Spencer for Hire
Active member
Did you make the kitchen setup with the drop down table?
Best Kitchen spot-- side or tailgate? Bad weather and normal.
- Thread starter Dave in AZ
- Start date
dstefan
Well-known member
Yes, I did. Its’s 10 series 8020 from TNutz. The top is 12mm Baltic Birch with 3 applications of Minwax Wipe on Poly and then waxed. The drawer is Coroplast and the cut down bin sides are 3mm Baltic Birch finished the same and slid into the 8020. Cant see, but its reachable through the side hatch/windoor.
Ive since added a Dometic faucet system and moved to a one burner Colman stove for better functionality and space usage.
You can see build details on the Ovrlnd Owners thread if you search my name.
Spencer for Hire
Active member
Thank You. Its very nice.
robgendreau
Explorer
I'm with @dstefan. I've moved on to a slide in with built in, but in both a van and pickup with shell I just used a stove etc on some sort of shelf, etc inside. And outside on picnic tables or a table I carried. Or by the side of the truck. Or on the tailgate. Even carried a two burner Colemen fixed to a counter with earthquake putty. Point being it gives you max flexibility. On trips where I was climbing or backpacking I left the big stove at home and just use my backpack stove.
For me the flexibility of a topper type arrangement vs full on truck camper was its best selling point. Adding on fixed stuff like slides, etc is fine, but it's more like custom slide in at that point. Fine if that's what you want, but maybe not.
For me the flexibility of a topper type arrangement vs full on truck camper was its best selling point. Adding on fixed stuff like slides, etc is fine, but it's more like custom slide in at that point. Fine if that's what you want, but maybe not.
MR E30
Active member
Here is what I have to share:
6ft bed 3rd gen Tacoma with Alu-Cab Canopy Camper and their 270 degree Shadow Awn mounted on drivers side
Wife and I have been living in this truck since 9/1/2023. We mainly reheat food during the week, but we do one large food prep day once a week (usually Friday it seems)
We have a Eureka Ignite lpg stove permanently mounted to the rear door of the camper. It is positioned at a height that allows us to open/close the rear door with the stove deployed. This has been necessary just a few times. We mainly cook outdoors (95%+of the time). The only time we ever meal prepped completely indoors was during a ~25 degree day with rain and extreme wind (40 mph gusts).
We use an aluminum Alu-Cab table for additional cooking space. It is stored on the underside of the overhang and is deployed in less than 20 seconds.
We have two water spigots, one located just a few feet from the stove. Our fridge is also inside of the camper, drivers side, openable with just one hand from both inside and outside of the truck.
What I like:
- Getting prepped to cook or to heat up food is as easy as can be. The table is super convenient, the legs self deploy with struts, etc.
- The stove simply needs to be folded down, lpg valve opened, and the stove fired up.
- Water is very easy to access as well. Flip switch to turn on pump and then dispense as required.
- Can cook entirely outside, or entirely inside, depending on weather.
- All cooking related equipment and food is right there, close at hand.
What I don't like:
- Sometimes nice weather days ,with just a bit of annoying wind, can get slightly annoying. The burner has never been extinguished, but it takes a lot longer to heat up/cook food. It's not annoying enough to move inside to cook, but that would solve the problem.
- When prepping all of our weekly meals completely inside, there isn't much space, so thoughtful processes to get food prepped is paramount.
All-in-all, I put a ton of thought into this system, and I am really happy with how it turned out.
Back Door by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr
6ft bed 3rd gen Tacoma with Alu-Cab Canopy Camper and their 270 degree Shadow Awn mounted on drivers side
Wife and I have been living in this truck since 9/1/2023. We mainly reheat food during the week, but we do one large food prep day once a week (usually Friday it seems)
We have a Eureka Ignite lpg stove permanently mounted to the rear door of the camper. It is positioned at a height that allows us to open/close the rear door with the stove deployed. This has been necessary just a few times. We mainly cook outdoors (95%+of the time). The only time we ever meal prepped completely indoors was during a ~25 degree day with rain and extreme wind (40 mph gusts).
We use an aluminum Alu-Cab table for additional cooking space. It is stored on the underside of the overhang and is deployed in less than 20 seconds.
We have two water spigots, one located just a few feet from the stove. Our fridge is also inside of the camper, drivers side, openable with just one hand from both inside and outside of the truck.
What I like:
- Getting prepped to cook or to heat up food is as easy as can be. The table is super convenient, the legs self deploy with struts, etc.
- The stove simply needs to be folded down, lpg valve opened, and the stove fired up.
- Water is very easy to access as well. Flip switch to turn on pump and then dispense as required.
- Can cook entirely outside, or entirely inside, depending on weather.
- All cooking related equipment and food is right there, close at hand.
What I don't like:
- Sometimes nice weather days ,with just a bit of annoying wind, can get slightly annoying. The burner has never been extinguished, but it takes a lot longer to heat up/cook food. It's not annoying enough to move inside to cook, but that would solve the problem.
- When prepping all of our weekly meals completely inside, there isn't much space, so thoughtful processes to get food prepped is paramount.
All-in-all, I put a ton of thought into this system, and I am really happy with how it turned out.
Back Door by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr
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Dave in AZ
Active member
Good info, thx! I added a link to your TacomaWorld thread to my phone, so I can read it. Seems a lot of it will be of good use and interest to me, in Phx, thx!Here is what i have to share:
6ft bed 3rd gen Tacoma with Alu-Cab Canopy Camper and their 270 degree Shadow Awn mounted on drivers side
Wife and I have been living in this truck since 9/1/2023. We mainly reheat food during the week, but we do one large food prep day once a week (usually Friday it seems)
We have a Eureka Ignite lpg stove permanently mounted to the rear door of the camper. It is positioned at a height that allows us to open/close the rear door with the stove deployed. This has been necessary just a few times. We mainly cook outdoors (95%+of the time). The only time we ever meal prepped completely indoors was during a ~25 degree day with rain and extreme wind (40 mph gusts).
We use an aluminum Alu-Cab table for additional cooking space. It is stored on the underside of the overhang and is deployed in less than 20 seconds.
We have two water spigots, one located just a few feet from the stove. Our fridge is also inside of the camper, drivers side, openable with just one hand from both inside and outside of the truck.
What I like:
- Getting prepped to cook or to heat up food is as easy as can be. The table is super convenient, the legs self deploy with struts, etc.
- The stove simply needs to be folded down, lpg valve opened, and the stove fired up.
- Water is very easy to access as well. Flip switch to turn on pump and then dispense as required.
- Can cook entirely outside, or entirely inside, depending on weather.
- All cooking related equipment and food is right there, close at hand.
What I don't like:
- Sometimes nice weather days ,with just a bit of annoying wind, can get slightly annoying. The burner has never been extinguished, but it takes a lot longer to heat up/cook food. It's not annoying enough to move inside to cook, but that would solve the problem.
- When prepping all of our weekly meals completely inside, there isn't much space, so thoughtful processes to get food prepped is paramount.
All-in-all, I put a ton of thought into this system, and I am really happy with how it turned out.
We picked up our custom-made Phoenix Pop-up from Coyote RV in Denver in 2018, after a long 2+ years of planning and construction. Robbie did his usual great job on the build and we are very happy with the result.
Our kitchen gear is contained in two milk-crate size boxes, which keeps it dry, dust-free and portable. The boxes can easily be lifted out and used with the external truck-mounted shelf, or carried to a campground picnic table, or even into a motel room. There is no built-in stove, icebox, sink or water tankage in the camper. The shelf is easily adjustable, well-lit at night, and packs inside for travel.
The shelf is a common "training table", legs removed. It stores in the top of the opening in the hatch and is supported by chains from brackets on the side of the camper. The chains drop into slots in the brackets and can be adjusted for height, level, etc. In between the brackets you can see two armored LED lights for use in the dark.
Our kitchen gear is contained in two milk-crate size boxes, which keeps it dry, dust-free and portable. The boxes can easily be lifted out and used with the external truck-mounted shelf, or carried to a campground picnic table, or even into a motel room. There is no built-in stove, icebox, sink or water tankage in the camper. The shelf is easily adjustable, well-lit at night, and packs inside for travel.
The shelf is a common "training table", legs removed. It stores in the top of the opening in the hatch and is supported by chains from brackets on the side of the camper. The chains drop into slots in the brackets and can be adjusted for height, level, etc. In between the brackets you can see two armored LED lights for use in the dark.
Attachments
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K9LTW
Active member
We designed our OVRLND camper with two, primary, considerations...our dogs...and 4-season camping. For anyone that's spent any time on the East Coast in above-freezing temps that means three seasons of bugs. So tailgate pull-outs and being forced to leave a gaping hole in the camper open to the flying nasties as well as freezing temps was a non-starter. We have full barn doors on ours to delete the tailgate anyway as it allows for rapid ingress/egress to minimize loss of heat/entrance of bugs.
All of our cooking is simply outside on a table. Rain? Deploy the awning(s). If it's REALLY nasty out, I simply get out my backpacking micro burner (that I use for coffee in the AM) and boil water for backpack meals that we always have as a back-up. I've zero interest in cooking inside as I've zero interest in burger grease, tikka masala sauce, or butter being splattered in the truck
We also simply don't have the real estate for it. When we get to camp, the first thing unloaded is the table, chairs, and kitchen gear. The top is popped, the dogs are released and either secured outside or in the now-open camper and we then have the dog box in the back of the cab to throw the kitchen gear/empty bags.
Foul weather:
Fair weather:
Use the top shelf to place a burner and boil water in that REALLY foul weather! Just open a window and crank up the roof fan to exhaust water vapor for a hot minute.
All of our cooking is simply outside on a table. Rain? Deploy the awning(s). If it's REALLY nasty out, I simply get out my backpacking micro burner (that I use for coffee in the AM) and boil water for backpack meals that we always have as a back-up. I've zero interest in cooking inside as I've zero interest in burger grease, tikka masala sauce, or butter being splattered in the truck
We also simply don't have the real estate for it. When we get to camp, the first thing unloaded is the table, chairs, and kitchen gear. The top is popped, the dogs are released and either secured outside or in the now-open camper and we then have the dog box in the back of the cab to throw the kitchen gear/empty bags.Foul weather:
Fair weather:
Use the top shelf to place a burner and boil water in that REALLY foul weather! Just open a window and crank up the roof fan to exhaust water vapor for a hot minute.
Spencer for Hire
Active member
Nice setup. What is this dog box you speak of?We designed our OVRLND camper with two, primary, considerations...our dogs...and 4-season camping. For anyone that's spent any time on the East Coast in above-freezing temps that means three seasons of bugs. So tailgate pull-outs and being forced to leave a gaping hole in the camper open to the flying nasties as well as freezing temps was a non-starter. We have full barn doors on ours to delete the tailgate anyway as it allows for rapid ingress/egress to minimize loss of heat/entrance of bugs.
All of our cooking is simply outside on a table. Rain? Deploy the awning(s). If it's REALLY nasty out, I simply get out my backpacking micro burner (that I use for coffee in the AM) and boil water for backpack meals that we always have as a back-up. I've zero interest in cooking inside as I've zero interest in burger grease, tikka masala sauce, or butter being splattered in the truck
Foul weather:
View attachment 814308
Fair weather:
View attachment 814309
Use the top shelf to place a burner and boil water in that REALLY foul weather! Just open a window and crank up the roof fan to exhaust water vapor for a hot minute.
View attachment 814310
K9LTW
Active member
Thank ya, kindly!
We have an American Aluminum K9 insert made, specifically, for the 2500 RAM crew cab back there. Keeping the dogs secure and safe in case of accident, etc. is pri 1 for us. It's also awesome to be able to leave the windows down when we run into a store/restaurant/etc. with no fear of things (like fingers) getting in or things (like teeth) getting out. Only downside is that my wife can't recline her seat, so she bought one of those fuzzy neckbrace pillows
Spencer for Hire
Active member
Thank You. I have some more questions about the kennel and your Malinois as I just saved one from a kill shelter. I will send those via DM so as to not derail this thread. By the way, don't they get a big fluffy bed in there?Thank ya, kindly!
We have an American Aluminum K9 insert made, specifically, for the 2500 RAM crew cab back there. Keeping the dogs secure and safe in case of accident, etc. is pri 1 for us. It's also awesome to be able to leave the windows down when we run into a store/restaurant/etc. with no fear of things (like fingers) getting in or things (like teeth) getting out. Only downside is that my wife can't recline her seat, so she bought one of those fuzzy neckbrace pillows
View attachment 814581
View attachment 814582
K9LTW
Active member
Those pics were immediately after install. I actually have custom cut Primo Pads in there with fluffy, absorbent rugs on top of that.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Dave in AZ
Active member
That is a really nice setup.