Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

Here is a photo preview of an upcoming article about my Land Cruiser Cargo Box/Drawer System Build.

I finally got around to start building the cargo box/drawers for my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser.

My goal was to have have a place for my dog to ride as well as having quick access to tools and equipment without unpacking everything I had strapped down. I also needed a place to house an auxiliary battery since its not an easy task to locate a spare battery under the hood of an FJ80 powered by the 3FE engine.

Future photos will include the drawers and wings between the box and interior panels.

See additional photos at Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser Cargo Box Build

I guess I hit the big time (sort of). Anyway, I want to thank Mark D. Stephens and JPFreek Magazine about including my homebuilt cargo drawer system for the Jeep Wrangler in the October/November edition of the magazine. The article is titled Expedition Confessions: Ready Your Wrangler for a Multi-Day Adventure and my cargo box is featured on page 10.

You can view the pdf version of the magazine at http://www.jpfreek.com/Images/JPF-No4.pdf

As anybody with a sort wheelbase Jeep knows, it’s easy to run out of storage space fast. Jeeps were never intended to be multi-day expedition vehicles such as the Toyota Land Cruiser or a Land Rover, but we continue to try and make it work.

For my current needs, I decided that I would rather sacrifice the lack of storage space for a smaller, open-cab, short-wheelbase vehicle like a Jeep to maximize my adventures in the Pacific Northwest.

This article outlines my first attempt in maximizing the available storage space available in my Jeep.

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After getting my Jeep back together, I wanted to get a multi-day camping/road trip in. I wanted to see how my newly built cargo box was going to work and experiment with stowing camping gear for a 3-day mini-expedition plus a dog.

My goals for this trip weren’t to go wheeling, especially since I was traveling solo. I wanted to hit the back roads and travel as much gravel and/or primitive roads as possible, carrying all my supplies, stopping only for fuel as needed (since I don’t have a gas can carrier yet).

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This is a collection of photos taken between August 6-8, 2006 while taking a backroads tour of the Olympic Peninsula in my Jeep. The gallery features many of the scenic views from the overland routes driven including some from the Olympic National Park.

You can view the gallery at Olympic Peninsula Backroads Tour

Enjoy the pics.