The rear bench seat of my Jeep spent most of it's life in a Christmas tree storage bag... and I had a similar plan once I traded my Jeep in for a Bronco. But I was pretty bummed to learn that it was a lot more work to add/remove the rear Bronco seats (bolts, sensors, and tools? wtf!)... so, I just went scorched earth and ripped everything out, along with the seatbelts.

With the rear seats out of the bronco, the floor is pretty ugly, with random bolts, holes, and cuts in the floor liner. It was gonna be pretty annoying to use as a "truck bed" this way, so I did what many others have done, and started researching/designing a flat "bed."

Goose Gear's system looks nice but is frankly overpriced. I didn't need the modularity that they offered, and didn't really like that the tool storage bin required more tools to open. I do like their fit and finish though, so I decided to build something similar, that fit my needs.

Materials:

• Cabinet grade 3/4" plywood (given to me by a trim carpenter buddy 😁)
• 2 - double offset piano hinges for a flush mounted storage hatch
• 2 - M12-1.75 x 60mm allen bolts to secure the platform to the old seat attachment points
• 8 - M8-1.25 x 40mm allen bolts. 4 to attach the platform to the front supports, 2 to fill holes from the rear factory d-rings, and 2 to attach the rear of the platform to the rear d-ring holes
• 4 - M8-1.25 x 20mm threaded inserts to attach the front supports
• 6 pocket screws for the front supports
• wood glue
• black primer
• raptor bed liner kit

And with that, I scribed everything out, made a cardboard template, cut the plywood and supports to size, counter-bored and drilled holes to mount the platform to existing attachment points, routed the edges, sanded everything, sprayed it with raptor liner, and installed it!

I also added a 1/4" rubber mat to the top for more protection, grip, and because it'll just be easy to pull out and hose off when it gets dirty. I picked this up at Fleet Farm, but they also have it at Tractor Supply. It came with a pretty gnarly smell, but I left it out in the sun for a couple weeks while periodically washing it and it's mostly dissipated. So, I scribed the back of the bronco again, this time on top of the platform, and cut the mat to tightly fit the sides.

I'm super happy with how it turned out, but like any project, I learned a couple things that I might do differently if I tackled again.

1. I wish I would've waited to drill the finger hole in the hatch. I'm thinking about putting a keyed latch on the door so that the storage is actually secured while the top's off. I won't need the finger hole once I do that.
2. I wish I would've masked the interior plastic with blue tape. Lightly dragging a piece of wood along the side to scribe my template was enough to scratch the plastic. I also got a few scuffs from taking the platform in/out during the build process. Cheap-ass Ford plastic...
   But, it's a truck and a toy. These won't be the last blemishes.
3. I wish I had a bit more practice with spraying bedliner. This was my first time and I got a bit of tiger striping on the big piece. It's barely noticeable once installed, and its already softened a bit over time... but it still bugs me.

Here are some more photos of the build!