We also foresee a mountain of gear being stacked on top of the drawer system, and in case of emergency braking or a rollover situation all those bits can become deadly projectiles. To try and keep our heads clear of bumps and bruises, Slee also installed a Milford steel cargo barrier to keep camping, camera, and cooking paraphernalia in the back where it belongs.
Our Ultimate Adventure trip has been to many off-the-beaten-path destinations in the past, and having a stocked cooler always makes for a more delightful time. This year, Slee Off Road also equipped us with a 35-quart Engel USA fridge freezer. The Engel unit will keep everything from beer to ice cream perfectly chilled and the unit efficiently runs off of 12 or 24 volts DC or 110 volts AC. The Engel piece can run at nearly any angle and erases the issues of melted ice water ruining our lunch. To secure it to our drawer system we used an Engel transit lock that holds it tight.
We took the Ultimate FJ to Poison Spyder Customs outside of Denver for an internal cage. The PSC crew spends long days welding up buggies, Jeep cages, and various tube body armor so our request for a cage that would still allow access to the back seats, all dash knobs, and reclining of driver and co-pilot seats was well within their skills.
Poison Spyder fabricator Chris...
Poison Spyder fabricator Chris Collins rolled out about 40 feet of tubing and quickly twisted up a halo design cage with six down bars. The 131/44 x 0.120-wall DOM tubing is all bent with a hydraulic bender and was tightly fitted together for TIG-welded joints.
With all the legs and halo...
With all the legs and halo bent, they were removed from the cage and painted before final install and welding. By leaving just the joint areas unpainted, the PSC team reduced the chance of overspray when painting the cage within the cabin. After welding, the small unpainted areas were quickly covered in a satin black finish.
In order to get the tops of...
In order to get the tops of the cage joints completely welded, the entire cage needed to be dropped about 4 inches. This was done by first shortening each leg slightly and then making a sleeve that is welded to the base plates which are bolted to the floor. Once the top joints are welded, the cage is pushed up into place and the legs are fully welded and plug-welded to the sleeves.