My partner and I wanted to drive and camp from Victoria, BC to Whitehorse, Yukon. However, the "camping" had to be bear proof (yes, I know, the likelihood of an unpleasant encounter is remote with a little common sense). So that meant sleeping in our 2000 Lexus RX300 SUV... which meant figuring out how best to do that in a short timeframe (we had to leave in a few weeks time). There are a lot of older but still robust RX300s out there and they are affordable. I thought I could just piggyback on a design from the internet but only found a page showing the front seats moved all the way down to the rear seats with the headrests off which was not going to work for us. Anyways, this is my experience for what it's worth...it's simple and it worked.
I had 3 hard and fast design considerations...
First of all there had to be some storage space in the vehicle so that meant a sleeping platform off the floor. Secondly the sleeping arrangement had to be easily removable and stowable in the cargo area of the vehicle so that the back seats could be utilized for extra passengers (we were visiting rellies on the way up). Thirdly, it had to accommodate a 12v cooler.
The rest of our stuff would be stowed in a roof top carrier.
The 2 main supports were made of scrap 2X6 and 1X4 lumber. Those supports were linked by a front and back* 1X4 rail clipped with bed clip hardware. *Note: Instead of using the rear cross rail, I placed a dowel on each side of the side supports and drilled corresponding holes in the plywood. So that's the frame, next is the sleeping platform which needed to fold up for stowage.
So after cutting the 5/8 plywood to size my local lumber yard made two more cuts. Those 2 cuts were then joined by 2 piano hinges. Larger holes were bored into the plywood to slightly lighten the load and provide for air circulation. A sabre saw rounded the end corners of the plywood, a hole for the cooler was made as well as the wheel wells.
Next a 4" slap of foam was cut to size and trimmed for the rear wheel wells and the 12 volt cooler. In order to fold the mattress up tight when stowage I used 4 inch nylon straps with a couple back pack clips.
Happily the trip was a success. We did meet other "car campers" on the way..some simply had a mat on the floor while others had impeccably made and designed units. For us though with limited carpentry skill and time we were very happy with the outcome.
By the way, ventilation while sleeping is a must but can be a problem where there are mosquitoes or rain.
Mosquitoes: A last minute purchase of those hokey magnetic screens advertised on TV and on sale for $10 did the trick quickly. One over the slightly open moon roof and the other cut in two for the 2 side windows. They worked but I'm looking for a better solution. An acquaintance thought a simple computer fan hooked into the 12v plug would work so I'll look into that. Ventilation in heavy rain was a problem though. One solution might be those plastic window inserts that would direct the raindrops around the slightly open window.
Rain: Even when "camping" in high style (like those land yachts that our southern cousins are so fond of driving to Alaska in ;-)) dealing with rain is not so much fun but it's even less so with the RX300 "RV". We had a tarp that we draped over the open back hatch that afforded us some room and protection but there has to be a better way. Maybe an "awning" that can be rigged up or a portable rain tent.
Cheers!
(Change Log: Originally submitted in Forums|Expedition Campers|4wd (and 2WD) Camper Vans)
I had 3 hard and fast design considerations...
First of all there had to be some storage space in the vehicle so that meant a sleeping platform off the floor. Secondly the sleeping arrangement had to be easily removable and stowable in the cargo area of the vehicle so that the back seats could be utilized for extra passengers (we were visiting rellies on the way up). Thirdly, it had to accommodate a 12v cooler.
The rest of our stuff would be stowed in a roof top carrier.
The 2 main supports were made of scrap 2X6 and 1X4 lumber. Those supports were linked by a front and back* 1X4 rail clipped with bed clip hardware. *Note: Instead of using the rear cross rail, I placed a dowel on each side of the side supports and drilled corresponding holes in the plywood. So that's the frame, next is the sleeping platform which needed to fold up for stowage.
So after cutting the 5/8 plywood to size my local lumber yard made two more cuts. Those 2 cuts were then joined by 2 piano hinges. Larger holes were bored into the plywood to slightly lighten the load and provide for air circulation. A sabre saw rounded the end corners of the plywood, a hole for the cooler was made as well as the wheel wells.
Next a 4" slap of foam was cut to size and trimmed for the rear wheel wells and the 12 volt cooler. In order to fold the mattress up tight when stowage I used 4 inch nylon straps with a couple back pack clips.
Happily the trip was a success. We did meet other "car campers" on the way..some simply had a mat on the floor while others had impeccably made and designed units. For us though with limited carpentry skill and time we were very happy with the outcome.
By the way, ventilation while sleeping is a must but can be a problem where there are mosquitoes or rain.
Mosquitoes: A last minute purchase of those hokey magnetic screens advertised on TV and on sale for $10 did the trick quickly. One over the slightly open moon roof and the other cut in two for the 2 side windows. They worked but I'm looking for a better solution. An acquaintance thought a simple computer fan hooked into the 12v plug would work so I'll look into that. Ventilation in heavy rain was a problem though. One solution might be those plastic window inserts that would direct the raindrops around the slightly open window.
Rain: Even when "camping" in high style (like those land yachts that our southern cousins are so fond of driving to Alaska in ;-)) dealing with rain is not so much fun but it's even less so with the RX300 "RV". We had a tarp that we draped over the open back hatch that afforded us some room and protection but there has to be a better way. Maybe an "awning" that can be rigged up or a portable rain tent.
Cheers!
(Change Log: Originally submitted in Forums|Expedition Campers|4wd (and 2WD) Camper Vans)
