So, today we have under our close gaze a ready-made solution from GeoCamper for installation in the back of a pickup truck. In order to turn a utility truck into a mobile home, it is enough to simply dismantle the tailgate, load the module and fix it securely. The module can be supplied in various configurations: from completely empty to fully equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable life away from home.
As can be clearly seen from this angle, the decision to leave in place the standard "trough" of the cargo compartment severely limits the usable area and volume of the living module. But, nevertheless, this solution is the most popular, since it allows, if necessary, to dismantle the module and operate the car directly for its cargo purpose.
The weight of the structure is quite impressive. Unfortunately, no special measurements were made, but the data in the papers of the transport company that delivered the module from Kaliningrad, the figures were seriously different from the manufacturer's declared weight of 160 kg. The car, whose carrying capacity is already impressive 1175 kg, received reinforced springs, which increased the permissible weight for transportation by 300 kg, and is also additionally equipped with air bags. But even after such modifications, the pickup still has a slight trim on the rear axle.
Let's look inside the living compartment. At the bottom there are places for resting in a "sitting position" and immediately after dismantling the central table (not shown in the photo), you can additionally arrange a small sleeping place suitable for a child or a person of very compact dimensions. A full berth is realized on the "second floor", in the part of the module, which is located directly above the car roof. 
Its dimensions are just a little more than a meter, and in order to get a full-fledged two-meter resting bed, you will need to "increase" it in length with the help of a folding shelf. Thus, if someone wants to sleep, then it will no longer be possible to rest and eat on the "first" floor. This is a serious disadvantage of the layout, but nothing else can be thought of here. The dimensions of the luggage compartment of this car are only 1.5x1.5 meters, and the double cab has eaten a useful place, which is so necessary for a full-fledged living module.
Although for the owner of this particular car, this is perhaps the only possible option, since he travels with his wife and two children, and thus the options with SingleCab or RapCab are unacceptable for him.
Let's take a look at the internals of the module. On the left side are service hatches with access to wiring and water supply hoses and fittings. 
The filler neck looks like this from the outside
Slightly above the 220-volt outlet, control of the on-board network and external light. 
There is a window with a mosquito net and a curtain under the ceiling, a heater control and a screen with data on the temperature regime inside and outside. Also, the upper ventilation hatch partially got into the frame, without which in summer, in hot weather, it would be rather problematic to be inside. 
Right there, on the left side, under the seat there is a dry “hairdryer” for heating the living space. The power of this device alone is quite enough for this volume.
On the right side there are compartments for things and various small things. Velcro straps fix the cushions in an upright position for a comfortable and comfortable sitting. 
Also, on the starboard side there is a washing block combined with a gas stove. Below is a compartment for dishes and a 10 liter water tank.
The hatches, like most of the things used in the construction of living modules, are taken from the yacht range. 
To close the compartment, we turn the handle, which, so as not to interfere, is then recessed flush with the plane of the door. 
The hooks for the clothes have a safety tongue that will prevent them from slipping off while the vehicle is moving. 
The fold-down step can be used as a chair when cooking. Maybe not so convenient, but better than nothing. 
This is how the module looks from the outside. In general, he is quite tall and a person of average height can stand in him almost to his full height. 
As a summary phrase, we can say that the inside of the module is still larger than it initially appears from the outside, however, a long stay in it in case of bad weather or cold season is still not so convenient, due to the limited internal volume and the impossibility of simultaneous use of the dining area and sleeping.
Also, due to the fact that the main weight of the structure is almost only one fourth of the car, the module greatly overloads the rear and puts a serious load on the frame. There are not isolated cases of frame breakage when driving on graders and poor quality roads with modules of a similar layout.
In my opinion, it would be much more correct to build a "living module" based on a pickup truck with a one and a half or single cab. This will move the heavy module inside the base and significantly increase its living space.
The pickup has won the hearts of many Russians with its practicality, the versatility of its use speaks for itself. It can carry cargo and passengers, it is great for fishing and hunting, and if you make a kung for it, it will be an irreplaceable machine for tourists and travelers. Kung (Unified Body of Normal Dimensions) is undoubtedly needed for a pickup. After all, in case of bad weather, it will shelter you from rain, snow and other troubles, protect your belongings from thieves and will be a place to sleep while traveling.
We would like to emphasize the advantages of installing a box on a pickup:
- the goods transported in the box are reliably protected from the influence of any weather phenomena;
- ease of installation, you can do without drilling and using a sealant;
- kunga design is suitable for any modern pickup;
- provide reliable protection against damage, theft and prying eyes;
- the car looks more attractive and compositionally complete.
Industrial kungs
FullBox, StarBox and Canopy are made of durable plastic with roof rails to accommodate luggage. The brake light bar and the front of the FullBox are attached directly to the vehicle body. The back is closed and has freedom of movement.
Fiberglass with high strength characteristics is made using a special technology and serves as the main material from which StarBox boxes are made. The durability of fiberglass, not susceptibility to various damage, excellent tinted glass and additional shock absorbers are appreciated by all owners of these boxes. The body with an electric lid lifter, although it is expensive, is very easy to use and looks solid.
The Canopy pickup canopy (cab) is easily installed using the installation package. Panoramic windows and a rear door with a gas shock absorber give it both a reliable and attractive look.
Sammitr is the only firm that specializes in metal pickup cabinets that are as strong as the body and are suitable for all weather conditions. It is also capable of carrying a decent load on the roof and matches well in color and size with the car.
The main advantage of steel structures is strength. The irregularities for which our roads are famous can lead to a strong impact of the load on the internal elements of the kunga. The plastic may burst, leaving only scratches on the metal.
Practice shows that after the "shape-shifting", a pickup truck made of steel can withstand such acrobatics, and the roof of the pickup has to be changed. In most of Russia, frosts dominate for several months a year and plastic, at minus 20 ° C, easily pricks and becomes fragile. Metal can withstand such temperatures without changing its structure.
Doing kung yourself
The Russian people, with their natural ingenuity, are used to doing everything with their own hands. Kung is also no exception, because its production will cost much less than buying a factory one. If you have to make a kung for a pickup with your own hands, then first of all you need to think about what materials will be used and sketch out a sketch of the future design or even make a layout.
The only thing that you cannot do on your own is glass, because they are specially hardened or made of triplex. They will have to be ordered from a special enterprise. The frame can be made from a metal corner; a square-shaped pipe will go to the stiffening ribs. There is a huge choice in the upholstery market, but in a pickup truck we strongly recommend ship styrofoam.
This material is made under a tree and has an amazing resistance to various weather anomalies. Cover this material with epoxy primer and glue each side with fiberglass. Put a coat of primer on all of this and then spray paint, although the pleasure is not cheap.
To fasten the frame, drill holes in the sides of the box and install it using the cage nuts. The rear door is recommended to be made of metal, this will be the heaviest part of the structure and the hinges must be fitted accordingly. In terms of strength, UAZ ones are quite suitable, and shock absorbers from VAZ will fit perfectly with domestic classics. How beautiful the product will be depends only on your imagination. You see, making a kung for a pickup truck with your own hands is not such a difficult thing.
On the UAZ 3303 - a tadpole, the principle of building a kunga remains the same, but there are some peculiarities. The frame is made of a steel profile, a reinforced profile 20x40 goes to each corner. Windows, a hatch with a rubber seal are taken from an old decommissioned bus. A door with two doors is installed on the box, one of which is constantly closed and is used only for loading bulky goods.
A 9-mm plywood is placed on the roof and is covered with painted tin on top, so you can walk freely on it and place various loads. Inside, the pickup box is insulated with foam on the walls, on which the same plywood is attached.
Attention! You cannot make a kung on the UAZ 3303 long and high, this will impair the maneuverability and cross-country ability of the car.
On the kung for the Mitsubishi L200, a frame is made of a 20x20 steel profile in the same way and is sheathed outside with tin or aluminum sheet. The frame is attached to the body with cage nuts. Some just cover it with a tarp. How to make a kung for a pickup truck in Mitsubishi L200, look at the video:
On the Russian UAZ-Patriot SUV, the kung is installed from a welded frame, sheathed with aluminum. They make it flush with the roof of the car body. The Kung for the Patriot has a rear door with German locks and side hatches. There are options with sliding windows and a top hatch. The tailgate cannot be opened; for this, reliable German locks are installed.
Often there are problems with the glass, if the factory burst or broke and you need to replace the glass on the pickup box, then change it to polycarbonate. The vandal-proof version of such material withstands the blow of a sledgehammer, and after the impact it springs and takes on its previous shape. Resistant to frost, can withstand temperatures an order of magnitude lower than plexiglass, it can be cut with a jigsaw and drilled without splinters. If you still want to put plexiglass, keep in mind that thick glass is very dangerous, when it bursts on the door of the pickup box and falls on your foot, it breaks the boot.
Pickup tents and accommodation units
Earlier, back in the USSR, trailer tents were popular. They were designed for 2-4 people, they easily turned from a trailer into a living module and also simply folded. But the high price did not allow an ordinary worker to use the trailer only as a tent. Alas, with the collapse of the country, trailers and tents disappeared, and imported products are still expensive.
We should please you - a tent for a pickup truck with a kung has been created in Russia and is already in great demand due to its low price, convenience and low weight. Traveling by car, with such a tent for the night, you can stop at any place you like. It only takes 5 minutes to set up the tent. Opening the sides and doors of the pickup box, you get a space of 150x180 cm. Now you are not afraid of any wind, rain or even hail. The kunga has electric lighting, which creates coziness and appropriate amenities.
These tents are suitable for the box cars of Mitsubishi L200, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, Mazda. These high-quality and convenient products are suitable for tourism, hunting and fishing trips, and for a full family vacation.
It is impossible not to mention the residential modules for pickups, which are very famous in the United States. They are installed on pickups, which are compatible in size with such modules. Inside there are amenities in the form of a toilet and a shower, a sleeping place for a quiet rest, and a small but comfortable kitchen for cooking. These truck campers are equipped with an autonomous battery power supply and a gas generator. For a comfortable existence in such pickup trucks there is an air conditioner and a heater. One person can install such a residential module in a quarter of an hour.
Such living units in Russia will be useful as shelters for hunting and fishing and seem to be widely popular, especially if installed on off-road vehicles. This is important for the Russian consumer, because your house-kung for a pickup can overcome any off-road and, most importantly, you do not need to register with the traffic police and you can forget about technical inspection.
I think many of us have traveled much more, if not for the eternal problem of housing. If you rent a room or an apartment at every stop, you won't save enough money, but if you decide to travel in the wild, set up camp again every evening? The ideal solution, of course, is a mobile home, but unfortunately the hero of our article had neither a trailer nor money to buy it. So he decided to turn his pickup truck into a small but very cozy mobile home, perfect for the adventurous adventurer.
An enterprising traveler prepared such a frame for the body of his pickup truck with a bearing system for sliding a drawer
In the photo above, you can see the attachment of the frame to the body of the pickup.
Bearings used from a skateboard, as they have high wear resistance and can withstand heavy loads
A square tube was used for the slide
Frame covered with sheets of wood
Drawer with storage compartments
A place for a battery that will power the electronics
The free space on the left is great for storing tents or sleeping bags
Cut out pieces of the top sheet in the places where they lay on the wheels
Drawer lock from the inside
He used ordinary door hardware to latch the drawer
The drawer will also be a table, these stoppers are needed so that the "table" cover is securely fixed on the surface of the drawer.
Part of the table locking system
Frame, after covering it with a special water-repellent agent
Second varnishing of drawer parts
The back of the lock was covered with a metal plate
Battery in place (not connected yet)
Power sockets and USB ports
I installed lamps for lighting and a strap on the tailgate so that it was convenient to close the door from the inside
I installed two columns at the head of the future bed
Installed a switch on the car dashboard
Drawer, aka table
A month of work and you're done! Now this car is ready for an unforgettable adventure!
Prepare your pickup to make it easier to secure the load. There are a number of different makes and models of trucks, many of which have a cargo trailer, but you may still need to add extra space to suit your needs. Consider your options.
Use a load net to transport lightweight materials such as insulation or lawn debris. This mesh is custom made for specific body sizes and although it requires a significant investment, the nylon or polyester fiber mesh resists rot and decay, is easy to store, and very easy to handle. Most of these nets have hooks that attach to a seam under the side of the body, or have attachments that attach the net to both sides of the body on a permanent basis.
Purchase a tarp that matches the size of your load. Pickup bodies come in different sizes, depending on the size of the pickup itself (medium, subcompact or large), with short or long driving. You can buy a snap-on tarp, or you can attach the tarp with tie cords that can be on either side of the body and are attached to the bumpers.
Secure the load when placing it on the pallet when loading. Many loads are transported and delivered on tractor trailers, which have wooden pallets to enable loading / unloading by forklifts. These pallets can be found in garages or building materials stores, where they can be borrowed for free or purchased for a nominal fee. The pallet timber frame is unlikely to slide on the floor of the body, and since it is quite heavy and made of planks, the load will go directly to the pallet.
Remember that it is difficult to secure cargo in the back from thieves who have the ability to get to the pickup unnoticed. Here are some simple tips to make it harder for a thief to steal your cargo.
- Park your pickup truck at night in a well-lit area.
- Make sure the cargo is covered as best as possible, either completely covered with a tarp or stored in a container.
- Park your pickup so that passers-by can see it. Freeway rest areas are great places for thieves, so try to park in front of the rest area where people coming in and out will scare off the thief.
- Cover your most valuable belongings inside the pickup and out of sight, if possible.
- Consider buying king-cab or quad-cabso that you have more interior space for storing cargo.
- Drive straight to your destination. Stopping, shopping, sightseeing and other activities put your cargo in great danger in the form of theft or bad weather.
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Buy quality snap-on straps for tying heavy loads. They are made from durable synthetic fibers and, when paired with strong bindings, will hold heavy and unstable loads tightly. Be sure to store these belts properly when not in use: sunlight, oil, dirt, etc. can slowly destroy their material. This will weaken them.
Tie the load with lashing cables or straps on at least two sides, if possible, or tie it crosswise to prevent movement in all directions.
Pick the smoothest and shortest road available to you. Avoid curved or uneven roads. This will reduce the likelihood of damage to the cargo during reloading.
You need to know the carrying capacity of your pickup. Vehicle suspensions and tires have the maximum weight they can support. The vehicle's payload can be seen on the factory decal on the edge of the driver's door panel. Do not exceed the weight indicated there.
If you are transporting too long a load. Tie a flag on the end of it so other drivers can see it and don't get too close to your car. Very long weights will likely need to be shifted, so you may need to tie them to keep them stationary.
Made in distant America, the cargo-passenger pickup truck fell into the hands of a Russian off-road traveler. Could an honest road worker imagine that he would become a real expeditionary? But that's exactly what happened to him.
Preparing a pickup truck for travel is a familiar decision. A multitude of L200, Ranger and Hilux roam the vastness of our vast homeland, bristling with power bumpers and briskly waving radio antennas. But this is the first time I encountered a prepared Toyota Tundra. This meeting could not fail to happen, because the car belongs to my close friend and clubmate. But first things first.
Throwing thicknesses
Anatoly appeared at the club many years ago. Back then, he was the proud owner of a Nissan Pathfinder, though all his pride vanished after the first serious off-road test. Tolya seriously thought about replacing the car with something more suitable for off-road travel. This is how the Toyota Land Cruiser 80 appeared in his life. But in his impulse to get an SUV as soon as possible, Tolya hurried up and bought a car prepared in the KDT tuning studio. I don't know what goals the creators of the body kit set for themselves, but judging by the amount of iron, the car was preparing to disable the armored personnel carriers by means of a ram. The weight of the car did not stand up to criticism, moreover, it was pursued by constant breakdowns. After three years of operation, Tolya decided to sell the "eighty" and look in the direction of diesel pickups. But after consulting with knowledgeable people, he came to the conclusion that such an acquisition was inexpedient and bought a Toyota Land Cruiser 105, which he prepared for expeditions with the help of an Australian body kit and an additional factory tank. This car served him faithfully, but life circumstances forced him to part with it. And now, after a while, the question arose again about buying an SUV for expeditions. This time Tolya decided to give the car some household load, namely the ability to transport bulky cargo. So he gradually became established in the idea of \u200b\u200bpurchasing a large American pickup truck, which became the next Toyota.
Concept
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Previous experience with heavy machines was taken into account. This time Anatoly did not weigh the SUV with all conceivable products of heavy engineering, limiting the list of power equipment to the front bumper, sills, protection and cargo frame. Much attention was paid to additional lighting technology, since in conditions of long-distance off-road expeditions good light comes to the fore. But the widest scope for design thought was provided by the cargo compartment, which it was decided to turn into a multifunctional tool.
Before proceeding with the construction, Tolya considered various options, estimated the budget, and by the time the work began, the concept of preparing an SUV was fully formed. Orders for the manufacture and installation of elements were placed in various workshops in order to make the most of the experience of the craftsmen in various fields. The components were purchased independently, which also required a lot of time and effort, but as a result led to a significant reduction in the cost of construction. The preparation of the car itself took almost six months and has not ended to this day. There is still no snorkel on the car, but before the May expedition Tolya promised to get one by oath.
Now let's look at what came out of a regular utility vehicle as a result of tuning.
Inventory
Jeep's opinion
Andrey SUDBIN (Cuirassier),
ORD editor, pickup truck owner
It is immediately felt: the person who planned the tuning of this car has already gained experience, who, as you know, is the son of difficult mistakes, and clearly understands what and why he needs. Because the usual way of a jeep looks like this: a person buys the first SUV and starts building it. He wants to get something indestructible and unrestrained. As a result, his first creation can be briefly described as follows: armor from the battleship Yamato, an elevator to the height of the Empire State Building, wheels from BelAZ, suspension travel at human height. At the very first competitions, this monster drowns in a swamp (and even more often just breaks) a kilometer from the start. Well, in this case, I see a clear correspondence between the task at hand (participation in extreme expeditions) and the choice of both the car and the means and methods of tuning. The main problems of a pickup truck on a long journey are the inability to sleep in the cab and the difficulty of finding the right thing in a littered junk body. The full-size "Japanese-American" allows you to lie across the cabin, and the correct organization of the space of the cargo platform eliminates the problem of searching. The lift is moderate, the diameter of the wheels is almost standard. This means that the load on the transmission will not increase too much. All other improvements are made according to the principle: "everything you need, but nothing more." All in all, a great project.
Toyota Tundra
text: Lenya UNFASHIONABLE
photo: Roman TARASENKO
