Car Caddy for Chevy Cobalt

This is a little caddy I made for my car. You can use it as extra storage for bits n' bobs, I personally use mine to hold a paper bag to put trash in.

It is designed to fit in a 2006 Chevy Cobalt sedan, (what it was modeled from) however it should fit any year of the Cobalt, and also the Pontiac G5. It may also work for the coupe models, but I can't be sure.

Kinda niche, but hey, GM made hundreds of thousands of Cobalts and G5s, so there's probably a few people who may find it useful. ;)

The included .STL files should be in the proper printing orientation, so you can just toss them in your slicer and go to town. Print settings don't matter a whole lot but for your curiosity I printed mine in Prusament PETG, 0.4mm nozzle, 0.2mm layer height, 15% cubic infill. Total print time was about 7 hours on my Prusa.

(You may be able to print faster with a 0.6mm nozzle, however when I tried the alignment nubs wouldn't fit. However, I personally have really bad quality and reliability issues when printing with 0.6mm, so try at your own risk!)

I've included some assembly instructions to put it together. It's not complicated, but the design isn't dummy-proof, so you need to pay attention to what parts go where.

It was modeled using a 3D scan of MY car, so the edges may not fit as snuggly as shown in the pictures for you, but it should still be fully functional.

I have included the SketchUp file as well, so if for whatever reason you want to modify it, there's an option for you.

How I Designed This

Originally I just had a small paper bag for trash stuffed in a little spot in the back seating area, but it was prone to falling over since it was basically just sitting there.

Later, I designed a little cubby to fit in that spot made out of cardboard to better hold my paper bag. The concept worked, but it was pretty shoddy.

THEN I got a 3D printer and this was one of the first projects I used it for. I took a 3D scan of the area in my car using my phone, and the design was basically a replica of my cardboard model but with better fitment and rigidity. It worked ok, but I had a lot of difficulty assembling it being it was my first time with practical 3D modeling...

The model you see here is nearly identical to my last iteration, however I fine-tuned the fitment, and added little alignment nubs for easy assembly. It took me less than 10 minutes to glue it together, and it's much more stable than the first one I made.

Assembly

Assemby Instructions

After you have finished printing all the panels, all you need is some super glue and about 10 minutes.
The nubs primarily serve to make alignment and assembly easy, not to hold the model together. The tolerance is about 0.2mm, which on my printer makes the fitment flush, but not snug, although it may be a little tighter if your printer is not perfectly tuned.

You may want to dry-fit the ribs first before gluing so you can be sure you have them oriented correctly.

Take the top panel with the holes facing up, then take Rib1(the biggest one), and fit it on the edge closest to the curved edge on the top panel. The side with the first layer(on the print bed) will also face toward the curved edge on the top panel. Run some glue along the edge with the nubs and press it in place. Hold for about 20 seconds to make sure the glue bonds well.

Similar procedure for the next two ribs. Rib2 (the medium sized rib) goes in the middle, again with the first layer side facing towards the curved edge of the top panel, and the same for Rib3(the smallest). Notice that the sloped edge of the ribs go back towards the back edge of the top panel (See photo 1)

After the ribs are glued in place, align one of the side panels in place (the rails of the side panel should go around the ribs). The little arm should be facing towards the back where the flat edge of the top panel is.(See photo 2)

Lay the the side panel down on a table with the rails/holes facing up, then put glue along the top panel edge with the nubs and the edges of the ribs, then(make sure the flat edge of the top panel is on the same side as the arm of the side panel!) push the assembly into the side panel, holding it down for 20-30 seconds for the glue to bond.

Repeat for the other side panel.

Now your caddy is complete!

Category: Automotive