Retrofit Cargo SHELF for Civic Hatchback?

[cheesesteak]

I am not a fan of the hatchback tonneau cover (84400-TGG-A01ZA).

It's basically an overly designed privacy shade that is somehow bulky, flimsy, and crazy expensive ($180-260) if you happen to damage/lose it. It solves a problem that could have been prevented had the upper cargo cover (84450-TGG-A01ZA) been better designed. Even being a tad bigger would help.

I came across this cargo SHELF for the Honda Fit/Jazz that sits in the rear brackets and was wondering if it could be retrofitted to fit the Civic Hatchback. This seems so much more functional. You could always remove it if you need to fold the seats down for larger things.

Does anything like this exist for the 10th gen Hatchbacks?

If a third party designed something like this, would you be interested in it? It doesn't seem overly complicated.

Even the Mazda 3 Hatchback has something similar.

The main difference between the Fit/Jazz rear bracket is that it has a slot to slide into whereas the Hatchback's brackets drops in.

Maybe some 3D printed inserts can be attached to have it dropped in the Civic brackets. What do you guys think?

Maybe a DIY homemade shelf with cutouts to drop in a shallow tub or tray?

 

[Siqc Cafe]

Pretty good idea.
I'd agree.. Some 3d printing might be needed

 

[vtecr]

You'd have to measure it to make sure it'll reach across the span of the original cover and I'd have my doubts about that just from my own experience with the Jazz (though I haven't measured it, just my eyeballing of course).

I didn't think I'd like the OEM cover at first but I find myself using it all the time. The access hole would be quite small if the cover was ridgid and I'd guess a lot of people would find it annoying to access. Even just doing a weekly shop,I find I open it out of the way and that's before I factor in anything like tool boxes, baby buggies etc.

Maybe a better option would be to look at places like IKEA for something close to what you want, then design brackets to adapt that to the civic mounting points. That way it would probably be a lot cheaper and also more accessible to others. If a suitable item was found, I could help out with the 3D modelling of the adapters to fit the Civic.

 

[cheesesteak]

You'd have to measure it to make sure it'll reach across the span of the original cover and I'd have my doubts about that just from my own experience with the Jazz (though I haven't measured it, just my eyeballing of course).

I didn't think I'd like the OEM cover at first but I find myself using it all the time. The access hole would be quite small if the cover was ridgid and I'd guess a lot of people would find it annoying to access. Even just doing a weekly shop,I find I open it out of the way and that's before I factor in anything like tool boxes, baby buggies etc.

Maybe a better option would be to look at places like IKEA for something close to what you want, then design brackets to adapt that to the civic mounting points. That way it would probably be a lot cheaper and also more accessible to others. If a suitable item was found, I could help out with the 3D modelling of the adapters to fit the Civic.

I think we can take advantage of the flat surface of the bracket itself. An insert would fill the gap creating an even and more sturdy surface area.

With the flat top on the brackets, the edges could be extended to fit another OEM shelf, such as the one from the Fit/Jazz or Mazda.

Or a board with the inserts attached at the ends can be dropped in on top and locked it in place.

I found a similar project from a Honda Fit forum. Credit to original poster.

Maybe some cutouts to drop a lipped plastic bin in for organization/storage (Keep weight limitations in mind).

A caddy for tools or misc supplies can be easily moved in/out.

I think the shelf area has a lot of potential to be very useful.

 

[vtecr]

I had a quick nosey at this the other night and it seems you'd need a tray as close as possible to 1050mm in width, as that's the opening width. The depth is 420mm.

I couldn't really find anything in that width but I did find a tray that was 1000mm so only 25mm short on each end, which could be accounted for in the brackets. I've no idea whether these trays are strong or not since I know nothing about gardening but they come in various sizes and are called "Grow bag trays".

 

[cheesesteak]

I had a quick nosey at this the other night and it seems you'd need a tray as close as possible to 1050mm in width, as that's the opening width. The depth is 420mm.

I couldn't really find anything in that width but I did find a tray that was 1000mm so only 25mm short on each end, which could be accounted for in the brackets. I've no idea whether these trays are strong or not since I know nothing about gardening but they come in various sizes and are called "Grow bag trays".

You'd be hard pressed to find an existing tray with perfect measurements to repurpose here. Those garden trays are actually very flimsy; you would need a rigid tray to use it as a shelf for this purpose which is why I think trying to retrofit an existing cargo shelf would be the way to go.

A wooden board would also work, but wouldn't look as OEM or finished unless you wrapped it with felt/carpet or something.

The brackets on the hatchback would need some sort of extender or adapter to take an existing tray. Alternatively, the tray itself would need some kind of insert on the ends to drop into the hatchback brackets.

As you can see, the brackets from the Fit/Jazz do come off, but I can't seem to find the part number.

 

[vtecr]

The jazz board isn't wide enough so the mounts will be of no use.

I also got to look at one of these garden trays earlier and they're pretty solid plastic, comparable to the OEM trays.

I'd be making the adapter brackets to fit the tray rather than the car itself, so it can be used in the car without any modification and can easily reversed.

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