Sleeping platform and storage

Having decided that we would sleep inside the car rather than on the top in a roof tent, we set to work removing the back seats and building a platform with storage underneath. The process is documented in excruciating detail over 4 posts:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

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Curtains

Clare wanted the sleeping area to be as cosy and homely as possible so she handmade a full set of Japan-themed curtains for the car!

Read all about it here

Secondary Battery

This was one of those jobs that seems so simple in retrospect, but actually took up a lot of time and thought at the time to get right. In the end our second battery powers the fridge, several USB ports and a 300W pure sine inverter. Once again the process is documented over several sleep-inducing blog posts:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Awning

We read reviews and watched youtube videos and set our hearts on an ARB awning. Light, quick to setup and reliable by all accounts. The problem was getting hold of one from Japan. The whole saga and the happy ending is documented here:

Fitting the awning

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New wheels and tyres

Once again, many hours of mental anguish were expended deciding how many tyres to take, what brand, what size and whether or not we should change our alloy rims for steel. In the end a good exchange deal on our old alloy rims plus some good advice from the folks on the Overland Sphere FB group and at the HUBB forum solved the problem.

In the end we hit the road with five 16″ steel rims each fitted with a BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM2 LT235/85R16.

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What we didn’t do, but wished we had….

  • When I built the platform and storage, I built in space for two 20L water containers under the bed. What I forgot to do in the final panic was source a ‘tap’ attachment that we could fit when the water container is in use. This is a major pain in the arse as it means each time I want to fill one of our smaller bottles, the 20L container has to be removed and the water poured manually. A completely minor detail, but highly inconvenient on the road!
  • If we were being really pernickety the bed platform could’ve done with being 5cm less high to give that little bit extra headroom. However, the drawers would no longer have been the perfect size for wine bottles!

Things we didn’t need to do, but did anyway!

  • Fit the original red/amber/white taillight lenses
  • Fit orange indicator lenses
  • Fit an original Landcruiser ’62 steering wheel