Simple Sleeping Platform: Cheap Works Great

As someone mentioned earlier about hauling plywood, thats what the notches were designed for. On full size pickups, you can fit 4x8 plywood or drywell between the wheel wells. On the smaller pickups, the place these notches so that they can still hual loads properly. I used that function a few times to haul drywall in my old '94 Ranger back in the day. Quite handy.

For the middle support, instead of nailing or screwing in braces, you could consider just attaching them with a little piano hinge. That would allow it to remain properly fixed when placed at 90 degrees for support, and will collapse down for easy storage. Just a thought...

 

nice tent, which one is it?

 

Cheap North Pole Dome Truck Tent

 

Quick question,
Will this be strong enough to support 2 people? or should I prop it underneath somehow.

 

I was surprised at how strong this is without any vertical supports....it will hold 2 adults just fine.

 

I did something similar. Mine is a short bed so I needed the tailgate to also function as part of the sleeping platform. I made a support piece which slides out and made a folding section that lies on top of the platform. The support piece is now set up to work as a table (folding legs) when it's out of the truck (no pics):







Truck tent:

 

Sweet setup! Never seen a truck tent like that, where'd you find that at?

 

http://www.tentsontrucks.com/midsize.html

 

Hey folks - so I'm new here, and I also don't own a Tacoma - I hope that doesn't disqualify me from the forum. I do own a sweet '06 Tundra though that I'm planning on driving from Alaska to the east coast and then on to the west coast. I'll be sleeping in the bed on a platform under a topper - the platform here looks awesome. So my questions are...do I need to worry about condensation forming on the truck bed if I don't have a liner in it? I'll definitely be hitting colder weather and I don't want my gear to get soaked from any moisture that may build up. Also, without a liner, will dust and moisture make its way from the road into the bed? Has anyone had any trouble with condensation forming on the inside of a fiberglass topper without any roof liner? Many thanks and I must say - it's awesome to see so many folks so pysched about their Toyota's!

 

AK Tundra,

You'll probably have some condensation in the topper (with or without a headliner in the topper), a little worse with no headliner. Some dust will find it's way into the bed, but unless you're traveling dusty gravel roads the entire trip, it's probably not worth worrying about. Have a good road trip!

Mike

 

bump.....i mean subbed

 

I have an 05 and I dont think my truck has those notches on the wheel wells.

 

Do you have a bed liner?

 

Mine has the notches but they are not on the wheel well. They are right in front of it and then near the end of the bed. No bed liner just the stock composite bed. I guess its cuase mines a long bed.

 

Yeah, you'll probably get a lot of condensation. Opening the windows a little will help, but you might get some pseudo-rain towards the early morning hours.

If the Tundra is anything like the Taco, there's probably some gaps near the tailgate that will let in dust. Also, make sure the weatherstripping on your topper is good to go.

Finally, head over to expeditionportal.com for lots of folks that have done similar. Great group, good ideas, and lots have done East Coast to AK trips, West Coast trips, etc. They can give you good tips on avoiding straight highway driving.

 

hey all - thanks for the replies...

GP3 - not sure if you're question was for me, but no, I don't have a bed liner

Caduceus - thanks for the link to expeditionportal - looks like a great site

Trout Bum - thanks for the advice on keeping it cheap and simple - I definitely have to keep remembering that...

 

I think the reason your 2x6s needed to be shimmed is that they don't appear to be 2x6s. In the photo, it looks like they are the same thickness as the 3/4" plywood, which would make them 1x6s. I think 2x6s would also be plenty strong enough to support two people, without center supports.

Edit one day later:

I just installed 3/4" plywood over 2x8s in my 2011 regular cab and there's no sag. I had to trim/narrow the last inch of each of the 2x8s down by about 3/8", since the slot is only 7" wide and a 2x8 is 7 3/8" wide. I figured it's better to have a board that fills the slot than one with slack.

 

I love my BedRug, Carpeted Shell, Futon & Velcro window covers. I sleep like a baby. Honestly, better than at home. The pocket cut-outs on the side make great nightstands.

RZ Rob

 

right on, i'm jealous

 

OP...How much clearance do you have under the platform for storage?