Lexus LX470 Rear Cabin Conversion...

[mhiscox]

The fridge lid mod is well documented on Mud and I almost did it to my Engel and I think I still have the part around unused if you want them. Having a side hinge lid on that fridge means no roof contact and a much better life.

Thanks for the generous offer, Lance. I'll let you know after I get back from a ten-day southwest Utah trip. Leaving tomorrow AM.

I understand the advantage of the side hinge and really don't know yet if I'd prefer it. That mod gives you great access from one side but poor access from the other. The way I oriented my fridge, I have mediocre access from both front side and rear. By the time I'm back, I should know whether the limited swing due to the roof contact seems like a bigger PITA than not being able to get at it well from both fore and aft.

[PaulJensen]

(above) Sink cut-out...Driver side...The faucet is a simple, single lever bar faucet found at Home Depot...


(above) At a restaurant supply store I found a variety of stainless steel pans...Mike wanted some trays for storage and these seemed right...I'll cut into the top of the cabinet and have them be drop in and pull out for access deeper into the wheel well space...You can also see the partitioning down low for the inverter under the fridge and the battery just behind it...


(above) Four gallon drinking and grey water containers...


(above) Water pump...


(above) The connections are easy... Pull the tanks forward a bit and unscrew the connections...The waste water connection changed later as you'll see...(As you are reading this Mike is driving the completed conversion on his way to Utah)...


(above) The bed zone...Mike thought I could do something with heavy duty drawer guides to have the bed platform slide forward over the folded seat...There were multiple complexities doing that way, so I went a different direction...


(above) Hinged plywood...You can see that it is in two sections...Ceiling height necessitated that...The nearest folding section rest firmly on the folded over seat...Solid support...Without that it wouldn't work ...The smaller hinged section is unsupported as shown, but seems to be sturdy enough if the foot of the sleeping bag goes there...Later I made a simple support that fits in the finger-pull hole...


(above) Access panel for the inverter / battery / storage...


(above) Back in the shop...Cut-outs for drop-in trays and electrical outlets are done...The inverter is on the bench, over on the right...I put a narrow hinged door over on the left side for more access to storage space in the wheel-well...


(above) Another view from this side...


(above) The view from the driver side...The sink is placed and ready to have the rear flange trimmed flush with the rear edge of the cabinet...I'll show details of the sink later...It's a 4" deep stainless steel "steam tray" purchased at the restaurant supply store...A hole was drilled for a drain and a piece of copper tubing was soldered in...

I put an "accumulator tank" in the water supply...It is some kind of an air bladder thing that provides more consistent water pressure and is easier on the water pump...Later I found out that if the electrical system is shut off and the water pump is disabled, the accumulator tank still provides about a half quart of water...Nice...


(above) Far from a simple design...Especially when you remember that it is designed to be removable...

More later...

[AFSOC]

Glad to see you two at it again!

[ersatzknarf]

Wow ! Another amazing project
Just when I thought the Jeep had tons of features in a very small package, you guys go and up the ante !
Amazing. This is going to be very, very nice

[HMR]

Another very creative, well crafted project. Thanks for sharing.

[r3run33]

Mr Jensen very curious about your build (I also have an lx470) with the sink my not just let it drain over the tire? Please also post Moore info ion the final bed setup! Also any shower type set up for hot water?

[PaulJensen]

Mr Jensen very curious about your build (I also have an lx470) with the sink my not just let it drain over the tire? Please also post Moore info ion the final bed setup! Also any shower type set up for hot water?

Bald eagles shed tears when waste water is allowed to flow to the ground...Also, it was Mike's preference...

The bed set-up will be elaborated on later...

I think a Zodi Shower could easily be added to the water system...On this one it wasn't on the list...

BTW: I am available for custom work...My schedule opened up...

[PaulJensen]

(above) The installation...First, the driver's side wall cabinet slips in...The wires are loomed for easy hook-ups...


(above) Next, the curb side cabinet is loosely placed...


(above) Then the center box slips between the sides...


(above) Close enough to do the connections...


(above) Curb side... There are three tee-nuts that connect the side to the center box...they are highlighted with the pen marks...


(above) Behind the curb side seat, two screws attach the side case to the center box...Again, pen marks the locations...


(above) Shore power wires go from the inverter through a hole in the cabinets then come out at the side cabinet to hook into the power plug...Wiring is labeled...


(above) The black and red set of wires that go through to the curb side wheel-well are for the fridge...They plug into a 12VDC accessory outlet in the cabinet cavity...The lone black wire connects to the battery ground later...The remote for the inverter is a simple plug in...


(above) On the driver side, these are the wires to connect...


(above) The orange wire with the plug end goes from a 115VDC receptacle to a plug in / junction box...This way the connections are easily done without having to hard wire...The large red wire will connect to the battery...


(above) wires from the circuit breakers for the 12VDC system get connected here...


(above) Then it all gets attached to the cabinet wall...Elapsed time for the install so far is about a half hour...


(above) Next to hook up is the sink...


(above) The sink drops into the cabinet top, then the drain hose gets securely fixed with a pipe strap mounted to a block of plywood, then...


(above) ...screwed through the cabinet wall into a tee-nut...Without the secure mounting, the tailpiece of the sink would move enough with the connection of the hose to the waste water tank, to eventually break...


(above) The hose from the water pump / accumulator tank gets connected next...The foam pipe insulation cushions the water tanks and keeps the tanks from rattling around once they are strapped in...


(above) Simple hose clamp on the faucet inlet is all that's needed...


(above) Next to connect is the battery...Red wires go to the positive, black wires go to ground...The heavy black wires looped are winch connection cables...

At this point the flat bed section is slid over the top of the center box and screwed into the lower cabinet with four screw...


(above) Two tee-nut screws connect the wall cabinet to the center box up here...


(above) ...and a pair of screws connect the cabinets back in the drawer side cabinet...


(above) The drinking water tank up-take tube...


(above) To hook-up the drinking water tank to the inlet for the water pump, is done with a simple twist on garden hose connector...


(above) The drain hose simply drops in the tank...


(above) A strap keeps them in place...

Four screws through the plywood cabinet bottom attach the casework assembly to the floor of the vehicle...The only screws into the vehicle...

More later...

[RobRed]

What did you do for the fresh air intake on the rear AC system?

[ChuckB]

I admire your skill. Very nice!