FUJI0353

Category: Overland

  • 4Runner Camping – Home is where I park

    4Runner Camping – Home is where I park

    Given the remote nature of the locations I wanted to explore, I needed a good quality 4Runner Camping solution. I was not too keen to put myself in a ground tent with some of the wildlife that’s around. For your typical bear, I’d probably be akin a snack in a wrapper.

    After some thought about a setup, sleeping inside the car seemed to be the best solution. Not only is it very secure, It’s also discrete enough allow me to stay in more populated locations, like towns or even within cities.

    Bed Platform RnD

    I started looking around what solutions people online had come up with. There was some pretty simple solutions to start, like throwing a piece of foam in the back. This might suffice for a night away, but honestly I was looking to do something a little more. Some of builds on the other hand, were amazing but also too complex. Probably pretty heavy and required some serious carpentry skills. None of them really ticked all the boxes, with my objectives being:

    • The bed doesn’t greatly impact my storage space
    • Can be permanently setup (so im literally not making a bed every night)
    • Allows everything to have a place (and stay there)
    • Modular assembly
    • Single or double configuration depending on trip needs

    In the end I found a solution created by Nick Carver that was very close, and with some minor design changes would be perfect.

    Even if you don’t watch the video, You can see from the thumbnail it’s a full platform covering the rear of the car. it’s splits between the boot and the rear of the car, and additionally has a cutout rear passenger on the driver’s side. This was going to be the basis of my design, with the following changes:

    • The cutout needed to be weight supporting
    • I want to retain use of a rear passenger seat when in single bed mode
    • The height of the platform was going to be lower (since I have a tray in the boot)
    • All installation mechanisms should be tool-less. No allen keys or wrenches allowed.

    My Design

    Of course, the easiest way for me to get a design figured out is to dive into Houdini (a 3D package)! There I was able to explore how this might go together. I quickly knocked up the shapes and thought about design changes to achieve what I wanted.

    Here is what I came up with. It provided a roughly to scale concept of how it would work. For the exact build specs, that would get figured out on the fly during the build. Drop me a message if you want the file and I’ll glad send it to you.


    Top View

    Following Nick’s base design. A large rear section, a front section split according to the seat configuration. This matches well for a typical single bed size, or expands wider to create a twin setup.

    Underneath View

    Underneath is where things get a bit different, in particular with the extension for a twin sleeping base. The smallest piece now has 2 supporting legs, so it can hold weight. The legs along the entire front (left side of screen) are set back from the edge, as to remain over the folded down seating, rather than overhang and go to the floor. That space is then uninterrupted so it can be used for other things (like my Ecoflow!)

    Strong clips pull all the pieces together, making the whole unit rigid and ensuring the extension edge stays together (more on that in the next picture).

    Extension Support

    Here you see how the twin extension piece shares support with the single configuration legs, and the clips keep it all in place. Also here in the close-up, you can also see that the legs are simply screw in piping, a simpler method, and does not require tools to add and remove them during assembly.

    Construction time!

    So now that the design was in place, it all started with a trip to Home Depot – a hardware chain here in Canada. I managed to source the timber and screws, and Amazon did the rest with clips, legs, mounts, rubber feet, strap down pulleys and carpet, etc.

    Before we go over any of the actual build, I want to at this point give a big shout out to Mike Hill. I couldn’t have done the next steps without his help. I’m immensely grateful for him providing his space, tools, and time to help put this all together. Without that, I’m not sure how I would have built this.

    I didn’t capture too many shots over the course of the build, since focus was on getting it done. However overall the project really broke down into the 3 main stages. Woodwork, fittings, and carpeting.


    Wood assembly and leg placement

    We initially spend a a couple of evenings cutting all the wood, screwing it together and through trial and error we worked out the best placement for each of the legs. Due to the nature of the car interior, this meant every leg needed to be checked that it was touching down on an appropriate part of the car.

    Sanding

    Once all that was in place, all the pieces where sanded down to give a better finish and remove all sharp corners

    Carpet

    Then came the carpeting process. We unassembled the pieces, sprayed the carpet and surfaces with a special glue and folded the material around the pieces.

    Using a staple gun we were able to secure the fabric, and screw the wood pieces back together over the folds. Once we had coverage, I just simply needed to cut back the carpet to have a nice short edge, and finished by doubling down on staples.

    Legs

    Next was the legs. The goal was to have enough clearance to support the drawer fridge unit I already purchased.

    With the back of the car not really appearing level throughout, we were concerned it would be complex to do each leg length. It was actually easier that we thought. There was only 2 sizes thankfully. The 2 rear legs where a bit longer, with the rest then being the same size. Out came the hacksaw, and we cut down all the legs. Tough work since the legs are solid steel piping.

    Rubber feet were then used to hide the cuts and with the top of the piping already threaded, we just needed to screw them in.

    Result

    And there we have it. Three modular pieces that slot into the car. Simple right? Well, although the build went smoothly and didn’t hit any issues, do set aside around 10hrs or so if you looking to do the same!

    Final Results Gallery

    Below you can check out the final result in the car, and how it all integrates together. My next post I’ll share how my first test night went – an adventure out to a lake in Manning Regional Park.

  • My 4Runner Ecoflow Installation

    My 4Runner Ecoflow Installation

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    Going “Off the grid” has really changed it’s meaning these days. The assumption that being somewhere vastly remote means no access to a modern way of life can no longer be made. In a world that almost expects us to be connected, having ability to do so regardless where you are is great!

    Electricity is a staple commodity when being remote. Building on that, now having data seems just as important in certain situations.

    For any adventures I do embark on, I plan to address both of these. To get started though, I’ve addressed my electrical needs for the 4Runner.


    Ecoflow Products

    Power storage and portability has really come a long way. The days of needing a generator or unergonomic battery setups are really no longer a thing. Modern lithium Ion cells coupled with some great technology – means now carrying only a modest sized unit. You can now have access to ample power to run all your devices with ease.

    While there are a few options on the market, I really liked the solutions that Ecoflow provided. They offered good ergonomics, expandability, great solutions for every need, and look pretty sharp too to boot.

    The flexibility of having such a system is pretty handy all round for a number of uses as well. It even can act as a high power UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for computing. With all this considered, I felt it would be a pretty good investment.

    https://www.ecoflow.com


    My Vehicle Setup

    For the 4Runner, I wanted to have a setup that gives me enough power, with the ability to add more down the line if I needed. I also wanted to have a charging solution that wasn’t just tied to solar. Setting up panels, and with the rate of recharge being quite slow – these were drawbacks for me. Carrying a backup panel is a great idea, but I felt I needed a better solution as a primary setup. Also if I found myself with a high drain situation the need to get into even larger units enters the conversation which I didn’t want due to cost and space. I want things to stay neat and minimal, but still be very capable.

    My go to therefore was an Ecoflow Delta 3 Plus unit, coupled with their more powerful 800w alternator charger. This gives me a continuous 1800w of power, 1000 wh, and will comfortably keep laptops, lighting, refrigeration, and so on, up and running!

    Using the alternator solution also means simply that by simply driving or even just running the engine I can keep the unit topped up. With a full charge only taking about 1.3 hours, it works out at about $3 of idlding to top it up.

    Another benefit is this system is it can go both ways. I can reverse the flow of the charge so the Ecoflow is helping my battery as well. Getting a flat battery while in the middle of nowhere sounds very distressing and this provides some insurance against that.

    With me having made my choice, I placed my order. I was lucky to get my unit and charger at a fantastic price, costing even less than even advertised. It promptly arrived only a few days later.


    Installation

    So I felt really familiar with how to setup such a system, given I spent my youth installing many car amplifiers! This is pretty much exactly the same idea. A high gauge power cable is run from the battery into the interior of the car, where we can connect it to the Alternator charger. This unit then in turn feeds and draws from the Ecoflow Power Generator, and is all controllable with a fancy Bluetooth phone app.

    First I needed to determine the placement of the Ecoflow. I decided behind the passenger seat was the best spot. I felt this was good use of that space, and keeps the unit in the middle of the car for both power needs in the front and the back. So with that in place, the next step was to install the wiring.

    The Alternator charger comes with a quite a hefty cable loom, Dual 4 gauge and quite stiff. from prior experiences I felt this might be a touch on the difficult side.

    First up was getting the cable through the firewall and into the engine bay. This part can really suck on some cars, but it wasn’t to bad this time round. The grommet was easy the reach, and using a draw wire I was able t o pull through the loom into the engine bay and to the battery.

    In the picture above, you can see my final solution with the cable redirecting from the terminal to the edge of the engine bay, where (if you have a keen eye) I also have tapped into the earth on the car body. I’m not 100% happy with this as it is, but I have plans to upgrade the terminals at which point I’ll redo this setup.

    With the cabling now inside the cabin, I need to lift the trim and run the cable down the sills. This is where hands get sore. Lots of poking, prodding, pushing and pulling, trying to make the cable fit where it doesn’t really want to. Do it wrong – and the covers won’t be able to clip back into place. Luckily there was just enough room, and managed to hide the cable all the way to the backseats.

    With the cabling now able to run under the rear seats to the Ecoflow unit, I opted that I would place the alternator charger in a space there. I might move this in future but for now that worked well for me. A quick test showed everything was working perfectly when connected.

    I tied up the cabling, folded down the seat and secured the Ecoflow into place. The setup is complete! 1000Wh of AC power in the car, whenever need it, for whatever I need!

    Next up is constructing the bed platform, and already have some made a little bit of progress in that area. Expect a post on that coming pretty soon!


  • The 4Runner Project Gets Underway

    The 4Runner Project Gets Underway

    Out With The Old

    So to get the ball rolling, I really needed to start with quite a big commitment – Upgrading my car. Without a capable 4×4 vehicle, I won’t have the means to do any of the adventures I plan to do safely.

    To begin, I already was a 4×4 owner. I had myself a 2003 Jeep Liberty. I was nervious buying it at the time, but it was a tidy car, was compact and had a punchy 3.7 litre engine. Mechanically it never gave me a single issue so It was honestly a great car to me. That said, it was an old car, and not in a good way. I suspected that should I test the limits of the vehicle in anyway, It would bite me with something breaking – and given it’s age and worth, it could easily become a write off.

    Jeep Liberty 2003

    In With The New

    After reviewing numerous modern jeep options, I realised I probably won’t strike a good balance between on road and off road capability, space and reliability!

    This lead me to look towards Toyota, with the 4Runner series being a perfect fit. Turns out is quite a premium and pricey fit. I managed after a few weeks of hunting around found the car I was going to go with, a 2011 4.0L V6, with a 2 in lift in place and a facelift.

    4runnerMountains

    However, this one was their trail edition. This is the precursor to the now TRD Pro series. It brings some pretty great off-road ability right out of the box. The only downside was the colour. While it looks neat in black, but I know over time that won’t fair well. Off-roading will see its fair share of scratches and dings, all which show up badly on black. Protection options run into the range around 5K, so that’s not happening. I’m going to wear it’s damage with pride instead, unless I think of something else.

    The Plan

    The plan is to completely fit the vehicle out to be liveable, for many days at a time.

    From the exterior, the car will remain relatively discreet. No rooftop tent for now, or big winches or anything like that. There will be changes but the goal is to be able to park this in any location like a city and not appear to be someone’s home. This means privacy will be a major theme, and with an internal bed.

    The interior design and fit-out will need to be very well thought through. Power, refrigeration, double size bed, and gear storage need to all be harmonious. Additionally, I will want a quality entertainment setup, and a comfortable solution for digital production on the go too.

    Rear Tray Install

    After a good ol’ wax on, wax off and some plastic restoration, I immediately started to look into some initial upgrades.

    First up was a molle panel and tray system. This brings extra storage to the interior and once installed, let’s me better determine how much I can get away with in my bed platform build, especially the height. I found a good value aluminium solution on Amazon, and proceeded to fit that into the car. Pretty straight forward!

    Window Before
    Tray Installed

    The result is still a very decent amount of room in the back, but with a good amount of extra storage capability.

    Car Interior

    Window Tinting

    To ensure the privacy at the back was established, I also tinted the window with 5% transmission tint, prior to installing the panel. I intend to tint all the rear passenger windows too. Just need to order more tint!

    Window Tint

    LED Lighting

    Next set of easy upgrades was with the lighting. The entire interior lighting predates the use of LED lighting, and lacks brightness. Once again Amazon provided me a kit set that let me go around and replace all existing bulbs with new much brighter LED, which I hope will minimise the need to add additional interior lighting to the car.

    LED Bulbs
    LED Lighting Cropped

    What’s Next

    I think the next update will be the addition of a 120v Ecoflow Power Station + Alternator Kit. I had not actually planned for that to be next, however just saw an amazing special on that gives me exactly what i;m after, for around $600 below budget. Goes without saying, I’ve made the purchase, and will be installed that as soon as it arrives!

    More to come!