TR4 as Hotel Rm??

[Bilbo]

For car camping you need a lot of gear in addition to the above campground basics. Water jugs, stove, lantern, ice chest, dry food box, cups, utensils and dishes, soap and wash tub for the dishes, drinking water, sleeping bags or blankets, sleeping pad etc. It's a lot of gear to fit in the car without having to sleep in it. I prefer a tent for camping. Leave all the gear in the car at night.

I've admired [MENTION=80158]dsfra[/MENTION] 's solution for stowing gear while sleeping in the truck:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/183651-show-off-your-roof-rack-cargo-basket.html#post1864993

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/183651-show-off-your-roof-rack-cargo-basket.html#post1865327

 

[scanny]

I slept a few times in my 4Runner, with self-inflating sleeping pad sleeping is quite comfortable for me. My sleeping pad has R-value of 5 so there's no cold from the floor. I also use a net which used to be my old tent window and put it over a door if it's warm enough to open window. I'm 5'10" so I have to sleep just a little diagonally. Probably it would be a good idea for you to test it before you go camping - i.e. put down a sleeping pad in the trunk lay down for a while to get an idea how comfortable your setup is : ) Don't forget to bring pillow and blanket /sleeping bag.

A lot of stuff fits on a driver and passenger seat, whatever doesn't fit I just put under truck on a tarp so it doesn't get too wet if rain happens to start at night.

If you feel like doing some mods, you could check out Antman thread for making inside rear hatch release button - http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/92013-antmans-thread-75.html#post1566040

Good tip about alarm, don't forget to open door from inside only with key fob.

 

[dsfra]

Taking out the 2nd row seat bottoms really helps. I made up some storage boxes out of 1/2" plywood - just need to rework them to fit the 4Runner better - and it works great cuz then you have a place to park your pillows. Just snap off the plastic trim pieces and remove the 14 mm bolts - 2 for each seat. The bolts don't do anything else, so no worries about inadvertently loosening something else under the floor or whatever. They torque to 27 ft lbs, and note that that you really don't want to strip the captive nuts. The shelf works great at night, and is a good place for a clamp-on plastic oscillating fan when it's hot and stuffy. Even with an 8" thick air bed, your legs and feet just go under the shelf .

 

[dsfra]

I love that sense of panic when your alarm goes off and you're fumbling for your keys, pushing every button, wondering "WHY WON'T IT SHUT OFF?!?!?!" and feeling a genuine sense of embarrassment when everyone is looking at you as you try to figure out how your truck works.

Admit it......we've all been there......

Amen. So we drive for a day and half the night and pull into the campground at Arches N.P. at 2:45 AM. Parking lights only, quietly pull into the campsite head first, don't even unhitch, get the trailer popped up and move stuff from the 4Runner into the trailer, all making not a sound, then the last thing was to quietly lower the trailer's stabilizing jacks so squatted down and of course something in my pocket hit the panic button on the key fob and the entire campground gets a sh!tstorm of flashing lights and honking horns. Got a few cold looks from the neighbors in the morning.

 

[Jaan]

....squatted down and of course something in my pocket hit the panic button on the key fob and the entire campground gets a sh!tstorm of flashing lights and honking horns. Got a few cold looks from the neighbors in the morning.

Happened to me at a hunting camp at 2am with a brand new truck...except it was the horn going off because it was 20 below zero in the Adirondack mountains. I'm out there in my boxer shorts (I slept next to the wood stove, toasty warm) pulling relays out until I got the right one. Took me an hour to warm back up.

Oh...and leaning on your keys in your pocket? I set my 4Runner to open up all the windows if you hold down the unlock button. I went over my girlfriends apartment in the snow, and took off my shoes and apparently I pushed the unlock button. I come out in the morning to the windows all halfway down. Luckily it stopped snowing right before I got there.

Back on topic...I tried sleeping in my truck before and couldn't get comfortable even with the windows open. I'm 6 foot. I guess I'm used to sleeping in the back of my pickup with an 8 foot bed. One thing though, I've found Harbor Freight anti fatigue mats to be indispensable when camping. I think they're discontinuing the interlocking ones, but you might still be able to find them.

 

[Cozmo2312]

I'm 6'5" and sleep in the back of my 2015...

I removed the seat bottoms, folded down the seats... I don't have a sliding tray (wish I did)... You can see the uneven floor here..

Laid down some 2x4's (I acutally used three... Put one in the middle so it didn't sag..

Next up was 1/4" particle board... Cut it a little long so it rested on the angle just behind the rear seats.. This combined with the 2x4 gave an almost perfect level cargo area.

A simple black rubber backed carpet mat from lowes that fit almost perfectly

Next up was a 2.5" memory foam mattress from sams club... This looks pretty sloppy as I had just thrown it in there and it hadn't settled... I thought about notching it out around the wheelwells, but I think I'm just going to leave it, it has formed pretty well to the floor shape.

After this I laid down a couple of blankets, I've actually got a self inflating camping mat from REI and a sleeping bag.... It's more comfortable than my bed in my house haha.

 

[nevada]

You undoubtedly speak from experience! I'll bet that was a lot of fun.

I love that sense of panic when your alarm goes off and you're fumbling for your keys, pushing every button, wondering "WHY WON'T IT SHUT OFF?!?!?!" and feeling a genuine sense of embarrassment when everyone is looking at you as you try to figure out how your truck works.

Admit it......we've all been there......

hahaha. YES! I forgot about that. It was a 24hr pb game, so there were still people up and about. it was 2:30am or so, I got up to take a leak..
alarm going off, I couldn't understand WHO at first, then when I realized it was ME, I couldn't understand WHY. then I had a hell of a time finding the keys to MAKE IT STOP! lol. good times.

I'm 6'5" and sleep in the back of my 2015...

I removed the seat bottoms, folded down the seats... I don't have a sliding tray (wish I did)... You can see the uneven floor here..

Laid down some 2x4's (I acutally used three... Put one in the middle so it didn't sag..

Next up was 1/4" particle board... Cut it a little long so it rested on the angle just behind the rear seats.. This combined with the 2x4 gave an almost perfect level cargo area.

A simple black rubber backed carpet mat from lowes that fit almost perfectly

Next up was a 2.5" memory foam mattress from sams club... This looks pretty sloppy as I had just thrown it in there and it hadn't settled... I thought about notching it out around the wheelwells, but I think I'm just going to leave it, it has formed pretty well to the floor shape.

After this I laid down a couple of blankets, I've actually got a self inflating camping mat from REI and a sleeping bag.... It's more comfortable than my bed in my house haha.

oh wow, those seats don't fold down flush. that sucks. both my, and my 06 fold down flat. the 06 has a very SLIGHT incline at the seats, but nothing like your pics. that would be terrible.

 

[Titanpat57]

I think these are a reasonable solution. ..you can find them on Craigslist if you watch.

9 x 9...plus a small canopy over the front door.

You can pull away and close the flap tight.

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

I think these are a reasonable solution. ..you can find them on Craigslist if you watch.

9 x 9...plus a small canopy over the front door.

You can pull away and close the flap tight.

And, you can leave your tools inside while on the track/sleeping! I have a similar one of those for my truck and absolutely love it! Have been using it for the past 10+ years now and still use it when I go camping!

I think you get a LOT more room with the 4runner tents, and they're not too expensive either.

 

[Cozmo2312]

oh wow, those seats don't fold down flush. that sucks. both my, and my 06 fold down flat. the 06 has a very SLIGHT incline at the seats, but nothing like your pics. that would be terrible.

The seats go flat, there is just a hump between them and the cargo area. It's flat on either side.

 

[WanderMan]

Taking out the 2nd row seat bottoms really helps. I made up some storage boxes out of 1/2" plywood - just need to rework them to fit the 4Runner better - and it works great cuz then you have a place to park your pillows. Just snap off the plastic trim pieces and remove the 14 mm bolts - 2 for each seat. The bolts don't do anything else, so no worries about inadvertently loosening something else under the floor or whatever. They torque to 27 ft lbs, and note that that you really don't want to strip the captive nuts. The shelf works great at night, and is a good place for a clamp-on plastic oscillating fan when it's hot and stuffy. Even with an 8" thick air bed, your legs and feet just go under the shelf .

Do you have the plans/dimensions for those storage boxes? I want to do something similar and it would be great if I didn't have to start from scratch. Any help is appreciated.

I had a coworker at my last job who only bought cars that he could sleep in. He liked to be "prepared" in the event his old lady got tired of his B.S.

 

[dsfra]

Do you have the plans/dimensions for those storage boxes? I want to do something similar and it would be great if I didn't have to start from scratch. Any help is appreciated.

Plans? Plans? What's plans?

Sorry, but the boxes in the pics were built for (and photographed in) our old pre-4Runner 2002 Mazda Tribute, and really need to be tweaked for the 4Runner. They fit in the 4Runner ok, but can be made bigger than they were for the Mazda. I just sized and cut out the bottom pieces, then made the sides to fit, then made the lids. They're just 1/2" plywood - glued and screwed - bottom and sides, and 3/4" plywood radiused lids with 1" finger-grabber holes. The biggest pain was notching out the corners to fit around the rear of the console. For easy in-and-out, the 2 boxes are joined at the middle with 1/4" carriage bolts and wing nuts. If it was a one-piece full-width box it would be a pain to get in and out. Sorry about having no plans/dimensions for 4Runners.

 

[Land_Shark]

My camping setup

My wife and I do this every time we camp at our property.

I'm 6 foot even, and we've even had our 90lb Lab mix sleep in there 1 night - that was a bit tight though.

Here is our setup for an air mattress. These are very tough and fit perfectly in the back of the 5th gen runner: Truck-bedz - Weekender Series - TD3 Products
(Make sure to have something to create a flat surface!

This combination of a fan and screen system takes care of the cooling part. We set up the fans on top of the dash and point them at us - they work great and the batteries last multiple nights: http://www.amazon.com/O2cool-Batter...30332708&sr=8-2&keywords=battery-powered+fans

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anTuM9jwGlA

I would recommend this setup if you're planning to camp like this multiple times.