2manyprojects
Active Member
Storage under the rear seat for my '20 Tradesman seems lacking, and I happened upon a product carried by Cabelas / Bass Pro Shop which I thought might be worth trying. This molded plastic bin is manufactured by Du-Ha, and advertised as an organizer / gun case for the '19+ Ram trucks. With a one-day Cabelas discount code and some credit card rewards pts burning a hole in my pocket, I ordered one up.
It's simple to install and is held by a single large lag bolt (huge!) which threads into the hole behind the center cupholder after removing a plastic plug.
It's designed to extend the front edge of the floor shape slightly forward and up to the bottom of the seat when the seat bottom is returned to position.
I spent quite a bit of time fitting different combinations of things that I would like to carry, as well as different firearms, as the advertising shows it capable of holding two long guns with the included inserts.
The inserts slide into molded slots, and are notched with foam to hold the barrel and stock of two long guns.
Overall, I was underwhelmed with this unit. It does provide additional storage capacity in that the higher front ledge allows more gear to be stacked higher in the right and left factory pockets. It keeps items from sliding out onto the floor while driving and everything is out of sight when the rear door is open. Unfortunately, the rear edge of the bin is proud of the floor and really limits placing items further to the rear under the seat. The bin allows you to segregate and "organize" items to a degree, but overall seems to actually reduce the space available for storage.
As for the gun case, I tried a number of different rifles and shotguns, and was only able to comfortably fit one; a Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle with it's unique low-profile, forward mounted scope. Any regular rifle with a scope would sit too high, getting compressed by the seat bottom more than I was comfortable with. Any AR/MSR/black gun; forget it, unless you just lay it across the bin loosely without the inserts. The stock also took up critical space in the middle of each storage pocket, and while other items could be placed around the stock or barrel, I wasn't comfortable having things riding up against, potentially wearing on the firearm.
At a retail price of $200, this just doesn't provide me enough value to keep it, so it's getting returned.... Now I'm thinking of a home-built fold flat floor.
It's simple to install and is held by a single large lag bolt (huge!) which threads into the hole behind the center cupholder after removing a plastic plug.
It's designed to extend the front edge of the floor shape slightly forward and up to the bottom of the seat when the seat bottom is returned to position.
I spent quite a bit of time fitting different combinations of things that I would like to carry, as well as different firearms, as the advertising shows it capable of holding two long guns with the included inserts.
The inserts slide into molded slots, and are notched with foam to hold the barrel and stock of two long guns.
Overall, I was underwhelmed with this unit. It does provide additional storage capacity in that the higher front ledge allows more gear to be stacked higher in the right and left factory pockets. It keeps items from sliding out onto the floor while driving and everything is out of sight when the rear door is open. Unfortunately, the rear edge of the bin is proud of the floor and really limits placing items further to the rear under the seat. The bin allows you to segregate and "organize" items to a degree, but overall seems to actually reduce the space available for storage.
As for the gun case, I tried a number of different rifles and shotguns, and was only able to comfortably fit one; a Ruger Gunsite Scout rifle with it's unique low-profile, forward mounted scope. Any regular rifle with a scope would sit too high, getting compressed by the seat bottom more than I was comfortable with. Any AR/MSR/black gun; forget it, unless you just lay it across the bin loosely without the inserts. The stock also took up critical space in the middle of each storage pocket, and while other items could be placed around the stock or barrel, I wasn't comfortable having things riding up against, potentially wearing on the firearm.
At a retail price of $200, this just doesn't provide me enough value to keep it, so it's getting returned.... Now I'm thinking of a home-built fold flat floor.
