The most awesome sleeping/storage platform thread

[boyfester]

No idea. Is 5th gen at least as wide as the wheel wells on the 4th gen? if so, yes, it will fit.

The width between the wheel wells on a 5th Gen Trail is 42". The back section with the seats up is also approximately 38" so the box would fit too. I would probably have to lengthen the two boards though since I'm 6'5" tall.

Next question is how to pick up since I'm in the other end of the U.S. (California)?

 

[xxaarraa]

The width between the wheel wells on a 5th Gen Trail is 42". The back section with the seats up is also approximately 38" so the box would fit too. I would probably have to lengthen the two boards though since I'm 6'5" tall.

Next question is how to pick up since I'm in the other end of the U.S. (California)?

Can't answer that question for you, sorry man. You gotta figure out shipping or pickup on this one.

 

[boyfester]

Can't answer that question for you, sorry man. You gotta figure out shipping or pickup on this one.

PM sent

 

[Opt_Outside_Runner]

The sleeping platform has been working great!

Glad to hear it! I'm hoping to start my drawer/platform project this summer and I have a feeling the platform design will end up being incredibly similar to yours. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[RebAnneM]

Awesome!

This is an awesome project. Good job!

 

[JD914]

Here's the start of mine. Fridge slide with an additional slide-out table underneath on the passenger side. In front of that will be a fixed shelf extending up to the passenger seat where I'll strap down a storage box containing recovery and camping gear.
On the driver's side is a drawer for cooking items underneath a sleeping platform. The front 8-10" of the sleeping platform will fold back to allow for enough leg room for the driver's seat.
Long items (folding chairs, etc) and other bulky stuff will go on the floor under the sleeping platform and shelf. In order to make installation easier and to allow the slide and drawer to be used with 4 people in the vehicle, the shelf and front half of the sleeping platform will be removable/optional.
I hope to have the bulk of the remainder finished today with some finishing touches completed over the next couple of weeks before my big Death Valley trip.


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[JD914]

Here's the start of mine. Fridge slide with an additional slide-out table underneath on the passenger side. In front of that will be a fixed shelf extending up to the passenger seat where I'll strap down a storage box containing recovery and camping gear.
On the driver's side is a drawer for cooking items underneath a sleeping platform. The front 8-10" of the sleeping platform will fold back to allow for enough leg room for the driver's seat.
Long items (folding chairs, etc) and other bulky stuff will go on the floor under the sleeping platform and shelf. In order to make installation easier and to allow the slide and drawer to be used with 4 people in the vehicle, the shelf and front half of the sleeping platform will be removable/optional.
I hope to have the bulk of the remainder finished today with some finishing touches completed over the next couple of weeks before my big Death Valley trip.


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Well it's been a month or so and I finally finished the project and got to take it out for 6 nights in Death Valley. It might have worked TOO well, since I found myself waiting around every morning while everybody packed up their stuff!

Back, all closed up:

The drawer has enough room for all my cooking supplies plus any non-perishable items.

Open:

The passenger side has a shelf for a case to hold all my loose camping and recovery gear, with extra space around it for extra stuff. All long items, like chairs, etc, go across the floor.

Sleeping platform:

I simply let a little air out of my mattress and fold it up with the pillow and sleeping bag inside, then strap it down:

The whole thing breaks down into 3 sections making removal much easier. Also, I can install just the fridge slide/drawer section and still run the back seats.

It didn't come out perfectly, but I'm very happy with the results!


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[yotaguy674]

I built a pretty basic one this weekend. Used a fold up full size memory foam matress and it fits perfect. Plenty of room for us both!

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[grave]

those last two are pretty dope. [MENTION=124448]yotaguy674[/MENTION], do you have any more photos of the construction and process?

 

[crazy larry]

these platform builds are awesome. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[T4RNightHawk]

Here's the start of mine. Fridge slide with an additional slide-out table underneath on the passenger side. In front of that will be a fixed shelf extending up to the passenger seat where I'll strap down a storage box containing recovery and camping gear.
On the driver's side is a drawer for cooking items underneath a sleeping platform. The front 8-10" of the sleeping platform will fold back to allow for enough leg room for the driver's seat.
Long items (folding chairs, etc) and other bulky stuff will go on the floor under the sleeping platform and shelf. In order to make installation easier and to allow the slide and drawer to be used with 4 people in the vehicle, the shelf and front half of the sleeping platform will be removable/optional.
I hope to have the bulk of the remainder finished today with some finishing touches completed over the next couple of weeks before my big Death Valley trip.


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What kind of slides are those?

 

[TrueBlue]

View attachment 1

Will get some better pics soon, had this custom built by a good friend of mine, has 3 compartments and 2 drawers in total


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[JD914]

What kind of slides are those?

The actual fridge slides are these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GP28IOC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

32", 400# capacity. $42+ shipping per pair, and they showed up pretty quickly. They work great so far, pulling smoothly and easily.

 

[T4RNightHawk]

The actual fridge slides are these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GP28IOC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

32", 400# capacity. $42+ shipping per pair, and they showed up pretty quickly. They work great so far, pulling smoothly and easily.

Wow I like that price. I used home depot slides for my fridge slide and broke them going up a hill.

 

[Gmckee]

Man! This tread is making me want to go camping. I'll wait till fall when it cools down a bit. :thumb3:

 

[Jake Whiskey]

I wanna be a copy cat....

Very nice build. Ive been wanting to build one of these for a while. Im sure there is a learning curve and you figured out what you would do differently. Any chance you made final drawings with dimensions and final measurements?

02-06-15 Update:

Fabbed up the front sleeping platform today.

• My rear storage platform is 38" long, and I wanted to maximize the length of the sleeping platform, which meant I could go as long as 71" since that's the maximum "rear seat bottom to hatch" length available in the 4R.
• However, if I just add a 23" sleeping platform AND I wanted it to fold on top of the storage platform, it wouldn't clear the ceiling height while folding.
• So I had to devise a bi-fold design, with each fold being 15.75" and I used 180 degree hinges to make this work.
• I also decided to use some trailer jack stands to support the fold out leaves of the sleeping platform. These are cast aluminum and pretty awesome in how light they are, as well as being infinitely height adjustable.

First, as usual, I started with very advanced and sophisticated auto-cad schematics.

It's still not done, I plan on adding another couple of hinges to reinforce, finish painting, adding some pull tabs to make fold and unfold easier, as well as add turnbuckles to bolt the storage platform down onto the truck floor.

What's next:

• Buy a thermarest self-inflating foam pad for sleeping on.
• Mount a Keurig mini and a 0.5 cu ft mini microwave on one of the wheel wells
• Mount a small cabinet/storage cubby on the other wheel well to hold coffee mugs, keurig cups, paperware, towels etc.

 

[mnormand]

Good thread... I'll have to go back and review the whole thing carefully. I sleep in mine from time to time as needed and weather permitting.

I enjoy watching youtube vandweller topics to get ideas and such. A friend just built out a Sprinter type van for stealth camping. He mentioned rather than building a much higher sleeping berth in which gear is stored under, he'd rather build the sleep low, and have half shelving and such over the bottom half, where he could go much higher with gear. In other words, the legs and feet kinda go into a tunnel of sorts. With the somewhat low headroom in our 4Rs I thought that was a workable concept.

 

[Manfred]

Anchor points

I have my 4R for a bit more than 200 miles now. Reading through the posts of cargo drawer and sleeping platform built I wonder how you anchor those in the car.

 

[paddlenbike]

I enjoy watching youtube vandweller topics to get ideas and such. A friend just built out a Sprinter type van for stealth camping. He mentioned rather than building a much higher sleeping berth in which gear is stored under, he'd rather build the sleep low, and have half shelving and such over the bottom half, where he could go much higher with gear. In other words, the legs and feet kinda go into a tunnel of sorts. With the somewhat low headroom in our 4Rs I thought that was a workable concept.

As mnormand said, the camper van community has a lot of good ideas for producing solid yet lightweight framing solutions. They turned me onto extruded aluminum of the t-slot variety--no welding required, just bolt together using aluminum L-brackets and bolts. I am using it to frame everything in my Sprinter. When I go to build a sleeping platform in the 4Runner, it is the only thing I will use. Here's a pic of the framing in my Sprinter:

I did a video on use of this product for anyone that is interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuMufzRVa-M

It's especially great for people that want to save weight, have a rigid frame that will hold drawer slides well and for people like me that are not good wood-workers. Downside is the stuff isn't cheap, but neither is hauling around a bunch of heavy wood in the rear.

 

[troc21]

Storage Box/Sleeping Platform Build Pictures - 2017 TRD OF

My dad and I made this over the course of a week or so after work. Turned out better then I thought.