Sharing my build with the community. A few notes on the intent of the build out.
Purpose: Primarily weekend hiking /biking / climbing trips, but wanted something suitable for week long road trips once/twice a year.
Camp style: mainly rec sites and free sites in national forests
Group size: w/ partner and dog.
Design: minimalist design with comfort for hanging out in the back during poor weather conditions or cold temps.
Electronics: fridge with power station for 2+ nights, diesel heater for cold temps and to prevent condensation, rechargeable magnetic led light on rear door. Thermacell for buggy days.
Materials and assembly: 2020 aluminium extrusion and joining accessories (all Amazon), 1/2” plywood with stain and top coat. delivery of parts and assembly took 3 weeks, wasnt super efficient being the first time and required a bit of problem solving. Someone more capable could build this in a week I think. I cut all extrusion with a mitre saw and found it tricky to get the measurements exact. A table saw would also have made the plywood cuts a lot easier than a portable circular saw. Given the weight I opted not to install a base plate or bolt to the bed. No issues thus far. Total cost of materials was about $1100 CAD.
Total weight: frame 20kg, plywood 25kg
Credit: All design elements comes from @julian and his detailed build thread. @takethetruck for ideas on aluminium extrusion and assembly. @GainzGFC for diesel heater build.
Future updates it’s mostly dialled now but might change up power set up and add faster charging. Will also add the LED lighting kit and headliner when these arrive.
