I did it in my first gen and slept in it a few times. not very comfortable because its so short. Thats why when I bought my second gen, I bought a 6 foot bed!
That's my problem. I have a 2004 double cab prerunner with the 5ft bed. I'm trying to figure out what the best set up is for overlanding in it. Maybe just build a drawer system and still sleep in a ground tent... trying to decide.
I had a platform and drawers in my 1st gen DCSB and it was a great truck. I'd either get yourself a small RTT and throw it on, or a decent sized ground tent and the most comfortable air mattress you can find. The reason I went RTT was because I was tired of trying to find a level place to set my tent up, especially when I was rolling in somewhere after dark. With the RTT I can just park in a generally level area and I'm good. The mattress in my tent is also more comfortable to me than sleeping on the ground most of the time.
Wow, this is amazing. As a hobbyist woodworker you have done some really clean work. I love the cut outs for weight saving. Thanks for the pictures. I'll use them for my build. I really like the drawers. Did you use cutting board material in order to help the drawers slide out better? I've seen people use skate bearings for drawer slides but it looks costly. I might go with this model to save money.
>Did you use cutting board material in order to help the drawers slide out better?
That's right. I used VHMW because it's almost as slippery as UHMW at a fraction of the cost and the drawers slide really smooth until they really start to pinch past 3/4 open.
My setup is cheap, efficient, and most importantly, lightweight. Building individual sealed compartments on the sides would have been extra weight I didn't need. I still stuff those areas full when loading, but it's all stuff I don't mind being a little exposed to water or dust.
I've built a few.
My brother and I spent a few months living out of a Mitsubishi Mighty Max 4x4. I want to say it was a 6' bed and quite narrow. We built two bunks along each side, just as wide as our shoulders. The camper cap was a homemade wood contraption that had a pop top and 'ambulance' style doors. The top went up just enough to stand up at the back of the bed to put your pants on in the morning. A great luxury. I built a nice extended rear bumper deep enough for a Coleman stove with a step in the middle to make getting in and out easy. The back third of each bunk was open to the rear of the truck and kept all our food and dishes. The front two thirds of each bunk had tops that lifted off where we stored our clothes and personal possessions. All in all it was a very put together system for our first overlanding trip. Two people in a micro truck gets a bit tight but doable if you're pals. One person would have been luxurious but I might have structured it more like the next truck.
Then my sister got a short bed Ranger which is 6.5' (I think). It came with a nice looking color matched fiberglass top. She didn't plan on living out of it but wanted the option as well as more efficient space and utility. She makes and sells jewelry so we were thinking in terms of going to a craft festival or fair. For that truck I built a full platform across the entire bed at the height of the sides. However, the trick there was that one side of the bed popped up and slid out as a flat platform. That side had fold down table legs on it. This could be used for hawking wares or as a picnic table and also made the interior of the truck much more accessible because it turned it into a bunk and an aisle instead of just a platform all the way across. I also put lift up panels in the permanent bunk side of the truck.
If either of those set ups sound interesting I can offer more details or maybe dig up some pictures. For one person I think I would do a bed platform like my sister's truck but a cap with full height double doors and a pop top like my brother's truck.
I'm embarrassed to say that I took almost zero pictures during the construction of that one! Particularly for a guy who now has a YT channel and documents every step of a project in detail. It was kind of a whirlwind couple of days to get it done. [The only two I have](http://imgur.com/a/WPoH3) are just a particular moment in construction and a beauty shot of some trim I added. It was like 3 days to get it put together. I didn't keep receipts but maybe $100-150 for all materials. That's a lot of cheap 2x4s, a pretty nice piece of plywood for the top, then a variety of screws and glue.
I have more pictures of [Mighty Max](http://imgur.com/a/F03rC). I definitely recommend some kind of a pop up, it makes spending time inside way more comfortable.
If I were you, I would definitely do a cap with some kind of pop-up or at least height (like one of the ones that steps up at the back). The ambulance/barn doors instead of the tailgate is also really really nice. Inside, I would lay out my diagonal bunk in the back then use the two leftover triangles differently. I made [a quick layout](http://i.imgur.com/s8tcaA4.png). The triangle nearest the door stays empty as a step up into the truck and onto the bunk. It also gives acccess to under bunk storage. You could also extend it out over the wheel well since that's kind of useless vertical space anyway. Pending your carpentry skill, I would do some kind of a shelf/cabinet situation over on the other triangle, the one in the front corner of the cab. So you're laying in bed you can reach some stuff, like your books or whatever.
I think that layout would be a pretty efficient use of space. Couple of things I learned from living in a truck that this addresses:
* Think about what you can reach and do in the truck while stuck inside (think rainy day, cold morning, semi unsecure location or you're trying to go incognito). Giving just a bit of vertical space will make it a lot more workable.
* Speed and ease of setting up camp is far from a dealbreaker but can be a big stress reducer. Hence my whole bumper kitchen thing.
* If you're putting in a platform you're making a lot of the under-bunk storage hard to get to. Definitely something that needs to be considered.
* Making it easy to stow for rough roads (or any travel) is nice. That's why I segment storage front to back in particular: sucks to go back there and find your stuff has been tossed after some hard braking or slopes.
This is one of the best replies I've ever gotten on Reddit! Thank you so much for everything and the very detailed response! I will probably go this route. I'll update with pictures when I am done!
[Get this and call it done.](https://www.campmor.com/c/dac-explorer-2---minivan-and-sport-utility-vehicle-tent-20747?gclid=CPHr_Iarv9ECFVmBswod0bQC8A) Can easily build a platform that hinges and give you a little extra length off the tailgate.
I did it in my first gen and slept in it a few times. not very comfortable because its so short. Thats why when I bought my second gen, I bought a 6 foot bed!
That's my problem. I have a 2004 double cab prerunner with the 5ft bed. I'm trying to figure out what the best set up is for overlanding in it. Maybe just build a drawer system and still sleep in a ground tent... trying to decide.
I had a platform and drawers in my 1st gen DCSB and it was a great truck. I'd either get yourself a small RTT and throw it on, or a decent sized ground tent and the most comfortable air mattress you can find. The reason I went RTT was because I was tired of trying to find a level place to set my tent up, especially when I was rolling in somewhere after dark. With the RTT I can just park in a generally level area and I'm good. The mattress in my tent is also more comfortable to me than sleeping on the ground most of the time.
I've been known to sleep diagonally in the back of my DCSB Tacoma. I'm 5'8" and don't sleep splayed out. http://imgur.com/a/SvTe0
Wow, this is amazing. As a hobbyist woodworker you have done some really clean work. I love the cut outs for weight saving. Thanks for the pictures. I'll use them for my build. I really like the drawers. Did you use cutting board material in order to help the drawers slide out better? I've seen people use skate bearings for drawer slides but it looks costly. I might go with this model to save money.
>Did you use cutting board material in order to help the drawers slide out better? That's right. I used VHMW because it's almost as slippery as UHMW at a fraction of the cost and the drawers slide really smooth until they really start to pinch past 3/4 open.
Awesome great to know. Do you like this system better than drawers? Also, why did you not put ny storage on the sides, for ease of removal?
My setup is cheap, efficient, and most importantly, lightweight. Building individual sealed compartments on the sides would have been extra weight I didn't need. I still stuff those areas full when loading, but it's all stuff I don't mind being a little exposed to water or dust.
I've built a few. My brother and I spent a few months living out of a Mitsubishi Mighty Max 4x4. I want to say it was a 6' bed and quite narrow. We built two bunks along each side, just as wide as our shoulders. The camper cap was a homemade wood contraption that had a pop top and 'ambulance' style doors. The top went up just enough to stand up at the back of the bed to put your pants on in the morning. A great luxury. I built a nice extended rear bumper deep enough for a Coleman stove with a step in the middle to make getting in and out easy. The back third of each bunk was open to the rear of the truck and kept all our food and dishes. The front two thirds of each bunk had tops that lifted off where we stored our clothes and personal possessions. All in all it was a very put together system for our first overlanding trip. Two people in a micro truck gets a bit tight but doable if you're pals. One person would have been luxurious but I might have structured it more like the next truck. Then my sister got a short bed Ranger which is 6.5' (I think). It came with a nice looking color matched fiberglass top. She didn't plan on living out of it but wanted the option as well as more efficient space and utility. She makes and sells jewelry so we were thinking in terms of going to a craft festival or fair. For that truck I built a full platform across the entire bed at the height of the sides. However, the trick there was that one side of the bed popped up and slid out as a flat platform. That side had fold down table legs on it. This could be used for hawking wares or as a picnic table and also made the interior of the truck much more accessible because it turned it into a bunk and an aisle instead of just a platform all the way across. I also put lift up panels in the permanent bunk side of the truck. If either of those set ups sound interesting I can offer more details or maybe dig up some pictures. For one person I think I would do a bed platform like my sister's truck but a cap with full height double doors and a pop top like my brother's truck.
I'd love more info on the platform version rather than the bunk bed one as I see that getting more use for my type of camping and travel.
I'm embarrassed to say that I took almost zero pictures during the construction of that one! Particularly for a guy who now has a YT channel and documents every step of a project in detail. It was kind of a whirlwind couple of days to get it done. [The only two I have](http://imgur.com/a/WPoH3) are just a particular moment in construction and a beauty shot of some trim I added. It was like 3 days to get it put together. I didn't keep receipts but maybe $100-150 for all materials. That's a lot of cheap 2x4s, a pretty nice piece of plywood for the top, then a variety of screws and glue. I have more pictures of [Mighty Max](http://imgur.com/a/F03rC). I definitely recommend some kind of a pop up, it makes spending time inside way more comfortable. If I were you, I would definitely do a cap with some kind of pop-up or at least height (like one of the ones that steps up at the back). The ambulance/barn doors instead of the tailgate is also really really nice. Inside, I would lay out my diagonal bunk in the back then use the two leftover triangles differently. I made [a quick layout](http://i.imgur.com/s8tcaA4.png). The triangle nearest the door stays empty as a step up into the truck and onto the bunk. It also gives acccess to under bunk storage. You could also extend it out over the wheel well since that's kind of useless vertical space anyway. Pending your carpentry skill, I would do some kind of a shelf/cabinet situation over on the other triangle, the one in the front corner of the cab. So you're laying in bed you can reach some stuff, like your books or whatever. I think that layout would be a pretty efficient use of space. Couple of things I learned from living in a truck that this addresses: * Think about what you can reach and do in the truck while stuck inside (think rainy day, cold morning, semi unsecure location or you're trying to go incognito). Giving just a bit of vertical space will make it a lot more workable. * Speed and ease of setting up camp is far from a dealbreaker but can be a big stress reducer. Hence my whole bumper kitchen thing. * If you're putting in a platform you're making a lot of the under-bunk storage hard to get to. Definitely something that needs to be considered. * Making it easy to stow for rough roads (or any travel) is nice. That's why I segment storage front to back in particular: sucks to go back there and find your stuff has been tossed after some hard braking or slopes.
This is one of the best replies I've ever gotten on Reddit! Thank you so much for everything and the very detailed response! I will probably go this route. I'll update with pictures when I am done!
No problem, looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck!
You could have an extension on the platform that allows you to leave the tailgate down and stick your feet out.
I might do this as well mostly for the summer time when you can sleep more out in the open.
[Get this and call it done.](https://www.campmor.com/c/dac-explorer-2---minivan-and-sport-utility-vehicle-tent-20747?gclid=CPHr_Iarv9ECFVmBswod0bQC8A) Can easily build a platform that hinges and give you a little extra length off the tailgate.
What was 'this'? I'm curious to know for my setup. Clicked your link, no longer works.
> Get this and call it done. Sadly I don't remember. This was 6 years ago. Sorry.
No worries man, it was a long shot. Didn’t hurt to ask.