Build Thread: Ultimate Bed Drawer System for Camping/Cooking/Tailgating

Love it man! Thanks for the update. Going to work on my own once I’m able to get the rest of my taco up to par. Thanks for the details and the update.

 

That looks like an awesome setup. Great job on the build.

 

I built an overland/camping setup in my wife's 4runner after we had our first kid. It was a win/win situation. I got drawers that could fit all our camping gear when we went camping and it served as a baby changing station the rest of the time. I just made sure to make one drawer the width of a baby changing pad and voila.

The final kicker for me to make it was after a road trip. We had the back loaded down with crap and I had to change a dirty diaper....on the back seat (which isn't flat)....and I can't remember if it was raining or not. Either way, it was a pretty miserable experience. So the drawers came in handy because we could store stuff out of sight and put all our crap on top. Then, on road trips, just pull out the back drawer and change the diaper on a flat and padded surface. Plus, the hatch added protection from the sun and rain. I got compliments on it every time it was used. People often asked "where can I get something like that?"

I got that question so frequently that I decided I needed to make a batch of them to sell. Except they didn't sell. The first one went quickly when we sold the 4Runner. The next one that I made sat in my garage for weeks with little to no interest. Finally, I sold it to someone who had a land cruiser and was going to cut it down to fit his needs. I barely covered the cost of the wood.

If you decide to produce them, I would do it after collecting some form of down payment and not have them ready in advance. Just my $0.02.

 

I am replicating this build for my 1st gen 4runner which is the most inconvenient layout with 2 doors and a tailgate above hip level for cargo access.

I am wondering how much clearance do you need under the stove side for the propane fill neck? My width between the wheel wells is only 39inches as opposed to the 42.5 the third gen Tacoma has. I can only squeeze about an inch under. Is that enough for the propane neck? Or maybe I can use a 90 degree angle for it.

Here's my solidworks models to show what I am talking about and a shot of the ride.

 

I've been searching for days to find this 3 way valve tee fitting thing...do you have any idea what it's called? Did that showerhead come with it?

found this one finally after searching Diverter Valve instead of Tee or Inline Tee..


https://www.hotelsupplydepot.com/rinse-ace-metal-shower-connector-chrome/

 

This one? https://www.mcmaster.com/4373K53/

 

No, the one the shower sprayer connects to he said was found at home depot and has an auto shutoff feature that closes the connection to the sprayer when disconnected.

this one


found one!!

https://www.hotelsupplydepot.com/rinse-ace-metal-shower-connector-chrome/

 

I started looking, found nothing at Home Depot, but did find a kit on Amazon - if you need a sprayer too.

$27 Ginsey 94170 Shower Hose, White

https://www.amazon.com/Ginsey-94170...ds=quick+connect+shower&qid=1680534582&sr=8-4

 

This is awesome thank you for sharing! I was curious if you had a cut list for all the different dimensions of wood pieces or bill of materials? Thank you!

 

Exactly. I love this project and want to replicate it but they didn't post cad files or dimensions. Not sure why youd go through the effort of making such a detailed post and leave that out.

 

Thanks @cjptacoma for the thorough tips and write up!

I am not a carpenter, so I improvised using the info in this thread to build a simple kitchen into a Decked drawer system.

The cooler is a Coleman Party Stacker, no longer made so a bit overpriced for what it is on eBay, but it fits in the Decked drawers.

8 gallon water tank. All powered by a 12v lithium ion motorcycle battery.

The battery is easily recharged without removal by unplugging the two leads shown in image below and plugging the battery into a tender.

Similarly, the water can be refilled without removing the tank through the large diameter PVC fitting.

Full disclosure, this is in a Tundra, not a Tacoma, but this forum is where I found the tips so I wanted to share my result here.

 

Very neat! Thank you for sharing.

 

This is an awesome build and thanks for your detailed photos and explanations! I'm working on putting together something similar and going to use this as a huge reference and inspiration.

Question for you: sorry if the dimensions, specifically the height was mentioned, but how tall is the drawer system you designed? I'm about to get a ARE-MX installed so I'll have a few extra inches of headroom. I'm planning on building a similar drawer system (may not be as advanced electrically as yours) and putting a similar mattress on top. I'm just curious if you have enough headroom with the height of your drawer system.

Cheers and awesome build!