After receiving my Rivian R1T, I was excited to also get their Camp Kitchen, a fully equipped kitchen that slid out of the gear tunnel. Unfortunately due to pesky things like vehicle safety rating and weight limits, Rivian was unable to ship theirs. So, I built my own.

The project started with a hasty 3D scan of the tunnel using my iPhone’s scanner. Since then I’ve gotten a proper scanner that lets me do much cleaner scans, but this was Good Enough to get going.

CAD of the kitchen

The overall layout changed a bit during the project, but I wanted plenty of counter space, a two burner induction stove, and loads of storage for all the cooking gear I like to bring camping. The construction of the kitchen was all laser cut and bent sheet steel, riveted together with blind rivets and my pneumatic rivet gun.

The kitchen in process

Once completed, it was quick to slide out and use.

Kitchen partially open Kitchen open

This was a really fun project, but honestly I cut a lot of corners rushing to get it built in time for a once-in-a-lifetime cross country road trip. When I came back from the trip, I needed to remove the kitchen so I could compete with the truck in my local Rallycross event. Unfortunately the kitchen didn’t survive being removed, as my friend and I dropped it and destroyed a pretty critical part.

At some point I’ll build version two.