2003 Sport Camping Build

[Lifted03Sport]

Hey all!

I've been browsing this forum since 2010 and have gained a ton of information and new skills. There are so many useful resources here so I'm hoping to give back a little with this post. My current explorer is an 03 Sport that I picked up a couple years ago. In the time that I have had it, I have been doing small mods and fixes to any problems that have come up. Knock on wood the Ex has been extremely reliable in the last year or so which gave me the itch to tackle a new project.

So I decided to build a camping platform to fit in the cargo area. I would like to start camping in the explorer but since its a sport there isn't a ton of room to work with. I put together a little video showing the project and what I decided to do with it. There are still a few things that I would like improve on.

Let me know what you think so far and any suggestions are welcome!

 

[gmanpaint]

Nice job. Always happy to see couples working together on projects.

Are you going to add any carpet to the top? Yards of the material is cheap, and really adds a custom look and function to it.

Please give an update picture, after you load up for an outing, and a review of how it worked out for you, after the outing.

 

[Lifted03Sport]

Thanks for the reply. Adding carpet to the top is definitely going to be the next move. I will post more pictures/videos for whatever I decide to do next and then I'll document our load out for a trip.

 

[bigred4x4]

I always thought over land/camping setups where the coolest, I have a few camping mods done to mine. I would like to add a drawer system/sleeping platform to complete it out for overnighting on the trail I just don't go out and do it that much to justify it. Also thought about building a camping trailer but again to much money for the occasional
Roughing it, please post more pics

 

[WormsExplorer]

I really like your video. Do you have pictures and dimensions?

 

[Lifted03Sport]

I really like your video. Do you have pictures and dimensions?

Thanks! Here are some more pics and the dimensions.

Each plywood piece is about 2ft by 4ft, bought them pre cut.
The boards that run the length of the ex are 5ft a piece and they come to right about where the folded rear seats are.
The horizontal supports ended up being 44 3/4 inches in length for all 3.
The legs are a different story all together. Since my cargo area doesn't have carpet anymore they all ended up being a little bit different lengths to get it to work with the bumps and ridges of the floor and then the carpeted area where the backseat is folded. I will say they are all over 8 inches a piece with the exception of the two that fold behind the driver's and passenger's seat. Those ended up being about 20 inches.

 

[WormsExplorer]

VERY Nice sir and Ma'am (seeing as how the misses helped build it)