Fuel for Thought

Sink

What to do, what to do? Well, if an OEM sleeper does not have the option to have a sink, what to do, what to do? Build and install one yourself !
My last truck had an OEM sleeper, however, it went from the factory to a custom sleeper builder to have the empty sleeper (truck was ordered without anything in the sleeper except interior walls) outfitted to my liking. This new truck that I now have was ordered with factory sleeper amenities. I then started customizing it, to a degree, to fit my wants or needs.
Since I had become accustomed to having a sink in my last truck, I was planning to add one to this truck, but as it was not as critical as the generator and rooftop HVAC, those were done first and then came the time to design and build a sink to fit the space available and fit my needs.
Most of the materials were found online and a few other parts or pieces were acquired from my local big box home improvement store. All in all, it actually turned out to be a fairly simple project at a minimal cost.
My design called for a countertop material, sink, faucet, pump, hoses, water storage container and a way to secure it to the truck. As you can see from the photo, I chose a stained wood for the countertop with an epoxy resin coating. The stainless steel sink was made from a steam table tray. The faucet has a built-in rechargeable pump. My last truck had a five gallon water storage tank, since it was sufficient for my needs, I chose to go with the same size tank for this application. In my last truck, the water tank was under the sink, but since this sink is mounted above the refrigerator, I put the water tank in the side compartment. Yep, you read that right, this sink sits nicely on top of the fridge and I was even able to use the fridge mounting straps to secure the sink/countertop on top of it. As you can tell from the photo, it also doubles as a fruit and vegetable container.
More of an afterthought, but I also decided to add a 120v plug with USB outlets to the side of the countertop. Adding a receptacle was easy enough, and since there is a 120v outlet behind the fridge, it was easy to just run the wire from the new outlet behind the fridge and plug it into the existing outlet, kind of an extension cord with a permanent outlet within easy reach.
Adding the sink has its benefits, but also the additional counter space (where items are not lost behind the fridge any longer) has been a great benefit as well. All in all, the simple project turned out well and has been very useful and without taking up much precious space in an OEM sleeper.

Sometimes you just need to get creative to add the amenities to your truck that you want and with a little thought and planning, you can have a semi custom (no pun intended) sleeper even in an OEM truck.

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
- Steve Jobs

See you down the road,
Greg