Pass through storage hanging shelf idea

[CamperDude]

Hey all,

Was wanting to put a hanging shelf in my pass through so I could store my chairs on it. My first thought was to put a cleat on the pass through wall studs and the shelf on those. When I was looking at my walls I could only find studs on 1 side and spaced at 24". Didn't have a stud finder and couldn't get my snake camera back there so could be wrong . So I was thinking of taking a piece of plywood and screwing it to the top plate of wood and then have a cleat at the bottom of it. Just figured I do that to both sides and then have the shelf sitting on the cleats. I'm wondering in order to make the supports lighter about putting a pattern of holes in it. Maybe 2" or 3". Would that work and keep the strength and lose some weight? Thought about it for the shelf too but want to make sure I can slide the chairs in and out still.

Thought I would get some brainstorming here.

Thanks

Greg

[Steve&Camy]

I just loaded up the cargo bay of my 2500RL for the first time...the floor is full now and your shelf idea is just what I need too!

My requirements for this shelf would include:
- minimize weight (since it adds to tongue weight)
- avoid chairs/etc on shelf from sliding (when driving around corners)
- adjustable height of shelf
- shelf length = end-to-end lawn chairs

My first idea is:
- three 1x2 wood vertical "studs" screwed to 2x2 top plate, and to floor, on both sides of cargo bay (so shelf weight is on the floor).
- wood cleats screwed to "studs" at several vertical locations (or crawl inside to change cleat height)
- shelf made from 1/4" plywood with 3/4"x3/4" stiffeners glued to bottom (locate stiffeners so they are close to cleats on each end to prevent sliding)
or...make 1" thick shelf by gluing stiffeners between two sheets of 3/16" or 1/4" plywood
- velcro strap between shelf and ceiling to stop sliding(?)

I already made a 4 ft long 1/4" diameter hook to reach in to middle of cargo area to retrieve items

[CamperDude]

Yeah I wanted to minimize weight too. I wasn't planning on making it adjustable. Looks like 10" would work for my chairs with a depth of 42" (if I remember right). To keep them in I was thinking of some netting like this.

http://www.organizedobie.com/product...roduct_id=3307

Any reason you didn't just want to hang it from the top plate and not go to the floor? If it's screwed to the top plate then the weight is already on the floor, correct? I know you want multiple positions. I was not wanting to get in the way of my floor space. Instead of wood from the top plate I thought about aluminum plate and then a wood cleat at the bottom of it. Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F80VUYQ...I3370N10SJPFTS

For the shelf I was thinking 3/4" plywood but put a hole pattern to reduce the weight.

[Steve&Camy]

Camperdude...I have been measuring our stuff and our 2500RL cargo area to decide on a shelf. Like you, I have decided it is nice to not put anything on sidewalls under shelf so that nothing will catch on them. Now I am thinking of ~14" tall, 6" wide plywood plates ( 3 on each side) , similar to your aluminum plates, to mount to the top of the sidewalls with several wood cleats for shelf support. Maybe three screws across the top of each plate and one or two lower down into a 2 x 2 stud ( if there is a stud there). I would use 1/4" birch plywood I have which is much stronger than typical quarter-inch plywood. Might try half inch plywood shelf first, since I have some in stock.

If my shelf is 11 inches below the ceiling, I can put outdoor mat and lawn chairs on it and still get my gray water tank to slide underneath.

[CamperDude]

After chatting with another Imagine owner I think I am going to remove the wall panels and add some extra 2 x 2 studs so they would then be 12" spaced. Part of my front wall panel is coming off anyway and I was thinking behind that panel might be a place for storage of some smaller containers and my tool bag. The added studs would give me more opportunities to support a wood 1x2 cleat across without connecting to the top plate. I think I measured my chairs and I can get by with 10" spacing. I'll check again before I do anything. Hoping I can work on taking off those panels this weekend. If I do I will post pictures here.

[CamperDude]

Steve,

I went out to my camper last night to do a few mods. Got a couple done and then decided to do some exploratory surgery on the pass through. I took off the entire panel on the bedroom side and started removing the panel on the truck side. It was pretty easy just needed to pry the staples and they basically stay and pull thru the panel. I'm measured the height of the studs I will need so I can cut them at home and bring them to the camper. I'm only going to add a couple in the center of the ones already there. I think I will notch out one side so the wires can tuck in and put a metal plate over to protect them.

Here are a couple pictures I took. I'm also thinking of putting a shelf in the truck side since there is room in the nose.

[Steve&Camy]

Camperdude,
Thanks for the pictures, they show that putting screws into the vertical 2x2's is risky w/o knowing where the 120 volt wires are.
In homes with 2x4 studs it is easy to avoids wires that might be in the studs by using screws or nails no longer than 1 1/2 inches...no so in a camper.

[CamperDude]

Yep. I only plan on going down about 11" so should be ok.

[CamperDude]

Steve,
How would you attach the 2x2's when you add them between the existing ones? Just screws at angles? Angle brackets? Any other choices? Trying to decide.

[Steve&Camy]

CamperDude,
I would use a 2.5" wood screw (at 45 deg angle) starting 1 inch from end of 2x2 stud. It would penetrate the horizontal 2x2's about an inch.
You could use 2 screws at top and bottom (one on each side of stud) but each would have to be slightly off-center so they don't run into each other.

I think I might "make a 2x2 out of two strips of 1x2 so that I can (1) clamp them together on work bench, (2) drill hole for wires to run through, and (3) then install one behind wires, the other in front of wires, and then screw/glue the 1x2's together to form a 2x2.