Kitchen/Shower/Drawer/Sleep System

A few people have messaged me about the drawer system I built so I figured it would be worthwhile to do a picture heavy build thread.

My fiancé and I recently sold our Sportsmobile 4x4 Van and down sized to a Long Bed Tacoma. We ultimately wanted to take some of our favorite things about the van and put them in the back of a Tacoma.

A lot of the inspiration for the drawer came from a company called Scout Overland Camping when I saw their telescoping drawer system for a 4runner.

Our goals were as follows...

• Try to only take up half the bed so we can still have some full height storage room with the topper on.
• Ability to fold up or make bed quickly
• Protect matress and sleeping area from all of our dirty, dusty, muddy, or snowy gear that we would be throwing in the back of the truck when leaving quickly in the morning for a ride.
• Shower/water system to clean up after rides, hose down bikes and fill hydration packs
• Storage for bike gear, camping gear, tools and cookware
• Full length slides for maximum use of space
• Stove w/ food prep area

UPDATE 8/15/18
We've since had multiple adventures (easily over 50 nights) with this set up and a 3 week PNW Mtn Bike trip sleeping in the back and using the stove and shower almost every day. Its been solid so far.

Changes:
- Switched to a 3" mattress to make it easier to fold up with the bedding still made.
- Replaced Slam Latches with metal latches after plastic ones broke.

 

Love it. Really nice. But for me being 6'6" tall, even the long bed would be a little short for me. I assumed if I were to do something like that I'd just have to leave the shell door open and let the legs hang out.

 

sweet
I like it very nicely built

 

Looks great! Clean, simple, and functional

 

Hey, that's pretty nice man!!

 

One of the best/functional builds I have seen on TW.

 

Awesome!

 

What supports the passenger side of the platform?

 

Nice setup. Can you post the parts list for the water system?

I had a pressurized water setup in my original build, but am starting from scratch right now and am looking for some more ideas/parts to put to use.

 

Nicely done! What bike rack ya got?

 

My yeti roadie cooler and 2 buckets got me though the most recent camping trip. But I'll make the 2x6 supports this week. I'm planning to screw some 3/4" plywood onto the side of the cabinet that the 2x6 will rest on just below the platform and extend to the side of the bed where there will be a right angle that extends down to the cut outs on the bed.

I had the shop that sold me my topper wire up the 12v pump when they installed the light and topper

$75 SHURFLO 4008-101-E65 3.0 Revolution Water Pump , Grey

ShurFlo 12v Pump

$8 SHURFLO (255-313) 1/2" Twist-On Pipe Strainer

Pipe Strainer

ITC 97016CPN-DB Transom Wash Down Shower with 8' Nylon Hose

Shower w/ mount
RV Water tank- I used 10 Gallon(Check eBay. I saved about $75 on eBay vs. Amazon vs. Google shopping retailers)
Pex w/ fittings
Different fittings to attach to tank and allow hose

Kuat NV w/ a RakAttach swing out.

 

Good stuff, thanks! That shower/mount item is interesting. I like how cleanly it stores away.

How loud is that water pump? I have a SeaFlo which makes a bit of noise (and is also lower PSI than yours). I don't mind the lower pressure (might actually help with conserving water), but I wouldn't mind a quieter option. If you have time, a video of the pump in use (for noise purposes) would be awesome.

 

Its significantly quieter than the shurflo one we had in our Sportsmobile. You can hear that its working when it's on... but it doesn't bother me at all

 

What a Brilliant design! Another option is to get the Kick-top style camper shell, so that you can have more headroom while sleeping inside.

 

Jealous of your mad skills. Very cool to see such ingenuity!

 

That's a very sweet setup. Do you mind providing a total cost for all the materials? I might consider building something similar. Thanks.

 

Also, did you make the drawers, too or did you find those and build the cabinet around the existing drawers? Did you follow any plans or just take some measurements and wing it?

 

Outstanding!

Do you have an estimate of overall weight when the water tank is full? (Not including all your gear and cooler, etc.)

Also, a little off topic, but how do you like your shell windoors? I am purchasing a Leer 180 in the near future and like the idea of side access but have read some complaints of problem leaking. How have yours performed in the rain?

Really, really impressive work. Thanks for taking the time to post it all up for us.

 

WOW!! Nice work - going to show this to my cousin who is a TACO fan and a cabinet builder. This is slick

 

Very nice setup. Looks like you thought if the important stuff for a great MTB weekend!

How do you like the swing away for the Kuat? I've been debating something similar but worried about stability. Which model did you go with?