While our general concept was relatively the same, we had very different approaches when it came to designing the back of the truck. Jess wanted to do a “trial pack”: pack up what we intended to bring, put it all in the truck, and then determine a buildout that could accommodate everything. Tony was more of the opinion of optimizing storage methods and figuring out the what-goes-where later. Unsurprisingly, we ended up in the middle.
Our initial concept (from chatting) involved removing all but the front seats and then build two drawers that would slide out the tailgate of the truck and one drawer that would come out on the back driver’s side door. Bee would sit in the back passenger side. We measured the truck, toyed with storage options, and came up with an elaborate spreadsheet that listed everything we wanted to bring, where it would be, and then played around with different layouts on paper until we got what we thought was best.
It turned into a one-drawer system coming out the back with a solid top for an “emergency bed” platform. Tony did some deflection calcs to evaluate the steel sizing (our engineering degrees are paying off…although we overdesigned) and then he generated quantities, went to Den-Col (a metal supplier in Denver), and now we are the proud owners of just under 250 pounds of steel, which dissembled is less than exciting. However, thanks to Tony and some of our best friends, we give you our drawer and the emergency bed (final welding followed by mostly packed).
We designed the emergency bed to fold back and forth so that we still have access to the “second row seating” aka – Bee’s bed and our duffel area. It has the ability for the supports to slide back and forth so it’s out of the way when we need it to be (so far, the entire time). We have packed soft items on the sides so that if god forbid we flipped, nothing will hit us (the steel frame is bolted to the backseat mounting points).
The design and planning has been so fun for us, especially since we are both engineers – we think similarly and can easily convey our design thoughts with a few sketched cross-sections and plans. We are constantly tinkering even as we’ve been on the trip – it’s a fun and creative way to pass the time.
"Purposefully Unrushed" 