Waterproofing the Plano Sportsman box

[whistlepunk]

Thanks for the tip. I was looking at the Plano boxes since i can not afford any of the nicer overland specific ones and was concerned about the waterproof issue.

 

[Chris Radalia]

Doing this tomorrow to my boxes! Great post!

 

[SubeeBen]

That foam gasket is awesome did that in an old ice chest of mine & works great. Still have to install on my front door of the house but had my priorities that day.

 

[Cully74]

Just got two Plano medium sportsman boxes. Gonna seal them up this weekend. Thanks for posting. Great idea!!!!

 

[Nomadik Nova]

Curious to know, since this post is a little older, how have these seals held up over time?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

 

[brien]

Curious to know, since this post is a little older, how have these seals held up over time?

I did this mod about a little over a year ago and they've held up just dandy. the seals still look just as good as the day i first stuck them on. For what it's worth, I didn't use any glue or anything, i just used the adhesive backing that comes on the seals.

EDIT: i did make sure to clean the surface with alcohol before sticking them on, however

 

[m_lars]

Curious to know, since this post is a little older, how have these seals held up over time?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

I did mine probably 2 years ago and they’ve held up so far.

 

[Nomadik Nova]

Thanks Brien and m_lars!


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

 

[20DYNAMITE07]

Curious to know, since this post is a little older, how have these seals held up over time?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

I did mine a year ago, and they still work like when I first installed them. The strip hasn't deteriorated at all. :)

 

[JersT4R]

Thanks for the write up and pics, it was easy to follow. I just did this last night to my Plano 1919 (or Heavy-Duty) 108 qt trunks using the MD Window Seal Medium Gaps from Lowes.

 

[DignTRDoffRoad]

Awesome Idea thanks for sharing

 

[AlabamaDan]

Cool idea! Thanks.

 

[Mike G]

Great write up. I need to do this to my two trunks.

 

[Mike G]

After driving 3 hours on the freeway in the pouring rain, I can say that the gasket worked great. No water got into my trunks. It also kept out the dirt and sand during a sand storm in Death Valley.

 

[Mike G]

Death Valley sand storm Dec 31st. The Trunks weather stripping worked great.

 

[mhoadley]

Some time ago I posted a picture of my storage solution using 8 Plano boxes... yeah 8. They break down as follows for 2 adults and 2 kids:
2 boxes for clothing
2 boxes for sleeping bags, air mattresses, air pump and wool blankets
2 dry food storage
1 kitchen and stove
1 miscellaneous (glow sticks, toilet paper, lanterns, batteries, fan, inverter big nets...)

With so many boxes not all of them fit in my Jeep. As a matter of fact I only fit 4 in my jeep along with an ice chest and in my Trailer I fit 4 Plano boxes and another ice chest. Because of my trailer being open they need to be water tight from rain and dirt and mixtures of the two.

So now on to the sealing of these boxes. For this I use Plano Sportsman 1719 68 Quart boxes all of my Overlanding boxes are Black (hunting/fishing are green).

Items needed are as follows:
Plano Box
EPDM rubber weather seal D profiled 5/16 wide 1/4 thick (see pic)
Super glue
Scissors
Ball point pen
Alcohol wipes (not pictured)

Weather seal and profile:

Tools:

Now that you have your supplies you are ready to do this simple task.

Step 1:
Start by flipping the lid over and cleaning the surface of the lip using alcohol wipes.

Step 2:
Place super glue in the straight channel of lid and allow a minute for the glue to start getting tacky. Note do not apply to the corners as the glue actually prevents the gasket from sealing against the plastic.

Step 3:
In my case I needed to seperate the two gaskets. They are both 5/16 wide and they simply pull apart. Apply gasket to channel using ball point pen to press the gasket into place. Note this can be done using you're finger if your don't have sausages for fingers.

Step 4:
Trim gasket as close to the starting point as possible.

Step 5:
Leave lid upside-down for 1 hour minimum to allow glue to set.

Step 6:
Reinstall lid and enjoy.

Sent from my SM-N900V using OB Talk mobile app

Great write up OP! I got some sportsman totes for Xmas and just did this to them last night. It seemed like the lid didn’t want to latch on to the tote at first, but at last, it latched. I’m thinking they just need some use to be broken in, but either way +1 on this write up.

 

[layne12]

i plan to do the same on mine, you can never have enough waterproofing.. I did test my Plano last weekend. We did trail ride, and huge water splashes (kids love it), and hundred of miles on heavy rain going about 65mph. As soon as i got home, I brought the boxes down and all our clothes and gears are dry! I'm pleasantly happy and i may grab a few more of these plano boxes.

Everything stayed dry prior to waterproofing your Plano Trunks? I’m planning on doing this weather stripping method myself but I didn’t expect them to already be waterproof!

 

[layne12]

i plan to do the same on mine, you can never have enough waterproofing.. I did test my Plano last weekend. We did trail ride, and huge water splashes (kids love it), and hundred of miles on heavy rain going about 65mph. As soon as i got home, I brought the boxes down and all our clothes and gears are dry! I'm pleasantly happy and i may grab a few more of these plano boxes.

Everything stayed dry prior to waterproofing your Plano Trunks? I’m planning on doing this weather stripping method myself but I didn’t expect them to already be waterproof!

 

[MAV]

Thanks for the write up! I’ll be doing this to mine tomorrow.

 

[RoarinRow]

Thanks for the tip. Interesting I found a small Plano box at Walmart this evening. I was pleasantly surprised. Bought it for $15. Has a strong plastic smell though.