Question about camping with a shell VS a RAV4?

Sort of offbeat question, so bear with me:

I bought my 1996 with a shell for my retirement with the idea of throwing an air mattress and sleeping bag in the back and save $200 a night on a hotel room when I stay at the Oregon coast.

Now I'm wondering if I should have bought a RAV4 instead of a Tacoma (more headroom, not as cold and drafty, ect)

I've never even sat in a RAV4, is there room in the back with the seats out to lay down a sleeping bag?

Which is better for overnight camping, a small SUV or a pickup with a shell on it? Thanks

 

People live out of Priuses, so a rav4 seems doable.


Probably comes down to your height though.

 

A old pick up bed is essentially a metal coffin. Newer pick ups are just a plastic coffin. Throw a fiberglass leaky shell on top of it and you’re not doing much better. You might be able to crack a window to get some air circulating. The Oregon coast is mostly cold and damp. even if you somehow managed to seal all the nooks and crannies in the shell you’re still going to get that wet cold air leaking in.

The back of most SUVs is a carpeted, warm, insulated space that you can fill with air conditioning or heat if you so choose.

Not all SUVs can fold the seats perfectly flat, so you may have a lumpy sleeping surface unless you put some type of platform on there. There’s also a height issue as others have said.

 

What about keeping dust out if you drive down miles of dirt road? In a shell everything will be covered with dust and dirt in the shell unless someone knows how to keep out the dust.

 

There are threads on how you can seal a shell, bed, and a tailgate to keep it relatively safe from the elements. I’ve had three shells on different pick up trucks and none of them have been particularly water tight and all of them sucked dust when I was off road.

 

If I would do this I would not choose a RAV4 the sideways engine and me do not play well the whole idea of maintenance does not appeal to me at all.

SUV I would go a 4Runner maybe a Land Cruiser .

If I went the route of a Tacoma I Would go with a Fiber glass cap and have access to the cap through the back of the cab. In the seventies I pitched a tent in the back of the Pick up in the winter .

Thing is no matter which direction you decide after so long it always seems much to small.

It comes down to what will work for you

 

If things get worse for me I may actually have to live in my truck for a while. So I appreciate all the answers

 

Sadly I can really relate Enough said!

In my case it would be to I die!

 

I have travelled and slept extensively in my 1996 extended cab Taco with a camper shell and love it. I have lots of experience to share if your interested. I can't comment about the RAV4, though my daughter camps in her 2008. She's shorter than I though, I could never sleep in her car.

I echo the sentiment that with the wet climate of the Oregon coast, you may encounter leaks which are no fun of any kind in a sleeping compartment. My camping in my truck was almost exclusively in drier climates, such as Nevada, eastern Oregon, the Southwest, and the Sierra Nevada. I kept warm with a Buddy Heater, a double sized North Face 20 degree bag and backup gloves/long underwear/facemask just in case. I made it through an 18 degree night on the mountain no problem.

I never longed to access the camper bed from the truck cab even though I have that access.

 

I have a topper on my 98. I have a tri-fold memory foam mattress that folds up out of the way to store stuff in front of it. I built a water system so I can have running water out the back. I use an outdoor rug out the back, a tarp with poles and stakes to cover the back end. I also haul a DR650 in the back to where I am camping. It's luxury camping is what I call it. It doesn't leak in heavy rain because well - I sealed it up properly. Pooches like it too

 

No offense but both options seem awful.

I'd just get a well made/insulated tent, sleeping bag and sleeping pad.

Unless you're talking about sleeping in the vehicles in a parking lot.... then I'd stick with the truck/topper and invest in a well insulated sleeping pad/bag.

The truck is more versatile than the Rav4

 

I can’t imagine there would be enough room in a rav4 unless you slept at a diagonal.

I have spent many nights in the back of my 5th gen 4runner. I had to build a leveling platform to make it comfortable. I’m 5’9” and my head and feet barely touch the rear hatch and folded up rear seat.

I’ve also spent damn near a lifetime sleeping in the back of trucks. The 4runner is so much nicer because you can reach up and start the car from your sleeping bag and get it warm before getting dressed for the day.

 

I’m 6 foot 3 and I had the cargo tray so the few times I slept in my fifth generation weren’t that comfortable because it wasn’t a perfectly flat surface. I had to do the homeless thing and dropped in a few unassembled cardboard boxes I bought at Lowe’s to flatten out the cargo area.

Like you said, being able to turn on the air-conditioning or heat is a plus.

 

$24 Amazon queen air mattress and a borrowed pop up tent is a fine solution. I've also positioned the truck and slept the most perfect sleep ever with the truck up 15 degrees and the front seat reclined. Rav4, 4Runner, Corolla we own them all and I'd rather sleep in the truck bed for the fresh air. (SW Washington)

 

I found sleeping in the back of a 4Runner to be comfortable; this was out in Utah (17hr drive each way) -



Managing with very little is something I was always used to being a backpacker at heart. What you see there was my NEMO sleeping pad and bag (ultralight), pillow, backpack full of extra undergarments and socks, pop up tent for a bathroom, and a large pop up for outdoor shade.

Not shown is my propane burner and other misc. items. Cookware utensils and whatnot are in the black storage bin shown.

Took very little space as I was able to scoot it over when I folded the seat over for sleeping. Ice chests get relocated to either another seat or simply sit outside.

Was a fun trip -

 

I have slept tons of nights in the back of my truck, short bed to boot.

I spent a lot of time trying to seal up all the gaps to mitigate the dust, and I can say it’s pretty damn good. I built a small platform in there, but actually ended up switching just to a cot. I like it. Wake up, fold up the cot, close tailgate and canopy door and drive away. Super easy. Oh.. and a ch8nese diesel heater for these -25c nights up here in Canada..

 

Love living out of the back of my Taco. Did it for 30k miles, and 8 months before all over the west. You get use to all the dust/dirt, and living somewhat of a bum life haha. It's worth saving $1000s in lodging expenses. I use to tell people I was "High Class Homeless"

 

Positive air pressure. Turn your fan on high and open the back windows. There used to be special shaped inflatable window bridges that would seal between rear window opening and front window of the cap, however I was a cheap ass and got the same effect by inflating a large bike inner tube and sandwiching it between the windows.

The efficacy of this depends entirely on how well you seal the cap to the truck as well as the sealing of the windows though.

Back when living in a vehicle was stigmatized, before it was a hipster trend, I lived quite a number of years out of inconspicuous rigs. Mostly work vans, couple cars, and just shy of a year in my 98 ext tacoma with shell. If you've got specific questions I'll do my best to answer them, either on this thread or in DM if you'd rather. Just a warning tho, I'm horrible for data dumping long winded posts so I'll do my best to be brief, but it's unlikely



I will say, having lived in the wet PNW outta the shell and bed I'd strongly recommend a van .... or SUV in your case. My $.02 get a van not an SUV. Between the 98 4R and Chevy astro, Astro wins hands down. Comparing the astro to econoline? That's a long pro/con comparison list.

 

I had an Astro van (GMC Safari really) at work... thought it was a great size for "blending in" and a decent vehicle overall. Some are AWD. Would recommend for your purposes.