After two trips to the Pacific Northwest where I rented a Jeep on Turo and car camped through the national parks, it became my dream to own a Jeep and build it out for camping.
Just before I moved to California post-grad, I purchased a Jeep Wrangler 4xe and as a parting project to spend time with my dad, we build out a bed platform with drawers.
jeep build
inspiration
design problem
My car is a hybrid, which presented a unique design problem — when the back seats are folded down, it doesn’t lay flush with the trunk storage. This would make sleeping in the car impossible, so the design was centered around leveling out the floor, such that a bed could lay across it. I also remembered from my previous car camping trips that there wasn’t a great way to cook in the car, so I wanted to see if I could create the perfect space for cooking and storage.
trial run
Time to take it for a spin. I drove out to California with all of my possessions packed into two suitcases, and a single bed tucked next to it. I visited Zion, Sequoia, King’s Canyon, and Yosemite national parks. All of my food, cooking supplies, and first aid were stored in the drawers, and I used the installed work table for cooking and a table for eating and journaling. It completely solved my disorganization problem from the last two trips, and I didn’t even end up using the tent I brought because the bed platform was so comfortable.
