Question about sleeping in cargo area

Is is really a lot of space to be gained by deleting the rear seat backs? How difficult is that compared to the seat bottoms?

Did you remove the seat belts also?

 

You gain a good amount of potential storage underneath the platform. In my experience, it's well worth the effort.

There are (2) 14mm bolts on the hinge that holds each seat-back in the middle. Then, there's a bolt in the rear of the seat back that attaches to the hinges on the sides toward the wheel well. And, another bolt will free the hinges from the body. I usually reattach the hinges to the seat backs to keep everything together.

I forget which ones are 12 and which are 14, but they can be removed in a few minutes with just a ratchet and a 12 & 14 mm socket. The passenger/center seat back is fairly heavy, but not too bad.

It usually takes me about 20-30 minutes to remove the seats completely and slide the platform into place. I do not remove the seat belts.

Some pictures to show how I used the added space for storage. Keep in mind, though, that my platform is about 8-9" tall in the cargo area, so I have a little more storage than some setups.

 

Same, I love tent camping but my wife had grown out of it unfortunately. I think car camping in a 4 runner could be fun as well. I have found over the years it's becomes less of the adventure of it and more about enjoying the moment. In the Marines you definitely learn to train your body to grab sleep when and where you can. Sleeping with your face in the mud sand or rocks. When your tired your tired. Creepy crawlies over my skin never bothered me. With the thought of wildlife coming up at night and the security of your car. I might suggest sleeping with a sidearm close at hand even in your tent. Not to kill but as a scare tactic. If I could bestow some wisdom on Chozen about the one thing I learned. Why the heck didn't I buy RV's or travel trailers much sooner? Your no less manly glamping than you are shoving yourself in your 4 runner camping. I remember the first night my wife and I had a travel trailer. We rolled into some National Park somewhere. Screaming rain and howling winds. Tent camping in near Tornado conditions would of been horrible to set up camp. I back my trailer in, put the slides out and was up and running in less than 5 minutes. I sat there sipping my beer and my wife her glass of wine in total relaxation. If I had been cramped with my spouse in the back of my 4 runner and or crossing my fingers my tent doesn't leak my wife would have been miserable.

I have found many wild areas of 4 wheel drive tracks are still within driving distant at night to a decent base camp area. Definitely enjoy nature as you see fit as Bass suggested. I can only part with a nugget of intel I have learned over the years. Have fun with it !

 

My wife and I sleep in the back. Made a platform to help level out the area. She didn't go up camping so ground tent might be a bit of a stretch to get her on board. Now I just need to figure out where our Great Dane will sleep haha. I imagine when kids come into the picture we will go big tent or trailer route, but until the we are hobos in the back!

 

This is my setup (although I carpeted the platform and used 1/2" instead of 3/4" plywood. I have also slept in back on a Luno inflatable without using the platform, which worked well enough. One nice thing about the Luno mattress is that you can use it full width or half width. The latter is nice when you don't want to move everything outside or up top.

 

Surprisingly it’s much more space than I anticipated. Before I would put my camp tables, chairs, buddy heater, tarps, skottle, and trash can in the roof pod. Then I’d have to put the firewood inside the truck and I hated that. Then again it’s two adults and a large dog camping so I didn’t want the mess of the firewood inside the truck, plus whatever critters are living inside to find new shelter inside the truck.

With the seat delete, and no I kept the seatbelts due to the fact that if I want to put the seats back in it’s one less step to do so, I’m able to put all that stuff that used to be in the pod under the platform. Of course minus the trash can, tarps, and poop shovel. Now the pod is a dedicated dirty utility room lol.

another benefit of camping inside the car is that you can turn on the truck, heat it up, and sleep comfortably. I only do this when camping in the winter and it’s snowing though, but it sure beats the hell out of a tent.

 

I went with the $40 do it yourself plywood platform and it works perfectly. I cut a piece of an old wool blanket to wrap around so it wouldn’t scratch the plastic over time or my sleeping bag. Bit of spray glue to keep the blanket on the plywood and some staples on the bottom. Then I ordered a 5.5 inch thick 28“ x 66“ memory foam customized mattress from mattress insider. Only cost $197. 28 inches is the width I will need with the single seat still in an upright position, I think my dog will sleep in that seat. Of course it’s just me and this sweet doggy at this point, I know a lot of you lucky people with girlfriends and wives Would need a larger mattress. it also gives me room behind that single seat for a couple of backpacks and so on. I always hated inflatable.

I really think the prefabricated options are way too expensive for what they are.

 

I think you are correct

 

How did you mount the pull-outs?

 

Do you feel the 1/2" is solid enough? I assume on 2" risers, so 2.5" overall, does that sit even with the folded rear seats?

 

Since this thread got bumped I'll add some further experiences and address this question:

I have a GX now, but it's similar to the 4R although my second row seats are one piece (can't just remove the backs), but once removed the available room is same-same. I removed the second row seats and installed a platform - and this has been even better than the platform I described on page 1 of this thread because it is significantly lower, it allows storage under the area where the second row footwells are, and it doesn't require the Rubbermaid bins to support your head.

The number one advantage, honestly, is that the entire platform sits lower if you remove the 2nd row seats. You are "only" gaining about 3" of extra height by doing this but that 3" is the difference (that's what she said) between being able to sit fully upright or not, and that is a game changer.

Platform uses a "leaf" that you can drop in to extend the area for sleeping. So basically in the driving position, with front seats fully back, the platform comes up just to the back of the seats, and is held captive by gravity and two dowels that protrude up out of the framework and nest in holes drilled into the platform. In the sleeping position, with front seats fully forward, you lift the platform forward and nest a second set of holes on the dowels, and then drop the leaf into the gap you just created between the cargo area floor and the platform, and this nets you 80" of perfectly flat surface area to sleep on.

If I get another 5th gen, I would do this style of platform build instead of the previous one, having used it now and appreciating the differences.

I do not remove the 2nd row seat belts (the female sections are part of the seats so they come out with the seats, can't recall exactly how it is on the 4R).

You got about $40 in wood and some metal straps so it's budget minded.

 

I made this platform from two 4x8 sheets of 1/2” Baltic Birch plywood. The cost was a little more than construction grade plywood but it is a high quality product that is strong and relatively light weight. I can fit an amazing amount of gear in the drawers and side compartments. I built this 6 years ago and it has bounced around the desert for 20k miles and it is still solid.



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My SR5 is my daily driver and my wife uses it when she need more space for moving stuff.
Since my camping outings are solo. I use a cot that fits right over the folded 2nd row and wheel wells.
DIY awning and screens for windows.

 

Technically they are not mounted. The frame of the platform holds them, no rails or anything. Just a bottom support and some friction pads to keep them solid. Think of it like the old school slide out cutting board built in the cabinets.

 

Somebody a couple yrs ago had a good, cheap way of elevating that rear area to place his mattress on. He just grabbed several cardboard boxes from Home Pot and threw down. Nothing elegant but it brought it up to height without much expense and easy to take out when needed.

 

Options are important.

I prefer sleeping in my 4Runner since my set up leaves lots of head room. But i have to always bring a tent because in some states its against the law to sleep in your vehicle and they will take you to jail. When I Was doing my multi state trip from CT to GA it went from you will go to jail if you sleep in your vehicle, to a fine, to we encourage you to sleep in your vehicle for your safety. The East coast is an interesting part of the country.

 

I have slept in anXTerra, then several 4Runners, then a Jeep JLU, and now my GX for 20 years, hundreds maybe even a thousand times, quite literally in 49 of 50 states and have never once seen a sign or been informed that sleeping in your vehicle was illegal in any place where camping and pitching a tent was legit. Not one person and especially no law enforcement has ever contacted me and told me to move, or that I was illegal.

Time was, especially in areas ravaged by homelessness, that the cops would move you along if you were sleeping; but to straight up take a guy to jail for sleeping in his car, especially if he was obviously on a trip and not some degenerate, would be unheard of. Additionally, Martin v Boise's federal circuit court ruling throttled back police contacting and rousting people sleeping in public, as needing to sleep and being able to sleep is a basic human right. If cops were 'meh' about sleeping in cars before that ruling (and they were) they gave zero shits after that ruling.

Bottom line, if you are not sleeping in your vehicle for fear of being arrested, I think you are worried for nothing.

 

Thanks for the detail/experience. I was in MD where i was told it was illegal and in VA area where it would just be a ticket, but that was likely bluster. IMO it would be a pretty shitty thing for cops to do if someone just wanted to sleep for a bit. But i have seen videos of people getting arrested for reading a book in there car or just sitting in a parking lot. lol Granted they expressed the Constitutional rights, apparently that's always suspicious. lol

BTW supreme court basically overturned Martin v Boise's recently.

 

I think they sent it back to the lower court for reconsideration, and the result was municipalities can enforce camping ordinances with a little more zeal than they were during the rein of M v B; however I still see no issue with a normal human sleeping in their car. And honestly, no normal human is going to be "camping" out the back of their 4R in a metro area where other legit homeless are at anyway, so it's likely even less of a concern for guys like you and me.

 

You wo

Do you have the dimensions and materials for this? That's a real good idea for air flow, hell, might even work when driving down the road and my animals are in the rig with me. I was thinking of making something similar for the back window.

 

Regarding my DIY screens, originally made them for my 2004 Pilot. Sold Pilot and got my runner.
Fortunately Pilot screens were larger and I cut them down to fit the runner.
If you craft things these are easy. Get a piece of paper, on outside of window-press paper into shape of window around its perimeter. Try to pencil this perimeter in place. Cut it out with scissors. Transfer this pattern onto thicker paper - keep making paper patterns till its accurate- then transfer to luan plywood about the thickness of the glass. Both D& P side 2nd row windows are same size, just mirror images. Carefully cut out luan pattern with band or saber saw. Use blade with small teeth-like a metal cutting blade - to minimize splintering the cuts. Sand/file edges till satisfied. Remake if necessary.
If you measure the window slot depth on front and rear edges you will identify a difference (I forget which is deeper). This allows you to fit the screen frame which is larger than your pattern by the deeper side. Also shorter top to bottom than the opening.
With glass down, you fit the wood screen frame into the deeper slot, then slip it about halfway into opposite side slot. Slide it to the top.
Now the wood screen frame is partially in both vertical window frame slots front and rear and fully in top slot.
Bump window up to bottom of glass to hold it in place. Screen size cutout leaves enough luan for strength. I glued a piece of (no see up size) screen to the inside of wood.
If you would ilike photos & dimensions I can provide in a few days, just let me know!