweaking to get 5 aligned. I could have slotted the holes in the frame more than was done by AAL and likely got the sixth hole to align, but I instead opted to just put a thin strip of butyl rubber under that particular point to eliminate a potential future vibration/rattle and call it good.
In fairness to AAL they mention there will likely be a bit of this difficulty in the instructions (which are very good by the way). According to them this is due to variations in the mounting points between vehicles. After looking at these bolt holes and the way they are welded in at the factory I can definitely see how there is probably variation enough to cause some difficulty like I experienced. I could likely be an extreme case, and others may have all six holes line up with no issue.
The base is so stout, and the attachment points so substantial, I have no worries about the lack of the sixth bolt. This system is very overbuilt for anything I can throw at it.
The second issue was more a miscommunication than an issue. When I placed my order, I did it over the phone as they were having some issues with their website that day. Based off the recommendation of the person I talked to, I ordered 12 of the “HD MASS connectors” (4 per component to be installed on the base or stacked on another component).
These are not compatible with the 4Runner base as far as I can tell. The drawers and slides came with bolts to attach them to the base/attach when stacking. I likely won’t pursue returning them as they weren’t terribly expensive, and it did provide me a few extra of the same style bolts used to attach things to the base. Every component now has 8 attachment points to the base or the drawer below it in the case of the fridge slide.
I didn’t take any completed pictures as it was/is pretty late when I finished the install, but I’ll take some tomorrow and post them.
If you made it this far you are probably interested in the system, so the big question is would I recommend it/buy it again?
Definitely! There are several similar drawer systems out there, but for my use case the AAL was perfect. I’m looking forward to setting up the drawers with tools/recovery gear as well as a few other things.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I’m not a big review writer/photo poster, but I’m highly impressed with this setup, so I think it’s worth a few minutes to write a decent and honest review for anyone else considering it!
The base/platform (of course)
2 - 6” drawers
1 - fridge slide
It’s definitely not the fanciest setup, but due to the modular nature I could always add more if wanted/needed to.
First off, every part/section was shipped individually and packaged better than anything I’ve ever received. I’m sure the boxes could have fallen out of the back of a semi with no damage! Every piece was in perfect condition after unboxing (which took a bit due to the multiple layers of packing).
Secondly, this stuff is built extremely well. I had pretty high expectations, and they were definitely exceeded. The way everything bolts together definitely makes for a very stout system that I expect will hold up to anything I’ll put in it, as well as many miles of travel. I haven’t driven the 4Runner with it installed yet, but i don’t expect any rattles or noises.
They do mention it’s advisable to use medium duty (blue) thread lock on all fasteners, so I did, and likely would have anyways as I use thread lock on anything attaching to a vehicle.
I only have two critiques over the install process.
The first is that the base frame gave some difficulty with aligning to the factory bolt holes they chose to use. There are six substantial attachment points. It took quite a bit of tweaking to get 5 aligned. I could have slotted the holes in the frame more than was done by AAL and likely got the sixth hole to align, but I instead opted to just put a thin strip of butyl rubber under that particular point to eliminate a potential future vibration/rattle and call it good.
In fairness to AAL they mention there will likely be a bit of this difficulty in the instructions (which are very good by the way). According to them this is due to variations in the mounting points between vehicles. After looking at these bolt holes and the way they are welded in at the factory I can definitely see how there is probably variation enough to cause some difficulty like I experienced. I could likely be an extreme case, and others may have all six holes line up with no issue.
The base is so stout, and the attachment points so substantial, I have no worries about the lack of the sixth bolt. This system is very overbuilt for anything I can throw at it.
The second issue was more a miscommunication than an issue. When I placed my order, I did it over the phone as they were having some issues with their website that day. Based off the recommendation of the person I talked to, I ordered 12 of the “HD MASS connectors” (4 per component to be installed on the base or stacked on another component).
These are not compatible with the 4Runner base as far as I can tell. The drawers and slides came with bolts to attach them to the base/attach when stacking. I likely won’t pursue returning them as they weren’t terribly expensive, and it did provide me a few extra of the same style bolts used to attach things to the base. Every component now has 8 attachment points to the base or the drawer below it in the case of the fridge slide.
I didn’t take any completed pictures as it was/is pretty late when I finished the install, but I’ll take some tomorrow and post them.
If you made it this far you are probably interested in the system, so the big question is would I recommend it/buy it again?
Definitely! There are several similar drawer systems out there, but for my use case the AAL was perfect. I’m looking forward to setting up the drawers with tools/recovery gear as well as a few other things.
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I’m not a big review writer/photo poster, but I’m highly impressed with this setup, so I think it’s worth a few minutes to write a decent and honest review for anyone else considering it!
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