$15 Cargo Cover for V70 DIY

[Eddystone]

My recently acquired 1998 V70 did not come with a retractable cargo cover. I have seen cargo covers for 2001 and later V70s, but none for mine. These things also seem to be priced awfully high for what is essentially a window shade. Well, anyway, I don't have a garage and have been working on the car frequently and leaving my heavy tool box in the back of the car. I can cover it with a blanket, but then it just screams, "Something worth stealing here!" So, perhaps as a temporary measure and maybe as a long-term solution, I decided to construct a make-shift cargo cover. When it's in place, you can't tell if the cargo area is full of things you'd like to steal or full of empty space.

Bear in mind that I did this very quickly and have not trimmed the cover to fit exactly.

My solution (which I assume someone else has done before) was to buy a couple of spring-loaded curtain rods and lay some material over them, in this case some old leatherette upholstery material that's been in my basement for years.

Here's the general view:

This is the curtain rod: Kenney Mfg Part # KNL605 UPC Code 042437979566 OVAL SPRING TENSION ROD 48 IN. TO 86 IN.

These were $7.75 each at my local curtain store, so my total cash outlay was $15.50 for the hardware. Maybe you have some upholstery material in your basement, too. Better check!

These rods are pretty sturdy. You extend them to the length you want and then tighten the screw on the movable spring. Where you position the screw determines how much spring tension you will exert, and I can tell you that you need very little.

Here's a photo with the rod turned up 90 degrees to show the spring.

Right now, I have the rubber ends of the curtain rod running from side window to side window with very little pressure exerted on the glass. It's not pushing the window out of the car or even bothering my window film.

The old material I am using is a faux leather that is basically vinyl bonded to a canvas backing. It's important to measure accurately and then to make sure you cut the material so that you end up with a rectangle and not some sort of trapezoid. I used a large carpenter's square to get proper right angles. I did my cutting very carefully using a simple rotary cutting wheel on a self-healing cutting board my wife uses in her sewing hobby.

I attached the material permanently to the support that sits just behind the back seats using contact cement. You need to glue the material square to the rod, or else your cargo cover will veer wildly to the side. I glued the material directly to the rod, then rolled some more onto the road and glued that. In all, I think I glued it three times to the rod. The glue I used was "Barge All Purpose Cement, Neutral" which is popular for shoe repair. EDIT: I now think it might be better to fold the material over to make a sleeve into which the curtain rod can be inserted because the rod will shorten slightly when installed under spring tension causing some wrinkles.

Then I installed the rods and simply laid the material over the rear rod. As it was cut, the material is long enough to go beyond the rear rod and down to the floor of the cargo area. When the tailgate lifts up, there's actually a small area where you might be able to place groceries without lifting the cargo cover. I plan to do some trimming of the cargo cover so that it matches the space more closely and looks a bit less sloppy. If I do any refinements or make a second attempt, I will edit this post and show photos.

[wizechatmgr]

I like it

[Clemens]

Interesting solution!

[volpone]

I did the same thing, but made the spring rods using 1 inch dowels, and 1 inch ID PVC. Used about a foot of PVC as a sleeve. Nailed and glued one dowel about a third of the way in, then added a spring and a second dowel.

To keep the second dowel from coming out, I drilled, dremeled and filed a slot in the PVC. Then some plastic caps on the end. My wife is sewing the cover, which, I'm reluctant to say, will be paisley. (It's her car but I have to be seen in it.)