Well, I figured it was about time to rebuild my old camping set up that I had in my truck. I was pretty impressed with Bajataco's set up. So, I followed his design. Here it is:

Here is the frame of it coming together:


I got a futon mattress and used that for the padding:


Here it is, all finished:



What I used to store ALL my stuff, got em at Home Depot:


My juice, 1000W/2000W peak inverter. I have it hooked up to a group 29 Deep cycle batt:


Me in my set up, perfect fit:


And me enjoying it after a long day of work:

 

cool man. i like it! now i just need a topper so i can come up and get your old one. oh but i have to fix the SECOND dang broken front axle first. doh! what did you use for the black cushion? is that 4" foam with a cloth surround?

 

Well, an old roommate left a futon, well part of it, the materess and some parts, so i nabbed the mattress and it works great.

 

Everytime I see a setup like that it just makes me want to get away. I'd love to just camp out in my truck every now and then. Good job

What do you use the inverter for?

 

I use the inverter for pretty much anything that i'd need. I'm throwing a tailgate party for the cat/griz game (rival MT colleges) and I'm going to plug in a TV so we can watch the game (using bunny ears)

I also use it for power tools, blenders (gotta have drinks), cell phone chargers, all that good stuff.

 

Thought maybe a electric blanket on cold nights

 

Well, that's not a bad idea. hehe

I do have a heater though, it's the black cat one, so it doesn't produce any carbon monoxide, though i still don't trust it.

 

looks good

 

Thanks man.

If anybody wants to do this, feel free to email me, and I'll help ya.

 

looks pretty durned comfy in there! enough to make a 4runner green with envy...

 

david,

you did exactly what i was thinking too re use of plastic bins instead of slide out drawers. same thing w/ the futon mattress! great minds think alike!

looks very comfy, but dont you find it a bizatch to change w/ the small amount of headroom? but i bet you make up for that w/ the comfort level great design!

bob

 

Looks great David! Now you need to trail test it and see if all of your cargo stays together. Do you have any space or gap between the cargo and the tailgate when it is closed? Or did you make a rear panel for it? Have you tested the water cans for leaks yet? Are you going to carry them on their side in the cargo bays?

 

on the passenger side cargo bay is my deep cycle battery, it takes up almost the whole thing. On the left are some old military ammo canisters full of food, TP, stuff like that.

As for the space between the cargo area and the tail gate. Those 7 gallon water jugs do a decent job of filling the space.

As for leaks, I just ordered 90" of 4" wide neoprene strips with a sticky back. That should do the trick for the tail gate, and then I'm going to buy some weather stripping to seal the door of the canopy.

 

Hmmm, what I meant was, if you close the tailgate, and then look down from above, at where the tailgate wall is next to your cargo deck, is there any space there? Or are you saying that your tailgate wall actually contact the surfaces of the water cans? What I am getting at, is the potential for the load to shift back and forth when you are climbing or descending hills, and just bumpy driving in general.



Cool. But I meant leaks of the water cans (jugs) laying on their side. It looks like you have the cans made by Reliance. I have owned a few different products from "Reliance" and found them to be anything but something to "rely" on .

 

Ah, yeah, I have it so the stuff won't shift around at all, made use of some foam.

As for the jugs, they stay sealed pretty well. The vent caps can pop out, but that's what good ol' duct tape is for.

 

Thanks bob, yeah changing is a PITA, but oh well. I'm thinking of buying a tent/canopy that i can back my truck into so I can have a place to change, we'll see though.

 

Great timing on the post. Within three days I'm building a platform of my own. Couple Q's for you, what thickness of plywood did you use? I am going way extreme with mine and am worried about supporting weight with the spans I want to use. Have you had sag issues? With my bed liner in I am having trouble getting acurrate measurements, what width did you use between your outside supports? Are they hugging the wheel well or inside of them? How about how tall is your platform?

 

ok, i bought 4 6 foot 1" x 10"
the three are there as you see it, in the channels, evenly spaced, the back one i cut to 4.5 ft and just eyed it.
3/8" plywood sheets for the top, i screwed them down, though you may not want to do that if you need to get to things further up.
The platform is 10" tall, a bit more.
Yes the outside supports are against the wheel well in that channel closest to it, there's one channel that is perfectly in the center, that's where the center one is. I removed the tie down points so the plywood would fit on top.

 

Oh and for the sag issues, you bet i had issues with that. I bought some monroe shocks. Here's the link: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ght=air+shocks

 

I like it David. The futon should make it feel like you're sleeping on a cloud, nice addition! The feeling of being self contained on the road or trail is unbeatable.

I just built a sleeping deck in my T100 yesterday for a trip next month to AZ with BajaTaco and others. I went with a little different type design. Lower because of the head room/getting dressed factor and it's set up for me to sleep on one side with hinged access lids on the other. It's all cut, screwed and hinged, I've just got to do a little sanding around the edges and tack down some carpet.

The 12V electric blanket sounds like a good idea going into the winter. Especially since I got that snow you sent me earlier this month. 'Preesh -