Show me your rear storage/sleeping platform!

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Nov 17, 2010 | 11:18 AM

#21

dougo92

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Joined: Nov 2010

Posts: 3

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Just Finished Last Week

Just finished ours.

Very happy with it!

We followed SkyRat’s basic design and measurements (THANKS!)

We wanted a comfortable and warm platform that would work on nights camping in the snow, but also needed the height to allow for a large cooler to fit underneath. Other considerations included: area enough for skis/snowboards to fit, enough headroom to sleep comfortably, design had to be modular enough to store in an apartment or in the car with the back seats up.

Here’s how we put it together:
Parts list:
- 2 sheets of 4x8 3/4” plywood. (I bought the good, sand-able stuff)
- A 6’ strip of 1x2” trim wood/pine
- A 4’ strip of 1x4” of trim wood/pine
- 1 box of 1 ¼’ wood screws
- 1 box of 1 5/8’ wood screws
- 1 6x10’ sheet of carpet padding
- 2 pieces of 54x40” indoor/outdoor carpet
- 2 draw-clasps (tool-box style)
- 30” piano (continuous) hinge

Tools used:
- Standard jigsaw
- Standard drill
- Normal bits and stuff

I sketched out my cuts and measurements and had the schmucks at Home Depot do the main cuts on the 2 plywood sheets:
- 2 cuts of 48x36 (platform halfs)
- 3 cuts of 36x16 (legs)

I cut the remaining plywood pieces myself:
- 1 cut of 6x39 (top/back bracing piece)
- 1 cut of 6x16¾” (top/front bracing piece)
- 1 cut of 3x16¾” (bottom middle bracing piece)
- 1 cut of 14x39 (for the front drop-down leg)

I cut the 1x2 trim strip of pine down to about thirteen 4” blocks (for nesting the top to the base)

I cut the 1x4 trim strip of pine down to one 39” piece (for where the front platform rests upon)

I sanded the edges of all the plywood pieces, carved out two niches for the drivers-side pass-through and cut a large whole in the middle of the center leg (to allow easier transport and access to stuff behind the cooler).

Construction was very easy:
- Built out the lower base/box, countersunk the screw holes and sanded the piece.
- Laid the platform top on the box, squared it off and laid out the 4” pieces as needed. I went over-board on 13 pieces, but it makes it very snug when put together.
- Positioned the front leg at approximately 1/3 the way back to distribute weight
- Installed the craw-clasps
- Doubled the carpet pad and installed the carpet on top (making sure to leave the ‘hinge’ portion left without carpet to facilitate the joining of front and back sections).

The entire thing is easy to carry, easy to install, fits entirely in the back of the truck when not used (with storage for shiz), fits the dog, is comfortable and is portable.

Total cost = Right around $140
Time spent = 4-5 hours (total)

Regrets = I had originally wanted to have some badass compartments and top-down access like SkyRat did. The dream of rolling over in my bed to pull up a cold beer at 3am was a strong one. But installing the padded carpet made that tough. It also would have made the modular design difficult to implement and there weren’t any coolers worth a darn that had a small-door opening that would make it work.