Project DIY: Truck-bed Pullout Kitchen (and BS)

T-nuts are ideal for this. Basically a washer with 3 folded teeth combined with an insert nut. You can even recess them to get a flush surface.

Ever thought about sliding the stove part out from under the upper cabinet? Means a longer hose but avoids the flipping over hassles. Edit- might even fit between the main rails over some bottom mount glides

 

Yeah, this was one of my earlier designs (before I started this thread). I didn't want to go through the trouble of ordering a special hose (Cook Partner uses proprietary connections) and I didn't want the additional setup of connecting the hose externally, so I tried to avoid moving the stove in relation to the propane tank. I'm lazy like that.

 

BTW, base is completed. (Sorry, my battery died as I was about to take a picture.) I've started on building the platform to hold the ARB fridge. Due to the way it's meant to be mounted, I'll put one continuous piece of marine plywood on the left slide-out. With the fridge up front, there is enough room to fit either the Action Packer or even an Ozark Trails cooler back there (not 100% sure on the cooler, but I think it could fit). I'll get photos tomorrow.

 

Bah!!! I just re-measured my Cook Partner stove and realized I made a mistake. It's not as tall as I originally measured it, which means the folding flaps won't clear the sides of the cabinet - awful glad I didn't cut any of those pieces yet. I'll have to readjust everything again in Sketchup. It won't really change the look of anything, just make the detachable cabinet slightly taller (by about 3/4").

 

Sub

 

I have faith in you!

 

Hah! Thanks. This could have been a costly mistake both in time and materials (I optimize my plywood with a cut diagram).

Also, have I mentioned my trip to Utah is in 9 days???

 

I'm hyped for you.

 

Alrighty, photos as promised. Having made the fridge platform, I have zero concerns about fitting the cooler behind it. The Action Packer fits with room to spare, almost making it feel like wasted space.

 

looking really good man!

 

I've cut all but six pieces last night. Tonight I plan to pick up some epoxy resin. Hope to get most of the assembly done this weekend. I'm starting to have doubts that the 12 gallon tank will arrive in time, so I'll have to come up with a backup plan.

 

Stacked milk crates with 1 gallon water jugs?

 

I'll use my 7 gallon Aqua-tainer if I have to. Was really looking forward to having the 12-gallon tank, though.

 

Made a bunch of progress today. All the basic assembly is done. The removable cabinet and the stove cabinet still need to be a little modified so one sits over the other with a lip. I also need to cut the holes for the slam latches and drill some holes to mount these to the slides. I'm hoping to get all of this done tomorrow so I can disassemble and apply some finish. I've decided not to use epoxy resin. After reading up on it, it doesn't do well under direct UV light, so I'm just going to go with regular spar varnish. It's not like I'm building a boat or something.

OK, on to the photos. This one is the whole kitchen. It's composed of three separate pieces: The fixed cabinet and tray for propane and water tanks, the removable cabinet, and the stove cabinet below it. If you look closely, you'll see the removable cabinet is slightly taller than the fixed cabinet. This is because I need to cut the lip and recess so it "locks" onto the stove cabinet. Don't pay any mind to the goofy shape of the cabinets. Apparently my phone does some wide-angle crap when I take photos.


Here, I'm just trying things on for size. It's not attached to the drawer slides yet, I just wanted to check on clearances:

 

looking good! Hope you have enough time to seal and assemble.

 

keep it coming! psyched for this!

 

sub'd

 

Made a little more progress today - not nearly as much as I would like, so after I post this, I'll head back down and try to crank out some more. In any case, here's what I've got:

How it will sit when all tucked away:


Here you can see that the removable cabinet sits too high. Super annoyed with this because to fix it, I'll have to remove the hinged flap on the stove cabinet, tape it back on, and pass it through the table saw.


Things are starting to take shape. I've learned it's incredibly difficult to cut stainless steel piano hinges without the proper tools. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the ends I cut look like crap. But... it works.


I haven't installed the catch for the latches yet. I also plan to install a cable or chain to hold the door open at 90-degrees to use as a counter. I also need to cut and attach the short piano hinge for the fixed cabinet.


With the removable cabinet gone, the front flap of the stove flips down. In hindsight, this could have stayed closed permanently. I didn't realize how much room I would have to access the knobs on the stove - turns out there was plenty of space. Oh well. I do have plans to hang something off of this, but I guess even that could have been done with a closed cabinet.


One thing I've learned in this: The removable cabinet, while not heavy (empty) is incredibly awkward to carry and put away, so I'm going to attach handles. The only options I have are to attach them to the top (still awkward, as I'm short) or on the sides - which means one will be on the hinged door. It seems pretty strong, so I'm hoping that's fine, since that's the way I'm leaning.

 

Better keep some Advil handy for when you move that sucker loaded.