A friend of mine has a sweet bed insert for his Tacoma, which he basically lives out of, several months a year (he's an archeologist), and I've been jealous ever since I saw it - especially because there's nothing comperable for a 4Runner (as far as I know).

The worst thing about sleeping 2 people in a Runner, is the wheel-well problem. If you could just make a platform ABOVE the wheel-wells, you wouldn't be pinned together in the middle of the bed.

SO - I had an idea: a folding bed-storage thingy. I envision it as a two-tiered system when folded up in the back (the back seats are up, passengers can still sit in back) with a bottom drawer, and then empty cubbies above. When you want to make the bed, you simply fold the back seats down as you normally would, remove whatever is in the top cubby, and open the system like a sandwich - a hinge on the center facilitates this. You'd have to cut out two spaces for the wheel-wells, but the results are a) storage, b) sleeping space withou the "wheel well" problem.

Being totally inept at actually MAKING things like this, I imagine it would be some time before it actually happens, but I thought I'd float the idea with y'all to see if ayone's ever done anything similar, or sees potential problems, etc....

 

Hi Manioca,

I'd love to see drawings/pics of your friend's Tacoma setup - I'd like something similar for my 89 pickup - shorter-term camping, mostly.

If your friend is local, I'm in Boulder, too.

I agree wheel wells are the problem (and my 6'1" self in the 6' bed). I thought of a plywood slab atop the wheel wells, supported by 2x4s with storage in the space between the bed bottom and the plywood.

Thanks in advance.

 

He actually bought his, I think - I'll see if he has any pics or specs for you to check out (he actually lives all over the country and nowhere near here right now).

 

Oly884 has a setup like you envisiion in his Tacoma. It looks like a shelf that goes above the wheelwells and has storage areas underneath. Maybe you could send him a PM and get some details.

 

If you get a cheapy twin size inflatable mattress (not the backpacking type) it'll raise you to the same level as the wheel wells. Then you just stuff jackets, blankets, etc in front of and in back of the wheel wells and you'll have a pretty flat surface to sleep on. Good enough for 2 people.

 

You dig the difference though - mine would fold in half to allow the rear seats in a Runner to be fullY functional...

I do suppose I could get plans for a regular tacoma bed insert and modify the shape, cut it in half, and add some burly hinges...

 

SkyRat has a pretty sweet setup in his 4runner check out this link

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...+cargo+storage

 

Here's a simple, cheap, but nice setup for Tacoma. I'm going to copy this one of these days but right now I just sleep on my crash pad (climbing pad, kinda like a portable mattress).
http://www.rockclimbing.com/forums/v...72363&forum=23

 

I am going to do mine just like this one.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~jonhel5/

I already have the commercialy made rear draw assembly. Just got to redo the top and fab the rest of it.

Gadget

 

This is what I made that might help, it folds flat so you can still car camp

 

im 6'5 i sleep solo in my 92 4runner a lot. anyone im in there with i want closer to me anyway so i dont care bout the wells. lol. my issue is opening my tailgate and keeping warm. here in las vegas wind is a seriouse issue in the night. like 40+mph winds. that will take a blanket covering the opening in a heartbeat..

 

My dad had the same set-up in his Tacoma, I believe when he bought it the outfit was calling it a "Carpet Kit" So you might want to run an internet search on that one. I built something similar for my old Trooper and it rocked.

However, a little piece of advice.....if you're going to build it yourself, make sure that it is at least 10 to 11" high. That much space between the floor and the bottom of the bed will alow you to use the standard rubbermaid flat containers for storeing stuff, and allow you to store the flat 5 gallon water jugs under there if you lay them on their side.

The rubbermaid containers are great for this as you can comparmentalize your gear. It really helps keeps things organised on long trips.

 

Thanks for all of the great info. That rock climbing thread design is truly excellent. A MUCH better method than I had in mind.

This is great info! Thanks!

 

There is a company called truckbedz that makes custom air mattresses for trucks

 

search lee anderson carpet kits on google if you have a tacoma, it costs about $450 bucks and seems to be of really good quality. Unfortunately for me, they don't make them for 4runners. So i came up with this blueprint for one, tell me what you think.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/sleeping-platform-blueprints-96324/

 

sad to say; all of these links and photos are dead

Anyone still got any of the images to repost?