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- #1,761
Might have to be a Xmas present…
Build Won a '74 40 on a coin toss...
- Thread starter ginmtb
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- Thread starter
- #1,762
Happy 10 year anniversary!!!
- Thread starter
- #1,763
Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve been here! Priorities, life, etc. Haven't been doing much on or in the Land Cruiser, I think in 2025 I didn’t drive it a single mile sadly. But I am now retired!
I finally met up with my best friend for a camping trip many years in the making. I found a destination literally 127 miles for each of us smack dab in the middle! Pinnacles National Park.
Good times! Nice to spend a couple of nights and just shoot the bull with a lifelong friend.
After seeing all his cool camping stuff and having cobbled together what I had, I decided I needed to setup the 40 for a better camping experience. As we all know, these things are tiny so you can only do so much. My cargo net sleeping setup wasn’t ideal so I needed to come up with a better solution.
I watched a number of overlanding videos and figured I could build out some drawers. The sleeping situation was going to be the bigger challenge. I came up with a folding platform that was supported on by a hanging system at the head end. I didn’t want to remove the front seat, so this worked.
And here is the drawer system with additional slide outs. The refrigerator slides out also and includes a sliding cutting board too. The black coating is Heculiner.
I finally met up with my best friend for a camping trip many years in the making. I found a destination literally 127 miles for each of us smack dab in the middle! Pinnacles National Park.
Good times! Nice to spend a couple of nights and just shoot the bull with a lifelong friend.
After seeing all his cool camping stuff and having cobbled together what I had, I decided I needed to setup the 40 for a better camping experience. As we all know, these things are tiny so you can only do so much. My cargo net sleeping setup wasn’t ideal so I needed to come up with a better solution.
I watched a number of overlanding videos and figured I could build out some drawers. The sleeping situation was going to be the bigger challenge. I came up with a folding platform that was supported on by a hanging system at the head end. I didn’t want to remove the front seat, so this worked.
And here is the drawer system with additional slide outs. The refrigerator slides out also and includes a sliding cutting board too. The black coating is Heculiner.
Welcome back - was wondering what happened to you - and congrats on retiring!
- Thread starter
- #1,765
Here are a few more photos… my original design had two taller drawers on the bottom and one short one on the sleeping platform side. Then I realized the refrigerator wouldn’t be accessible since it sits under the hatch. So I lost some drawer height which is a bummer. Then my nephew mentioned tilting slide outs which I had no idea existed. Double bummer lol. Slide out platforms are a bit high but I’ll survive.
- Thread starter
- #1,768
I became a little obsessed with the kreg fasteners! I even used them to build my templates for routing out the sleeping platform and the weight saving cutouts inside the boxes lol.
I got this one in the 30” version and cutting board:
But the tilting ones allow much better access to the refrigerator but are quite expensive. I probably would’ve gone that route had I known about them and hadn’t cut my wood already lol. FYI I used 3 sheets of plywood for this project. Here is an example of the tilting style slide:
Alu-Cab Tilting Fridge Slide S/M
Alu-Cab’s Tilting Fridge Slide operates as a straight pull-out slide, and it has the option to tilt. This means you have the advantage of a fridge slide that runs on stainless steel runners with sealed stainless-steel bearings. This product offers maximum strength with the ability to carry...
overlandaddict.com
- Thread starter
- #1,769
It sure would’ve been nice to have two big storage drawers since storage is at a premium. I do have better access to my pelican case on the side now so that is a plus at least.
FYI I was able to anchor this down with a series of right angle brackets using the jump seat bolt holes and one rear heater bolt hole. So no holes drilled!
FYI I was able to anchor this down with a series of right angle brackets using the jump seat bolt holes and one rear heater bolt hole. So no holes drilled!
- Thread starter
- #1,770
I’m leaning towards getting this tent setup. At first I wanted a tailgate style tent to extend the space, but then realized I couldn’t cook safely with that setup. This gives me rain and sun protection and full access to the pullouts.
- Thread starter
- #1,771
My buddy had an ammo can fire box when we camped and it sure was nice to have instead of fire wood. After some research I decided to build my own, they looked pretty simple for $200. Went down the AI rabbit hole during the design, kind of funny what I added to this (when most are simply the can and a burner). Cut air holes on the side, have heat shields with copper spacers protecting the lower half of the box, ceramic insulation to protect the upper half of the box where the main heat is, and all hardware is stainless steel to help with heat transfer. The rocks are ceramic for heat retention, flame spread, and to keep the thin stainless steel grate I got from bending (don’t ask me how I know that lol). Tested it out and overall it is working pretty well. I took temps, the fire was over 311 degrees (max the thermometer goes) while the hottest side was about 165 degrees. I have some high temp paint but at those temps I might be okay. If not I’ll strip it and paint it later.
- Thread starter
- #1,772
Took the cruiser out today with the new rear view mirror setup by Wolfbox. Maiden voyage too with the drawer system and camping gear. Amazing what adding a few hundred pounds will do to the ride! Quieter and smoother, guess I don’t need to get the parabolic setup after all lol. And the drawer system fully loaded with gear it was almost silent, didn’t hear really any rattles or strange noises so that was nice.
The mirror is very cool, took a few minutes to get used to it and it is odd not being able to see your gear behind you in the mirror. But once you realize you have a fully unobstructed view of what’s behind you, you don’t even care about your gear. I will get the anti-glare film to help with reflections on the screen that happen at times depending on the sun location. Otherwise very happy with the setup. Oh and the GPS was spot on too, compared it with my iPhone GPS app.
After the test trip I added the third camera, mounted it very low, under the rear bumper so I can have a low view of backing up. That is super helpful too!
The mirror is very cool, took a few minutes to get used to it and it is odd not being able to see your gear behind you in the mirror. But once you realize you have a fully unobstructed view of what’s behind you, you don’t even care about your gear. I will get the anti-glare film to help with reflections on the screen that happen at times depending on the sun location. Otherwise very happy with the setup. Oh and the GPS was spot on too, compared it with my iPhone GPS app.
After the test trip I added the third camera, mounted it very low, under the rear bumper so I can have a low view of backing up. That is super helpful too!