Master
Defender 110 kitchen & storage
Well the wife is recovering from another surgery so I am on the couch forbade from even thinking about going into the garage. I did what any other person would do who's to over invested in a hobby and spent any time I wasn't hauling food, blankets, pets or pills planning and building on what I have already.
Introducing my first iteration of a system that will build on what we have and fit the requirements we've found important over the last couple of years:
- Fast deploy & fast pick up
- Usable in camp or on the side of the tracks
- Compartmentalised but not so much as to limit our load-out or lose so much space in MDF/panelling.
- Have all the basic kitchen needs (fridge, stove, prep, serve, wash) in easy reach, out of the elements if needed
- No requirement for accommodation as we have a roof top tent (deploys over the rear)
So far I have the two side boxes made up with gull wing windows and they work great but do not lend themselves to easy sorting of items.
I do like the look of the Drifta camp kitchen systems but they lack some of the features I want and from what I can tell don't seem to modify well. Without a custom sized system I feel the whole concept of using every bit of space possible would be somewhat wasted.
I used Google Sketch-up, which after an hour or so of learning the ropes, seemed to work well enough for my basic CAD requirements. It's actually quite good at tracking measurements and together with a good list of measurements from the vehicle I was able to make some pretty close drawings of what I wanted.
I am inviting and would really welcome and advice, criticism or recommendations - even if you think I'm stark raving mad, as long as you have a reason for that opinion!
Design, of course, is subject to change.
I'll link to the gallery down below and once I settle or build a design I will post up the design files for anyone to copy.
Kitchen "drawer" rolls out of storage box section & the splash back lifts up and locks in place. The drawer itself runs parallel with the rear door and is secured onto it with a runner wheel. The kitchen slide sits on 1 meter reach, 100kg runners.
The prep/serving table is located on the base of the drawer in a compartment and is pulled out from the end, then fitted onto the end of the kitchen drawer at a 90 degree angle with a section of square steel sliding over a slightly thinner section and further supported by 2 legs. A "U" shaped steel bracket can be installed at the end and a wash tub fitted in. After a few tests, I am comfortable with looking at the idea of using quality air fittings for running water - allowing me to rig up a tab that simply "snaps" onto the fitting and is ready to run.
In the middle of the drawer is a standard LPG 2 burner stove with prep surfaces either side. Drawers located on the right for cutlery & cooking items. Storage spot on the left for the wash tub & push connect tap (cold water).
The prep surfaces, serving table and splash back will be covered with thin stainless steel pressed to shape.
A storage shelf on drawer runners can be withdrawn from the "cupboard" on the right of the vehicle and is sized to take a normal sauce bottle size container up the top as well as tea/coffee/sugar etc and cups on the bottom shelf.
The rest of the cupboard stores an 2kg LPG cylinder which is air tight and vented to the outside with assistance from a 12v fan & duct. Gas to be piped to a port near drawer. Extra sections for bog roles & toilet shovel and the like.
Drivers side box for storage of recovery gear, tools & spare parts.
Passenger side box stores pantry items in plastic containers.
40 Litre fridge at a chest height for easy access.
42 Litre water tank up the front sandwiched between the rear seats & the storage boxes. Water pumped to outlet next to kitchen drawer with a 12v pump.
A plate on the drivers side of the kitchen drawer houses 3 fittings for gas, compressed air & cold water as well as 12v and 240v (inverted) power.
Both the gas & water is delivered to the drawer by short patching pipes.
Ample space on top of the kitchen drawer storage box & behind the fridge for camp chairs and misc camping items.
Packed up system.
I used a user contributed model of a 110 that, while rough with the details, seemed to have the right measurements where it counted to give an idea of the overall look of the system in use. I feel its "tight" but leaves enough room to move, having the serving table about 95cm away from the vehicle. We've found nothing camp related needs to be accessed from the drivers side of the vehicle so no problems with sectioning off the area with the table like this.
Of course I am probably missing some vital "thoughts" or design idea descriptions that will probably make some of the design look silly but I can hopefully justify if asked.
Rough weight estimate around 350kg-450kg. Haven't had time to figure out the cost yet but considering the boxes were knocked up in my father in laws furniture shop for a slab of beer and $75 worth of bits and pieces I am hopeful that it will be kind on the wallet.
I'm also horrible at sticking with 1 project at a time (rough count is at 4 major projects on 1 vehicle and half a dozen obligations.) so this might go a few weeks at a time without updates.
LINKS:
Defender 110 Kitchen & storage system - Imgur
Last edited by p38arover; 19th July 2014 at 09:19 AM.
Master
That is awesome - great idea!
Some thoughts:
- is the scale of the components in the last pic right? i.e. what is the actual length of the burners vs the rear door length?
- will the burners against the rear door burn anything? good spot to kep them sheltered from wind though
- what is the height of the bench once you roll it out? i.e. is it comfortable?
- how will it work on non-level ground? Caravan levelling blocks may help
Master
The last pic has the whole unit shrunk about 15% side to side to fit inside the defender model but its fairly accurate otherwise. Also note whoever made the model fixed it into 1 object and they dont have the rear door exactly at 90 degrees open - so the handle on the model sticks through the splashback!Originally Posted by FeatherWeightDriver
The width of the kitchen drawer is still something I am thinking on - there is a little wiggle room when you take the fridge into account.
The door protrudes 900mm from the rear of the vehicle (measured from the cross member to the bottom of the door). The drawer runners I am using have a capacity of 1000mm in spec but I found them to be more around the 950mm mark. As the drawer system will be set in around 50mm from the rear of the vehicle to allow for the door to properly close and such this puts the deployed length of the kitchen drawer at around the same distance as the door - which is convenient. The rear door lining will be removed and replaced with a flatter fitting covering - probably sheet alloy. I may remove the bottom mechanism that holds the rear door open in favor of a gas strut system at the top.
I have allowed 450mm for the burner space - but this is not limited in any way. By widening it, you gain width in the middle drawer and lose space on either side. 450mm was just ample room for my Coleman unit.
The kitchen drawer will have a "splashback" lid which I hope to have a stainless steel covering made for it which will protect the door from heat, spills and residue. The concept of a flip down tray table to allow for gas cookers has been around for yonks so I don't anticipate any problems with heat really.
The rear of the vehicle sits at 800m high with 33" tyres & a 2" lift empty. Once loaded this will drop to 0" lift, probably a bit more so the height will always be variable to a degree depending on the load out at the time.
The drawer is 180mm high, allowing for 10-20mm MDF/covering etc at either height. I may have to increase the height as 180mm is not a lot to play with when you consider drawers, especially under the burner. Design adjustments will of course have to be made to fit that. This means the overall height of the unit will be 900mm to 1000mm of the ground. Kitchen benches run at around 900mm (at least ours does) so I don't anticipate noticing the difference, which can't really be gotten around anyway with an integrated unit.
Comfort is something I made a big design change for. The initial idea was to have the 350mm wide serving cable slide into the kitchen drawer to the right of the burner - which meant there was only around 600mm of space between the rear of the vehicle and the serving table. I changed this so the serving table fits onto a "plug" on the end of the drawer, so only about 50mm is lost, leaving a space of around 900mm for activities. Of course, this is only a space budget for 1 cook, however I figure a second person can prepare food/serve or cleanup etc from the outside of the serving table.
As we have a roof top tent system, finding level ground is already a priority. We have a high lift jack that we use where required to make tiny adjustments and this seems to work really well all camps we have come across so far - there's always rocks, bits of timber etc to help make adjustments. For track side lunch stops, only the drawer needs to be deployed - which does not need a leg as its supported by the door & the runners.
ChatterBox
Looks gooda couple of thoughts though
Will you use a quality ply for construction ??
Will the table / bowl be stored separately and just attach for use ??
Will you need to beef up the rear springs to allow for the extra weight ??
You might need a rear awning in case of rain.
Master
Not 100% sure on final material choice other than 1.6mm stainless sheet & alloy, 13x13 SHS & marine ply. Some sections may need to be 16mm marine ply where others I can get away with much thinner sections. The whole setup does need to be water proof.Looks good
Will you use a quality ply for construction ??
Will the table / bowl be stored separately and just attach for use ??
Will you need to beef up the rear springs to allow for the extra weight ??
You might need a rear awning in case of rain.
The wash tub is stored to the left of the burners in an open section. I figure there is enough space to put the removable tap, gas & water hoses into the tub and store them away. I will build a U section from SHS that will fit into the end of the serving table. Water line will be run through the serving table with fittings at the end so the tap can just push on/off.
We have heavier springs in the rear, I believe they are +200kg capacity. They're Tough Dog - complete rubbish when the vehicle is empty but great when we have a load out on board.
In camping situations we have a RTT deployed over the rear which covers the whole area - driving rain & wind would cause an issue though so I'll have to have a look at that later on.
Master
That looks awesome, would love to do something similar, but with four kids and the missus, just don't have the room...
Not much to add to the comments already posted, but definitely make sure you use good quality fittings for your water line. I use several different types of "press on" air fittings at work, and they are not all created equal! Myself I would put in a ball valve where your water line is to be terminated and then go with camlock fittings to run a line out to your tap and basin, but that is just personal preference, there are many different options.
Good luck, will be interested to watch your progress
Haha!
That's a sweet looking concept. You could get some sides for your RTT to drop down and protect from the lovely Tasmanian wind. How do you plan to access the two big storage boxes in the back, seems those Mulgo lift up window replacements would be good. I have been pondering something along these lines for my 130 - hard though cause I don't want to lose the function of the tray day to day.
Master
I put a couple of gullwings in recently and bashed some boxes up. Brilliant concept but the storage bins get cluttered easy, don't have the height for some items and you have to move 90% of the bin sometimes just to find that bloody packet of Maltesers... But they are brilliant otherwise. They just seem to favor a system over just having them and only them for storage.
Master
Absolutely. I tested it with the 12V pump which loads the line to 35PSI and the supercheap fittings barely turned the pump off and leaked constantly. I had a good Nitto fitting and this was better but not perfect. Def something that needs to be looked at.
Master
Just throwing in an idea for material choice, have a look at this stuff
Aluminium Composite Panels for Signage and Cladding - Ulltrasign
Aluminium Composite Panels for Signage from Ullrich Aluminium
I have recently used it in a shelving project for a friends boat, its light and stands up pretty well. Not suitable every where but completely water proof and the plastic core reduces the drumming compared to Al sheet.
Nice design work by the way.
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