DIY Overland Kitchen Build for my Subaru Forester
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- Опубликовано: 18 апр 2020
- Here is a comprehensive look at the DIY overland pull-out kitchen/sleep platform I built for my Subaru Forester. In the first 9 minutes of the video, I show you all the features and details of the completed build, and then for the remainder of the video, I show you the build process starting from the beginning. The kitchen pull-out includes a stove, work surface, and storage for pans/dishes & cooking supplies. My build also includes running water, pull-out cooler access, and a sleeping platform.
This is NOT a How-To video. I'm not qualified to instruct you on how to build anything. I'm just showing you what I did. There are probably better techniques, tools, and materials for everything I did here. But this is what I came up with based on the tools I have, inexpensive, readily-available materials, and my amateurish skills. :-)
A huge shout-out to @ThirdCoastCraftsman whose truck drawer video provided inspiration and guidance for my design. I watched a ton of videos to gather ideas, but this straightforward approach resonated the most with me. While I strayed from his design somewhat, I still referred to this video over and over to help me visualize what I needed to do to make my build come together:
• How To Build Truck Bed...
Some of the stuff seen in this video:
Camp Chef Mountaineer Stove
amzn.to/2vwYcZc
5lb Propane Tank
amzn.to/32L6Lvr
Snowball 25-liter Rotomolded Cooler
amzn.to/3eum41c
Reliance Aqua-Tainer
amzn.to/38WT7bE
Bayite 12V Water Pump
amzn.to/2VhpNHM
Porter-Cable Compressor/Nailer kit:
amzn.to/2XLxgAx
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made after clicking one of my ^ links. This costs you nothing, but the small commissions earned on referrals help make it possible for me to continue creating content for this channel. Thank you for your support!)
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What I got from this video which is more important to me than the details on the kitchen (which is impressive) was a look at how you use your ingenuity to solve little problems during your build (like not having a table saw to rip the drawers).
Idk how you’re able to overland without spending $10,000 on a kitchen set up. You’re crazy!
LOL :-)
I'm always impressed by your improvements to functionality! I like that you've retained the possibility of 'hard' camping where predators could be an issue.
As a 3rd gen Forester owner, and a soft-roader, your page is specially applicable to me.
You continually give me inspiration on how to set up the car for me and Mrs. Cujo...And you seem like one helluva great guy.
We ESPECIALLY like the budget conscious, and imaginative ways you find the solutions for your needs, because that is our world also.
No shame in not being a master woodworker -- you have done the research and what you are doing is working great!
Well done and kudos on you for moving forward.
Keep up the good work -- Stay safe, wash your hands, and hope to see you on the trail someday if you ever come to Georgia. :)
Also - because you mentioned it, adding a bit to strengthen the stove opening is a good idea.
Look for a piece of aluminium angle that will span the opening plus a few inches on each end.
Wrap the angle over the top edge of the side of the drawer and have it drop down over the side. (perhaps inside the drawer if open/close clearance is an issue) -- Alternate method would be to put the angle on the inside bottom with plenty of extra metal on each end of the opening, but I personally believe that the top approach would be better.
Pre-drill, add your screws, and it should be a huge help.
Also-Also --- I am a huge fan on not spending money on drawer slides, so, if you want the drawer slides to work a lil' smoother, rub in a healthy application of paste furniture wax to the friction surfaces of the cooler slide, the floor of the main box, and the bottom of the big drawer.
Cheers and keep up the fantastic work !!
I did rub paraffin wax on all the wood-on-wood sliding bits...I knew I forgot to mention something! Thanks for the suggestions on the drawer reinforcement. I was picturing some kind of flat metal strapping and hadn't thought of using angled metal...that's a better idea for sure, I think that would be stronger. Thank you!
I totally agree Cujo! I have the same Forester love watching these adventures and DIYs!
How difficult is it if you need to access your spare tyre given the draws over the boot space?
Adrian Banks the whole build is removable without tools so it’s probably not too bad.
@@VKSgtSLaughter the things he does apply to more than just other Subaru’s. I have a Ram 1500 crew cab with the short bed and a camper shell over it. I find a lot of what he’s doing applies to my build as well. I built my own false deck with two really long drawers that are basically 1/2 the width of the bed minus the wheel wells. I didn’t want to spend the atrocious amount of money that 5’ft drawer slides cost so I ordered this particular kind of hard plastic that has a special rating that I cant think if right now lol but it makes the plastic slide super slick over any surface. It has to do with the way the molecules are so dense that there’s no friction when it slides back and forth. I’ll track down the invoice and come back here to post it in a couple of days. This stuff is amazing and its super thin with no moving parts yet it slides like a greased pig at the county fair! lol maybe better! lol
Anyways, my point is most everything he is showing is what I did to my truck before I found his channel way back when he only had a few hundred subs lol. Now he’s all big and important lol but he never forgets the little guys like us lol.
We've always found that submersible pumps tend to be quieter as they tend to be further away and are "buried" in water. The smallest Whale moves over 10l/min and the largest over 15 which I think is enough. We've only used them in caravan's though. We've then found the inline filters work really well and would fasten to the side of your platform.
9 Hours into my build based off of this and it's going swimmingly! Thanks, dude!
Freaking genius. I'm not handy in the slightest, but I spend a lot of time on the road in my Forester and lately I've been searching for buildouts to get some new ideas. Your buildout is brilliant. Also, as a photographer, I chuckled at your use of the old tripod leg. Also brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
I love it! People forget how quickly these builds can get expensive- a set of drawer slides can suddenly be $200 a pair for a setup like this, I love how you kept it minimalist!
I love it that You are not presenting Yourself as a pro handyman, but are straight about being an amateur and also showing little mistakes and some moments of not thinking. That makes the video much more lively and fun and also shows You being a confident person (Y)
I also love the finished product. Good job :)
Haha, honestly my biggest fear is that someone will emulate my unskilled projects and then be disappointed with the end results, LOL, so I always want it to be clear I don't know what the heck I'm doing. :-) Thanks for watching!
Thanks for putting this together! I like what you've put together for the kitchen and am glad that it's working well for you.
So, I keep forgetting to comment on this video. I ended up making a pull out camp kitchen like this one with a bed on top for our little one. I did it a little over a year ago and it has held up great and been so useful! Thank you so much for this video, it helped me visualize how to make what we needed and how it looked completed.
Looks good. Building things like your kitchen is so very rewarding. It looks to me like you usesed space very well with your build. Organisation is the one of the many key to happiness.
Hey brother, I really appreciate your videos! In this one, I specifically really appreciate how you show your mistakes when doing the work. I am NOT a "handyman" or good at any kind of woodworking AT ALL. Watching your videos gives me confidence that I can do this, even though I am not "an expert". Keep up the great work!
I love it! I was in the process of Designing a box to fit for bins inside and have it extend to make a bed option. After see your video, I think I may be just doing the the box and drawer system. The cooler slide is a great idea! Excellent design and implementation.
I really appreciate this video because the most important thing is to understand how to do the work around towards achieving the goal using the tools that you actually have at hand. You have to fling yourself out there in order to learn.
Thanks so much for the video! When searching for these types of build videos, it's easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of unique and expensive tools some folks have. It's nice to see that you're making it work with the tools you have!
Happy camping!
I'd love to have all the tools, but ultimately I think it's also kind of a fun challenge to find ways to get things done with whatever's on hand. Thanks for watching!
Fantastic work. You did a great job on your build. I’m really impressed with your skills and the time you took to explain everything. Wish you and your family good health. Looking forward to your adventures. Your water system is a nice design too.
Great DIY set up, your videos are always fun to watch. Thank you for sharing and keep em coming.
for an rookie, you do one hell of a job. well thought out, not rushed. great setup. Be well
Yup! Looks like something I would do. I built a sleeping platform in my Jeep last fall. Came out pretty good, but is a bit tight and only for the times I can not take the trailer. Thanks for sharing, George.
Yeah, I didn't even like sleeping in there with my old, much lower platform. I would really have to be motivated not to set up the tent to actually use this to sleep. Nice to have the option though, and hopefully Lucie will put it to use.
Love how u kept that third seat so u could fit everyone. You Lucy and Collin! 🙂 Great setup!
I'm definitely in trouble, however, if any of us ever acquires an S.O. LOL
I've watched every one of your videos and always look forward to new episodes. I have a 2013 Outback and you've given me a lot of inspiration to get out and explore more of Colorado than I already have. I hope you keep putting out more episodes and if you ever make it out to Colorado give me a shout sometime!
Thanks for the tip, great job and I will start to make my own.
That's great thanks! Good to see your hesitations and caution, that makes us feel home! 😄
The carpet looks good, love the paper towels, good that you have a backseat available so Colin can go too. Counntersinking bits are available, not too expensive and you'll use it all the time. Great project. I want a rear kitchen for my van, but I can't make something like that work. I'm planning a counter that fits between the 2 back doors when open. I worked out an "awning" that fits over the back doors for cover/shade (its really a waterproof crib mattress pad). I hope camping opens up soon. Take care.
Don, you used the word "amateurish" but I would trust you doing a job for me. I love how you took your time and when mistakes were made you learned from them. Unfortunately, my '17 Jeep Compass has a spare tire compartment towards the rear end of the cargo floor which is spacious enough to store a large amount of gear along with the spare; including folding snow shovel, folding military survival shovel, couple of Silky saws, survival kits (fire and dedicated survival), recovery gear, portable battery jumper, recovery strap, car cleaning kit, etc. My recovery tracks are mounted underneath the roof top cargo basket. After watching your Gazelle T3 video I ordered one from Amazon ($230 after taxes) and will have it on Friday, just in time for the governor's pardon and get outta jail declaration. I'm excited to use it as my Coleman is a little too small even being a two person tent. I enjoyed this DIY and it gave me a couple storage ideas. BTW I saw the short photo of one of your camp set ups and that's how I set up as well. The space between the tent door and the end of my Jeep is covered by an Aqua Quest 10X10 tarp helping to keep the tent clean and dry, easy access to gear in the vehicle, space for my table, chair, stove and UCO fire/BBQ pit. Flooring is provided with a 9X7 tatami mat I bought at Walmart for $25. I also use a privacy tent on one side of the Jeep for a porta-potti and shower set up. This was a great set up during a heavy rainstorm just before lock down.
That spacious spare tire compartment carrying all that gear doesn't sound unfortunate to me! :-) I have my DIY awning mounted to the rear of my car to provide protection to the kitchen and yeah, it's perfect to set the door of the tent up underneath the outer edge for a complete living space out of the rain or snow. Even just on a cold night with no precipitation, I find it's a touch less chilly in that space. My car load-in is so maxed out though now that I'm not sure I can squeeze another item in there. A commenter on the tent video suggested a moving blanket for the floor...I might give that a try, as I usually pack an extra thick blanket on cold camping trips anyway, so I could replace that with a moving blanket to use on the floor, and it would serve double-duty as an emergency extra layer if my sleeping bag wasn't cutting it to keep me warm. Thanks for watching and commenting, much appreciated! :-)
Glad you brought up that slope in the 3rd gen in my 01 it was flat not sure how or why it changed. But at least it gives you more storage space.
Got to this channel months ago when I had a Forester. Traded it in for an F150 and still love this channel. Can’t wait to be able to get back out camping!
I couldn't agree more, I'm itching to get out. Have fun with the Ford, and thanks for watching, much appreciated!
Great showmanship. Really didn't miss a bit. A little of pros and cons and that's a fair review. Awesome job
YESSS I NEEDED THIS VIDEO SO MUCH! THANK YOU! cant wait to totally convert my forester !!!!!!!
Good luck with your build! :-)
I really admire your craftmanship. Awesome job.
Thank you for being so conscientious when designing your video.
This is the video I've been waiting for! I love your DIY videos
Love the DIY stuff you've done and the kitchen setup looks great.
Great stuff. I really appreciate your channel and it’s practical, reasonable, affordable approach.
Nice work, I love the water pump, I may incorporate something like that into my Delica project. Like others have suggested rubber isolator mounts should mitigate the noise. Thanks for putting some great videos together, they're really awesome.
This is a very nice setup! I'm inspired! I've got such a simple platform in my Rav right now, and been wanting to upgrade to something much more functional like this. Chers!
Best DIY Forester kitchen build I've ever seen. Great job!
very nice! I like how you are always thinking outside the box on your channel when it comes to outfitting your adventure vehicle. Great custom build making it perfect to fit your needs and your situation.
Great DIY set-up for cooking in camp. I am looking at doing something similar in my CR-V... A suggestion to reinforce/stiffen the cut-out you made for the front of the stove: Get some 2"x 2" aluminum angle - a piece that is about 4"-5" longer than the opening. It is usually less than 1/8" thick at the edges.... If you don't have any room between the top of the drawer and the box top, or the side of the drawer and the inside of the box, you may have to do some filing or chiseling, but you can cut one side of the 2x2 Aluminum lengthwise down to the width of the drawer material, and if 2" is too much on the front of the stove, cut that as needed. Then a couple of screws through the aluminum and into the wood of the drawer should act as a good support under tension. A couple of small screws into the face of the drawer material may not hurt either....
Also, using a piece of that foam that you put under the carpet on top of the platform, you could mount the water pump against that, screwing through it into the side of the box. (A rubber washer under the top of the screw head may also isolate it a bit.) I doubt it will be real quiet, but it should dampen the noise some and make it at least a bit less harsh. Good luck!!!
Hi, this is my 1st time finding your videos. Love the outdoors & yes I own a subaru Forester. Definitely learning from you...also I saw something beautiful in this video➡I love the gate on your fence ...the board & batten gate with the cut out widow in it...That gate is so beautiful! You have many good ideas, Thank you for sharing them with you tube land😊
Thank you for sharing:) You have gotten my "wheels" spinning on how I can incorporate a similar set-up in my VW Tiguan. Ohhh I'm so thrilled I came across your video. Thanks again and happy adventuring!
Best of luck with your build! :-)
Great diy catching up on all the videos stay safe
Thank you so much for this super helpful DIY. I so appreciate your observations re: many details, including how to be mindful of what order to do certain steps! As a novice who hopes to do this for myself, this is very helpful for me to have you point these things out. I also appreciate how humble and honest you are about your process! Great job and a huge effort! Many thanks!
Thanks for watching and good luck with the build! I'd highly recommend watching a few videos by actual competent people too, haha. I'm not 100% best practices here. :-)
You've got a nice build coming along... To make your water pump quieter, undo the screws holding it to the sleep platform, cut an old (or new) mousepad to the right size to cover the area of the (usually) four screws and then screw the pump back up with the mousepad portion between it and the sleep platform. That will help with the pump vibration/motor noise for pretty cheap. You can also get some foam pipe insulation for the water lines which will help if they are vibrating as well and will also help protect them from extreme heat/cold. Thanks for sharing your designs and processes...
Love it! Definitely getting ideas from your build! Thanks for the insight! 👍👍👍
6:41 Need to isolate the pump vibrations from the wooden sounding board. So, first, cut up some rectangular pieces of rubber bike inner tube and place in between the pump and wood. Maybe 2 layers will quiet it way down. Alternatively, thicker, softer foam like backpacker's foam pad. If this doesn't provide the desired easy fix, you will probably have to NOT rigidly screw the pump down to the wood.
12:41 Um, I think drywall screws are hard and brittle. I think you wanted deck screws.
This makes me want my Outback back! Good job. I've save this for future ref.
Looks good, but I’d really add a second hinge on that top opening. It’ll go crooked over time otherwise.
You're certainly right...intially, two felt like overkill, but I wish I had just done it. I suspect that will happen at some point. :-)
wonderful job, I love your way of showing what you did, thank you!
Fantastic job on this one! I’m amazed at what you’re able to accomplish with the minimum of tools. I sure enjoyed the detail you showed us and the explanations of why you built parts the way you did. Thank you!
Thanks Dan!
Well done champ, well done ! 👍
I love nothing home made. Yeah sure we can all pay a qualified tradesman to construct something for us however there’s no better satisfaction than when you’ve finished it with your own hands.
Great stuff buddy 😉👍🇦🇺
! ! ! AWESOME JOB ! ! !
Many Thanks For Sharing The Experience !
BRgrds !
This is GREAT! It's exactly what I needed :) Thank you so much for organizing your video in such a way that I was able to see all of your build and THEN watch the build happen. Also, I very much appreciate your showing what things you could have done differently or better. I have a Honda Pilot and will eventually build something similar. Much appreciation!
Glad you found it helpful, good luck with your build!
To access the stove's knobs, I would just drill 4 holes using 1" drill bit or something like that. Very nice setup 👍
Something to consider using as your building material instead of the plywood you chose. At your big box store such as Home Depot you can buy sheets of Birch plywood in 1/4 and 1/2 inch thickness. The main advantage to using that is it comes with both sides extra smooth so that 1 - you don’t have to worry about which side you are using and 2 - it looks absolutely amazing no matter which side is up. I used some of it to build hanging shelves that go from one wall all the way to the wall on the other side of a room supported my nice white “L” brackets and it looks terrific. So thats the plywood I used to build my box with kitchen slide out in my truck.
For the water pump, go to your local subaru dealer and ask for some floor mat grommets, perfect size for the application and soft enough to dampen the noise of the pump, love the setup, giving me ideas for my 2010 Fozzy XT
Great walkthrough .. and 🤣🤣🤣her dance and silent boo 🤣🤣
awesome dude, love the kitchen platform
Outstanding work, Donald! I was thoroughly impressed with your craftsmanship and attention to detail. I'm looking forward to watching some overlanding videos with your new configuration in place!
And I am looking forward to getting out there and filming them! Got this all done just in time for the stay at home order to kick in, LOL!
@@softroadingthewest It will be over soon enough (hopefully). I hope you and your family stay safe, my man!
You did GREAT! While using the circular saw, I would have forgotten about those screws too! LOL
On to the second video: even BETTER GOOD IDEAS! These are great refinements.
Like people have mentioned, mount water pump on rubber. Build a small box to fit over the water pump to isolate noise, or hide the pump inside the box. Nice video and you build good. Only things I would do differently is put a sheet of wood on the very bottom (on top of the car carpet) paint it to match car and add those plastic strips for smoothness. Have a great day!
Dude! Such an excellent job. Absolutely love your setup!
This is so cool man thank you for sharing. Inspiring as I have a forester myself!
I love you approach. Well done. I wish you many happy trips :)
"Mitigate", there's that word again...heard enough of that lately 🤪. Cool build, practical & inclusive!
LOL :-)
Been looking at installing such a system in my outback. This is near exactly what I had sketched out / imagined!
Great video and even better setup 🤩
Nice, good luck with your build!
First off, really enjoyed this video! I drive a Tacoma and not a Forester, and yet I still watched the entire video, just enjoying the craftsmanship and creativity. Some of your ideas regarding workarounds, such as using the speed square to make straight cuts without a table saw were pretty ingenious. Overall, I think I enjoyed watching because I really respected your humility; and yet, I found it simultaneously a little uncalled for - it's kindof funny how those who have humility tend to lack confidence. Sometimes it seems that confidence is lacking in those who deserve it the most. I really hope that you can read these comments and experience a boost to your confidence as this is a fantastic, clever, and impressively functional build.
A thought I had on that 12v pump that I figured I'd offer as a suggestion. If you have any of the camping mat that you cut off to fit the platform left over you might cut a small square to put under the pump, between the pump and the wood. If you screw down the pump with the camp mat in between the wood and the pump it may give just that little bit of padding to stave off noise from the vibrations, and wouldn't even be very visible from beneath the pump.
Thank you for sharing and good luck on your adventures!
Thank you for the kind words. I watch a lot of How To videos on RUclips made by truly skilled craftsmen/women, and my work looks truly amateurish in comparison, so sometimes I feel a little silly putting my projects on RUclips. Plus, invariably, some people take inspiration from my stuff and build their own and do a 100% better job than mine was, haha. I just want people to understand that I'm always winging it and don't necessarily know the best ways to accomplish various tasks.
I ultimately did exactly that with the pump...I used some leftover camping mat as a cushion between the pump and the wood, and in fact I also constructed a little "box" of the same foam to enclose the pump as well. It did help knock the noise down a notch, though I could never really get it quiet enough to run at 6am while co-campers were still sleeping. I finally started just making sure to fill my coffeepot with water before going to bed so I could brew my morning joe without waking anyone up. :-)
Great video Mate, keep them coming, stay safe.
Nice setup, thanks for the video!
I am thinking this idea might work in my truck with adding a tent on top until I can buy a shell! If I make it to fit my Mazda it can be transferable to the truck as well! I might add hinges to lift the lids for personal convenience. You did an amazing job🥳 Thank you for the inspiration!
Simple but functional. I like it!
OMG you are awesome, I love the creative problem solving. Your ingenuity is inspiring, yes I can build my kitchen!
Yes you can!
Dude that water setup is 🔥🔥🔥🔥
this is a cool build. For the water pump noise i recommend mounting the whole thing on rubber feet or a foam pad. it will prevent the vibration getting amplified by the box. An alternative would be to tape/glue/epoxy the pump to the water tank
Sweet build! Something that may help with the noise of the water pump is to mount it on some dense foam. Then I would also add some insulation to the pipe where it may rattle against the car or platform. Most of the noise comes from the pipe rattling. You may even consider building a little box around the pump.
A beautiful kitchen setup👍
Great job. Looks awesome. Keep up the work.
You did great work on the carpet job. My only tip is to kinda jiggle the nailer or stapler in the carpet so that the nail is fully buried.
Thanks for sharing the build, very nicely done!! Bravo!!
Thanks!
Based my current CrossTrek build on your previous setup. Watching this and thinking I might be due for an update. Love your setups, some really clever stuff.
Thanks, it's always a work in progress. Already tinkering with changes from THIS setup, haha. You just never quite know until you've used it for a while. :-) Thanks for watching!
Very practical l and creative solutions. For water pump being noisy, you can put them in a sound proof box and screw them to the board. May be it will be less noisy. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing! I love your build and the photo bomb😍😜
Dude you're a genius! This so awesome! I could never think up all this stuff, thanks for sharing!
The mechanism of the pump is good! I am camping in Japan but no one wears this. I am going to use it as an example!
Nice work, i like your ideas of not spending much money, keep it simple and even reciclyng some material, keep the great ideas coming, i will use some of your ideas in my proyect, i believe that having an alternative place to sleep will give you some piece of mind in this time and age were nothing is wranted anymore. Thanks for the ideas
For the water pump mounting....just put some sort of foam between the pump and the wood....probably best if it's in the form of washers. That should do the trick. Amazing setup, by the way!!
Add rubber to the mounting points of the small water pump and build a small box around it with insulation in it to help muff the sound .. just my suggestion :) ! Happy camping !
Agreed; rubber washers or standoffs for mounting the pump will go a long way, adding a sound box with insulation will go even further.
Great stuff. Love your methodology.
Awesome build...thanks for sharing..
I am very late seeing this video but it is timeless. I see a couple of things that I can use for my Wrangler. The ice chest slide out idea would be perfect for me. I keep my ice chest in the Jeep all the time so that when we go to the grocery store or overlanding I have a cooler to keep food cold. I use my Jeep for hunting and don't want the ice chest in it while I am camping for a week or two. It looks like I could remove the whole thing easily and save space for that elk I killed. Thanks for the ideas.
Donald, just a tip when using a bigger drill bit for producing a counter sunk screw is to put drill in reverse so you dont go too far too soon into the wood. Hope this helps or spread the word to your friends...
Oohh that's an excellent tip! Thank you!
Awesome! Great ideas here. Thanks!
Great set up - really smart use of the space
Your set up is awesome really nicely done would work in any van or car thank you really nice you did a good job and I at 68 years old I could understand you and do for myself with help getting up there for tents and all
Dude those tires /drool super jelly I want those on my forester.
Love the build. Very well designed. I was wondering how I can make drawers for my forester. I feel a lot more confident to start the project after watching your video. Thanks again for creating great content.
Glad you found it helpful! I would recommend also watching videos made by people who are competent craftsmen, even if they're not doing a Forester build, I picked up a lot by watching all kinds of different builds.
Excellent presentation!
That tripod leg hack is perfect! I was going to buy an adjustable sliding door security bar.