Toyota Prado Camping Setup

Humble Beginnings

In preparation for our trip to the Kimberly region in Western Australia we had to maximize space in the car and minimize hassles of finding things during the trip. The solution was a false floor that we installed in the back of our Toyota Prado, with two deep drawers that were accessible from the back, and a subdivided storage compartment with a hinged lid behind the back seats, that was accessible from the rear doors. A larger table top was stored above the back area just under the roof lining, together with an additional ply board. The table top was used to enlarge our camping table to make it big enough for 4 people. It also had a second purpose: We joined it onto the additional ply board to extension of the false floor, so that we had a 2m long flat area for a mattress, so that we could sleep in the back of the car when necessary. The entire structure was made from 8 and 6mm ply wood.

This is where the drawers will be.

Bracket to hold it all in place in the car.

Almost finished

This slide-out tray is mounted on top of the false floor and holds the fridge in place

The raw structure before the carpet was glued on.

Anti-slip mat for the fridge

The final product. Camping table under the right drawer, fridge on the slide-out base on the left

Well organised drawer. Everything has its spot here. If we always put things back to where they came from we will never have to look for anything :)

We used this to store non-perishable food (cans, pasta, rice etc)

Note the frame for the bed base strapped to the lid of the storage compartment

Table top and bed base panels stored under the roof.