Sleeping Platform Design Details....
Here’s the rough plan for the sleeping platform. Since mine was originally made from bits and pieces I had laying around the shop I made this plan based on a single sheet of 3/4" 4'x 8' plywood. The only thing that is missing is the piece for the bulkhead. That can be source as either a piece of scrap ¾ plywood or a piece of scrap lumber.
Here's the view from the top…
And here is the back and side views…
To attach the sleeping extensions and their supports use 3/4" piano hinges piano. The supports for the sleeping extensions should be mounted so that they are flush with top of the sides; this allows the supports to swing easily over the Jeep’s floor and keeps the extensions level when deployed. I would suggest that you dado the top sheet to situate the sides. For non-woodworkers a dado is a groove machined into the material to help center and hold whatever piece is being attached to the original. This can be accomplished with a router or a dado blade on a table saw. For ¾ materials a 3/16” to ¼” dado will do just fine. You can just flush mount the sides to the top if you choose but in either case be sure to glue and screw them together. I like to use outdoor style adhesive or an outdoor wood glue when I’m building stuff like this.
The bulkhead serves two purposes: it adds extra support and weight bearing to the top and keeps the sides from racking while under use and when the Jeep’s bouncing down the trail. I made the bulkhead 4” wide so that I can slide long items under it like my camp table. I dadoed the inside of both side pieces to help center the bulkhead and then glued and screwed it all together. Again you can choose to just flush mount the pieces and forgo the dadoes if you don’t have the tools. I also used outdoor deck screws for all the fastener other than the piano hinges so as to avoid any rusting of the fasteners being that they’re in a semi-outdoor environment. Here’s a shot of the bulkhead joinery...
And a shot of the underside of the platform...
Okay…here’s a few shots of how the extension supports deploy…
Though there have been times when I didn’t bother and just used whatever was in my dry bag to hold up the sleeping extension.
Well I hope that helps everybody visualize the project and answers everyone’s question. Be sure to let me know how yours turns out and whatever tweaks or improvements you do to the design. I’ve already for a few ideas for when I build a finished version of my current build on the run design.
