Direwolf82
New member
So I decided to take some Christmas money and hit the supply house.
A few various sizes of angle and flat steel stock, a sheet of 1/4 inch ply and a sheet of 1/2 inch.
I took out the larger seat bottom and back to open up some more storage space.
Under the front of the platform where the seat back was now fits a Rubbermaid container for various fluids and whatnot I don't want to spill and make a mess, directly in front of that where the seat bottom was will be a 5 gallon Jerry can of water.
Under the platform and behind the Rubbermaid tote will be a 24 inch wide, 40 inch deep, 10 inch tall drawer for kitchen and misc truck stuff and tools, you know, storage area. I'll build dividers to keep the kitchen stuff separate from the other stuff, and also to add some foam to keep things quiet, I don't like a rattling truck, my old M715 has enough rattles to last me 5 lifetimes. The drawer will also have a lid I think, can never have too many work surfaces. That will probably be added down the line though.
Under the drawer will be a slide out table also 24"x40" so it'll be a decent size for food prep or cleaning fish. Whatever you need a table for. That will be made of epoxy coated 1/4 plywood with a frame around it to help stiffen it and prevent things from rolling off plus connect the legs to, which I haven't figured out yet. Anybody have any ideas for cheap table legs? I have an idea I'm not sold on yet.
I finished the carcass, frame, for it today. Coming in at about 18 pounds. By the time it's all said and done I'm trying to keep the whole contraption under 50 pounds.
I didn't want to do a full width bed, I left behind the single rear seat empty for my cooler, fishing gear, dog bed etc. I'll have the platform cut tomorrow morning and get the thing mounted in the truck, I need to put it in and figure out where I need to weld in the mounting tabs, get it painted and bolted in. Who am I kidding, it's just going to go in and I'll start on the drawer and table. And hopefully at the end of the day I can do the frozen caliper so I can actually drive the thing somewhere to test out the platform setup with dog, fishing gear and the whole 9 yards.
I can put up the single back seat but transporting people isn't a priority for me at all.
Anyone who has done the sleeping platform thing, anything you would do different? Anything that worked out perfectly and you would recommend?
I'm going to work with this design and maybe build one in aluminum down the road once everything is finalized.
I made it 6', since that's how tall i am and that's the length of materials available. I was going to add a folding section to get a full 75" mattress pad in but that turned out to be unnecessary for me, I still almost did it because in the raised position it would act as a perfect barrier to keep the dog in the back. I may add that onto the next one if it looks like a great idea but as of now my sleeping area is about 33x72 which is plenty for me as long as the dog doesn't try to climb in with me.
If I can ever figure out how to get pictures on here I'll post them up. I'm not a technology guy though, I prefer hammers, wrenches, grinders and welders, those I know how to use.
A few various sizes of angle and flat steel stock, a sheet of 1/4 inch ply and a sheet of 1/2 inch.
I took out the larger seat bottom and back to open up some more storage space.
Under the front of the platform where the seat back was now fits a Rubbermaid container for various fluids and whatnot I don't want to spill and make a mess, directly in front of that where the seat bottom was will be a 5 gallon Jerry can of water.
Under the platform and behind the Rubbermaid tote will be a 24 inch wide, 40 inch deep, 10 inch tall drawer for kitchen and misc truck stuff and tools, you know, storage area. I'll build dividers to keep the kitchen stuff separate from the other stuff, and also to add some foam to keep things quiet, I don't like a rattling truck, my old M715 has enough rattles to last me 5 lifetimes. The drawer will also have a lid I think, can never have too many work surfaces. That will probably be added down the line though.
Under the drawer will be a slide out table also 24"x40" so it'll be a decent size for food prep or cleaning fish. Whatever you need a table for. That will be made of epoxy coated 1/4 plywood with a frame around it to help stiffen it and prevent things from rolling off plus connect the legs to, which I haven't figured out yet. Anybody have any ideas for cheap table legs? I have an idea I'm not sold on yet.
I finished the carcass, frame, for it today. Coming in at about 18 pounds. By the time it's all said and done I'm trying to keep the whole contraption under 50 pounds.
I didn't want to do a full width bed, I left behind the single rear seat empty for my cooler, fishing gear, dog bed etc. I'll have the platform cut tomorrow morning and get the thing mounted in the truck, I need to put it in and figure out where I need to weld in the mounting tabs, get it painted and bolted in. Who am I kidding, it's just going to go in and I'll start on the drawer and table. And hopefully at the end of the day I can do the frozen caliper so I can actually drive the thing somewhere to test out the platform setup with dog, fishing gear and the whole 9 yards.
I can put up the single back seat but transporting people isn't a priority for me at all.
Anyone who has done the sleeping platform thing, anything you would do different? Anything that worked out perfectly and you would recommend?
I'm going to work with this design and maybe build one in aluminum down the road once everything is finalized.
I made it 6', since that's how tall i am and that's the length of materials available. I was going to add a folding section to get a full 75" mattress pad in but that turned out to be unnecessary for me, I still almost did it because in the raised position it would act as a perfect barrier to keep the dog in the back. I may add that onto the next one if it looks like a great idea but as of now my sleeping area is about 33x72 which is plenty for me as long as the dog doesn't try to climb in with me.
If I can ever figure out how to get pictures on here I'll post them up. I'm not a technology guy though, I prefer hammers, wrenches, grinders and welders, those I know how to use.
