Still designing one myself...
I am basically 6'0", and before I got my 1998 4Runner, I was stuck attempting to do the camping thing in the back of my fiance's Jeep Liberty... NOT comfortable, and there was no way to stretch my legs out even with the front seats all the way forward...
So when the day of the 4Runner test drive came, I pulled over mid-way through and crawled in the back to make sure that it had ample boinking, I mean, leg room...she laughed at me, but this was a major selling point...
I have experimented with removing the rear seat bottoms, and this does help add an additional 6" of space front to back, along with allowing the backs of the rear seats to fold down a few inches further - getting closer to a flat sleeping surface, but not quite.
Attempting to sleep side by side in between the wheel wells is less than ideal, so I am interested in seeing pictures of the structure that raised the sleeping platform above (or to the same level as) the wheel wells. I saw one other thread on here somewhere of a Raiders fan who had a pretty sweet setup for his raised bed...
Second to all of this - Has anyone experimented with an internal rear hatch release handle for the 4Runner?
Taking advantage of the extra space gained from removing the rear seat bottoms - my sleeper design (in process) shortens the raised bed surface to allow 8-10" of space between the inside of the hatch and the start of the bed. In theory, this would be an ideal location to keep boots and shoes (a foot wear mudroom) and provide a comfortable "step" to put them on before sneaking out at night for a midnight pee... But all this depends on being able to open the hatch from the inside...
My only solution (although not ideal) was to custom weld brackets inside the rear hatch for those electric solenoids used in cars with shaved door handles... I had a '65 Fairlane that I did this to back in the day... It worked great, but this would add a bunch of more weight to an already heavy hatch - not to mention the 40amp relays and constant power feed they require to actuate... It would be pretty pimp, until you roll over in the night and press the trigger button without knowing...
Be interested in seeing and hearing about any other designs for raised 4Runner beds...
