So let me preface this thread by saying that I'm not an engineer, or a carpenter, or a welder, or fabricator, and I don't have sponsers on Instagram...I'm just a guy with a Land Rover.
This build was inspired by a trip I took last year where I flew to Miami and purchased the Brokebutrichoverland Defender then drive it back to Sacramento. Awesome trip, saw a lot of cool places and it was just amazing. When I got back, I kept the Defender for awhile but ultimately decided that I didn't need two vehicles dedicated to the same purpose and that I preferred my Disco. It's every bit as capable but far more refined than the Defender so I sold my Defender. I sort of regret selling it, but honestly I just couldn't justify keeping it. Plus, nowadays I'm finding that I'm more about fishing, hiking, gold panning, camping, etc then offroading but if I have to off-road to get to where I want to go then so be it; but the off-road trail is no longer my main focus when getting outside.
Taking the trip in the defender motivated me to start working more on my Disco. I started putting more work into it's maintenance and once that was squared away I started building the interior. My first thing was the ever important rear table. Their used to be a company that made an aluminum panel for the back door but they went out of business just as I was ready to buy one so I went ahead and made my own. Bought a piece of aluminum at home Depot, traced the outline and cut it out with some metal shears. It's rough around the edges but it works. Disclaimer: nothing in this build is pretty but it all functions and that's what I care most about.
After that I made the table. Ordered a custom cutting board online and attached it to the aluminum panel with a piano hinge and some reflective cordage. I don't even know what the thing is that I used to lock it upright but it works to lock and unlock the table and I f ound it in my workshop so it cost me nothing. Excuse the ugly gold hinge but it was the only color they had at the time smh
After that I thought, "why would anybody pay $1500 for drawers when you could make your own?" and then went and built some storage cubbies. The idea was that I would have a platform to tie my cooler and my action packer down and underneath I could store random stuff. So I built it...then decided a day later that I should just build a sleeping platform. Don't have pics of the storage thing but here's a random pic of my truck:
This might be considered sacrilege but I never really liked the RTT. It was kind of convenient but was also inconvenient. If I set up camp and wanted to go somewhere after it was setup I would have to pack it all up then unpack it all again once I returned. At least with a ground tent I can leave the tent pitched, leave, then come back and camp is still setup. I decided to do a sleeping platform and went to work designing one. I figured I didn't need the rear seats because I never drive anybody around but me so I took them out and built a regular platform, not one of the fancy ones that folds and contorts and slides etc to retain functionality of the rear seats. I also wanted storage so I built some flip out doors to access the storage Cubby's under the platform.
After that was done I bought a tri-fold 3 inch memory foam mattress and some other supplies. My yeti cooler (no fridge yet) is mounted to some d-ring tie down points behind the driver seat with some mounts I made myself.
Once that was completed I decided that I needed curtains for privacy so I bought some black out curtains and cut them up to fit the windows of the Disco. Also bought some cheapo curtain "wires" that attach via eyelet bolts. The curtains get tied up with some Velcro straps.
After the curtains I decided I needed lighting and a solar setup for the future fridge. The solar setup is a 100 watt renogy panel and a Renogy Wanderer solar controller paired to a 90ah Duracell battery. So far so good, all I have hooked up to it right now is a USB outlet but I'll be installing a 12v plug as well as another USB outlet and of course a fridge in the future. For house lighting I just used a USB led lightstrip plugged into the USB outlet. It's kind of ugly so I'll probably switch to something different soon.
After the lighting was done I realized I would need a bug net for the rear door if I sleep with the door open. I remembering I had an old ENO bug net that I never used so I grabbed it and cut it up to fit the rear door. It's ugly but it works.
I drove down to santa cruz for the weekend and my gf was complaining about not having a shower so today I built one for her. I've seen some cool Aussie designed but they're way too expensive so I just made one out of PVC pipe.
The shower curtain in the pic is too small and it's not weighted so it's flying around; I'll have to get a different curtain but you get the idea.
And that's where I'm at now. I still need to get some things like the fridge, an on board water system and a fan of some kind. So far I think it came out pretty good, I admit that I haven't gotten to really use it like I would like to but I'm excited for the summer. As it gets used I realize changes it may need and make adjustments accordingly. I may move the isb outlets for example because the USB piece sticks out and can interfere with your sleep. The space is limited and at 5'10" my feet stick out the rear door but I tend to sleep in the fetal position so with the door closed this isn't an issue. Plans for the very near future are springs and shocks because mine are done and a Dometic CD-30 fridge.
The idea with the CD-30 is that it'll fit inside the sleeping platform on the driver's side and will free up space in the sleeping area which will probably be taken up by some kind of storage. I have plans for a sink as well but that's low on the priority list. Once I get the build more or less complete I plan to start smoothing out the rough edges. Anyway, thought some of you might be interested in what I'm doing and I'll update this thread with better pictures as I finish projects up.
Thanks for looking
This build was inspired by a trip I took last year where I flew to Miami and purchased the Brokebutrichoverland Defender then drive it back to Sacramento. Awesome trip, saw a lot of cool places and it was just amazing. When I got back, I kept the Defender for awhile but ultimately decided that I didn't need two vehicles dedicated to the same purpose and that I preferred my Disco. It's every bit as capable but far more refined than the Defender so I sold my Defender. I sort of regret selling it, but honestly I just couldn't justify keeping it. Plus, nowadays I'm finding that I'm more about fishing, hiking, gold panning, camping, etc then offroading but if I have to off-road to get to where I want to go then so be it; but the off-road trail is no longer my main focus when getting outside.
Taking the trip in the defender motivated me to start working more on my Disco. I started putting more work into it's maintenance and once that was squared away I started building the interior. My first thing was the ever important rear table. Their used to be a company that made an aluminum panel for the back door but they went out of business just as I was ready to buy one so I went ahead and made my own. Bought a piece of aluminum at home Depot, traced the outline and cut it out with some metal shears. It's rough around the edges but it works. Disclaimer: nothing in this build is pretty but it all functions and that's what I care most about.
After that I made the table. Ordered a custom cutting board online and attached it to the aluminum panel with a piano hinge and some reflective cordage. I don't even know what the thing is that I used to lock it upright but it works to lock and unlock the table and I f ound it in my workshop so it cost me nothing. Excuse the ugly gold hinge but it was the only color they had at the time smh
After that I thought, "why would anybody pay $1500 for drawers when you could make your own?" and then went and built some storage cubbies. The idea was that I would have a platform to tie my cooler and my action packer down and underneath I could store random stuff. So I built it...then decided a day later that I should just build a sleeping platform. Don't have pics of the storage thing but here's a random pic of my truck:
This might be considered sacrilege but I never really liked the RTT. It was kind of convenient but was also inconvenient. If I set up camp and wanted to go somewhere after it was setup I would have to pack it all up then unpack it all again once I returned. At least with a ground tent I can leave the tent pitched, leave, then come back and camp is still setup. I decided to do a sleeping platform and went to work designing one. I figured I didn't need the rear seats because I never drive anybody around but me so I took them out and built a regular platform, not one of the fancy ones that folds and contorts and slides etc to retain functionality of the rear seats. I also wanted storage so I built some flip out doors to access the storage Cubby's under the platform.
After that was done I bought a tri-fold 3 inch memory foam mattress and some other supplies. My yeti cooler (no fridge yet) is mounted to some d-ring tie down points behind the driver seat with some mounts I made myself.
Once that was completed I decided that I needed curtains for privacy so I bought some black out curtains and cut them up to fit the windows of the Disco. Also bought some cheapo curtain "wires" that attach via eyelet bolts. The curtains get tied up with some Velcro straps.
After the curtains I decided I needed lighting and a solar setup for the future fridge. The solar setup is a 100 watt renogy panel and a Renogy Wanderer solar controller paired to a 90ah Duracell battery. So far so good, all I have hooked up to it right now is a USB outlet but I'll be installing a 12v plug as well as another USB outlet and of course a fridge in the future. For house lighting I just used a USB led lightstrip plugged into the USB outlet. It's kind of ugly so I'll probably switch to something different soon.
After the lighting was done I realized I would need a bug net for the rear door if I sleep with the door open. I remembering I had an old ENO bug net that I never used so I grabbed it and cut it up to fit the rear door. It's ugly but it works.
I drove down to santa cruz for the weekend and my gf was complaining about not having a shower so today I built one for her. I've seen some cool Aussie designed but they're way too expensive so I just made one out of PVC pipe.
The shower curtain in the pic is too small and it's not weighted so it's flying around; I'll have to get a different curtain but you get the idea.
And that's where I'm at now. I still need to get some things like the fridge, an on board water system and a fan of some kind. So far I think it came out pretty good, I admit that I haven't gotten to really use it like I would like to but I'm excited for the summer. As it gets used I realize changes it may need and make adjustments accordingly. I may move the isb outlets for example because the USB piece sticks out and can interfere with your sleep. The space is limited and at 5'10" my feet stick out the rear door but I tend to sleep in the fetal position so with the door closed this isn't an issue. Plans for the very near future are springs and shocks because mine are done and a Dometic CD-30 fridge.
The idea with the CD-30 is that it'll fit inside the sleeping platform on the driver's side and will free up space in the sleeping area which will probably be taken up by some kind of storage. I have plans for a sink as well but that's low on the priority list. Once I get the build more or less complete I plan to start smoothing out the rough edges. Anyway, thought some of you might be interested in what I'm doing and I'll update this thread with better pictures as I finish projects up.
Thanks for looking
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