Sleeping Platform Building Material

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I guess....sleeping platforms are Kewl.

But personally I do not see the need for one.

All of my goodies fit behind my drivers seat in a nice row...all bungied up!

My gas tank is on the passenger side.......so I feel I am balanced.

My twin size.....blow up air bed fits nicely when layed flat next to my goodie bins and everything is accessible.

I don't have the extra weight of a sleeping platform.....and I also have More Headroom.....which I really like!

This is not a slam.....it's just what I do.

 

[articulate]

Mark, maybe you are thinking of MDO, medium density overlay, which is used for signs. It has a smooth fiber coating on front and back and is pretty nearly weather proof, even unfinished. The edges will need to be treated for a severe use application- the inner material is exterior plywood.

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I would not want OSB anywhere near my vehicle.

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Dale

Ah, you're right Dale. MDO. My apologies. Today's OSB, though, does have a pretty resilient adhesive holding it together, but it wouldn't last that long. I was thinking MDO, not OSB, when I typed up that response. Sorry for the confusion.

What ever wood product is used for an exterior sleeping platform, it should still be coated to keep water out, and then maintained to do so. And if you can work with synthetic materials, that would even be better (polymax, HDPE, etc).

 

[Clay]

I guess....sleeping platforms are Kewl.

But personally I do not see the need for one.

All of my goodies fit behind my drivers seat in a nice row...all bungied up!

My gas tank is on the passenger side.......so I feel I am balanced.

My twin size.....blow up air bed fits nicely when layed flat next to my goodie bins and everything is accessible.

I don't have the extra weight of a sleeping platform.....and I also have More Headroom.....which I really like!

This is not a slam.....it's just what I do.

The plan for mine is something like Brian894x4's set up was in his truck. I just basically want to be off of the ribs on the floor of the bed.

 

[ntsqd]

The plan for mine is something like Brian894x4's set up was in his truck. I just basically want to be off of the ribs on the floor of the bed.

Haven't looked at Brian's set-up in years, but what I did was fairly simple. I cut a piece of 1/4 exterior grade plywood to fit around the fender wells of my '84 Mini. Then I cut some outdoor carpet (from HD) to fit over that. I frequently flip back some of the carpet to carry something greasy/slimy like a JY sourced spare transfercase etc. I'm on my second piece of plywood in 12 years as I've not sealed or painted either and the first one got a bit too soaked in 90wt. to want to sleep inside with.

Were I going to build something elevated I'd think about how to use 1/4" ply for the top and bottom, with fully bonded stringers & cross bars in between. Say some 3/4" square clear fir perimeters and then same for the stringers & cross' on 14"-16" centers.
Building from one or more polymers would be a great idea, but the bonding and sourcing gets more complex.