Built my sleeping platform!

[MotoDave]

OK, I guess not a lot of people read the "camping equipment" sub-forum, so I'll ask the question here:

Can someone recommend a good mattress to use with my platform? It should be a fairly dense foam but still thick enough for some comfort.

Not interested in anything that needs to be inflated - been there, done that, results were not good.

Where is a good place to get a 2-3" thick memory-foam type camping mattress? I assume somebody must make something like that for campers and such, right?

What other types of pads/mattresses are folks using?

I've heard that IKEA can be a good source for decent foam mattresses.

 

[pray4surf]

Look for Upholstery supply stores - here in San Diego we have UFO's, Upholstery Fabric Outlets, which will have a wide variety of foams and can cut them to size for you - though an electric carving knife cuts through foam like a hot knife through butter... Just wash it before next Thanksgiving when you'll use it again to cut the turkey.

 

[bicyclist]

I saw some foam at Home Depot. It was 3" x 24"x 72" if I recall. You could put 2 pieces side by side. It was in the section where they sell carpet and flooring.

I built a 30" wide platform for the back of my Tacoma and made a mattress from 3" foam with a piece of 1 ½" memory foam on top. I sewed up a cover of some outdoor fabric from Joanne's. It was after I made the mattress that I saw the foam at Home Depot for considerably less than the foam at Joanne's.

 

[ebg18t]

you might check overstock.com. i bought a king size multi density egg crate mattress cover there and cut it up to use for our camping sleeping pad.

 

[4x4x4doors]

I'm assuming you've already looked over at tnttt.com. There is a thread there about mattress materials that covered a pretty wide range. One that stuck in my mind was a foam bonded to memory foam that actually used the memory foam on the bottom and the regular foam on top. You mention (I guess it was in the other thread) foam not being sufficient. Remember there are different grades (densities) of foam as well as multiple thicknesses. I use the sofa foam in the teardrop but its rather dense and thicker than that you described. So another thickness or even alternate grades may work. You might want to look at 2-3 inches of whatever you currently have plus another 2-3 of something else.

 

[jnelson4x4taco]

Very nice! Glad to see that you were able to take a few things from my experience and refine the concept. Looks like a very stout platform that should suit you well.

I cant recommend a mattress but can suggest that you DO NOT use a memory foam mattress topper. Thats what my wife and I used on our road trip and found that it packed down too quickly and took up too much space. Ive now sourced a few thin camping mats that fit in well and do the job, plus they can be used in a tent, thrown out under the stars, laid out on a beach, etc.

The camping mats I bought are actually quite nice. They are Lightspeed brand from Costco, and are very nice quality for $35. Im extremely pleased with them. According to the specs, they are a 3" self inflating mat with foam inside, and have an R-value of about 5.8.

 

[DeadMoney44]

Well, after much thinking and a mountain of "honey-do's" I finally got the time (and some decent weather) to build my sleep platform.

Special thanks to Jnelson from this board for giving me the opportunity to look at his and get some ideas.

Since I'm not much of a carpenter, I decided to make a very, very simple platform using a couple of sheets of 15/32" sanded plywood (sanded on both sides, so it's pretty nice.) $32/sheet at the local Home Depot minus 10% military discount, it was the only out-of-pocket expense I had, as everything else (2x4s, 2x2's and 1 1/4" wood screws) were things I had lying around the garage.

For the benefit of those who might be contemplating something similar, I'll show you the process.

Started off by getting the plywood cut at the store. Most of the big box stores will give you 1 or 2 cuts free. I had each piece cut once, at the 6' point on the long side so it would fit into my DD Mazda pickup (also I knew I wouldn't need a peice longer than 6'.) This resulted in my two 4 x 8 plywood sheets becoming two 4 x 6 sheets and two 4 x 2 sheets.

Once I got them home, I measured for the two "bulkheads" on the sides. This will carry most of the weight.

Before you get started, you need to remove the bottom cushions on the back seat. This is easily done with a 14mm socket and the seat cushions lift straight out. Then drop the seat backs down.

The thing that makes this a bit of a challenge is that dropping the seats does not make a flat load deck. Instead, the seat backs actually slope upwards.

I cut a 6' long peice to 10 3/4" high. I then measured where the "up slope" started and how high it went. This gave me a good angle to cut, and then I test fitted it. It needed a little more "angle" so I cut a bit more (I've learned the hard way, cut less rather than more.) Final result: It fits and is level on the top:

Once I had one, I used it as a template to cut the other one. Having two, I then used 2 2x4's to connect them together.

Note that this is flipped upside down on the garage floor. This way the cross-peice is flush with the top of the side pieces. Once two of them were on, I put them back in the truck for a test fitting (I did this a LOT. Again, I learned this lesson the hard way!)

After this, I measured for the bottom crosspieces, and screwed them in as well. After test fitting that, I put in the rest of the crosspieces. Here is what the "frame" finally ended looking like:

Not sure of the weight but it's pretty easy for me to pick up and move around. I'd say not more than 50lbs max. I ultimately went with 4 crosspieces on the top, three 2 x 4's and one 2 x 2, and 3 across the bottom, two of them 2 x 4s and one of them a 2 x 2. Probably a little "overbuilt" but I want it to be strong. I had originally intended to put a plywood panel across the bottom instead of the 2 x 4, but quickly realized the 2 x 4s would be much stronger.

For the top, bed-area, I took the other 4 x 6 plywood sheet and cut it down to a little less than 4' long, and combined it with one of the 4 x 2 sheets that was created when the original sheets were cut. The smaller sheet will go towards the front, while the larger sheet goes to the back.

You can see from this picture that the smaller, 4 x 2 sheet, warped quite a bit after it was cut. This may be corrected by putting it on a long piano hinge so it can swing upward.

The other thing that has to happen is I need to get some indoor/outdoor carpeting and cover the platform. Eventually, the big sheet may be screwed to the frame, or I may just put a hook on it and use a turn bolt to connect it to the floor, not sure yet. Being as how the "bed" is only 4' wide, it easily slides in and out of the truck.

The forward end of the platform needs a slight "lift" to make it level, so I cut these legs from some 2 x 2 I had.

However, I will not permanently attach these legs because it will make it more difficult to slide the platform in and out. Instead, my thought is that while in "travel mode" the legs will remain detached, and then when I get to my campsite I can prop up the front of the platform on the legs. It will only need to be like that when I'm sleeping. I may use wing nuts to attach it or I may just leave them propped up. Since I'll only be using the legs when I'm "static", I'm not sure they need to be attached with a bolt.

My platform will accomodate my super-dooper high speed, high tech 'drawer' system:

Which I also sourced at the local big box home store. Should be able to get two of these side by side, and the bulk of my camping and cooking gear should fit in there. The area under the forward compartment should be able to accomodate most of my 'emergency' gear, which means the only "boxes" in my truck should be the cooler, the fridge (I use both), the water (a 6 gallon cubic jug) and maybe a 'dry food' box. This should allow for plenty of space for "stealth camping!"

Anyway, I just wanted to post this in casey anybody else was thinking of building a platform but worried about how to go about it. I'm pretty much the poster child for being all thumbs, so if I can do it, anyone can! My guess is that anybody could do this for a total cost of <$200, all materials included, and the only tools you'd really need would be a good saw and a screwdriver/drill. I used a table saw, which makes it easy to get nice, straight, long cuts, but I'll bet you could do it with a hand-held circular saw if you were careful.

I suggest putting some 2" X slides perpendicular to you lower cross members. Those totes get full and it may be a PITA to slide them in.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Very nice! Glad to see that you were able to take a few things from my experience and refine the concept. Looks like a very stout platform that should suit you well.

I cant recommend a mattress but can suggest that you DO NOT use a memory foam mattress topper. Thats what my wife and I used on our road trip and found that it packed down too quickly and took up too much space. Ive now sourced a few thin camping mats that fit in well and do the job, plus they can be used in a tent, thrown out under the stars, laid out on a beach, etc.

The camping mats I bought are actually quite nice. They are Lightspeed brand from Costco, and are very nice quality for $35. Im extremely pleased with them. According to the specs, they are a 3" self inflating mat with foam inside, and have an R-value of about 5.8.

It may sound funny, but I'm actually considering getting a chaise lounge pad for a mattress! Nice and thick, stuffed with heavy batting so it won't pack down when I sleep (unlike foam) and pretty cheap, too.

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/s...LA_021625421&gclid=CJrzssS077wCFYqFfgoda3oAMA

Size is perfect, about 22" wide X 72" long. And I could fold it up and put it in a plastic bag when not in use, keeping it (less) dusty.

 

[RangeBrover]

Great setup, if you're looking for a cheap pad/mattress the Full Ikea roll up mattresses fit perfectly.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Great setup, if you're looking for a cheap pad/mattress the Full Ikea roll up mattresses fit perfectly.

Do you have a link? The only mattress I could find doesn't look like it would roll up very easily.

 

[laajnnam]

Headroom

I really like this sleeping platform, one question I have is how many inches of headroom do you have on top of it? And does it feel like enough space or is it a bit claustrophobic?
I'm wanting to do something similar in my Subaru Forester, but I have less than 3 feet of headroom to play with.

Thanks!

 

[4x4x4doors]

It may sound funny, but I'm actually considering getting a chaise lounge pad for a mattress! Nice and thick, stuffed with heavy batting so it won't pack down when I sleep (unlike foam) and pretty cheap, too.

Size is perfect, about 22" wide X 72" long. And I could fold it up and put it in a plastic bag when not in use, keeping it (less) dusty.

You planning to use the stripes or the floral side up? :coffeedrink:

Actually that may work quite well as it shouldn't compress to flat so easily.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Done!

OK, so the hard part was last weekend (the hardest part for me is always figuring out what I'm going to do.) This weekend I finished it off.

Indoor/outdoor carpet no longer just comes in boring gray, since forest green is my favorite color, I went with that:

The guy I copied my platform from just had his flat panels sitting on top of the frame. I decided I didn't want them bouncing around so I screwed the rear panel to the frame. I had a 15" piano hinge left over from a previous project, so I used it to hinge the forward portion of the deck:

I really like this sleeping platform, one question I have is how many inches of headroom do you have on top of it? And does it feel like enough space or is it a bit claustrophobic?
I'm wanting to do something similar in my Subaru Forester, but I have less than 3 feet of headroom to play with.

Thanks!

Not a lot but enough for me to be comfortable. You may have to jury-rig something up with a piece of plywood and some bricks to see if you'll be able to make it work. Remember this is just for sleeping, I'm not living in here. As soon as I'm awake, I'm outside.

I was going to try to "anchor" the platform to the load deck with a set of U bolts, turnbuckles, etc, but then when I looked at it, I realized I could do it much simpler with a ratchet strap:

That ratchet strap attaches to the two factory tie down D rings that are permanently attached to the floor on the 4runner on each side of the cargo area (4 total.) That will secure the driver's side.

The passenger side will be secured with a ratchet strap that holds my cargo in. I did a "practice packout" with the large, inflexible Items I'll be carrying: My cooler, small fridge, water can, and a lantern box:

The ratchet strap attaches to the passenger side rear D ring in the back and to the U-bolt for the seat back in the front:

You planning to use the stripes or the floral side up? :coffeedrink:

Floral Print you say?

I prefer to think of it as "Tropical Camouflage" :elkgrin:

Anyway, thanks to everyone for all your encouragement and tips! I'm getting really excited now that I know I have a place for all my gear and will still be able to sleep in the back without having to move a bunch of stuff around. Now all I need to do are cut some "blackout curtains" for the windows and I'll be ready to "stealth camp" at Wal Mart. :wings:

 

[mjmcdowell]

Sleeping platform.....

Woooooo, Martin you are getting more "EXPO" now :sombrero: Great simple low cost mod, they are the best. Looking forward to seeing the set up on DE IV. Michael

 

[SLOwag]

Looks good. You left enough room for it to evolve over time, something I wish I had done with some of my projects. Do you have any info about the folding table shown in post #28.Thanks