I just wanted to share my expedition build. The truck used to be a daily driver for a few years. Later it was just a truck for emergency situations, when I had no access to our minivan or as a truck for some mudding a few times a year. Last year the family consensus was that either we do something useful with the Land Cruiser or we sell it. So we have decided to prepare it for camping trips, the cheap way.
I have plans for a true camping machine but due to many problems the project is put on hold. More details of it here: https://www.facebook.com/exmotech
Sooo, summer was in full swing and we had no vehicle reliable enough to travel. Within a few weeks I have made the following modifications:
- simple furniture/cabinets to hold family (2+2) clothes and other stuff
- solar panel to recharge batteries, operate fridge and lights
- additional 100Ah battery
- 18.5 gallon water tank
- Webasto heater (not for engine but for water tank)
- heat exchanger to heat water while engine is running
- water pump for the water outlet and a recirculatin pump to the heater
- LED light strips all around
- lower tailgate cut off and covered with a wooden lid
- a rack on the upper tailgate
- a lock to keep the tailgate from closing
- a fold out sleeping platform on the roof
- a 2-second ready tent (to go on roof)
- a lot of minor electrical mods.
FURNITURE
My aim was to get rid of military crates which are sexy, macho and trendy but a pain to constantly move them in/out of the truck while looking for stuff for 4 people (clothes, toys, camera, books, shoes, food). The furniture is set up on an elevated floor and underneath is the place for the water tank, battery, hob, gas canister etc. The shelves are made of 8mm plywood. Many people use 12-15mm plywood (around ½") but this is overkill and very heavy. Plywood does flex but is highly durable so it can be thin.
Solar Panel
This is a must have for me. I have no worries when staying for a few days without moving the vehicle. The fridge works all the time, during the day ipad and phone chargers work, in the evening the lights are on. In spite of this the battery is kept full all the time. I love solar panels and mine is a 130W monocrystallic unit with a simple regulator which just does the job perfectly.
The solar panel is mounted on the hood and the regulator is under the passenger's carpet.
Some photos of the solar panel can bee seen further below.
Additional battery and voltage gauge
This is self explanatory. An additional battery gives me a lot of juice to drain and the main, engine battery is untouched. I have a switch which can connect both batteries together but didn't have to use it (aux batt always full). The gauge is a cheap but very reliabe unit. It measures volts with a resolution of 0.1V for most voltages, and for very low voltages (under 3V I guess), the resolution is 0,01V. I have no OEM rear heater unit, so I used the OEM switch to toggle between the primary and aux battery voltages. Really sweet.
Water
The water tank has a capacity of 18.5 gallons. Inside there is a water pump for the shower/outlet, a water pump for recirculation, a digital thermostat probe and some hoses. All these items are tightly secured by a special set of clamps made by me of stainless steel. So the inlet and outlet hoes, the pump and other things just don't rattle around. My idea was to be able to heat water very fast so I used a heat exchanger (installed under the hood) and just recirculate the water from the tank. Inline with the recirculating circuit is the Webasto heater. So when the engine is warmed up and running I can heat up those 18 gallons within a few minutes. Heating the water with engine off and Webasto on takes around 15 minutes. Not bad at all. When returning to our truck the kids play or eat a sandwich and after that they take a warm, though brief, shower.
LED lights.
The three sets of LED strips give me enough light all over the truck. They work independently from the dome lights and door switches. The first set of LEDs consists of two parts hidden behind the sun visors. They are switched on with a switch in the unused space (a.k.a. cupholder hole) above the radio. Another switch in the same place operates the LEDs on the back. There is one strip which gives plenty of light. It is hidden behind the hump created by the sunroof assembly. I control the switch for obvious reasons: I don't want my kids to turn it on and off like crazy or on a twisty mountain road etc. I have full control. The third set of LEDs is on the upper tailgate, right behind the third brake light. Its switch is on the cargo area pillar. So I just open the tailgate, flip the switch and have a lot of light.
LOWER TAILGATE
This is the usual stuff. The inner wall of the tailgate has been cut off and there is a lid installed. The lid is made of plywood, sanded to give a smooth finish and painted. Much nicer to sit on than a metal one. Also easy to replace if need be.
UPPER TAILGATE
The upper tailgate has the wind deflector removed and the remaining holes have received new rivnuts. There are also two rivnuts above the 'Lexus LX450' badge. All of them hold a rack which is used to carry my spare tire, some deck chairs and similar stuff. One of the gas/oil struts has a lock welded to it which keeps the tailgate open and safe. In spite of the weight, the rivnuts/rack/lock worked perfectly. My assumption was that at some point of my trip I would need to go back and look for my lost spare tire, but I was wrong as the whole construction was very rigid and durable.
SLEEPING PLATFORM
My sleeping platform is made of square steel tubing (thin walled) and 8mm plywood. It is designed to open like a book and doesn't need any legs to support it. You know, two running kids and removable roof support mean trouble. After opening, the platform is big enough for a 2-second tent and there is still some space to store chairs, a table and other stuff to protect animals from peeing on them overnight. While driving, the platform is quite compact and low profile which is good to increase our mileage from ultra low to very low.
MISCELLANEOUS STUFF
The control panel behind the sligind window. Main on/off switch, two 12V outlets, Webasto switch, recirculating pump switch, digital thermostat, water pump switch, couplings for shower hoses, bottle funnel to fill with water.
A nice and rigid iPad holder. An aluminum hook, a spring and an alu c-section (padded).
An OBDII Bluetooth reader. My tablet can read coolant temp, speed, rpms, o2 sensor operation, erasing codes etc... Very nice and it cost me around $10.
The iPad is for navigation (I love MotionX GPS HD) and the Android tablet is for music and OBD. Sorry for the messy photo but it was made during the install.
There is also another USB charger in the corner of the windshield. Good stuff for a dash cam, GoPro or just to charge a phone and tuck it above the sun visor to keep it out of the way.
I have plans for a true camping machine but due to many problems the project is put on hold. More details of it here: https://www.facebook.com/exmotech
Sooo, summer was in full swing and we had no vehicle reliable enough to travel. Within a few weeks I have made the following modifications:
- simple furniture/cabinets to hold family (2+2) clothes and other stuff
- solar panel to recharge batteries, operate fridge and lights
- additional 100Ah battery
- 18.5 gallon water tank
- Webasto heater (not for engine but for water tank)
- heat exchanger to heat water while engine is running
- water pump for the water outlet and a recirculatin pump to the heater
- LED light strips all around
- lower tailgate cut off and covered with a wooden lid
- a rack on the upper tailgate
- a lock to keep the tailgate from closing
- a fold out sleeping platform on the roof
- a 2-second ready tent (to go on roof)
- a lot of minor electrical mods.
FURNITURE
My aim was to get rid of military crates which are sexy, macho and trendy but a pain to constantly move them in/out of the truck while looking for stuff for 4 people (clothes, toys, camera, books, shoes, food). The furniture is set up on an elevated floor and underneath is the place for the water tank, battery, hob, gas canister etc. The shelves are made of 8mm plywood. Many people use 12-15mm plywood (around ½") but this is overkill and very heavy. Plywood does flex but is highly durable so it can be thin.
Solar Panel
This is a must have for me. I have no worries when staying for a few days without moving the vehicle. The fridge works all the time, during the day ipad and phone chargers work, in the evening the lights are on. In spite of this the battery is kept full all the time. I love solar panels and mine is a 130W monocrystallic unit with a simple regulator which just does the job perfectly.
The solar panel is mounted on the hood and the regulator is under the passenger's carpet.
Some photos of the solar panel can bee seen further below.
Additional battery and voltage gauge
This is self explanatory. An additional battery gives me a lot of juice to drain and the main, engine battery is untouched. I have a switch which can connect both batteries together but didn't have to use it (aux batt always full). The gauge is a cheap but very reliabe unit. It measures volts with a resolution of 0.1V for most voltages, and for very low voltages (under 3V I guess), the resolution is 0,01V. I have no OEM rear heater unit, so I used the OEM switch to toggle between the primary and aux battery voltages. Really sweet.
Water
The water tank has a capacity of 18.5 gallons. Inside there is a water pump for the shower/outlet, a water pump for recirculation, a digital thermostat probe and some hoses. All these items are tightly secured by a special set of clamps made by me of stainless steel. So the inlet and outlet hoes, the pump and other things just don't rattle around. My idea was to be able to heat water very fast so I used a heat exchanger (installed under the hood) and just recirculate the water from the tank. Inline with the recirculating circuit is the Webasto heater. So when the engine is warmed up and running I can heat up those 18 gallons within a few minutes. Heating the water with engine off and Webasto on takes around 15 minutes. Not bad at all. When returning to our truck the kids play or eat a sandwich and after that they take a warm, though brief, shower.
LED lights.
The three sets of LED strips give me enough light all over the truck. They work independently from the dome lights and door switches. The first set of LEDs consists of two parts hidden behind the sun visors. They are switched on with a switch in the unused space (a.k.a. cupholder hole) above the radio. Another switch in the same place operates the LEDs on the back. There is one strip which gives plenty of light. It is hidden behind the hump created by the sunroof assembly. I control the switch for obvious reasons: I don't want my kids to turn it on and off like crazy or on a twisty mountain road etc. I have full control. The third set of LEDs is on the upper tailgate, right behind the third brake light. Its switch is on the cargo area pillar. So I just open the tailgate, flip the switch and have a lot of light.
LOWER TAILGATE
This is the usual stuff. The inner wall of the tailgate has been cut off and there is a lid installed. The lid is made of plywood, sanded to give a smooth finish and painted. Much nicer to sit on than a metal one. Also easy to replace if need be.
UPPER TAILGATE
The upper tailgate has the wind deflector removed and the remaining holes have received new rivnuts. There are also two rivnuts above the 'Lexus LX450' badge. All of them hold a rack which is used to carry my spare tire, some deck chairs and similar stuff. One of the gas/oil struts has a lock welded to it which keeps the tailgate open and safe. In spite of the weight, the rivnuts/rack/lock worked perfectly. My assumption was that at some point of my trip I would need to go back and look for my lost spare tire, but I was wrong as the whole construction was very rigid and durable.
SLEEPING PLATFORM
My sleeping platform is made of square steel tubing (thin walled) and 8mm plywood. It is designed to open like a book and doesn't need any legs to support it. You know, two running kids and removable roof support mean trouble. After opening, the platform is big enough for a 2-second tent and there is still some space to store chairs, a table and other stuff to protect animals from peeing on them overnight. While driving, the platform is quite compact and low profile which is good to increase our mileage from ultra low to very low.
MISCELLANEOUS STUFF
The control panel behind the sligind window. Main on/off switch, two 12V outlets, Webasto switch, recirculating pump switch, digital thermostat, water pump switch, couplings for shower hoses, bottle funnel to fill with water.
A nice and rigid iPad holder. An aluminum hook, a spring and an alu c-section (padded).
An OBDII Bluetooth reader. My tablet can read coolant temp, speed, rpms, o2 sensor operation, erasing codes etc... Very nice and it cost me around $10.
The iPad is for navigation (I love MotionX GPS HD) and the Android tablet is for music and OBD. Sorry for the messy photo but it was made during the install.
There is also another USB charger in the corner of the windshield. Good stuff for a dash cam, GoPro or just to charge a phone and tuck it above the sun visor to keep it out of the way.
