Nissan Versa Load Floor - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Rick Rae · 10-07-2011, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonG

WOW, it really is bigger on the inside

Haha! Especially now!

Seriously though, if you ever get a chance to sit in one give it a try, it's almost freaky. (Dunno if the sedan is the same way.)

It feels like you're in a midsize or larger. A 6' passenger can sit in the back seat (well, if there is one!

) and have plenty of leg room without pulling the front seats forward. I had to take my hat off in the Cabrio because it'd hit the headliner; there's like a foot to spare in this thing.

And then you get out and look at it and okay, it's taller than a typical subcompact... but it's still a pretty small car. It just doesn't seem to add up visually.

I think a part of it is that you don't realize how low to the ground it is. I certainly didn't until the first time I had it up on the ramps and was underneath it.

Cheers,
Rick

skyl4rk · 10-07-2011, 11:28 AM

My mpg has dropped dramatically due to commuting at highway speeds for a temporary job. I don't have a way to find out if the ballast is affecting mpg.

When I did my road trip up to Canada, I pulled out the passenger seat and built a plywood bed. With an air mattress, I camped in the car. I pushed screening into the rear window moldings and could open the windows with no bug attacks.

So the Versa is quite capable of being converted into an RV!

I did not figure out how to remove the rear seat. That would have allowed for a larger sleeping area and would have been much more comfortable. But I could not figure out where the bolts were that held the seat in.

Rick Rae · 10-07-2011, 12:35 PM

If you're doing mostly highway I don't suppose weight changes would affect you as much as stop-and-go city driving.

As far as pulling the rear seat, if the sedan is the same as the hatchback you don't see the bolts until you remove the seat bottom. Once you do that it starts making sense.

Rick

P.S. We could use you on Team Nissan.

skyl4rk · 10-07-2011, 10:31 PM

How did you get the seat bottom out?

Rick Rae · 10-07-2011, 11:41 PM

Just grab it firmly at/under the front edge and yank upwards -- it simply snaps out. If it's like the hatchback you'll be surprised how light it is; it's nothing but shaped foam. Almost all of my weight was in the 2/3rds seat back and the humongous metal brackets.

Here's an eHow article that may help you. It mentions steps I didn't have to do -- like removing kick plates and finisher trim -- so it may be geared more towards your sedan than the hatchback.

In the "credit where credit's due" department, I found my original inspiration: two 2008 posts in the Nissan Forums by "Alx". Rather than building a box for the hump as I did, he angled his load floor (and attached it only at the front). But you'll notice the shape and general design of mine otherwise mimics what he did.

So, thank you Alx!

Cheers,
Rick

Rick Rae · 10-15-2011, 05:33 PM

A quick follow-up for skyl4rk: I had to make a hardware store run today. 25 MPH winds gusting to over 35. No significant handling issues.

So strange the sedan would have that problem but not the hatchback..

Rick

awilli · 03-14-2012, 09:14 AM

Rick,
Nice work on the load floor! I am going to do this mod to my , new to me, 2010 Versa. Can you tell me how you attached the wood to the floor of the car?

Rick Rae · 04-01-2012, 09:38 PM

Apologies for the long delay, awilli. It's been an insanely busy month for me and I'm only now starting to get caught up on things.

The attaching was done in two parts. First I made a "T" from a 1x4 and drilled clearance holes lining up with two of the threaded bolt holes where the seat brackets were mounted. I then drilled out larger recesses so the bolt heads would be flush with the top of the board when it was mounted. The "T" was eventually fixed in place using two of the original bolts. You can see this in the two photos that show the underlayment.

I also drilled two smaller holes and hammered in T-nuts from the back side; in the same photos, you can just barely make those out near the ends of the T's crossbar.

I did a similar thing for the actual platform: Four clearance holes for bolts, with larger recesses added so the bolt heads would be below the surface. I sized those recesses to take press-in plastic hole plugs.

The rear edge of the platform bolted to the T-nuts I put in the 1x4 "T". The front edge uses a pair of toggle bolts that were sized to snap through the oval holes in the front seat rail -- you can see those holes in the same underlayment photos. If you look at the first shot of the covered platform, you can see the four snap-in hole plugs, which shows where the holes are positioned in the final product.

Note that you could easily glue or nail the "T" (or even just the one cross piece) to the bottom of the platform and use a single pair of bolt holes to fasten the back edge. I only did it the way I did because I wanted the hole plugs to be close to the sides of the cargo area where they'd be out of the way and less obvious.

If you have to remove the platform, don't try to feed the toggle bolts back through the holes. It can probably be done but it'd be awkward and unnecessary. Just back all four bolts out completely, then after you remove the load floor the toggle nuts will be waiting for you under the kick rail.

Let me know if that's not clear enough. Good luck and have fun!

Cheers,
Rick