I remember driving a Volvo sedan over the Blue Ridge Parkway through the scenic roads over the Appalachians from Atlanta to Front Royal, Virginia. I stopped over in Asheville where people are very friendly before sleeping that night in a the car. With the seats folded down it was very comfortable. It was warm and safe and mobile. It kept the rain out and I could go anywhere, see pretty mountains, get away from the city, and even play concerts. Yes. a car could be a shelter.
When I was a kid I had fond memories of riding in cars, hanging out in them, reading in the back of a blue blazer. I don't know if I did that because maybe there was some arguing inside the house or a sibling I didn't get along with. But for whatever reason I have had a comforting relationship to vehicles as shelter for a long time. Driving through the mountains to a river in North Georgia in the back of an old car with some Kentucky fried chicken. It doesn't get much better than that.
Although, it does. Living among transient seasonal workers I've had the opportunity to examine many different ways to live in a car. It started with an inherited Subaru Forrester with a Yakima rack. It was a nice start but a bit cramped for a tall person. Also the clearance could have been higher for off road. Then there was the cab over camper that sat on a flat bed trailer. Much more roomy, and fun to do home improvement projects with. But ultimately finding a place to drag it to and park it at was more effort than it was worth. I sold it, after building a new roof and new decking, for $50 less than I bought it for.
Finally a wreck, insurance money, and some profitable ski jobs gave me some more options. I went with the much admired Tacoma. In retrospect, buying a used one might have been a good idea. Though now that it is almost paid off after only two years, I'm glad to have something reliable I can depend on for years to come.
After a few weeks I built a level flatbed onto it with wood. It had storage underneath and eight tie down loops on the top. It was the best vehicle ever to carry things with or outfit group river trips with. Sleeping on top of the flatbed was wonderful to look out at the stars or to enjoy a sunset. But in any kind of rain or dust storm it had great disadvantages. It was also quiet indiscreet to sleep in in any kind of urban environment.
Last winter I invested in a topper for it and redid the former flatbed a bit lower so there was storage under neath and a nice bed to sleep on on top.
This had the advantage of storing work related tools and clothing underneath while still giving you a nice bed to sleep in. If the weather is nice and the setting is rural, going outside to sit and read is great. And, you could still transport a heck of a lot of stuff in it!
However, now that winter is upon us things are changing. I will be working inside, I will need a lot less specific equipment (or recreational outdoor gear), and most things I own will be in a storage unit. The setting will be frequently suburban or urban, and it will be very cold and snowing outside. I decided to take out the false bottoms and redesign the back to be as functional as the cab over camper, but smaller, lighter, and always part of the vehicle.
The first step was to take everything out, remove trash, scrape out accumulated crud, and pressure wash clean the whole inside.
Taking out the false bottom meant we had wheel wells again to deal with, so I had to trim the foam mattress slightly to make it fit. I just took a chunk out of the wheel well part, so there is still softness above and below the wheel well. Then I designed the basic shelf. It needed to have 1) battery storage and inverter storage in a place it wouldn't move around, 2) shelves for msc storage and cooking storage, 3) a sink, 4) a stove, and 5) a place to put snowy boots. I put in the old false bottom support to have a basic idea, and then to think about it.
That is the basic idea, but there are some problems. First, in Toyota Tacomas you can't just have a board resting on the wheel well because the wheel wells dip slightly in towards the bed. So you either need to have shims under the board, or you need to have the board propped up on some supports. Secondly, I built this original board support out of a 2 x 6 on the bottom and then 2 x 4s. That was so it would support the weight of a person + lots of gear on top of it. But now I need less weight supported, so I went to Turner Lumber and got a 1 X 8 x 8 for the lower board, and a 1 X 10 X 8 for the upper board. The extra two inches on the top part makes sense because as the top of the shelf, it can go farther towards the top of the truck bed where the camper shell lies on top of it.
Next was two days of sawing and measuring and fitting. I got to borrow a great drill, but the saw I borrowed was not very good and the blade on it bent. All my cuts got a little crooked, which is okay, because I like "rustic elegance." I was also sort of making it up as I went along from a vague plan. However if I was to do it again, now that I have the right plan, I could measure better and make exact cuts. I would definitely use an electric saw.
The basic finished thing:
The 1 X 8 that forms the bottom of the shelf rests on the 1 " lip that runs along both sides of the bed in the stock Tacoma bed liner. Most of the weight is supported by three gray 2 X 4 pieces that rest on the bed itself. It stays connected to the truck by zip ties to the tie down loops on the bottom, and under the sink and behind a cabinet there are zip ties connected to the adjustable tie down loops that run along the rail. The orange cam strap that holds the stove in is anchored to two of these
Here's how the zip tie / cam strap connects to one of these adjustable points. This is within the main large shelf.
The shelves stay shut with those little bolt locks. The tops and sides of the shelf are made of extra 1 x 8 or 1 x 10 from the pieces I bought, but the face is made of an old cabinet door that a friend didn't want any more. That wood is lighter, looks nice, and works well as it doesn't need to bear much of a weight load.
Now let's talk about the sink! You got to have a sink if you are going to cook, and if you are going to need to toss out old coffee from a coffee cup, or dish water, or anything else, it is very sketchy to keep opening the back of your truck to do this. Now, I could have gone to home depot and maybe found a real sink that would fit, but the closest home depot is 2 hours away and nowhere in my town was selling any. I did however buy this large funnel from Ace Hardware, a clear flexible length of hose that fit it, and a screw on tightener. Apparently, these funnels are usually used for some kind of beer drinking game. But this one makes a great sink. It's held in place mostly by friction to the sides of the shelves, but for strength I also screwed in that 2 x 4 piece under it for it to rest on.
To drain the sink, the Tacoma has these plastic "pockets" that go inside the bed liner and above the wheel well. You can take them out. I took it out and took an old butter knife and heated it up on the stove and melted a hole in the side of it big enough for the hose to fit through. It runs between the bedliner and the metal frame of the truck and comes out in the wheel well. It cannot be seen from the outside and it empties most discreetly.
Then, it was put the bed back in, put the sheet and blankets on. Other things, I took out the light, white, summer curtains and put in thicker black winter curtains. These look less conspicuous and they are warmer. They also block out what is going on inside from prying eyes, so if you are hanging out in the evening reading by headlamp no one is going to look at you weird. The also won't notice if you are sleeping in in the morning.
The side curtains hang down from the frame of the shell on dowels with screws in the ends. One of those picture frame kits has good enough screws and strong enough metal twine to hold them up. The curtain is held onto the rod by several zip ties. It can hang down, or be folded up. Also the windows can still open, so there are many options for thermo regulation depending on discretion and how sunny it is outside.
The back curtain is different. It still has the picture frame rod set up, but the zip ties are loose so it can slide along the rod and be push to the side. Those cheap $0.75 caribeners that people have on their keys are used to attach it to both sides.
All put together:
Closer up:
The shelf. Note folding wood piece that helps hold the stove in, and also folds out to be a stand for it.
Stove folded out. Note the support block under the folding piece. It gives it added strength and rigidity. If you wanted to be fancy you could have it on a hinge too, but I ran out of hinges. Also it would then stick out more. So I keep it simple and it isn't attached to anything. It does however integrate back into the system and is held in place by the cam strap.
The other side. I've left this part mostly alone for now.
Maybe some kind of storage could be built on top of the wheel well but as most my meals are cooked for me in the winter, the amount of storage I actually need is much smaller. Having the space left alone gives me less in the way, more space to "stretch out in", and it makes a nice coffee and thermos holder. Of note, notice the grill. It is held in place between the matress pad and the wall. It folds out to become a desk you can put over you and read or type with. Or you can put it at the far end and put the laptop on it to watch a movie. I am looking out for a nice piece of cardboard to tape to it so it feels nicer.
Against the cab is a map for plans and imagination, some stuffed animals, and the crazy creek chair. You can fold that out and sit in it to read, it is pretty comfy. Also, you probably noticed the pellet gun. I don't know where else to put the pellet gun, and I feel like they are fun and useful so I might as well have it with me. I suppose you could hunt small game with it sometime... Mostly I guess it just looks rustic and Western, it is light and doesn't pull down much on the frame, and maybe it is sort of a bit of an aesthetic comment upon the silliness of "zombie survivalist" people who fantasize about living in cars and solving their problems with guns, but who of course have never had to actually do either.
As everyone actually living in a car these days knows, the apcolapyse already happened back in '08.
Another view. Behind the grill you can see there is a small compartment with two knobs that opens. It's something Toyota built into the frame. On the opposite side I tucked in there the extension cord, but I am not sure what to do with this side yet. It is open to the outside and gets cold at night. I think it would either make a good freezer / fridge for small food items (most likely meat leftovers from work I take home to make soup or quesodillas of later) or for a tiny trash can. In the pocket on this side for now I've got a warm hat and some gloves handy. Oh, and there is the headlamp hanging from the barrel. It is my night light for now, but having a nice reading lamp might be a worthwhile project for later.
Here is the electric set up.
Right now it is a deep cycle marine battery and a 750 watt inverter. My hair cutting clippers kit is integrated into the system for now because it is important to have. They will probably get moved into the extended cab larger though. For now the battery is dependent on the grid for re charging. I'm looking into solar panels and might buy this one, along with a regulator, and keep it on the inside of one of the side windows. But that I'll do after Thanksgiving. The battery is held in place by friction between the mattress and the wall of the bed, but it is easy enough to pull the mattress out and get it out of there.
I am particularly fond of the shelves. They are rather cute. This is the tea and coffee shelf.
The olive oil container lives in there too for now. This shelf has coffees and teas, powdered milk, and eventually may even get honey. There is also a Swedish color themed pot holder my mother knitted in there.
The Under - The - Sink - Shelf:
It's got soap and a sponge. Also the channel locks, a screw driver and the salt shaker seem to be hanging out in there.
The long shelf:
Right now its got the 3 quart soup pot and the coffee pot, also the warm pot holder glove that houses the utensils. Also some wire and wire clippers I was using today. This cabinet needs to get more organized, but the pots will probably form the core of its existence.
I made sure to cut this notch so I could crank open the windows still:
And another notch so I can periodically make sure the topper's screws are tight:
And then of course, there's these guys...
For now they can sit on top of the stove, but that won't work when they are snowy. The space underneath the stove part of the shelf was in mind, but it got taken over by a frying pan, a plate, and a cutting board. I'm think of putting a portable wash basin tub that maybe is stored vertically flat above the stove, and can be taken down to put snowy shoes in at night.
But there is of course more to be done. I need to get a fire extinguisher for safety, a lamp, a solar panel, and think more about what else is needed. But you can't do this all at once, you have to think about it as you go. One problem with the Tacoma is that the extended cab back window, which slides open, is way to small to crawl through. Having a truck where you could crawl between the living room and the driving room would be nice. That being said it is a rather small defect. I think the set up here is as if not more comfortable than a Vannagon, and it certainly is more reliable and has better offroad clearance. 4 x 4 and 23- 24 mpg is pretty nice.
You might also be wondering whether or not I am crazy to go through all this effort to make such a house. Well times are tough and many people in my generation who live in apartments aren't getting cars because they don't want to deal with them. I am just doing the opposite and not getting an apartment. My jobs make me move seasonally and drive far, so a car that can carry work equipment is needed. Moving every four or six months or so make leases a pain to deal with. And these seasonal jobs are more fulfilling and interesting than the kind of work I have been able to find in cities. I also like the people out here more.
Besides, I will also say there are a lot of things I don't like about apartments. They can be very isolating places. Living in them before it seemed I'd come home and shut myself in and I wouldn't get to interact with the world outside very much unless it was by alienating technology. They are also often dark and gloomy unless you pay to burn coal to light them. Even then they are often not bright enough. Curtains often keep the sun out, and shade trees that are nice in the summer only seem to add to the dark gloominess of the fall when it gets dark at 4:15 pm already. And then there's dealing with landlords, security deposits, uggh. All that just to be a new guy in some town where there's 10% unemployment and I might be lucky enough to find some $10 an hour job that takes up all my time and energy and leaves me with barely any savings at the end of the month? If that is what society has to offer society can take its general Petraeus sex scandals and billion dollar elections and go screw itself.
Most of Utah is public land, which means it belongs to you, me, and everybody. My backyard is bigger than anyone's, and it has the most fabulous views. Today I could see snow capped La Sal Mountains, the Salt Valley anticline, the Tavaputs and the San Rafael Swell. I felt on top of the world and I could breathe fresh crisp air. In the evening the whole world glowed and I had a beautiful sunset.
Of course I do miss heating sometimes and I do miss all my music things which are in storage that I never get to play with. I don't think living in a car is for everybody or even for me indefinitely. But for now it is a pretty nice option. By cutting out paying rent I am on track to have $15,000 to $25,000 in savings by next Fall when I start a graduate program. That can either pay for school if my funding doesn't come through, or will help with living expenses. I have never been able to save that much before and I don't know too many people living in cities and working all week just to be broke at the end of the month who can save that much in a year. So it is a pretty good idea for now. Certainly it's a better life than a lot of older more experienced and qualified people than me are dealing with right now.
I hope this article gave you some ideas if you are looking for any, whether you are building a truck house because you have to or because you'd like to. And remember, when the apocalypse happens and you need to live in a survival truck, you can't forget stuffed animals, home made pot holders, and tasty tea. Those are the things that really get you through!
