Cruiser Camper.

Husband owns an old trayback Landcruiser.  I can no longer drive it but as it is bigger stronger faster than my little van we use it if we need anything tough or 4 wheel drive.  We have/he has slowly been getting it set up so that we can easily camp out of the back of it.  We used to just lay a swag on the tray and pile everything in on top but that was a problem if we just wanted to pull over to sleep for a bit before continuing the drive.  So below is a summary of some of the things that he has done to make camping life more comfortable for me.
I will add to this as he does more and/or I get around to it so come back sometime and to what's new.

LIGHTS. Lights are always handy so he has wired up a light each side of the back. Now it's just a quick flick of a switch and we can see what we are doing.

WATER.
I need water so he had water tanks installed under the tray.  He was thinking of getting a 100litre tank installed but after looking at the list of sizes and prices and thinking about what we needed I suggested that he get 2 x 86 litre ones.  More water for not much more dollars.  And if something should happen to one then there is a backup.  And 1 tank will only ever hold drinking water.  If we get low we can top up the other tank with whatever water that is available but I doubt we will ever have to do that.  86 litres in one tank is a lot of water.
He had the tanks installed by the people he bought them from but he has connected hoses and taps to each tank and there is a tap both sides of the vehicle.


BED.  We started with a swag on the tray.  First time we did that it was so cold.  Next time we laid a mat down first and that was much better.  We had the swag and piled everything in and around that when we went anywhere.  Not the way I wanted to do things.  He thought to make a bed frame so that we would have storage under that.  Good idea and his choice of materials was the same tubing he used for the bed in the van.

You have to make sure that the boxes you have fit.  Once that is done then you weld it together and lift it onto the tray.

Bolt it to the front of the vehicle framework, add the swag and there you have it.  A sleeping platform that has room under it for anything I want.
The box in the back corner is the loo that I take.  There is a curtain that goes around that so if we are ever out bush I don't need to worry about *bities*

To make the frame more secure he has dropped a bolt down through the tubing, drilled a matching hole in the tray.  Drop the bolt down and it fits into the hole so there is no movement of the framework.  A bonus is that the bolt pushes up again and the framework could be used in the house as an extra bed if we ever need it.

LADDER.
I am short, unfit, no strength in my hands and arms...anyway I sometimes have trouble getting up into the trayback.  Hubby found this and we used it our last time in Hopetoun.  Oct. 2011











He has since made a better, stronger one out of the leftover tubing from the bedframe.  It is easy for me to pull out and put in place.  




We now usually take a mattress and sheets and a quilt/doona instead of the swag.