dwmckeehen
New member
First of all, a BIG SHOUT OUT to other members who have posted pictures of their sleeping platforms. There is a lot of good information on this forum from others who have built all sorts of configurations. I got great ideas from them, and was able to take elements from a lot of them to come up with my final design.
I started by listing some minimum requirements I had for our final design. 1. It could not be a permanent install, the entire thing needed to be easily removed when needed. 2. I wanted to be able to leave the drawer section of the sleeper in the truck when the back seats were up, so it essentially had to be designed in a way that the front half could be detached from the back half when not in use. 3. When the front section is attached, it would need to work with the back seats down, or with the back seats completely removed so we could use the space underneath for storage on longer trips. 4. It had to be designed to sleep two people and still have room for our two dogs, so the sleeper surface needed to sit above the wheel wells to be as wide as possible. These pictures will give the general idea of the design we came up with and how I built it.
This is the finished project. (I had not yet clear coated the drawer fronts or attached the drawer handles in this picture.)
The back edge of the front section rests on a 2x2 that is attached to the front of the back section. There are four detachable pipe legs on the front of the front section that keeps it up and level. I made two sets of legs. A shorter set that rests on the back of the rear seats when they are folded down, and a longer set that reaches to the floor if the rear seats are completely removed. The front and rear sections stay together with two locking hasps located on top of the unit.
I originally had planned to finish everything off with glued carpeting, but realized very quickly how dirty that would get because of the various things we use our rig for. I ended up finishing it with several coats of Varathane. The surface is going to get beat up in time, I am not too worried about that as long as it still functions, and is easy to clean.
Measuring for this thing was really my greatest challenge. I will include some measurements for my unit, but I also want to explain how I came up with those measurements to help people double check the measurements for their units, and also to allow people to adjust things to better suit their needs.
First, I had to figure out the measurements for the basic box that would sit in the back of the rig. I used 2X10 lumber and 5/8" plywood in my design. (2x10 fir actually measures 1 1/2" X 9 1/2") This means that the height of my box is 10 3/4" high. Width is 38 7/8, and the Length is 38".
To check for your own measurements, the width is easy. It is the shortest measurement between the two wheel wells. The length was a little harder to figure out, and your length will be different if you choose to make your platform lower than mine. (Keep in mind that any lower, you will have to contend with the bumps from the wheel wells. That would be fine for one person, but sleeping two gets rougher the lower your design.) To figure out the length for your rig, you have to take into account the angle of the back seats when they are up. You need to figure out the total height your box will be, and then find the point on the back of your rear seats where the box will rest against. Measure straight back from that point to the back of your rear hatch. Write down the measurement, then subtract the width of your drawer faces, and then subtract 1 1/2" more to take into account the piece of lumber that will be attached to the front of the box where the front section of the sleeper will rest on. Here is a cross section picture to show what I mean. If you measure like this, you will actually have a tiny bit of wiggle room, but to be safe I would take another quarter inch off the length just to be sure.
Start by building the frame for the drawer sections and the storage area behind the drawers. The back storage area will be accessible through a cut-out of the plywood on top of the sleeper. The drawers are 24"deep. For the sliders, I got them at Home Depot. They are 24" fully extendable heavy duty sliders.
To figure out the measurements for the drawers, I found it easiest to figure out the measurements for the sides of the drawers, cut them out and attach them to the sliders. (When measuring the side drawer panels, leave enough clearance on the bottom and the top so they don't rub against the cabinet when you open and close them) Once they are in, it is easy to figure out the measurements for the front, back and bottom panels of the drawers.
Once your drawer sections are built, you want to attach the top of the box. You need to cut out the top access panel to allow you to use the area behind the drawers. I just used pieces of 2X2s to make a lip for the access panel to rest on, then drilled a couple large holes so I could easily lift it.
On the front of the box, install a piece of 2X2 that the front section will rest on.
So, if you did everything right, your box should fit in perfectly like this.
Next, I installed the wings on the sides of the drawer section with piano hinges. IMPORTANT! If you look at several pictures below, you will notice that the wings are shorter than the box. This is because if you cut the wings the same size as the box, you will be unable to open them due to the angle of the back seats when the seats are up.
How to measure and form the wings. You have to do the first step on both sides. Find the furthest point you can measure between the side of the box and the side of the car panel. That is the width of the plywood you will cut. Cut it the same length as the box. Take the piece of plywood, and set it on it's edge so the face is 90 degrees from the face of the box, and place the end against the back of the rear seat. (As if you would be opening the wing after it is installed) Pull it back a little further so that when the wing is opened after it is installed, the end will clear the back of the rear seat. Mark the end of the board where it meets the back edge of the box at the back of the car. That is going to be the length of your board.
After you cut the board, set it on the side it will be installed, against the nearest point between the box edge and the side car panel. Now, find the point that is furthest away from the edge of the wing piece and the side panel of the car. Set a pencil compass at that width. Now, put the point end of the pencil compass against the car side panel, and pull it down, drawing the contour line of the side car panel onto the wing board. Using a jigsaw, cut that line.
Install two corner brackets as the pictures show below for the wing pieces to rest on. Install the wing pieces with piano hinges.
Note....The driver's side wheel well is a bit higher than the passenger side due to the gas tank assembly. If you look closely, you can see the very top of that wheel well does stick out a small bit in my design. In order for the wing on that side to sit flat, you need to angle file the bottom of the wing piece where it sits on the wheel well. You will also have to file the bottom edge a bit all the way down the edge for the wing piece to open and close easily.
The back section is pretty heavy. If you build something like this, make sure you design it so it can be bolted down to the four tie downs on the floor in the back of the rig.
Since very little weight will ever be put on the wing sections, I just used a couple sturdy 90 degree brackets for them to sit on when they are folded out. There actually is an incredible amount of storage space available under the two wing sections.
Next, attach the face of your drawers with the materials of your choice and attach any hardware to the face of the drawer. In choosing hardware, keep in mind that the handles need to be as flush as possible or the back section will not fit. As you can see from the pictures on this thread, I designed my drawer fronts to fit flush around the curve of the back opening of my rig. Looks a bit more finished, and keeps things stored under the wings from falling out.
If you have got this far into the project, the front half will be easy. To measure for the front half, lower your seats and measure the distance between the edge of the wing pieces (not the edge of the front of rear box section) to where the front section will rest against the back of the seats that have been folded up against the front seats. This will be your length measurement. For the width measurement, shut the back doors, and find the shortest width between the doors.
Cut your big square piece of wood. Now, cut out the rectangle of wood on the back that will sit flush against the back section and the wing pieces. (See graphic below to better understand. The red box is the part you need to cut out.)
Now, cut the front section in half, and attach back together with a piano hinge.
On the bottom of the front section, attach four standard pipe holders you can find in the plumbing section of Home Depot. Cut four shorter pipes that will rest against the seats when they are folded down, and four longer pipes if you want to remove the seats for more storage space on a longer excursion. Take care in positioning the pipe holders in places that they will work for both scenarios. (When the seats are out, you want to make sure that the legs are sitting on a flat part of the floor.)
Cut the two small notches out of both sides of the front section so that when you fold the front section in half, it clears the latches for the back seat. See pics below.
NOTE - I also had to cut and shape the front section a bit so that when I folded it in half in place, it cleared the ceiling of the car.
This next picture shows how the front section folds up, and shows the shorter legs I attach when this section sits on top of the back seats when they are folded down. When the seats are up, we can remove the legs, fold the front section in half and store it in the back of the rig.
Close-up of one of the latches that hold the front and back sections together. This also shows a close-up of notches you need to cut in the front section so that when you fold the front section in half, it will clear the latch for the back seat.
This picture shows the front section legs resting on the back of the seats when the seats are folded down.
This picture shows the longer legs installed for when the seats have been removed for extra storage.
The next three pictures show the rig loaded up for a camping trip. When we want to use the sleeper, we just put stuff in the front seat or in the Thule on top of the rig and roll out our sleeping bags. NOTE - you can see with the back seats removed, there is a gap between the end of the front section and the back of the front seat. This has never been an issue for us, if we have the back seats out it means we are storing a lot of extra gear in the car. That gap is usually filled with gear, and our clothes bags sit on top of the gap as a pillow.
Java the Lab approves!
I started by listing some minimum requirements I had for our final design. 1. It could not be a permanent install, the entire thing needed to be easily removed when needed. 2. I wanted to be able to leave the drawer section of the sleeper in the truck when the back seats were up, so it essentially had to be designed in a way that the front half could be detached from the back half when not in use. 3. When the front section is attached, it would need to work with the back seats down, or with the back seats completely removed so we could use the space underneath for storage on longer trips. 4. It had to be designed to sleep two people and still have room for our two dogs, so the sleeper surface needed to sit above the wheel wells to be as wide as possible. These pictures will give the general idea of the design we came up with and how I built it.
This is the finished project. (I had not yet clear coated the drawer fronts or attached the drawer handles in this picture.)
The back edge of the front section rests on a 2x2 that is attached to the front of the back section. There are four detachable pipe legs on the front of the front section that keeps it up and level. I made two sets of legs. A shorter set that rests on the back of the rear seats when they are folded down, and a longer set that reaches to the floor if the rear seats are completely removed. The front and rear sections stay together with two locking hasps located on top of the unit.
I originally had planned to finish everything off with glued carpeting, but realized very quickly how dirty that would get because of the various things we use our rig for. I ended up finishing it with several coats of Varathane. The surface is going to get beat up in time, I am not too worried about that as long as it still functions, and is easy to clean.
Measuring for this thing was really my greatest challenge. I will include some measurements for my unit, but I also want to explain how I came up with those measurements to help people double check the measurements for their units, and also to allow people to adjust things to better suit their needs.
First, I had to figure out the measurements for the basic box that would sit in the back of the rig. I used 2X10 lumber and 5/8" plywood in my design. (2x10 fir actually measures 1 1/2" X 9 1/2") This means that the height of my box is 10 3/4" high. Width is 38 7/8, and the Length is 38".
To check for your own measurements, the width is easy. It is the shortest measurement between the two wheel wells. The length was a little harder to figure out, and your length will be different if you choose to make your platform lower than mine. (Keep in mind that any lower, you will have to contend with the bumps from the wheel wells. That would be fine for one person, but sleeping two gets rougher the lower your design.) To figure out the length for your rig, you have to take into account the angle of the back seats when they are up. You need to figure out the total height your box will be, and then find the point on the back of your rear seats where the box will rest against. Measure straight back from that point to the back of your rear hatch. Write down the measurement, then subtract the width of your drawer faces, and then subtract 1 1/2" more to take into account the piece of lumber that will be attached to the front of the box where the front section of the sleeper will rest on. Here is a cross section picture to show what I mean. If you measure like this, you will actually have a tiny bit of wiggle room, but to be safe I would take another quarter inch off the length just to be sure.
Start by building the frame for the drawer sections and the storage area behind the drawers. The back storage area will be accessible through a cut-out of the plywood on top of the sleeper. The drawers are 24"deep. For the sliders, I got them at Home Depot. They are 24" fully extendable heavy duty sliders.
To figure out the measurements for the drawers, I found it easiest to figure out the measurements for the sides of the drawers, cut them out and attach them to the sliders. (When measuring the side drawer panels, leave enough clearance on the bottom and the top so they don't rub against the cabinet when you open and close them) Once they are in, it is easy to figure out the measurements for the front, back and bottom panels of the drawers.
Once your drawer sections are built, you want to attach the top of the box. You need to cut out the top access panel to allow you to use the area behind the drawers. I just used pieces of 2X2s to make a lip for the access panel to rest on, then drilled a couple large holes so I could easily lift it.
On the front of the box, install a piece of 2X2 that the front section will rest on.
So, if you did everything right, your box should fit in perfectly like this.
Next, I installed the wings on the sides of the drawer section with piano hinges. IMPORTANT! If you look at several pictures below, you will notice that the wings are shorter than the box. This is because if you cut the wings the same size as the box, you will be unable to open them due to the angle of the back seats when the seats are up.
How to measure and form the wings. You have to do the first step on both sides. Find the furthest point you can measure between the side of the box and the side of the car panel. That is the width of the plywood you will cut. Cut it the same length as the box. Take the piece of plywood, and set it on it's edge so the face is 90 degrees from the face of the box, and place the end against the back of the rear seat. (As if you would be opening the wing after it is installed) Pull it back a little further so that when the wing is opened after it is installed, the end will clear the back of the rear seat. Mark the end of the board where it meets the back edge of the box at the back of the car. That is going to be the length of your board.
After you cut the board, set it on the side it will be installed, against the nearest point between the box edge and the side car panel. Now, find the point that is furthest away from the edge of the wing piece and the side panel of the car. Set a pencil compass at that width. Now, put the point end of the pencil compass against the car side panel, and pull it down, drawing the contour line of the side car panel onto the wing board. Using a jigsaw, cut that line.
Install two corner brackets as the pictures show below for the wing pieces to rest on. Install the wing pieces with piano hinges.
Note....The driver's side wheel well is a bit higher than the passenger side due to the gas tank assembly. If you look closely, you can see the very top of that wheel well does stick out a small bit in my design. In order for the wing on that side to sit flat, you need to angle file the bottom of the wing piece where it sits on the wheel well. You will also have to file the bottom edge a bit all the way down the edge for the wing piece to open and close easily.
The back section is pretty heavy. If you build something like this, make sure you design it so it can be bolted down to the four tie downs on the floor in the back of the rig.
Since very little weight will ever be put on the wing sections, I just used a couple sturdy 90 degree brackets for them to sit on when they are folded out. There actually is an incredible amount of storage space available under the two wing sections.
Next, attach the face of your drawers with the materials of your choice and attach any hardware to the face of the drawer. In choosing hardware, keep in mind that the handles need to be as flush as possible or the back section will not fit. As you can see from the pictures on this thread, I designed my drawer fronts to fit flush around the curve of the back opening of my rig. Looks a bit more finished, and keeps things stored under the wings from falling out.
If you have got this far into the project, the front half will be easy. To measure for the front half, lower your seats and measure the distance between the edge of the wing pieces (not the edge of the front of rear box section) to where the front section will rest against the back of the seats that have been folded up against the front seats. This will be your length measurement. For the width measurement, shut the back doors, and find the shortest width between the doors.
Cut your big square piece of wood. Now, cut out the rectangle of wood on the back that will sit flush against the back section and the wing pieces. (See graphic below to better understand. The red box is the part you need to cut out.)
Now, cut the front section in half, and attach back together with a piano hinge.
On the bottom of the front section, attach four standard pipe holders you can find in the plumbing section of Home Depot. Cut four shorter pipes that will rest against the seats when they are folded down, and four longer pipes if you want to remove the seats for more storage space on a longer excursion. Take care in positioning the pipe holders in places that they will work for both scenarios. (When the seats are out, you want to make sure that the legs are sitting on a flat part of the floor.)
Cut the two small notches out of both sides of the front section so that when you fold the front section in half, it clears the latches for the back seat. See pics below.
NOTE - I also had to cut and shape the front section a bit so that when I folded it in half in place, it cleared the ceiling of the car.
This next picture shows how the front section folds up, and shows the shorter legs I attach when this section sits on top of the back seats when they are folded down. When the seats are up, we can remove the legs, fold the front section in half and store it in the back of the rig.
Close-up of one of the latches that hold the front and back sections together. This also shows a close-up of notches you need to cut in the front section so that when you fold the front section in half, it will clear the latch for the back seat.
This picture shows the front section legs resting on the back of the seats when the seats are folded down.
This picture shows the longer legs installed for when the seats have been removed for extra storage.
The next three pictures show the rig loaded up for a camping trip. When we want to use the sleeper, we just put stuff in the front seat or in the Thule on top of the rig and roll out our sleeping bags. NOTE - you can see with the back seats removed, there is a gap between the end of the front section and the back of the front seat. This has never been an issue for us, if we have the back seats out it means we are storing a lot of extra gear in the car. That gap is usually filled with gear, and our clothes bags sit on top of the gap as a pillow.
Java the Lab approves!
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