Rear panel reinforcement
 

Has anyone come up with a good way to reinforce the rear panel in 1st gen 4runners where the doors cover the jack and tool kit?

yep. make your own.

Out of wood.

Else, you could simple tape sticks of flat plasic everywhere behind it, to make it more ridgid. Then some felt where it contacts the body. Install!
Make sure you use "high temp capable" double sided tape if you don't want a gooey mess.

I suppose its possible to simply layer some fiberglass onto your oem ones. maybe someone with the toyotafiberglass panels came chime in and say if they are sturdy enough for you. any particular reason?

Thanks guys, I found some fairly decent ones in a salvage yard and just looking for a way to keep them that way.

post up if you come up with something clever. they are pretty flimsy.

I read on another forum that some guy did the fiberglass reinforcement, which I will probably do with mine too since they are in good condition. Just lay fiberglass on the back and it will be much more rigid.

MEH, Those stock doors are too tiny. I modified mine to use entire body cavity for storage.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...71&gid=1&pid=1

Thread also has Toyota Fiberglas' (Slacker) post on his product: Replacement Inner quarter panel.

The fiberglass reinforcement sounds promising. I will have to do some research on how to do something like that. Rad4runner, I had seen your thread on your panels and storage space. Nice work!

I also like the idea of making custom panels for more storage, but I've always wanted to keep everything as stock looking as possible.

I like the stock look also.