4Runner Kitchen Build

[Neosapian]

Organization in camp can consume a lot of time. Organization within an SUV can consume a lot of patience. After an inaugural 10 day camping trip to White Rim Trail via Painted Hills Oregon and Great Basin National Park in our 4runner June of 2017, my girlfriend and I decided our biggest frustration was managing stacks of boxes, bins and bags piled up in the truck. The shuffling and constant reoganization necessary to make a roadside cup of pour-over coffee or make a quick camp breakfast seemed unecessarily time consuming compared to Backpack Camping. There was a considerable amount of vertical storage space in the cargo area that was entirely uncapitalized as well. I figured certainly there's a better way! And with the help of the internet I devised a Kitchen setup that I think other's will enjoy as well.


* Note that I am a complete novice, with only a circular saw and a jig saw. This is the first time I've attempted to build a cabinet of any kind, so it aint perfect, but its a work in progress, and will include:

• 5.5 feet of unobstructed counter top surface which will double as a dining table and backpack/gear staging area.
• Full size sink, large enough for a cast iron dutch oven.
• Running filtered water fed via a 12-16 gallon chassis mounted fresh water tank and a 6 gallon grey tank with quick disconnect plumbing
• Pantry drawer
• Utility drawer
• Cutlery drawer
• LED illumination beneath the counter and inside the drawers

4Runner Kitchen Build

 

[Neosapian]

Test fitting the counter tops, drawer boxes and drawer slides. I will also need to build a fridge slide with a storage compartment for the step ladder necessary to access the Domestic CFX65 Dual Zone. A drop or tilt slide won't be practical for this application, unfortunately. Some hardware additions include an externally mounted dual thermometer, water level gauge, filter and a 100psi 1.3 GPM water pump.

 

[Neosapian]

Reserved

 

[Neosapian]

Reserved

 

[TheCascadeKid]

This is looking great. Did your sender and gauge come with the water tank? I've wondered about making a generic one work with any tank. Cheers!

 

[Neosapian]

I haven’t chosen a water tank yet. My understandinf is The sender unit should be matched to the depth of the tank. A 12” long sender unit will probably suit a 13” tall water tank. The gauge is compatible with most standardized 12 volt Marine or RV senders. At least that’s my understanding.

 

[Gohere]

What brand drawer slides are you using? What weight rating are they? I've been designing something similar to this, using inspiration from The Adventure Index's drawer build. My main concern is extending the pullout past the intended length, at some point the weight rating can be exceeded by pushing the moment arm too far, even with very little weight. I'm considering having drop down legs that support the fully extended slide.

I want to use 500lb slides for the floor extension then 100lb slides (save a bit of money) for the drawer slides, but I'd use two. Side note: I have an Xterra and we have an unusable compartment in the rear cargo area, unless you plan it out where the cargo area can slide out.

 

[t4rman]

This is nice. Best of luck on the rest of the work.