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Our Simple Isuzu Trooper Camper Conversion- 1st trip

11K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Meechum 
#1 ·
Hello! My name is Tiffany, I'm new to the forum. My husband and I just purchased a used 98 trooper to make into our adventure vehicle and I wanted to share the photos from our build and first trip. We have little to no woodworking/construction know-how and no power tools. We used this forum to find some great ideas for a simple camper conversion so thank you to everyone who posted pics of their set-up!! We had lowe's cut the wood for us and just did a simple platform and plastic storage. I wanted to make drawers but the plastic storage has been nice because it is easily removable and cleanable (we already spilled pancake batter in the mess kit drawer! haha.

A full-size futon mattress fits perfectly back there and we just fold it over while driving. The dogs have plenty of room to get comfy back there.
We used silver bubble wrap insulation in the windows for especially cold nights. It got down to 9 degrees one night in Moab, UT and we were just fine! The pups really help warm it up! I made curtains to the best of my ability. I had never sewn much before. I used bungie cords and screwed little hooks into the plastic to hang the curtains.

We're still figuring out how to best organize all of our stuff and deciding what things we really need on our trips. I would say our first multi-day trip in it was a success though.








 
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#3 ·
Hi Tiffany. Looks great, I have a similar setup in my Trooper, love sleeping in there, especially when it is windy or raining. I haven't done the curtains though - as long as the sun isn't hitting me in the face I don't care.

Did you remove the back seats or fold them down and go over the top of them?
 
#4 ·
Thanks!! I found a great video of a guy that built the bed over the folded seats. You may have seen the video, he does it in a Jackaroo which is similar to the trooper.
However, when I put the board in over the seats, I found that it was a little too high with the 6" mattress on top. So i decided to sacrifice the convenience of keeping the seats in to have more storage and more head room. We still can't quite sit up in it, but we can recline comfortably and read a book or watch something on the ipad.
How did you do it? Did you leave your backseat in place?
 
#6 ·
tiff said:
How did you do it? Did you leave your backseat in place?
Yes. the platform is level with the seats with the seatbacks folded down. I sleep with my head toward the back, and my feet hang over the footwell (I am 6'3").



Here it is with the seatbacks up. My dog rides in the back seat when we are on the road.
 
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#7 ·
Awesome Tiff! Welcome btw.

I love this photo


start a build thread in the "members ride" section and keep us updated

cheers
-Ian :blackeye:
 
#8 ·
BigSwede said:
tiff said:
How did you do it? Did you leave your backseat in place?
Yes. the platform is level with the seats with the seatbacks folded down. I sleep with my head toward the back, and my feet hang over the footwell (I am 6'3").
We are both short which, in this case, is fortunate. haha. I do wish we had decided to do the board in 2 pieces so accessing the storage underneath the front end would be easier. And we totally closed off that little pocket under the seats so that is storage space we now can't use.

I imagine we will rebuild one day as our needs change.
 
#9 ·
Nice! I wish it snowed in my area but then again my AMPT hates cold weather. Love the setup I am plaining somthig similar for my trooper aswell. Did you have any issues accessing materials? I was thinking to do pull out drawers so I could store and seperate items.

-Atom
 
#10 ·
Meechum said:
Did you have any issues accessing materials? I was thinking to do pull out drawers so I could store and seperate items.

-Atom
Thanks Atom!
We haven't had any trouble. We ordered the mattress from walmart online w/ free delivery. It was only $60
You could also order foam and do a modular mattress that is easier to move/stack.

Almost everything else, we just got at our local lowes or home depot.

I'll make a post showing how we have all our stuff organized soon. We got plastic drawers from the Container Store and found some drawer separators at Bed Bath and beyond. Alternatively, you could make separators out of cardboard. The drawers are very long but leave a little room at the end for us to stuff in our hiking packs, snowshoes, folding chairs, etc . . .

We might go all out one day and build wooden drawers but our carpentry skills are lacking.
 
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