My Road Tripper

sephson · Jun 3, 2014

I found some inspiration for my road trip vehicle when I decided to do a Google search for my daily driver, a Kia Soul along with the word camper.

Here's what I found:

http://www.votivephotography.com/blog/camp-sleep-kia-soul-camping-sleeping

http://www.kiasoulforums.com/2-soul...ing-yes-you-can-camp-sleep-your-kia-soul.html

After seeing these, I took a few measurements ad confirmed that, yes there is 5'-11" between the front seat and the hatchback with the front seats all the way forward and tilted towards the front. There's an ice chest/cooler built in behind the rear seat, under the floor, so that should handle my refrigeration needs well enough. This leaves the relatively minor challenges of filling in the gap between the folded down rear seat and the front seats, power for my laptop and cell phone, curtaining off the rear for privacy and outfitting the car for the road.

Some of my summer overtime will go towards outfitting the car. As for the rest, I just need to brush the rust off my carpentry and sewing skills. I can use the scene shop at work for building whatever I need to build and the costume shop for the curtains after hours in the fall, so I'm pretty well set for the build.

Now I just need time to work on it. That will come in September.

Patrick46 · Jun 4, 2014

Careful....you may end up with curtains that look like Cleopatra's dress!!!!

Have fun with the build, and don't forget our pictures!!

Spaceman Spiff · Jun 4, 2014

Stephson,
I lived for 2-3 months at a time for four years out of a Subaru Forester. Almost exclusively boondocking, so I didn't bother with curtains. I removed the front passenger seat and built a platform with plastic bins. My bed was ~8' long by 30" wide; plenty of room to stretch. Taking out the front seat gave me about 3 cu ft more storage. If I had taken out the back seat, I could have added ~ 5 cu ft more. I was able to boondock for 8 days without going back into civilization. I would be glad to help with any questions or ideas you have -- Spiff

P.S. Spent 15 years doing theater and concert lighting; design, program and run.

sephson · Sep 4, 2014

I started work on my Road Tripper this afternoon. I've begun with the installation of rain guards on the windows.

That's it for the exterior. I also began work on the sleeping area. I'll post photos of that when the design is a little more solid and I have time to work on it.

Prisoner Of Knowledge · Sep 4, 2014

This is perfect! A relative just gave me an Isuzu Trooper, and I've been trying to figure out how to make it a camper. I love the woods, but I didn't have a 4WD.

I have loads of ideas about vans (mostly from this site, these guys are good at what they do.), but a Trooper is so much smaller. Besides I'm 6'3" 215lbs, so I need a big bed.

I'm watching closely, good luck to you. Be well - Slim.

sephson · Sep 4, 2014

Best of luck to you on your Trooper. It should be a fun little project.

As for my Soul, it most certainly is not a 4WD vehicle, so that puts a few limitations on where I can go, but on the plus side its got nine inches of ground clearance, which is pretty good for a compact car.

Fortunately for me, at 5'-8", I'll fit pretty well into the sleeping area once I get it built.

The real trick here is that I'm trying to avoid making any major changes to the vehicle itself. Other than the rain deflectors, everything should be removable or collapsible so that the car will still be usable as a passenger vehicle.

Prisoner Of Knowledge · Sep 4, 2014

Haha! The one time in my life I wish to not be so tall! And that's a lot of Ground Clearance for a car...but I've driven one and I loved it! This is what I call ingenuitive...

Gypsysoul · Sep 4, 2014

Stepson,

I love seeing your build from the start. I am not really inclined to do anything lol so rainguards will be a challenge for me, but I guess that's where I need to begin too. Please keep us updated. When is your day to hit the road?

sephson · Sep 4, 2014

No specific date in mind. I'll be working on it as time permits in my after work hours. Fortunately the fall is a pretty light schedule for the most part for me. Right now we're in the process of tearing apart the summer show, then it's on to equipment maintenance. My October show cancelled, so that opens up some time I wasn't expecting. I'll probably do a trial run in early to mid October to see how well my setup works, then go from there.

The rain guards were fairly easy. I looked up a few youtube videos on how to do it before I tackled the project. Even with having to remove both of my side mirrors, it took less than an hour to install the things, and more importantly, how to remove my side mirrors without damaging them.

The real challenge was finding a relatively inexpensive set of rain guards. After a bit of shopping around I found what I was looking for at a decent price, $53.80 including tax, shipping and handling for all four windows. A google search of your vehicle's year, make and model along with "rain deflector" will bring up a number of options for suppliers.

LeeRevell · Sep 4, 2014

I have found Amazon a good place to find and order vehicle parts. Not always the cheapest, but my Amazon Prime account makes shipping often free.

Gypsysoul · Sep 5, 2014

Thanks for advice. I am going to check that out. Just going through now making a list of what I may need. I am planning on doing about 10 days in the mountains of NC in October as a slight trial, but my date to leave is shortly after Christmas and I am heading west. I hope I have enough time to get things done. Please keep up the updates. It helps a lot.:shy:

sephson · Sep 6, 2014

I got a bit more work done today.

I worked some of the rust off the old carpentry skills and filled the gap between the front and rear seats on the driver's side. I still have some finishing work to do, but I made good progress today.

Here's my blank slate:

As you can see, there's a bit of a gap between the front and rear seats with the driver's seat all the way forward and tilted and the rear seat folded down.

And here's what I built:

The shelf, deck, whatever you want to call it accordion folds for storage and unfolds for use.

And here it is, installed in the car.

Those black stripes are Velcro straps attached to the tie down points built into the back of the seat. They anchor the shelf in place. One corner rests on the center console which seems, on initial testing to be plenty of support. The space is a little tight, but I fit just fine.

Storage position:

This is where the accordion fold comes into play. It took a little bit of playing with a jigsaw to get the left side to fit around the wheel well, which is why on the upper picture, the left side is not a straight line.

There's still a fair bit of work to do on the shelf.

I'll be painting the shelf black and carpeting it with carpet scraps leftover from the orchestra pit at work. This will make it a closer match for the interior while providing an extra layer of protection between the hinges and my mattress, plus the carpet will be a lot easier on my knees when I'm crawling around in the back. I'll also be adding removable U-channel stiffeners on either side to take some of the pressure off of the hinges and add some much needed structural support.

This is the OEM, stock underfloor storage tray.:

While it's a decent setup for normal, everyday usage, I'm going to need a somewhat different setup for my road trip gear. The existing storage tray will serve as a pattern for me to build a more customized version.

sephson · Sep 8, 2014

I carpeted the accordion sleeping shelf. As for why the carpet is black, it's in part because it's a good match for the existing interior, but mainly because I was able to get it for free.

And here's its storage position:

The stiffeners aren't quite ready to install. I need to wait for the paint to dry. I should have pictures of the completed assembly tomorrow.

LeeRevell · Sep 9, 2014

Looks very good! You oughta send that design to the company making the vehicle - they could make it an 'option' for future vehicles! ;-)

Vic. · Sep 9, 2014

Nice work! Dig that you kept it passenger-friendly.

sephson · Sep 10, 2014

Thanks Vic and LeeRevell!

Here are the stiffeners:

They're each made from a piece of 1 inch angle iron and a piano hinge screwed together with #8, self drilling, pan head screws, then painted black.

They work every bit as well as I had hoped.

The rings in placed at various points on the stiffener are 3/16 inch stainless steel pins that lock the stiffeners into place.

The longer pins attach over the gap between the front and rear seat and go all the way through. The shorter pins only go through the hinge layer and are placed where the stiffeners rest on the seat back.

I also built the new tray for my under floor storage compartment today. I still need to work some of the kinks out of the design, but it'll make far better use of the space under the rear floor than the OEM tray.

I'll also be making a new cover for the tray.

sephson · Sep 10, 2014

I think I've pretty well figured out the minor issues with my new under floor cargo tray.

I added some side tabs to lock it in place so it doesn't slide around in the back and I built a cover for it.

The OEM cover is a tri-fold, single unit. I've opted for a four piece sectional cover for easier access.

sephson · Sep 11, 2014

I finished my under floor storage today.

Painted the tray and cover pieces.

Dropped it into position.

Carpeted the cover pieces and added pull loops for easy opening.

While the paint was drying on the cargo tray I worked on another project. In the cargo area, there's a light that comes on when the rear hatch is open. Unfortunately, there's no way to shut it off other than closing the hatch, so I decided to add a switch.

I cut a 1/2 in. by 1 in. hole next to the light.

Spliced into the feeder line for the light.

Connected the switch.

And reinstalled the light. Note that the hatch is open, but the light is off.

Now I don't have to worry about this light draining my battery if I leave the hatchback open for an extended period of time.

Bdog1 · Sep 12, 2014

You can find LED replacements for that bulb I bet, cuts the power required to next to nothing.

sephson · Sep 12, 2014

I don't doubt it. when it gets a little higher on my priorities list, I'll look into it. I might also look into LED replacements for the overhead lights as well. For the time being though, just being able to shut that light off is enough.

The best part? I didn't even have to buy the switch. It was left over from a project I did at work back in 2006.

The carpentry work, I've done entirely with scrap lumber from the scene shop.

The hinges are used hinges from a previous show.

The steel stiffeners are also made of scrap and leftover parts.

The carpet is remnants from the orchestra pit.

So far all I've had to buy is some carpet tape, a few magnets (which I'll explain in a later post) and the pins to lock the stiffeners in place.

My Road Tripper

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