[Spectre08]

I'm going to be putting a full-sized spare on my roof rack soon, and looking to do some serious upgrades to the storage area of my 5-seat 2016 Sport.

Once the spare is on the roof, this leaves a TON of empty space below the load area, and given that the Disco Sport already has so little interior storage, I don't want it to go to waste.

Other than just dumping stuff in there that has to be dug out, what are some ideas?

I'm thinking about possibly putting a water tank in there that would be plumbed to somewhere accessible for input and output, so I can build a permanent box in the load area, and don't need to access it.

Anybody done anything similar, or anything else?

 

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Water is an interesting idea! How about room for secondary batteries? or a small air compressor plumbed to outside as well. Both those would be heavy, but you'd be carrying the weight somewhere else most likely anyway. Tools too, but hard to access with a loadspace full of stuff. Maybe extra fuel bladder, but that would be dangerous and unwise. You could pack you some less-used parts and repair items if you're overlanding. Looking forward to what others have in mind. Fun post!

 

[Spectre08]

Water is an interesting idea! How about room for secondary batteries? or a small air compressor plumbed to outside as well. Both those would be heavy, but you'd be carrying the weight somewhere else most likely anyway. Tools too, but hard to access with a loadspace full of stuff. Maybe extra fuel bladder, but that would be dangerous and unwise. You could pack you some less-used parts and repair items if you're overlanding. Looking forward to what others have in mind. Fun post!

water seems like the most obvious.

Fuel actually isn't too dangerous. There are actually numerous aftermarket fuel tanks designed for exactly this application, because they're used all the time by hot-roders and drag racers. But they're expensive. If money were no object, fuel would probably be the easiest "turn-key" solution tbh. I could run down to Jegs and get a 13gal kit with a wheel-shaped tank, integrated pump, fuel gauge, and everything right now. The thought has crossed my mind, the Sport's stock fuel tank is infuriatingly tiny.

 

[ph001c]

I have my full size spare roof mounted when I travel, mainly for access should I need it. And I agree, once you move the space is pretty substantial. It's not really accessible if you have the rear loaded so anything you need in a hurry is out, tools, for example. When we went down to Baja, I packed the spot with the stuff we would need last. Then on the way back, we put breakable souvenirs, ceramics, shells and such down there since we wouldn't need them till we were home. Granted, that a pretty user-specific need.

I don't mind the size of the tank as I like to stop and get snacks and stretch the legs. Even in Baja I never touched the jerry can.

Unless you're thinking of somewhere really remote, Yukon, etc. then you might need the extra fuel. It's a good spot for something heavy (water, fuel) being low in the chassis and pretty much over the rear axle.

Anyway, why not leave the space flexible for a few trips and see how you might use it?

Ooh - I just had an idea. 12V beer kegerator.

 

[Spectre08]

I have my full size spare roof mounted when I travel, mainly for access should I need it. And I agree, once you move the space is pretty substantial. It's not really accessible if you have the rear loaded so anything you need in a hurry is out, tools, for example. When we went down to Baja, I packed the spot with the stuff we would need last. Then on the way back, we put breakable souvenirs, ceramics, shells and such down there since we wouldn't need them till we were home. Granted, that a pretty user-specific need.

I don't mind the size of the tank as I like to stop and get snacks and stretch the legs. Even in Baja I never touched the jerry can.

Unless you're thinking of somewhere really remote, Yukon, etc. then you might need the extra fuel. It's a good spot for something heavy (water, fuel) being low in the chassis and pretty much over the rear axle.

Anyway, why not leave the space flexible for a few trips and see how you might use it?

Ooh - I just had an idea. 12V beer kegerator.

Right now I'm doing preliminary planning for a water system as a start. I think I can get a 10 gallon tank and a pump in there with room to spare. Possibly enough room for an air compressor and small reservoir as well. If I remove the styrofoam as well it would give me an obscene amount of space to work with, but I'd have to put in supports for the load space floor. Not unrealistic though.

I have a couple months before needing to do any of this, so I've got time to plan. It'll probably go in at the same time I build my storage solution for the back, mainly because if I put in water and air I will need somewhere to have the fixtures, and there's no good options right now, but they would go easily in as part of my storage cabinetry.

One thing I'm even considering is removing the floor, and actually building my cabinets down into the well. Basically, laying a sheet of MDF across the bottom. My cooler and the stuff on the bottom layer would have to be lifted up and out to access, but it's not that big, and if it even buys me an extra 6 inches of height in the load space, that's a lot of new cubic feet to play with.