Another thing I worked on: converting an old SUV into a kind of camper-van. The reasons why:
- because we already had this car, it was a hand-me-down, so we didn’t need to pay for it and newer SUV’s have not gotten much better in terms of efficiency.
- It is able to carry all of us and anything we need to camp, including acting as our sleeping area.
- We can travel and camp for relatively little money, and not need to interact with many people, which during a pandemic is really good.
- so now we can, on a whim, decide to go camping and in a few minutes be on the road to the middle of nowhere with everything we need.
Again, I had to buy a lot of stuff for this, which sucks, but honestly the total cost of this was about the same as staying for a week in a nice-ish hotel.
Starting with the SUV as it normally was I removed the third row of seats and made 2 pallets out of plywood and 2x6 boards. The bottom of the pallets are 1/4” plywood and the tops are 3/4”. This gave us room for storage and an even surface to sleep on. We initially put a 4” memory foam topper on the pallets but it ended up being not comfortable and was really hot to sleep on during the spring and summer. So we’ve replaced it with thin camping pads and a small air mattress.
Next I made some boards for the back Windows, which act as storage for camping/hiking equipment, insulate the sleeping area a bit more, and give some privacy/blocking light if you want to sleep in. On the passenger side board we have cubbies for everyone to put toothbrushes and other personal toiletries, there are also hooks to hang camelbacks on, and a pack I mounted on the board to hold sunblock and bug repellent.
The passenger side board has hooks for our walking sticks, and first aide kit. The back window has been blocked out with shiny bubble wrap for insulation and privacy. Now that made things difficult because I couldn’t use the rear view mirror anymore, so I got a front and rear drive cam that has a live rear view display.
Next I got a rooftop tent because having 4 people in the back of the SUV is possible, but not comfortable. I researched them online and found the one I wanted on eBay for about $500 less than you could find it through retailers. This is where I learned something about products that have pricing set by the manufacturer.
Companies like Sony, Apple, and even off-road product manufacturers like SmittyBilt will dictate the sale price to their retailers so that no one can use coupons or sell them for less than a competitor. But, these same retailers who agree to those terms on their websites will also sell products on eBay to circumvent those agreements. So, this rooftop tent cost $800, with free shipping, vs the $1,200ish at the normal retail price. So…if there’s something ridiculous you want, check eBay as well because these companies will backstab one another if they can.
I also got one of these new E-coolers, basically a portable mini fridge on wheels. So we could bring food from home rather than relying on fast food or normal “camping” food staples. The cooler runs off the cigarette lighter while driving and off portable battery pack I made in my previous posts when we’re at camp. The battery back is charged by the solar panel you see in the pictures.
We so far we have taken this to the Colorado river for a few days, as well as a few days in Joshua Tree and it was great on both trips. Setup and breakdown of camp was quick and easy, everyone slept and ate well, and had a great time.
BUT, we found that the rooftop tent killed our gas mileage, because it’s really not aerodynamic. So taking a few tips from commercial trucks I made a fairing out of some plexiglass I had and some pieces of aluminum and steel. This should cut down on wind resistance from the tent dramatically, which will hopefully restore some of the former fuel economy. Our next planned trips in the summer and fall are to: Lake Tahoe, Kings Canyon, Great Basin, Death Valley, and Saguaro national parks.
Eventually I would like to get rid of the gas powered SUV, but until we get better battery technology or get viable super-capacitors to power cars the environments costs of getting a new vehicle outweigh using this one, because of how infrequently it is used.