Since the Alpha is no longer my DD and is now my off road toy having full access to the cargo area has become less important than having organization for tools, recovery gear and camping supplies. I have wanted to do it for a while now so decided while off for the holidays to build a cargo drawer system.
I first started out by removing the rubber cargo area mat. I didn't realize until I went to remove it but it's one piece that goes up over the wheel wells. Thought it was just a mat that could simply be removed but had to cut it out. I cut it so that if I ever one to put it back you shouldn't be able to tell it was ever removed.
The base of the plastic interior piece on either side of the cargo area curves in at the very bottom which reduces the overall width of the usable space by 1"-2".
So to utilize all available space I trimmed this section off on both sides.
I figured there would be more road noise with the rubber mat removed and I didn't want metal on metal when I install the drawer system so I covered the cargo area with sound deadening material.