Gemma - 2021 4Runner TRD ORP build

[walkabout_ca]

Over the last 1.5 years we've slowly converted our 4Runner into a comfy camping/overlanding setup, and I'd though I share some of the things we've done. I'll start with our drawer system. I've done a bunch of woodworking before, so that gave me a head start. I have a small 10x12 workshop, and a patio to put my tools so I have more space for larger projects. The major tools I used were a basic contractor table saw that can fit a dado stack, a miter saw, and a track saw. The design was inspired by a great many other designs we saw on YouTube and in person at the 2021 Overland Expo West in Flagstaff.

We removed the back seats and I put in a piece of plywood as a base plate over the rear seat area. The drawers are split into two boxes, one a full box with three drawers, the other an open box with a low double drawer that holds the fridge and the kitchen. Both boxes are 41" deep, which leaves a good bit of space over the rear seat for a 'garage', where we keep our chairs, storage boxes with tools and recovery gear, ladder, table, jerry cans, etc. Behind the front seats we have a vertical sheet of ply that has all the electronics, which can fold down with hinges so we can access the two Li-Ion batteries that sit in the rear seat foot wells. I'll post more details on that in the future.



The base plate is made from a 4x8' sheet of 3/4" ply, cut to size using the track saw and jigsaw. The base plate is bolted to the car using existing bolt holes. The back of the boxes is mounted to the base plate using an aluminum L-profile. The front of the boxes are tied together using an aluminum L-profile glued to aluminum flat bar, and bolted to the car using the existing D-rings in the back. The boxes sit on the carpet (I wanted the sound dampening). All panels that get slides attached or have dados are 3/4" ply, the other panels (such as drawer bottoms and backs) are 1/2". Someday I might rebuild the whole thing with a lighter material/design, but for now this ticks the functionality and sturdiness boxes.

The 3 drawer box is pretty simple, just plywood, dados/rabbets and glue (& screw where needed). I'm a big fan of dados since they make assembly so much easier when you work just by yourself. Things just slot into place, and it's strong too. I pre-cut dados in the side so we can put in dividers for better organization. This is one of the drawers.



The fridge / kitchen box was a real head scratcher. I was able to fit a plastic drag chain above the slider, which keeps the cables nicely tucked away as you slide out the fridge. The cables run to the little box in front of the fridge, which has the inverter remote switch, USB power, an LED light, and a 120V outlet from the inverter. The power cable of the induction cooktop stows away underneath the cooktop, and we plug it into the outlet when we pull out the kitchen. Ideally the cooktop would be hardwired and use another drag chain, but that would take up too much valuable space. I ran out of plywood, otherwise I would have made the right side full height, so you can store things more easily next to that side panel (over the rear right wheel well). The wood strip that the LED light is mounted on was an afterthought, but it turns out to be really handy for keeping your devices secure when we charge them using the USB outlet.




There are definitely things that could be changed to make it lighter, even just cutting away material where it's not needed, but for now it's really great to have an efficient camp storage and kitchen setup. Induction cooking is really great, no hassle with gas bottles, it's fast, and it works great on windy days. We have 200 Ah of Li-Ion and 200W solar (on our RTT), which is a bit tight for staying at camp for more than two nights if you don't have full sun and want to cook more elaborate meals (which we enjoy doing). We'll probably add 200W of portable solar, so we can augment it and are less dependent on the sun hitting the car.

Feel free to ask any questions!

 

[AggieOE]

Geez! That is an awesome unit! I used to think I'd do this but with a kid, I can't imagine how long this would take me to do.
Nice build!

 

[ChristelandChantal]

I love this unit, especially how nicely everything is integrated.
How did you end up securing this massive fridge?

 

[walkabout_ca]

Thanks!

How did you end up securing this massive fridge?

The fridge has 4 bolt holes in the bottom, so I used those to bolt the fridge to the drawer. Also, I made recesses for the fridge feet, you can see that in the photo where the fridge is not yet on the drawer. That fridge isn't going anywhere without the drawer

The drawer also has holes where the drains are located, so you can rinse out the fridge without having to remove it or spilling all over the drawer.

 

[walkabout_ca]

Over the last few days I installed a C4 Fabrication 4Runner LO PRO Winch Bumper with a Baja S8 30" light bar and Warn Evo winch. It went fairly smoothly, but there are a few differences for the 4Runner TRD Off Road 2021(+?) model:

• You need to disconnect the radar wiring, and temporarily remove the bracket between the bumper and the frame, otherwise it's in the way when you try to put the trimmed bumper back on the car
• The passenger fog light is wired from the driver size, and the wire runs across the section that you need to cut. I pulled off all the double-sided taped clips, put fresh tape on it, and mounted it on the bottom of the grille (see photo), which has just enough space (it faces down, towards the top of the light bar).
• There is a plastic trim piece between the bumper and the frame. It turns out you can trim it so you can close the gap between the frame and the TRD Off-road skid plates. Otherwise there is a strip of open cell foam that is exposed and probably a lot of dirt can get stuck there. It doesn't fit perfectly, but I was able to put the clip in and the bolts started, and using a heat gun I could soften the plastic and makes things fit. See photo.
• As mentioned in several installation videos, you need to rotate the power steering line so it clears the winch control box. That was much harder than I thought, just bending the brackets and rotating the line was not enough. I had to very carefully bend the U-trap shaped lines on both sides, and it still feels a bit tight. I put protective tape around the section that hits the control box, as I couldn't get it to clear it. There is still more pressure on flexible connector hoses than I would like. I welcome suggestions!
• On the driver side the bumper has two holes on the bottom where the metal bracket is supposed to tie the C4 bumper to the OEM bumper and wheel well liner. You can only fix the OEM bumper, not the wheel well liner. But it doesn't seem to be a problem, it all feels fairly solid.

We got the Factor 55 fairlead, which is nicer than the one that comes with the winch, and has a larger radius on the inside, which is where the winch line can rub against the fairlead. You need to push up the fairlead as much as possible, otherwise the winch line rubs over the edge of the steel bumper, rather than the fairlead. We also got the Baja light bar wiring kit. I'm a bit on the fence about it, it's way too long for the 4Runner. Also, the switches run directly off of the battery 12V, not accessory power. So you can run your batteries down if you leave the light on. Of course the full beam is pretty obvious, but you might miss it when it's in the 'vanity' mode. I need to figure out how to mod it so it switches off of accessory power (should be simple?).

BTW, I cut the bumper using a Dremel at medium speed, and that worked very well. Most of the plastic melted in-place, and did not splatter all over the bumper and the shop. A utility knife was all I needed to clean up the cut.