With the decision made to put a steel canopy on the back of the Hilux, the next challenge was to work out how best to fit it out. Number 1 on our priority list was to build a robust camp kitchen that would allow us to store all of our dry goods, crockery and cutlery safely and securely.
I did consider going with a commercially available unit - but there was nothing that 100% suited our requirements.....so I spent several weeks ruminating over ideas, reading stuff on 4WD forums...and waking up in the middle of the night to jot down thoughts after literally "dreaming" something up. Sad I know.
Ultimately, we wanted a strong, versatile unit that would work either fixed in place within the canopy - or removed and set up in a freestanding position for occasions where we may be unable to camp alongside the vehicle.
Weight also had to be a consideration, as we knew were already in a situation where we had to upgrade the GVM on the Hilux, and didn't want to overload it beyond its "new and improved" 3.5 MT limit! When you are taking 4 people into the Simpson, with all of the extra fuel, water and spares that are required, it's not hard to do.
In the end, I decided on a simple box type design, with a hinged door that folded down into a small preparation area. I used 12mm marine ply, with butt joints throughout secured with screws and copious amounts of liquid nails. I designed the shelves (which also performed a 'bracing' function for the entire unit) around the sizes of our butane stoves, trays, cups, plates etc - as well as the Sistema storage containers available at Woolies. Central to the design was a large central area where I could slot in four of the Oates Stacker Drawers available from Bunnings. Heavy duty bolts and nyloc nuts were used for the handles and hinges (and did't move a skerrick despite all of the corrugations we travelled) and the whole unit was painted up in a high gloss white enamel.....simply because that was what I had in the shed!
The collage below shows various stages of construction. I did have a few hiccups along the way, but it all worked out in the end. Note - in the bottom left picture, I initially had the supporting chain on the inside of the door - but that didn't work for obvious reasons. Also - ideally I would have painted it all up before putting it all together.
Critically, the unit had to be sized so that it could fit into the canopy (don't forget this step), and it then had to sit on 50mm billets so the kitchen door could fold open over the lip of the canopy opening. It was a bit of a pain having the resultant wasted space below the kitchen box, but this was a good place to store a collapsible bin and a few small/flexible items (occy straps and electrical cords etc.
As mentioned earlier, we wanted/needed the unit to be removable for situations were ute-side camping was not feasible. This meant installing heavy duty chest handles so that the unit could both be lifted out of the canopy, and also strapped down tightly with ratchet straps to strategically located tie down points in the canopy for traveling.
This worked really well on our outback trip, and even with extreme corrugations there was very little movement, and no damage at all.
For a little extra bench space, we also keep a foldable melamine table strapped to the front of the box with an occy strap - and just removed it once in camp.
When fully loaded with dry goods, it isn't possible to keep the pots and pans in the kitchen - so these go in the under tray tool box. With a bit of careful 'tetris' type planning we can fit in a good sized camp oven, a couple of cast iron skillets, plus a few "trangia" style pots and pans and a billy into the tool box.
All in all, the kitchen works exceptionally well.....but as is any any magician's want - I have kept the best until last. Any of you that have been carefully looking at the photos will no doubt be wondering what the U shaped contraption bolted to the front of the door is used for? Actually, it is a bit of bent mild steel rod slotted into some correctly sized aluminium tube......and as the video below clearly demonstrates, it is in fact my laundry sink!!!
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