The Artful Dodger

[ArtfulDodger]

The Dodge Durango doesn't get much love in expeditioning circles, especially the third generation models that switched from body-on-frame to unibody construction. Of course, nobody is going to confuse one of these for a serious off-road vehicle, but I think the platform has a lot going for it. From my perspective, the best thing the about the Durango is that I already own one. That's an advantage that is hard to beat.

I've learned a lot from lurking on this site for the last couple of years while I figured out how to turn that SUV into a competent and flexible adventuring machine. Thanks, everybody, for sharing so much information. This thread is my attempt to give a little back.

I call this vehicle the Artful Dodger.

The Platform: My daily driver is a 2015 Durango Limited, 6 cylinder Pentastar engine, open-diff all-wheel drive, no locking diff, no low-range. Still, it is pretty sure-footed in snow and mud, as long as you don't exceed its relatively small ground clearance and you give the braking system time to do its thing whenever wheels start slipping. The very shallow approach angle makes it a poor choice for anything but the mildest off-road conditions. On the plus side, it has seating for 7 and, at 25 MPG, I can squeeze better than 600 interstate miles out of a tank of gas.

The Goals: I've long been impressed with small teardrop trailer designs. They're minimalistic, with a place to sleep, a kitchen to cook in, and some space to store your clothes. They're lightweight and well-organized, and it is almost trivial to setup and break camp. I don't want to pull a trailer, though, because at times I want to travel with my boat. What I really want is the teardrop concept built into in an SUV.

It needs to sleep two inside but be convertable to support tent camping adventures for five. It has to stay usable as my daily driver, and it has to quickly convert to adventuring mode and back. This means no seat removal.

Here is what I've come up with.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

The Durango has three rows of seating. Behind the third row is a recessed compartment; the compartment cover can be removed. The jack, tire iron, and related tools are usually stored here. By removing these and their mounting bracket, I found that a 14 gallon water container fits pretty well. This was the starting point.

I had a pair of fitting spin welded into the top corner: a 1-1/4" female NPT fitting to fill the tank and a 1/2" female NPT fitting to draw from the tank. I located them on the top to reduce the chances of any water leaking into the compartment. I got a 1/2"male NPT to 1/2" barb adapter to connect to a water pump. A 5/8" vinyl tube fits snugly into the inside of the threads of that connector. So, I cemented a short section of tubing into it and guided it into the corner of the tank as I screwed the fitting into the top of the tank.



As the picture shows, the back two rows of seats do not lay very flat even when you press down on them. Because of this, the sides of a slide-in platform will need multiple angles over their length to ensure that the top is flat and level.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

I built a teardrop-in-an-SUV slide-in platform with four major pieces: a main compartment, two pull-out cabinets, and a front compartment. The main compartment sits atop the third row seats and straddles the water tank. It holds the two cabinets. The front compartment sits atop the second row seats. It's use is optional: with it in place, you have seating and sleeping for two. Without it, you have seating for five, and everyone will be sleeping in a tent.

Here are all of the components assembled upside-down on a workbench to show the angles required to make a flat sleeping platform. The black knob on the side is used to attach the main and front compartments. The D-rings on the side align with tie-downs in the Durango.



The components are built of 1/2" birch plywood using pocket-hole joinery. I didn't bother hiding the pocket holes. I may add a veneer at some point if I get tired of looking at them. I don't own a table saw, so the first thing I built was a cross-cut jig for my circular saw. Not very precise, but it worked out OK.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

Here is what it looks like in the Durango when configured for five travelers.



Here is what it looks like when configured for two travelers. A Full-sized memory foam mattress just fits across the top. It is comfortable enough sleeping on top but can feel a bit claustrophobic. There is enough room to turn over but not enough to sit up.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

Here is a side view of the front component. It has a hinged lid, with space inside to store clothing, gear, or anything else.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

We found window screens that fit over the door frame, so you can lower the windows while you sleep without bugs getting in.



A magnetic version goes over the sun roof, which provides a good amount of airflow.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

I built the driver's side cabinet with three drawers above three shelves. The width of each drawer-shelf pair was chosen to custom fit our galley pieces. We like to cook on portable butane stoves, because it allows us to cook with two large pots/skillets at the same time. (The dual burner propane stoves are a bit cramped sometimes.) The stoves stack on the left shelf, alomg with extra butane cans. The shelf next to these holds a nested stack of pots, bowls, and a collandar. The last shelf holds plates, bowls, and cups.



Above these are drawers for silverware, aluminum foil & spices, and cooking utinsels. The height of each drawer is designed to just hold its respective contents.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

The passenger side cabinet has a large sink and a shelf for taller items. The sink is reversals, so youcan place the faucet on either the left or right side.

Water reaches the sink from a foot-operated pump that stores next to the sink for travel. Enough tubing to reach the ground and back is coiled in front of the sink. A bit of extra space is left over to hold some trash bags, a spare dish cloth, etc.



The sink drains into a 5 gallon collapsable water container. It can be easily emptied in a pit toilet, or its contents could be buried in a pit away from camp. When it is time to pack up, the empty water container is folded and placed in the sink, along with the sink tailpiece and hose used for filling the tank. The faucet folds down, and the whole cabinet is slid back into the main compartment.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

With both cabinets pulled out, you have about 45"x38" worth of countertop, including the sink.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

All of this doesn't leave room for things like tents, tarps, camping chairs, screened rooms, coolers, and other items that make back-country life comfortable. For these things, we added roof-top storage and a hitch-mounted rack.



We attached the rack to a swing-out arm so we could access the cabinets.

 

[borison]

Really nice looking cabinets, very well thought out. Nice features.

 

[ArtfulDodger]

Thabks, borison, I hope they are helpful to somebody.

We just got back from a month long trip across Colorado, staying in a mix of Forest Service lands, State Parks, and private campgrounds. All-in-all, the Artful Dodger worked out very well. There are a few things we'll need to modify before our next outing:

• I went the low-cost route on the cabinet slides. They can hold a good amount of weight vertically, but have a lot of flex horizontally and torsionally. I need to rig up some drop-down legs to stabilize them when fully extended.
• I need some kind of curtain, possibly a section of shower curtain, to keep rain and dust from getting in on the bed when the cabinets are extended.
• Many of the places we stayed require you to place coolers in the car at night so bears don't learn to identify them as a food source. It seems like a good idea, but I worry about the possibility of the thing leaking water inside my car. (Plus, it is kind of a pain in the neck.) I'm researching whether I could get a small IGBC approved bear-proof box that could go on (or entirely replace) the hitch carrier. It would be nice to leave all food items locked up in there.

Finally, I'd really like a bit more off-road capability. Somebody makes a 2.5" lift kit for the third gen Durangos that would let me install a little taller tire. With this change, and by removing the air dam hanging below the front bumper, I should be in a better position to explore. Also, a number of add-ons for the Grand Cherokee will apparently fit the Durango with minor modifications, including skid plates and front tow hooks. One of these days I'll get around to installing them. It will never be a rock crawler, but that's not really my thing anyway.

I'll add to this thread as I work these things out.

 

[Mericas_Meuth]

The pull out drawer system is one of the coolest I've seen yet, I have something similar in my Tahoe but not near as long and it's only really for gear storage.

1.) How do you anchor them into the vehicle?

2.) what kind of sliders did you use? Those things are sooooo long haha.

3.) What type of hitch swing arm is that, I need to get one as well

Very well done!

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[ArtfulDodger]

Thanks for the positive feedback Mericas.

1. D-rings on the side of the main compartment line up with 4 tie-down rings in the Durango. It is a little too tight for turnbuckles, so I went with cambuckle straps. The picture below shows a close-up, looking between the main compartment and the inside of the vehicle.
2. The sliders are made by Firgelli Automations. They are 50" long, full extension, and marketed as supporting 400 pounds. Honestly, I wouldn't put nearly that much weight on them. I got them because they are cleap ($60 a pair on Amazon), only 1/2 inch wide, and are removable. Being able to take the cabinets all the way out makes the compartment much easier to install, remove, and store.
3. The swing arm is a Yakima Backswing. It adds about a foot to your total length and limits you to 250 pounds of gear, but it is extremely convenient. It swings open like a dream and is very solidly built. It has a slight upward angle to help keep it from dragging on rough roads.

 

[ExplorerTom]

That’s an amazing drawer system. It has everything- including the kitchen sink!