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  1. #76
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Idaho
    Posts
    10,953
    Quote Originally Posted by rip View Post
    I sold my truck a couple years ago but I was also definitely on the KISS train. After a couple different platform designs I was cruising thru sams club one spring stocking up for a drive to Alaska, found a cot like this, layed down on it, and threw my old platform design in the garbage that afternoon. So comfortable, could still store items underneath and also easily removable, which was always big for me since I still liked to use my truck like a truck.

    https://www.ganderoutdoors.com/ventu...ey-262043.html
    On two prior pickups, sold the Decked system and used a cot instead the last year of ownership and before that, pulled the carpeted platform and used a cot because my buddy's dog got the squirts all over the carpet and I could never quite get the smell out and I was too lazy to make another one. Cots work great. The only reason I put a half platform in this one is it's easier to put skis under.

  2. #77
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    T.ride
    Posts
    1,813
    Quote Originally Posted by Conundrum View Post
    Cots work great. The only reason I put a half platform in this one is it's easier to put skis under.
    For sure, storage under the cot can be tricky, especially frustrating when you load it up perfect, then at night go to lay down and get jabbed in the back cuz you packed it too high. I actually would work the elastic thru and tighten up the cot webbing so it wouldn’t sag so much but I came to really like the cot for a single person sleep option, since the cot can’t go right against the bedrail I would hang my skis over the wheel well and since that style cot folds into thirds right under my feet I would have my kitchen crate and toiletries crate which worked really well for me.

    Also at the time I was also living in a tiny studio apartment so storage of whatever system I had was pretty much nonexistent. I would get so much better sleep on the cot than the platform. My advice to anyone dirtbagging it is this.. if you can’t stand up and put your pants on, keep your money and time investments to a minimum.

  3. #78
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    1,064
    Quote Originally Posted by rip View Post
    if you can’t stand up and put your pants on, keep your money and time investments to a minimum.
    Strongly agree. With the right cuts, I got my Tacoma platform out of one 4x8 sheet of playwood and a 2x6.

  4. #79
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Idaho
    Posts
    10,953
    Another overlooked factor is the height of the topper. Cab height gets a little cramped for me if the platform is much higher than the wheel wells and then the storage isn't great for much except skis without drawers which is a whole other set of complications and cost. And effort to take out if you want to use your pickup for much hauling. I've had both raised and cab height.

    I went raised topper on my current truck. I get made fun of by my buddies for it looking like a grandpa pickup. I think looking like a grandpa means I'm less likely to be hassled by the law dogs.

  5. #80
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Whistler
    Posts
    65
    I was looking into building a platform for my Tacoma, but then I stumbled across a family selling an Ikea Kreatur bed on Craigslist. It's under 6ft long, and with an added layer of plywood just manages to clear the wheel wells. I can still store my camping/climbing gear underneath it but there's enough height above me that I don't feel claustrophobic. Plus my bike, skis or whatever slides in easily next to it so it can stay back there almost full time (although taking it out is easy enough, my lack of a garage/storage space means it needs to live in the truck). I should probably add some wood glue to keep it from shaking apart, but so far the cost:effort ratio has been ideal - $50 for the bed, mattress and a washable mattress cover and all I had to do was secure it from sliding.

    Bonus: the family thought it was hilarious when they asked how old my kid was and I had to explain I was buying it for myself.
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  6. #81
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Gaperville, CO
    Posts
    5,845
    That's straight G.

  7. #82
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    SW Jongistan
    Posts
    447
    Awesome. Just need a brightly painted interior and some animals or flowers on the headliner.

  8. #83
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    T.ride
    Posts
    1,813
    Now that's what I'm talking about!

    May I also recommend picking up a thrift store pee wee Herman getup and a vintage jack-in-the-box to play while sitting on your tailgate any time you are camped anywhere semi public like 18rd or willow springs Rd in moab

  9. #84
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    SLC burbs
    Posts
    4,186
    Quote Originally Posted by rip View Post
    My advice to anyone dirtbagging it is this.. if you can’t stand up and put your pants on, keep your money and time investments to a minimum.
    +2 on this. Ms Boissal and I went back and forth for a while re: shell height then we hopped in the back of a buddy's Taco with an extra-tall shell and realized we could barely sit up in there even with his minimalist platform. We said fuck it to comfort, went with a regular-height shell and made this super basic set of slats for it, took a couple of hours and scrap wood I had laying around. The key to make it work is to sleep with your head close to the tailgate because crawling all the way to the back then turning around to get in the sleeping back when Ms Boissal and the dog are already in there is a recipe for severe back pain.

    We typically keep a couple slats in the back screwed in place but the ones closer to the tailgate come off and can be stacked when not in use. We keep an inflatable 4" mattress and 2-person sleeping bag rolled in a blanket on top of the slat pile (the whole stack is held together by long straps which velcro to the shell's carpet). That basically gives us the entire bed for packing and once we get to camp and empty the back it takes 15 seconds to setup the bed. The cookware, food boxes, clothes bag, skis, and climbing gear all fit underneath the slats when they're in place and the bulkier gear can go on the back seats if it can't stay outside. When we move camp we just remove a few slats, fold the bed back on itself, and shove all the gear in half the bed. Works wonder for combined ski/climb or climb/bike trips with 2 people. The original slats were 1x6 and when the dog (90+ lbs) was sleeping with us we'd notice a bit of sag so I replaced the ones under our asses with 2x6. When I'm solo I replace the bedroll with a regular 1-1/2" inflatable thermarest, the space between the slats is small enough that you don't feel the dips.

    The only issue is the fact that all the little shit you want to keep near you head at night (headlamp, phone, glasses, bacon, oboe, enormous dildo, who am I to judge) wants to fall between the slats and roll around the bottom of the bed...

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  10. #85
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    6,388
    Don’t the non attached slats just bounce out of place on a rocky road?
    You could keep a battery drill in there and take out on the road if you needed.


    And I thought I typed this the other night but maybe I fell asleep first.
    Was sketching out plans to build two little boxes that could be side by side for two people, or stacked for one plus bikes. Occurred to me they look a lot like coffins.

  11. #86
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Whistler
    Posts
    65
    Quote Originally Posted by coldfeet View Post
    Awesome. Just need a brightly painted interior and some animals or flowers on the headliner.
    I was thinking some glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and a string of twinkly lights as well...

  12. #87
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    SLC burbs
    Posts
    4,186
    Quote Originally Posted by Rideski View Post
    Don’t the non attached slats just bounce out of place on a rocky road?
    You could keep a battery drill in there and take out on the road if you needed.


    And I thought I typed this the other night but maybe I fell asleep first.
    Was sketching out plans to build two little boxes that could be side by side for two people, or stacked for one plus bikes. Occurred to me they look a lot like coffins.
    The loose slats are stapped to the very last one which is fixed in place so no bouncing. The rest of the shit in the bed takes care of that!

  13. #88
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Posts
    1

    It's very nice design

    It's very nice design

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