Recliners that will fold completely flat?

SkiMore wrote:
OP: Do you have any more pictures/info about your toolchest AC holder?

The box is a standard underbody truck box like this one from Tractor Supply.


I picked mine up off craigslist for $100.


The box was 18" tall by 18" deep and 48" wide. I cut the back 6" off the box because I didn't want it that deep. So mine is only 12" deep plus about an inch space between the back of the box and the door itself. The EU2000 is 11.4" wide so it just fits. This is what it looks like buttoned up and locked.


The back door of the van is 52 inches wide, so I got 2" angle iron and welded pieces to the sides of the box making it as wide as the door (48"+2"+2"=52").



On the left side I drilled holes in the hinges and put 3/8" bolts (with lock nuts!) through the angle iron and then the hinges. They hang spare tires off those hinges so it should be plenty strong. Here's a couple pics:



On the other side, having the angle iron go to the edge allows you to put bolts through the lip of the door and through the angle iron. I also added a piece of steel for reinforcement around the lock. Bent it at a 90 degree angle to reinforce the lip of the door and extended it to the lock bolts. Had to get extra long bolts for that. Probably didn't actually need the reinforcement but it was easy. I keep forgetting to paint it. Here's a pic:


I used an old bicycle tube sliced longways as a gasket between the angle iron and the door to keep from having metal-on-metal contact. The lower half of the door has a pretty serious curve in it and past halfway the angle iron wouldn't touch anymore. I could have cut the angle off there, but instead I cut the angle iron down the 'angle' and bent it into the shape of the door. This gave me more bolts to put through the lip around the door (with lock nuts of course!). Probably way overkill but more is better right? :) Here some pics:



I also ran a piece of angle along the bottom and put bolts through there too. Definitely overkill, but it won't fall off....ever :B

I don't have pics but I wanted maximum airflow around the a/c and generator so I turned the bottom of the box into swiss cheese. BIG holes too for maximum airflow. The shore power cable also comes up through those holes.

The box actually sticks out exactly as far as my hitch as you can see here:


The a/c is actually a 5000btu window a/c and is mounted through the back door. It's one with a digital remote so I can adjust it from anywhere in the van. The box doesn't actually support the a/c at all. It just hides it. The box only really supports the eu2000 generator and itself. And I can still open and close the door normally.

All these pics are reminding me how badly I need to wash it and touch up the paint. Stupid winter :(

SkiMore wrote:

Are you sure your seatbelt setup with the recliner is sturdy enough? Does it need to meet some DOT code?

The very back seat of the van was not removable (bolted down) and had the seat belts bolted directly to the floor just behind the seat. Those are the same seat belts I'm using now, so they're fine.

SkiMore wrote:

I'd be afraid it would recline or do something weird in an accident or short stop.

They actually lock pretty securely so I don't think it'd be an issue. The recliners are also very light overall. Not much mass and they're bolted down hard. Any wreck bad enough to break them free wouldn't be survivable IMHO.