DIY: Sleeping/Storage Platform

I decided to build a sleeping/storage platform for my 2017 Tacoma OR.
The truck is a shortbed doublecab.


I started out with taking dimensions.

The base, which I made out of 3/4 plywood, needed to be 60" x 57".
I ended up using two sheets of plywood.
The first one I cut 60" x 29.5".
The second one is 60" x 27.5'.

You are able to cut both sheets so they are exactly the same dimensions and both rest on the center support, however I wanted only one to rest on it, in case I needed to carry something very heavy.

The hardest part was figuring out the cuts I needed to make, to make it fit by the end of the truck-back.

Here are the dimensions. As you can tell it is a nice tight squeeze.
After cutting the plywood, I ended up doing 3 coats of rubberized undercoating.
Next I cut the two bottom support braces which run from bedside to beside.
The dimensions are:
56 3/4" Length x 1 1/8" Height x 6 3/4" Width
I purposely left some space in-case the wood gets wet and expands.

I also decided on doing a center support which will go beneath the two boards we just cut.
The dimensions are"
59 3/4" Length x 9 1/8" Height x 1 1/2" Width

I needed to add notches in the center support. Two for the support braces and one small one for a tie down at the end of the bed.
All notches need to be 1 1/8' deep and need to have a length of 6 3/4".
Coming from the Cab back, I made the first notch 6" back.
After our 6 3/4" notch, I measured 29.5" and made another notch.
Next we will notch our tie-down notch.
Measuring from our second notch, I came back 6 1/2" and notched it. The notch only need to be barely cut and with a width of about 1/2".

I nailed the support braces to the center support for added stability.


The platform now is complete.

My plan was to just use seal-able plastic boxes from Walmart.

The max dimensions for the storage can be 8" x 21" x 60".

I ended up using 4 boxes in total.
Since it was hard to reach the further back boxes, I just attached a string of rope.

This was my very first write up.
Let me know what you guys think about the idea and the execution and how the write up was.

FEEDBACK is appreciated.

 

I appreciate the care you took to make the bed/bay cuts. If I were you I'd try to engineer something that allows you to extend it when the taildgate is down. In a 5 foot bed I've still got 11 inches hanging off! haha.

 

Nice! I’m glad you put the dimensions for the end of the bed cutout, now to make my own

 

Love seeing this type of innovative stuff!

 

I'm thinking some type of fold out with some folding legs for support? If I did more camping I think I might take a stab at it myself. All in all a good job OP. Its got my wheels turning.

 

Once Winter is over and I can start camping I will figure out a way to be able to fully sleep in there.
I was actually thinking about getting either a softtopper or a camper shell and redoing the plywood and put some foam over it kind of like a build in mattress.

That's a great idea, I have been thinking about doing something similar, will play with that after winter.

Thanks for all the Feedback, I appreciate it.

 

I think he did.

 

Just a heads up for anyone attempting to diy one.

As you might know, the Tacoma bedsides like to deform and flex, so resist the urge to make the boards fit tight, since that will just make the bed spread more quickly. You can still make it fit nice, leaving a small gap but don't make it tight.

 

Looks great! Thank you for measurements. I’ll be building this over the winter. Getting a top cap soon. Will modify measurements for my LB but you saved me hours of measuring and cutting 3-4 Times! I like your bins for storage also. May try that route to keep everything dust free and dry.

 

or get the total chaos bed channel stiffeners and never worry

 

Not my truck, but a friend of a friend on here. His bedsides still separated even with TC stiffeners.

 

ouch thats a mega bummer

 

Yeah, I would not be too thrilled if that happened



OP, you should post up in this thread as well

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...eping-platform-drawer-storage-systems.424709/

 

I got them after mine started to spread... Unfortunately they don't fix it if it already started.

 

I see a 3" memory foam mattress in your future

 

That's one of the reasons I did this thread mainly for the measurements. It took me two trys to get it fit nicely, so I figured I spare someone else the hassle.

My plan was originally to build boxes on sliders out of wood, however it would be pretty heavy and I wanted to make sure everything is sealed nice beneath.

Thanks for the tips with the bed sides. Ill recut the side pieces with about 1/4" space so hopefully this wont be happening to me.

Hopefully gonna go try it out tonight. I already got me a memory foam. Haha!

 

That seems to be only for 2nd gen Tacos.

 

Literally nobody cares. Post it up! Our beds are the same so it's great to have centralized threads to get ideas from.

 

Thank you for this. It will help me a lot