T@B Aluminum Platform

John_and_Kris

I have seen these boxes before. If secured to the Platform you are locked into where the fumes go. I would feel safer with the ability to move the generator so as to have fumes blown away from the T@B. We will probably get this tent for our generatorhttp://www.gentent.com/GenTent-10k-p/gt10kb00tb.htm

Mr_Mrs_Gnome

REI has the black 8 gal Rubbermaid Action Packers for $29.95. Better than the $45.00 elsewhere. The 24 gal is $44.95. Picked up an 8 gal yesterday with part of my REI dividend check.

jkjenn

I just got one from there last week. Really fast shipping, too.

lara9209

jkjenn said:

I just got one from there last week. Really fast shipping, too.

ditto ... had started on Amazon, but realized there was an issue when they had the 8 gallon priced higher than the 24 gallon!

REI it is ...

Mr_Mrs_Gnome

REI is having a sale that ends on May 30, and if you're a member, you get 20% off any one full price item.

ethelouise

Thanks for the tip.  Ordered 2 action packers and some straps.  Got my 20% discount, too!

jkjenn

OutbackAZ said:

I ordered this one from Kotula's for $130 to put in front of the propane tub to house my inverter.  Not too big at 24" W x 12" D x 12" H.  A custom one made for $160 seems like a great deal based on the price of this cooler.

http://www.kotulas.com/deals/aluminum-diamond-plate-ice-chest-and-cooler

@OutbackAZ would that cooler fit on the outback platform? It appears that it would hang about 2" over the end.

Tabaz

Nope, its too wide.  It will actually hang out from the side 4."  Would look very strange.

pthomas745

I don't know if you remember this thread from a couple of months ago.  I ordered custom aluminum boxes after reading this thread, and another FB thread:

http://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/2726/custom-diamond-aluminum-storage-boxes-for-outback#latest

I changed the dimensions slightly to make them as tall as the propane box, and a little narrower to avoid the handles:  16 x 12 x 19 1/2.  I bought mine in the "milled" aluminum, not the diamond aluminum.  I'll have them by Tuesday.....

Ratkity

@pthomas745 sounds great! Can't wait for pictures

jkjenn

pthomas745 said:

I don't know if you remember this thread from a couple of months ago.  I ordered custom aluminum boxes after reading this thread, and another FB thread:

http://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/2726/custom-diamond-aluminum-storage-boxes-for-outback#latest

I changed the dimensions slightly to make them as tall as the propane box, and a little narrower to avoid the handles:  16 x 12 x 19 1/2.  I bought mine in the "milled" aluminum, not the diamond aluminum.  I'll have them by Tuesday.....

Thank you, I was looking for it and couldn't find it!

pthomas745

Here is the Facebook link to another owner who did the same thing, using the milled aluminum style.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208355963312869&set=p.10208355963312869&type=3&theater

And, thanks to Mr. Lay and Redufresne who kindly answered all of my questions.

Pictures will have to wait...heading for Death Valley next weekend, and a friend will install them for me while we are there.

pthomas745

These are the milled aluminum boxes that I custom ordered.  I again want to thank Mr. Lay (from Facebook, not sure if he is on these forums) and Redufresne for their assistance. 

This shot is from my cell phone, and the distortion on the extreme wide angle lens is very misleading.  The boxes do fit inside the handles.

On the picture right (driver's) side, the lid barely scrapes the handle as I open it.  I'm assuming the propane box is not completely centered on the platform, something I did not take into account when I measured everything.  On the left (passenger) side, the lid opens freely all the way.  Even if the boxes were slightly wider, the lids would still open more than 70 or 80 degrees, and would probably not hinder their usefulness at all.

The boxes were just placed on the platform for the photo op.  In Death Valley this weekend, a friend will mount them for me.  His idea is to mount them with a draw hasp so they can be locked to the trailer, and easily removed if I want to.  I'm a bit unclear on the mechanics of this,  to be honest.  My friend is a BMW motorcycle expert and has done dozens of pannier bags that slide on and off different motorcycles.

I'll have pictures of this mounting process by next week.

Edit:  The Zamp fitting is still easy to get to.......

jkjenn

I didn't want to permanently mount boxes, yet, until I live with the set-up for a bit so I looked into other options. One of my ActionPackers took a hard blow last year that made it usable for storage inside of the TV but not for exeterior storage. I found 2 options that looked good and were stackable.

The first were Alu-Boxes by Equipt Expedition Outfitters. The second were Cub Storage boxes by Frontrunner outfitters. Both are stackable and part of larger systems for either your TV or roof rack. Both offer the benefit of straight uo and down walls instead of tapering, as well. 

I went with the lower cost plastic Cub Pack boxes, for now. I plan on stacking at least 2 boxes (they are not very tall) on one side and using the other side for my 2, 5 gallon portable grey tanks and possible my 5 gallon scepter water jug. 

pthomas745

Those are great boxes.  Your Googleability is much greater than mine!

jkjenn

pthomas745 said:

Those are great boxes.  Your Googleability is much greater than mine!

I once told my young nieces and nephew that  my superpower was being a Google Ninja.

Actually, I just search the overland forums because there is enough cross-over.

pthomas745

Here is the better photo of the aluminum boxes mounted on the T@b.  The original plan was to attempt a fancy draw hasp apparatus to make the boxes easily removable.  But that wound up being a little over the top for such a simple mod, and I didn't want my friends to waste a precious afternoon in Death Valley planning it out.  Eight bolts drilled through the platform later,  I had wonderful extra space. (The one on the left held chocks, lego blocks, wheel and hitch locks,  the hitch, the water hose, various tools, and other items too numerous to mention.)
The box lid on the left of the photo swings easily with no restrictions.  The lid on the right side box does barely scrape the handle.  My poor measuring is at fault here.

The perspective is still a bit weird here......

texasaubiefan

@jkjenn - wanted to know your experience w/the frontrunner boxes.  I order two and got them in and they seem solid, but very small.  I was hoping to get everything for "setup" in them - like electrical, water, sewer (using my outback tub for that) - but jeez these are tight.  @pthomas745  - can you PM me where you got the aluminum setup?  

Ron

pthomas745
Would you change any measurements if you, me, was to order again?  Is diamond plate available?  Might not show the rock dings quite as much. Thanks

jkjenn

texasaubiefan said:

@jkjenn - wanted to know your experience w/the frontrunner boxes.  I order two and got them in and they seem solid, but very small.  I was hoping to get everything for "setup" in them - like electrical, water, sewer (using my outback tub for that) - but jeez these are tight.  @pthomas745  - can you PM me where you got the aluminum setup?  

I haven't had a chance to takze them out, tet, but I have 4 of them. They are small, I agree. 

pthomas745

Ron said:

pthomas745
Would you change any measurements if you, me, was to order again?  Is diamond plate available?  Might not show the rock dings quite as much. Thanks

I am not sure where my measurements went wrong, or, if my measurements were correct and something else is wrong. I haven't gone back and looked at this very closely, but I'm guessing I did not suspect that the propane box may not be exactly centered on the platform, and so I did not take that into account.  I measured the left hand side first, and I probably decided that would work for the right side, and so I didn't measure carefully enough on the right side.   (My woodworker friends in Death Valley rolled their eyes when I said that.)   The other possibility is the handle that scrapes against the lid may not be installed at the same angle or same place as the left side handle. (That, of course, would take me off the hook for missing the measurement!) In any case, the lid only barely scrapes the handle.

A quick and dirty answer would be you could take a 1/2 inch off the width and both boxes would clear the handles by a mile.  The better answer would be to realize both boxes may have to be slightly different sizes, and measure both sides carefully.  These trailers are pretty much hand made, and I bet each propane box is in a slightly different spot on every platform.

Diamond plate is available.......

I put this link in an earlier post in this thread, and want to thank Redufresne for all the good advice.  There is also a Facebook link in an earlier post with a good discussion. You could make them wider and ignore the handle issue, since the lids will still open at least 70 degrees and allow good access.
http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/discussion/2726/custom-diamond-aluminum-storage-boxes-for-outback#latest