I use the bed of my '04 tacoma as my sleeping platform which has worked out well over the last few years. My only complaint has been that my feet often feel cramped against the tailgate even though i'm only 5' 11. For shorter people (like my girlfriend) this doesn't apply. A few measurements last night confirmed i should be able to fit in the bed without issue so I couldn't figure out why I was getting cramped feet!
While staring at the memory foam pad and pillows I had one of those "ahah" moments. When you sleep your feet aren't at a right angle making you a few inches longer, and even worse, when your head is on a pillow you rarely take up the whole pillow width. Maybe you do if you've got a huge head, but mine is pretty damn big and I'm not even close. So the pillow actually shifts you down in the bed so your effective sleeping length is the width of the pillow plus your height from your feet to the top of your shoulder. this distance is too long for the tacoma bed! The obvious solution, resize the pillow to get rid of those extra 4 inches above the top of your head so your head is actually near the front of the bed!
all that talk but its really simple, break out the sewing machine, cut and sew your pillows (and cases) to be 4 inches or so less in width or whatever fits your head. you immediately gain those 4 inches in bed length with no change in pillow comfort. I can't believe I've gone 3 years sleeping in the back without realizing this. For anyone slightly cramped in your pickup or tent bed, this might be the best free mod you've ever done!
While staring at the memory foam pad and pillows I had one of those "ahah" moments. When you sleep your feet aren't at a right angle making you a few inches longer, and even worse, when your head is on a pillow you rarely take up the whole pillow width. Maybe you do if you've got a huge head, but mine is pretty damn big and I'm not even close. So the pillow actually shifts you down in the bed so your effective sleeping length is the width of the pillow plus your height from your feet to the top of your shoulder. this distance is too long for the tacoma bed! The obvious solution, resize the pillow to get rid of those extra 4 inches above the top of your head so your head is actually near the front of the bed!
all that talk but its really simple, break out the sewing machine, cut and sew your pillows (and cases) to be 4 inches or so less in width or whatever fits your head. you immediately gain those 4 inches in bed length with no change in pillow comfort. I can't believe I've gone 3 years sleeping in the back without realizing this. For anyone slightly cramped in your pickup or tent bed, this might be the best free mod you've ever done!
