Sleeping in Cab

As long as you know how to work with the airbag sensors. Isn’t there a weight sensor in the passenger seat so it only deploys if someone is sitting there?

I’ve never had a problem at rest areas. Another place you could try is a truck stop. I’ve slept great there too. Just buy multiple sun visors for all your windows

 

Reversing the headrest makes for a surprisingly comfortable sleeping position, though not as comfortable as sleeping in the bed w/ the softopper.

 

I second the hammock under quick-pitch tarp. I can fall asleep fast in a reclined vehicle seat, but it doesn't last. After about 45 minutes I wake and from then on I wake every 15-20 minutes. The next day I carry with me the effects of sleep deprivation. Makes for a shitty day. Sleeping in a truck seat is its own kind of hell, regardless of the testimonials above. Done it. Too many times. It can be done, but why? The next day you are going to feel like you been eat by a wolf and shit off a cliff. Conversely, two lines quickly secure a tarp to two trees. It's quick. I know, I do it. When it is just me the hammock goes under tarp. Elevate one side of the tarp and you can pull the truck bed under the tarp and cook. Hammock is always level, and more comfortable than a memory foam mattress. Ten minutes max. Five when you have experience doing it. It's easy. And then you are comfortable. I went three days straight in an off-and-on torrential rain in that hammock and lawn chair under the tarp and when it was done there was still a dry spot on the leaves under the tarp. When it's a group we string a 20x30 tarp and have enough room for a tent, fire and kitchen with multiple truck bedcaps inside dripline of tarp.
When it is too hot for a hammock and tarp, or no trees, or too dangerous, or time is short, THEN get in the cab. 48x54x5 memory foam mattress that folds for storage while traveling, lays out for sleep. (Makes a great padded, sandwiched place to store a rifle while traveling!)
I lay diagonally and there is more than enough room for me. I'd estimate up to 6'5" could sleep diagonally on it and be much more comfortable than in a reclined front seat. Cab is air conditioned by a 6000Btu window A/C with remote control. A/C is secured to wire shelf under bedcap, blows through slider into cab. A/C condensate drains through condensate fitting in bottom of A/C, down a clear vinyl tube threaded through a hole in the bottom of the bed. Powered by Honda EU2000 generator. Sleep comfortably up front, and thereby conserve ALL of the bed area for camping equipment.

 

My buddy did it and made a platform that connected to rear seat and it looked comfy

 

while you are much shorter than me I could not even fathom sleeping in either one of those seats...plus I have a platform for multi level storage/the dog over the back seats so I can only recline so far...but this is my set-up, minus the cap it was only like 50 bucks to build the platform then I bought a mattress topper on sale a kohls and I absolutely love it. I literally tell everybody that its as comfortable as my bed at home, I love it! behind the blanket is just a 2x4 and plywood platform and there's room under the platform for 3 of the shallow and long under bed plastic bins w/ the batwing lids and then some

 

I'd go with the hammock.. coworker of my recommends the ENO's hammocks (Eagles Nest Outfitters) they sell the hammock, tie strap kits, rain fly/tarp, poles for tarp, mosquito netting top.... only thing he told me to get for cold weather was the pad.. they hold right around 400lbs, and are comfortable.


ENO shelter system with everything you need.. $209...

Eagles Nest Outfitters - Onelink Sleep System, SingleNest

https://www.amazon.com/Eagles-Nest-...ocphy=9002909&hvtargid=pla-308879830488&psc=1

ENO mattress pad $95--- not required, but a nice addition, and insulates you and your sleeping bag from the cold wind.

ENO - Eagles Nest Outfitters AirLoft Hammock Mattress, Hammock Accessory, Royal/Charcoal

https://www.amazon.com/ENO-Eagles-N...ck+pad&qid=1559846155&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-9

 

Guys,
I started with an ENO. Still have it. It is a gateway hammock. It has ruined more people's hammocking introduction and they went back to ground because it is a napping hammock, or a festival hammock, not a true overnight four-season camping hammock. Why? It's too short for overnight comfort. You can do it, but there is better out there. MUCH better. You wont find too many ENOs on the Appalachian or the John Muir. The mattress pad: you will be constantly adjusting it during the night to stay on top of it. Ask me how I know. An underquilt is the best way to stay warm, and without a pad or underquilt you will get cold in a hammock before morning at 75 degrees. Again, ask me how I know. I spent about $2000 on various hammock stuff before I realized that if you are going to hammock then buy once and cry once. That's not counting the 11 hammocks I bought, received, set-up, got in to, immediately got out of and returned for full credit. Between my backpacking cousin in TN and myself we bought and tried every hammock that was espoused by someone on the hammock forums as being the best. The ENO will educate you REAL QUICK about what you don't want. Then you are equipped with a metric with which to evaluate other hammocks. (It's too short at 9 feet. You need as least a 10 if not an 11-foot hammock for real comfort. I even had a custom 12-foot built, and it is awesome.) Get the best first, because you will spend less money in the long run. Listen, I spent two years WAY DOWN the hammock rabbit hole to learn all of this the hard and expensive way. Heed my warning, please. Here, if you are interested research it: www.hammockforums.com. Here is the one I found to be the best, and the hammock that is viewed as the presumptive best by the majority of the world-wide hammocking community: https://www.dreamhammock.com/Sparrow.html. You custom build it to your specifications. All they do is custom hammocks, like these, all customs > https://www.dreamhammock.com/RecentPhotos14.html click on each picture and the pop-up will tell you the exact specifications, with better pictures under the specs. Anything you want basically. The nicest people you could possibly deal with too. Left corporate America to do this and are an American success story. AMERICAN MADE! It doesn't get much more comfortable than to be snuggle-bunnied deep down in a comfortable, warm hammock under that tarp in a heavy rainstorm with a DVD in your laptop watching a good movie and listening to the rain on the tarp.

If you want an ENO PM me and I will sell it to you cheap, but you are wasting money.

Now that I think about it though...even an ENO is still a shitload better'n the front seat of a Taco!

 

I don't know, man. I've used my ENO Double Nest on several multi-day back packing trips in a variety of weather conditions. I much prefer it to ground camping.

 

The ENO is not a horrible option.. for $209 it gets you off the ground.. for another $15 for a foam pad (for insulation), or $100 or so for a down underquilt you can have an effective shelter that gets you off the ground (albeit you need a few trees to tie off to)..

I said screw this option, and I got a RTT (ARB SIMPSON III) $1470.. even that needs some mods (needs a memory foam topper, or replace the 2" standard foam mattress with a 3" or so memory foam mattress). I love the RTT its a 5-8 minute setup from unstrapping, unzipping, and unfolding to putting in the window stays.., and I can be sleeping, or huddle underneath the overhang, and be heating up some coffee water, and making dinner...

the hammock does similar, but a few more steps involved if you put up the rain tarp, and mosquito netting...

more or less its about how much you want to spend, how convenient you want it to be, and also you may want to keep your gear compact to remove from the truck after a trip. not all campsite will have room for a rtt (height wise, and may not have a level ground large enough for a truck wheelbase).

 

Do you have a pic of how it was set up?

I was very easily able to do this in my 93 pathfinder by sliding the front seat forward, removing the head rest, and tilting the seat back.....it lines up perfectly with the back seat.

I tried that on the taco and it’s not even close, they don’t line up. I don’t see how the pass side is any different than the drivers

 

Not My Pic. Pretty sure they removed the front seat entirely. But that does look like it'd be pretty comfy. Two layers of sleeping pad?



https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/at-habitat-pictures-ideas-aaand-bs.532519/page-83#post-20773924

 

You can create a great platform like that with Metro wire shelving and some short posts. Must remove the front seat on 3rd gens. I did it but found the 22 inch width too confining. Then I hit on the 48x54 combination using only the back while keeping the front seat for possible passengers. Some of the second gen passenger front seats laid down flat folded forward and you could do that. I have a buddy with a 2nd gen who built an L-shaped platform and kept the front seat but deleted the rear seat. He sleeps on a 4-inch memory foam mattress laid glovebox to rear bulkhead. I'll see if he will send me some pics to post. Hell, that's how I came to this Taco: I got tired of waiting on him to sell me his. 656 miles from Birmingham to here. Drive that Taco over here and I'll let you sleep in all of my hammocks. There will be two ENO's for sale when you are done! Or attend a hammock "hang" (get-together) in your area. Every state has a hammock community that has a hang at least twice a year. (Awesome feasts.) The purpose of these is to let everyone try out everyone else's hammock. (And they have these hangs in some nice, remote places you'd like to take that Taco.) Florida is the best of all of them. If at the end of the day, when you are beyond exhaustion from exertion, if you get into your hammock and you do not start laughing involuntarily and deliriously, you are not in a comfortable hammock. We fish hard, all day, and when we finally get in them, we all have a good delirious laugh from the onset of the comfort. Sounds nuts, but it happens. And it is a GOOD laugh too! Just a bunch of totally exhausted, delirious idiots, laughing our asses off together, feeding off each other, for no reason at all other than the onset of the extreme comfort. Great way to end a great day. I am serious as cancer.

 

Hey, just found this searching around. I'm looking at doing similar to posted above (rip out passenger seat, set up platform in it). I have a few questions though since you said you took yours out:

1. Did you put it back in at all/ever? My plan is to have a setup that is "as easy" to get in/out as putting up/taking down a rooftop tent off the bed. I don't need it to be easy to get the pass. seat in and out, but I want it to be do-able.

2. If you did do an in/out often enough to note, did you have any issues with the airbags? From what I'm reading, it's a 50/50 shot if you take the seat out, if you'll need to recalibrate the airbag sensors in the pass. seat. Doing it once for an amp/HAM radio is one thing, but I am probably going to be taking the seat in/out maybe 4-5 times/year, in theory.

 

Had a lightbulb moment: Leave the front seat in, take out the BACK SEAT and replace with this:





MUCH quicker to set up than a tent: slide seats forward, pull front half of platform forward, off of back half of platform, unfold custom gatching memory foam mattress with sleeping bag already folded inside of it. Get in, say your prayers...

 

If your tired enough u can sleep anywhere ...your back might think differently.

 

I've wondered about this myself. It seems like a workable option.

 

@Skierrichy what was your setup?

 

I got a hi roof topper to sleep in the bed, no one knows im there, more comfy, but if it works for you cool

 

Nope, I only ripped out the back seats on the extended cab and built a platform for my dog which in turn allows me to sleep in the back