Then I stumbled upon expeditionportal.com. Not only could I go off roading, but I could camp out once I got there. I’ve had to bed down many times in strange places during my 28 years in the Army. Now retired, I could go where ever I wanted to. Too many times I have seen some incredible places, yet couldn’t really take in the beauty of the place because I was focused on a mission. The photos I was seeing of people’s travels were great. I set out to fit my truck for expo travel. I still needed to be able to still use my truck as a truck, so with minimal experience, old tools, and used left over plywood, my son and I added storage on the sides, leaving the center of the bed open. My daughter graduated from a twin bed to a queen size, so when it comes time for my travels, her old real twin mattress will be placed in the bed for a very comfy nights sleep, with room to sit up straight.
On the right side, we built around a toolbox I had installed previously.
On the left, we built in an open section at the rear to allow easy access to recovery gear.
In front of the wheel wells are two small cubbies.
The left side has a long compartment with top access. I can use this with stuff laying in the bed, or even through the side windoors in the Leer shell. You can see the door to this, and all compartments, are poorly cut out. My jigsaw battery wouldn’t hold a charge, and the Roto-Zip was hard to control in a straight line. It kept wanting to curve into the wood following the spin of the bit. Oh well, function trumps aesthetics…
A smaller, end opening compartment was built into the front portion of the right side. I mounted a constant duty VIAIR air compressor on the rear of that side, leaving room to mount my inverter… one of these days. The compressor is accessible at the rear of the truck for airing up tires or working with air tools, and will also run front and rear ARB air lockers.
Over the right wheel well we built a compartment to place a house battery. This powers the compressor, and will power the inverter and other things in the future. It is charged by the truck through a switched constant duty relay sourced at a camper supply place on line.
The compressor is mounted above the battery compartment, and the tank over the toolbox. The quick disconnect hose fitting can be reached by opening the camper shell.
Above the recovery gear, also accessible from the ground is a fire extinguisher. It’s twin rides in the cab.
I added a couple of cleats to hold a plywood piece in at the front of the bed. This is easily removable and allows me to carry extra fuel. Future plans are for a rear bumper tire carrier and 3 jerry can holder.
Hanging from the ceiling is a lockable gun cabinet.
