Colorado Camper

Blank Slate: 2012 Chevy Colorado, full size bed

When I way lying on the floor of my hut in Senegal and counting straws in my grass roof during the hottest part of the day, I used to daydream about ways I could maintain my nomadic lifestyle once I moved back to America. How am I supposed to travel in a country where biking from one border to another isn't a practical option and camping on the side of the road is frowned upon at best, and in most places illegal? The solution I came up with was to buy a truck and turn the bed into a livable space. In the last month my dad has been helping me turn my daydreams into reality, and we've been building a platform that has plenty of storage space underneath, and plenty of sleeping space on top.

I did a lot of research on the internet before we started construction and stumbled across someone else who had done something similar to what I was imagining, but with a Toyota Tacoma. Their pictures gave me a good starting point, but we made a few changes in order to accommodate the different design of my truck as well as my own preferences. I figured now that I've got my platform built I would share the process for anyone else interested in becoming a vagabond. All of the materials cost me about $140 and construction took about three days. I'll put a list of materials at the end of this post, but for now lets get to the fun stuff.

Vertical supports

Step 1: Install the vertical supports

We used five 1x12 pine boards (two down the center) to build a frame to support the plywood deck. Everything is anchored with 1.5" L brackets to the board sitting flush against the front of the bed, which was trimmed to make a very tight fit into the available space. This divided the bed into six storage compartments, two long bays and four smaller ones to the front and rear of the wheel wells.

Measuring the exact space needed for
my storage drawers

Step 2: Finding storage options

Once I had the frame installed I went shopping for some sort of containers that would fit my exact dimensions without wasting any valuable storage space. I settled on a set of stacking drawers, rather than a conventional tupperware, so I won't have to do any unpacking when I get wherever I'm going. I can just slide them out and stack them up! I slid them into the cargo bays so that we could block off the length of the rear compartment to fit them exactly.

Horizontal supports

Step 3: Installing the horizontal supports

To support the forward compartment doors we installed four 2x4s horizontally across the space where the front and back of the doors would rest. Since the supports lower the height of the storage space by 2" they also serve to keep my storage containers from sliding all the way to the front of the truck without entirely blocking off the separate compartments. That gives me the option of storing something longer such as ski gear or a dead body if I remove the containers. We used the leftover pieces of 1x12 as supports for the outer edge of the decking, one in front and behind each wheel

Deck and doors installed

Step 4: Installing the plywood deck and access doors

For the decking we used two pieces of 3/8" plywood, cut to fit the contours of the bed and lined with a piece of pipe insulation to allow for a tighter fit.  The deck is secured to the framework with 1 1/16" wood screws, and the doors on each side were cut wide enough to allow access to the two small compartments in front of the wheel. The doors were installed after the deck using two 12" piano hinges

Indoor/outdoor carpet installed

Step 5: Installing the indoor/outdoor carpet
We purchased an inexpensive roll of grey indoor/outdoor carpet that complements the interior of the truck and the headliner of the camper shell and installed it with standard carpet adhesive. We also put a row of heavy-duty staples around the edges for good measure. The carpet was laid as one piece and we used a box-cutter to cut out the doors once the adhesive was dry

Rear Access Panel

Step 5: Rear Access Panel

Using some of my leftover plywood we cut a board to fit over the end to act as a rear access panel. It isn't hinged, instead it has holes drilled to fit over two small pieces of hardware that protrude from the vertical supports and a lock or carabiner is used to hold it on. I liked the pattern of the grain in the plywood so I opted to stain the wood rather than carpet it, and I'll probably end up covering it in stickers as I travel.

Testing out the space in the left compartment...
perfect fit!

To finish everything off I've ordered a Leer mid-rise cap to keep me and my things out of the elements. I went with the model 180 because it offered a bit more headroom, and opted for the Adventure Sports package which includes a Thule locking roof rack for my bike, a ceiling mounted gear net, a 3 outlet 12 volt power block, two interior dome lights and a grey carpet headliner. Its not here yet, but once it arrives I'll be ready for my next adventure...driving out to Telluride, Colorado for my winter job.

List of Materials:5 Pine boards 1x12x6
2 Sheets plywood 3/8" *
2 Piano hinges 12"
16 L brackets 1.5"
Wood Screws 1 1/16"
2 Foam pipe insulators 6ft
Ribbed indoor/outdoor area rug 6'x8'
1qt Carpet adhesive

* I weigh 130lbs and the plywood sags a little bit at the rear of the deck if I sit directly over the open space. I would suggest a thicker piece of plywood if you weigh over 150.