I struggled with this problem through the course of owning a few different trucks. So, I designed a storage unit of my … Dry Weight: 340 pounds. Though we were inspired by many of the modular truck bed sleeping platforms that utilized a mixture of wood sleeping platform build and storage bins, we wanted something more organized and built in. Elevated Truck Bed Sleeping Platform The first and most common approach is the elevated sleeping platform approach whereby you build a large plywood sheet or some other variation on that theme where you can place all your gear underneath, organized in drawers or boxes and then sleep above that. And as you can see on the right, a 4”x5” hole was cut from the rear Passenger-side support to allow for longer items (like my Tenkara fly rod!) The Truck The white truck included within this undertaking can seat two minifigures as a result of huge quantity of space in the cab. We then mounted the drawer to the slides per the manufacturer’s directions. The joint lowest priced tent on the list (which is a pretty … Milliard Truck Tent | Standard 6.5ft Bed. By accessing or using this site you are indicating your consent to and agreement with the: Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Affiliate Disclosure, Powered by a Toyota 22R | ©2019, takethetruck unless otherwise noted. When the platform is removed or lowered, you gain increased headroom to make your truck camper a more comfortable place in inclement weather. Section #4 serves as a removable cover for our dirty-shoe/gear storage. Cost: Under $50 (mainly for the plastic storage bins). However, using this amount of cabinet grade plywood does add a bit of extra weight to the truck, and it is also a bit of an ordeal to remove if needed. So in this post we’ll walk you through the most common approaches to building a truck bed sleeping platform, while weighing some of the pros and cons of each. After triple checking all of that math, we then mounted the drawer slides to the drawer supports as shown in the above photo. This is the second cheapest option for building a truck bed sleeping platform, depending on how you build it. Each choice is made based on vehicle choice, budget and living/lifestyle needs of the traveler. This space houses our 12v distribution fuse block, Inergy Kodiak Solar Generator, and aluminum propane tank. Now it’s time to Measure, Measure, Measure, (yeah probably one more time), Cut, Kreg Jig, and Assemble! Also, dragging your gear out in bins poses increased challenges if you’re hoping to stealth camp. It works … For weekend camping trips and short-term travel this is a great truck bed camping solution since you can just as easily pull everything right back out and go about your daily life, while still being able to use your truck like a truck. Our mid/high-rise caps are with you for the long haul and large haul. The driver side we left open because of a plan we will get to shortly. We used a 1 ½ inch hole saw to cut holes to use as handles in the Drawer Faces - this was kind of a FAIL and something we would not do again because they’re somewhat difficult to grip. >>>>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRINTABLE<<<<, Fridge Slide: A DIY Alternative for Truck or Vehicle Camping, How to Choose The Best Dual Battery Setup, A Guide to Sleeping Platforms for Truck Shell Camping, The Best Memory Foam Truck Bed Mattress for Truck, Van, or SUV Camping, Overland Shower - A DIY Camping Shower and Water Container. The Camperbox capitalizes on the convenience of sleeping in your vehicle with a small, packable conversion kit for a back-of-the-car bed. We also notched out an access in Drawer #1 for our Cook Partner Stove knobs and handle using a jigsaw. See more ideas about truck camping, camping, truck camper. You can use this guide to help select which sleeping platform design is right for your diy truck camper build, and then customize it to best fit your own truck camping needs. **TIP: check your table saw or circular saw blade to make sure that the blade is set at a true 90 degrees. And without any sleeping platform at all, you’ll be ready to go truck shell camping. And in the end, we found the result was definitely worth the extra time, work, and investment! Then top with a sheet of at-least ½” plywood to serve as the sleeping platform. Check Latest Price. Storage for long items - namely my Tenkara fly rod and our camp chairs, Drawer storage for all our kitchen, camping gear, and clothing that would make everything easily accessible, Enough headroom to still be able to sit up comfortably, **we ended up finding exterior solutions for these. We hope that this guide will help you realize your own pickup truck camping build. Yay math! Couple slats, a plywood platform, and voila: storage below, with sleeping area above. Kreg Jig Joint - this is a wood joinery method using a tool called a Kreg Jig that allows you to easily and securely join wood using a drill and Kreg Jig screws - It’s like making your own DIY Ikea furniture! We needed something more substantial, and because of our dual battery setup plans we needed fixed storage options for our equipment. This is a simple, no-fluff design. However, we did not want these sections to require being screwed down into the supports, but instead wanted to find a way for them to rest on top. You have the possibility of camping wherever you choose. Then we repeated this process with Drawer#2. It’s also very easy to deconstruct and remove when not needed. Which allows enough room to sleep a family of 3 fairly comfortably. It’s essential to keeping you comfortable and organized, it acts as your kitchen when you’re hungry, your living room when the weather is crummy, and your bedroom when you come back to camp … See our full disclosure.). Want to come back to this post later? You’ll find plenty of truck bed ideas fashions of botanical dining table and seats sets which can be popular in supplying marketplace. Despite our strong desire to play an adult version of K’nex in the back of our truck, this just wasn’t the option for us. Section #4 was cut from a remnant from the drawer build. We also initially needed a wide enough (and strong enough) sleeping area to comfortably fit two adults and a growing toddler, and most transformer style sleeping platform builds didn’t allow for this. Although these sleeping platform builds are a bit more expensive than the other truck shell camping platform methods, as well as more technical to build, you should know that we had virtually zero carpentry experience going into our first build. Optional but recommended is taking the two sections of p-cord from the middle and tying them into a knot so the hatches don't open up accidentally if … This may also, depending on build design, make the truck shell camping platform slightly more difficult to remove when needed, and is a good bit heavier than the previously discussed PVC truck bed platform option. This sleeping platform also allows you to take advantage of the entire width between bed rails. Then the Side Walls and Back Walls were attached to one another with Horizontal Kreg Jig joints. A truck camper is a demountable recreational vehicle (RV) that is loaded and unloaded from the bed of a full-size or mid-size pickup truck. plywood boards - we used red oak (not the lightest option), 1 - 500 piece box of 1 ¼ inch Kreg Jig screws*, 2 Sets - 60” long 500lb rated drawer slides * (for a total of 4 separate slides), 1 - box #8 1/2 inch self-tapping screws (for attaching the drawer slides), 1 - box #10 1/2 inch self-tapping screws (also for attaching the drawer slides), This was a game changer for executing our truck bed sleeping platform build and drawer system - this is a MUST HAVE tool if you’re carpentry noobs like us, Speed Square* and 48” T-Square* (great for making nice square cuts on long pieces of plywood). Contact Us, truck camping, overlanding, camp kitchen, gear. When you are done and you feel the pickup truck bed platform is put together correctly, install each piece in the truck. A good camper shell can eliminate the worst aspects of having an open-air bed, while retaining the utility of a large storage area inherent to trucks, all without compromising a truck’s ability to carry a slide-in camper. TIP: By setting the jigsaw to a 45 degree cutting angle while making the hatch cut out, it creates a nice beveled lip and a very simple lid. DIY Truck Camping Sleeping Platform Measure the length of your truck and the width of your bed between the vertical side bins. I also wanted to be able to use the entire bed of my truck on a daily basis, so a full-time sleeping/storage build was out of the question. With the freedom they give you of setting up campsite anywhere your pickup truck can go. You can literally just throw an air mattress, a sleeping bag, and some plastic storage containers* filled with gear in the bed of your truck, like our friend at #opt4scenic. We’ll reach out to you in the future if we post more content we think you’ll like. EASY- Setup is simple … The short Driver-side and Passenger-side Supports (in front of and behind the wheel wells) were attached both vertically to the Platform Base and horizontally to the long Drawer Supports with Kreg Jig joints as shown in the picture below. You can build something as simple as a frame using 2x4s with a piece of ½” to ¾” plywood over the frame to create a basic truck shell camping platform that provides a space beneath for storage bins, like the above example built by jhydro. Sections #1, 2 and 3 were cut from one ¾” thick 4x8 sheet of plywood. The measurements throughout this guide likely won’t apply exactly to your own build, but hopefully the process of how we measured will, and you can simply add length/width to the dimensions to suit your own truck’s bed space. Truck shell camping is an incredible way to travel and experience the outdoors; we hope this guide has helped you choose the best truck bed sleeping platform design for your own truck camping setup or overlanding build. This “toenailing” gives the joint(s) an incredible amount of strength [link to Kreg Jig video]. Section #3 was cut to provide easy access to the rear driver-side storage area and wheel-well. Snap! This also left 18 ¾” between the center drawer support and the passenger-side drawer support, which meant that Drawer#2 would have 15 ¾” of inside width after accounting for ¾” for each drawer slide and each drawer wall being ¾” thick plywood (again, a total of 3”). Note that they’re mounted 1” in from the end of the drawer supports. This is the width between the Drawer Supports (minus ¼” for clearance) x the height of the Drawer Supports (minus ⅛” for clearance). UPDATE: We ended up going with a set of these stainless drawer handles* and they work great! We did not bedline any unexposed surfaces. Sale. For a detailed step-by-step build guide for this truck camping setup and sleeping platform design, check out our Homemade DIY Truck Camper Build. Let’s go through the options in order of expense, so you can stop reading when your wallet cries uncle. And if the prospect of building your own truck bed sleeping platform seems completely overwhelming, know that we felt exactly the same way - having literally no prior experience with design or carpentry. Cut a sheet of 1/2″ plywood to fit. The patented design comes with Heavy Duty Cloth Material for superior puncture resistance with cutouts on each side that allow the mattress to fit around & over the wheel wells, creating a sleep area that utilizes the entire truck bed. Kitchen appliances. You will also be supplied with a 30-gallon freshwater tank and fully molded integrated work surfaces for your convenience. After hours spent sitting in the pickup truck bed dreaming about the possibilities, we created this very rough design and began taking measurements and gathering materials and tools. This laid the foundation for our truck bed sleeping platform design, and helped in planning the rest of the build. But all you need is a little time, patience, and the right tools and you can do just about anything. I suggest budgeting $1,500. Guide Gear Truck Tent. This is definitely the most common option for creating a truck bed sleeping platform, and can provide a good mix of sleeping and storage solutions while truck shell camping. While we had debated on staining the entire Truck Bed Sleeping Platform (it was built with cabinet grade red oak plywood afterall), we decided to use Duplicolor roll on truck bedliner* for a couple reasons: It provided more durable protection for the surface of the Sleeping Platform while hauling stuff around when we’re not truck camping, It is easily repairable - you literally just brush it on, It was WAY easier than staining and sealing that much surface area. Essentially, it’s what makes your truck camping rig a home. But the great thing about truck camping is that there is virtually no barrier to entry (see our complete guide on how to get started truck camping here). This U.S. military veteran … A Built In Rechargeable Pump inflates & deflates AirBedz at the flip of a switch. Everything was left to cure per the manufacturer’s recommendations, and then reassembled. BONUS: If you’re a Toyota Pickup or even Tacoma owner these measurements should be very close to your own because Toyota didn’t change the 6ft bed layouts all that much over the years. However, this is not an ideal solution for long-term travel, overlanding, or extended truck canopy camping trips. A truck camping setup that you can easily take in and out. In this post we’ll walk you through the build process for our truck bed sleeping platform as part of our DIY truck bed camper build, including everything from design choices to finished assembly. Thank you for your interest in our site! It’s great for solo truck camping setups in a traditional camper shell or to optimize a truck camping setup with one of the newer wedge campers or pop-up style truck camper designs. The drawers were mounted virtually flush with the end of the drawer slides, as you can see in the below photos. The build cost of this option is variable. It’s essential to keeping you comfortable and organized, it acts as your kitchen when you’re hungry, your living room when the weather is crummy, and your bedroom when you come back to camp after a long day of hiking and adventure. This left us with 13” of interior width in Drawer#1 to house our stove! Finally we measured, cut, and attached the Drawer Faces to the Drawer Walls and Drawer Base with horizontal Kreg Jig joints. These serve to support Platform Cover Sections # 1 and 3 (discussed below). Drawer #1 Base cut @ 14 ½” wide x 70” long. For our purposes, this just was not the way we wanted to go down. AT Overland Atlas. Sleek yet durable, our caps are engineered to maximize space and protect your cargo. The side and back walls of the drawer were cut and attached on top of the Drawer Base with vertical Kreg Jig joints in a toenail fashion as shown in the above diagram and photo below. Though you could make your drawers any width you want by changing the position of the center drawer support to the right or left, we decided to make the driver-side drawer 13” wide (interior-width) to perfectly fit our Cook Partner stove. COMMERCIAL. So when we decided to turn our 84 Toyota Pickup into the ultimate DIY truck shell camping adventure mobile, we knew we had to put a lot of thought into what we wanted out of our sleeping platform. No hammering necessary. Utilize 15% more space than a cab-high model and save on fuel with stunning aerodynamics. Or if you’re not entirely sure which sleeping platform option may be the best for your build, head on over to our post on choosing a truck bed sleeping platform. Vertical Kreg Jig Joint - when a Kreg Jig Joint is used to secure something vertically (i.e., up and down, perpendicular to the ground), Horizontal Kreg Jig Joint - when a Kreg Jig Joint is used to secure something horizontally (i.e., side-to-side, parallel to the ground), Toenail - this refers to alternating the Kreg Jig joints from one side of a board to the other so that the screws enter at opposing angles. Lay a few 3/16” thick pieces of plywood under the drawers to lift the drawers off the Platform Base while mounting. The photo below shows the 3rd Width Addition we added to the rear passenger-side support, which helps to support Platform Cover Sections # 2 and 4 (discussed below). This is obviously the cheapest and simplest option, and one I’m very fond of - as I grew up doing this with my family. Gather Materials and Tools. This ensures clearance from the Platform Base, allowing the drawers to slide smoothly once fully installed. A few more things I want to make mention of is that our bed will actually rest from the passenger side of the truck bed to the sidewall of the drawers on the driver side. This means we may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. But packing the truck with all the necessary items for camping while maintaining space to sleep in the bed of the truck is a test of gear management. If you’re interested in building a similar full width platform of your own, check out our detailed post - DIY Truck Bed Camper: Build the Ultimate Sleeping Platform. But cost will increase when you begin buying plywood and integrating built in storage. For more truck camping and overlanding build tips and resources be sure to SUBSCRIBE for blog updates. This can lead to lost or misplaced gear, and abounding frustration - especially when you can’t find that choice bag of coffee in the morning that you swear you packed! When removed, this also provides a place for us to sit upright inside with our feet down. For many overlanders, there are three general choices: a camper (ie: a slide in truck bed camper), a roof top tent, or a sleeping platform either in an SUV or pickup truck with a cap. For our build we wanted the top of the platform to be level with (or to basically rest on top of) the 8” tall wheel wells to maximize headroom. A Note About Security: For both personal safety and peace of mind, make sure your truck bed camping build-out is secure.Both your tailgate and the canopy should have locks, but make sure they’re up to snuff. Expense, but it ’ s a LOT of info in this post a pin later... More ideas about truck bed ideas '' on Pinterest square to follow with the jigsaw require …! Be sure to SUBSCRIBE for blog updates the flip of a plan we will get to shortly the vertical bins... The amount of disorganization would inevitably lead to marriage counselling to house our stove expense! 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