Sir William's Expedition Camper Build

[SirWilliamGoes]

Whats up guys, for those that don't know me I'm Will aka Sir William. I have been on here for some time usually stalking others or documenting my trips that I'm on. I have decided to document the build of a custom Camper build in the back of my 5th Gen 4Runner, Apple. If you would like to read in much greater detail about not only this build but my travels as well feel free to hop over to my blog. There you will find details like measurments and what not!www.USAonDirt.com where you will find my videos and detail blog post about randomness!

The idea behind the build is to be simple and cheap and provide a few things.
1. Create an elevated area for my Indel B Fridge to sit so that it gets ample amount of air flow to keep from overheating.
2. An area that my girl and I can sleep in
3. Eliminate the Plano boxes that I have been using for storage
4. have a removable all inclusive kitchen box

First things first I have to remove the seats and the factory rear sliding deck which is now for sale over in the classifieds.

http://usaondirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/20180723_175115-300x146.jpg

after that I begin by installing some 2x4s that I cut to fit longways in the rear from the back to the body cross member

From there I ran a 2x4 from side to side over the bolts that attach the rear seats so that I can screw the rear board and the front board to it. Sorry I didn't take a better picture while doing this as I was in the moment!!

From there I attached the front board and added some legs and vola a platform / floor for my camper build!

I then coated it with some cheap bed liner in a can and set it outside to dry. Unfortunately South Carolina weather said otherwise!!

I hope that this doesn't mess it up!

Now that I have the flat platform to start with I can start playing with the design of my sleeping and kitchen setup. Hope you guys follow along and perhaps get ideas or inspiration for you own projects. As normal I will try to post some updates periodically on all the platforms so check me out!!

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[SirWilliamGoes]

Ok, so after building out the platform base, or floor of the camper, it was now time to figure out the best way to position the Indel B fridge so that I can comfortably sleep two in the back. This proved to be much much harder than I had originally planned. The Indel B is not extremely big by any means. When you are working the limited room of the 4Runner cargo area, you quickly run out of usable flat space to sleep on. I finally determined that the area behind the rear seat would provide easy access, as well as help with the overheating concern I have been having by placing it closer to the factory vents in the rear. Once I figured out the correct location I then cut the platform in order for the fridge to sit as close to the factory floor as possible. When I first placed it there I had not given enough room for the door but I quickly got that sorted out.

From there I determined that I would be building a 17in high platform. I was concerned at first that this would not provide enough room for Kristi to sleep. So I called Kristi out to test fit her new sleeping quarters by having her lie down on a slender piece of scrap wood that was set up on a sketchy rig!! She truly is a champ!

From there it was on to the Home Depot to get some 3/4in plywood to use as the wall of the platform. I have been using 1/2in plywood for the entire build however since this would be supporting all the weight I choose to go with something a bit stronger and I used these heavy duty brackets to support it as well. I was able to get HD to cut the wood down to the bigger sizes. I highly advise to get the majority of your cuts made by the lumber store if you don’t have a track system for your saw. This ensures that all of your cuts are square and correct. Then it was time to put everything together. This proved to be a little more difficult that I had imagined, mostly due to the damn gnats here in South Carolina, but a large part was due to my lack of knowledge too!! Kristi and I are looking for a place to move to and I have let her know that the number one prerequisite is that there be absolutely no gnats!!! I also bought the wrong type of screws to attach the metal brackets to the wood. I’m not sure where I went wrong here but it was a real pain in the ass to get the screws into the board. I was able to solve this problem by drilling pilot holes. After wrestling with the gnats, uneven cuts after modifying the pieces a little, I was able to get it all put together.

From here I will need Kristi’s participation again in tolerating me cooking our meals in the kitchen but with camping setup in order to determine the best design for the kitchen drawer. The ides will be to have a 4oin long by 6in high drawer that slides out and on top of that have a kitchen box to hold everything to cook with as well as other supplies replacing the Plano Box I currently use as a kitchen / junk drawer. This will act as kitchen, counter, and table all in one.

Here is the video of the build – https://youtu.be/FQbjrK1g1oM