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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 11:59 am: | 
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***first of all I have to give credit to the guys at d-90.com for the idea***
Well here it is, as promised to Kyle last night, my new mod w/ lots of wood (shut up right now Rob and gp  )
I do a lot of camping and it seems like most of the time it isn't in the most hospitable of weather. Unfortunatly there isn't really room to sleep in the back of the disco unless you were to completely remove the rear seats (which I need) and plug up the rear foot well w/ something so I made this.
It is hinged at three places, you fold the backs of the rear seats down and push the front seats all the way up, it then acordians out w/ the middle section resting on the seat backs and the very end resting on the console (this section only supports the weight of your feet). Throw some sleeping pads in the back and its good to go, all in all there usable sleeping are is 70 inches long, of course being 6'2" it works best for me to lay diagonaly or let my feet hang over inbetween the front seats. It is VERY stable, shockingly stable actually (about two times more stable than I ever thought it would be).
You can also just unfold the first section across the rear seat backs and use it to throw cargo on top of w/ the front seats still pushed back in driving possition. I am going to install some tie down points on it today.
Well enjoy, praise or make fun of my construction, and start the "wood" jokes gp and rob. It's prettier than I thought it would be, but still a little on the butt ugly side, all the same it does what I need it to do (and pretty cheap too -$20 in materials, not counting what I allready had laying around though)
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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:02 pm: |
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stupid internet connection, lets try them one at a time:
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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:03 pm: |
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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:04 pm: |
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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:06 pm: |
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sorry about that white space in the second one
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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:07 pm: |
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Rob Davison (Pokerob)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:22 pm: |
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i like it...
but i would have made those hinges recessed, ouch
rd |
Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:27 pm: |
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yeah the hinge work aint pretty but buying real good hinges that I could have fit more flush would have sent this project way over budget for what I felt like spending on it. I use a pretty thick sleeping bad though, when I cralwed in there w/ it I couldn't even feel the hinges. |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:39 pm: |
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Looks pretty good to me, Carter. Have you considered having someone recreate your design using aluminum to get the weight down some?
And, to keep the item off the center console, why not notch the material around the console? You could hinge in two legs on that particular tab that fold down and inward to sit on either side of the console or on the outside corners.I guess I would just be worried about the console.
Looks great though and a good idea. |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:40 pm: |
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The hinges would be another bennefit to metal in that you could weld them on instead of bolt them. |
Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:49 pm: |
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I'm not to worried about the console just because it literly just supports the weight of my feet but there is also another "shim" that goes underneath that piece (to make it lay flush w/ the rest when it is foled up), it is off for painting right now but it will also have a piece of weather striping to keep the console form getting to scuffed up. But I will be watching out for problems in that area
And yes, I have though of doing it in aluminum and probablly will when/if this one ever bites the dust. I just wanted to see if the basic concept would work before shelling out a whole ton of dough. But I have to say I am impressed with how rigid this thing is.
I am not worried about weight because I have the highest rate rovertym springs which actually need a good bit of weight in the back to ride really well. Once I have all five of my 235/85 BFG MTs on steelies in the back, it only changed the ride height my just under 1/4 of an inch and rode better than ever |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 12:59 pm: |
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Yeah, I've got those same RTE springs and my truck rides like a board unless I keep some weight in it. |
Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 01:03 pm: |
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Hmmm... Carter you'll need to lay down a rubber mat on that.
:::Porn music playing in the background:::
Very cool though. |
charles pastrano (Charles)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 01:04 pm: |
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I like it! The hinges |
muskyman
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 01:21 pm: |
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carter,
my mom built one like that but taller that sat in the back of my parents dodge maxi van when I was a kid. she called it the camp kitchen because the base box was the pantry for our family camping trips it folded accordian style using piano hinges across the top of all 4 seats and slept 5 of us kids side by side across the width of the van.
yours looks like a great start. forget using aluminum on the next one you'l freeze your ass off in cold weather. I would say think about using composite honeycomb board stock. it weighs nothing and you could rivet piano hinges to it for a flush surface. it also is very stiff so would work well as you have yours set up
thom |
Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 01:53 pm: |
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yeah aluminum would make it cold, never thought of that. I'm not familiar w/ composite honeycomb board, I will have to look into it -The top of this one is actually made w/ mdf board.
Thanks for the ideas guys, I am still considering this a work in progress, and since it is looking like this thing is actually going to work improvements will be made. Piano hinges will probablly be the first upgade, so that it gains a flush look. |
Prescottj (Prescottj)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 05:21 pm: |
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what I did for sleeping bed while camping is folded the seats part the way down like you have shown. and with those halfway down it runs flush with the box for my subs and i threw a 40$ futon cover on top and it works perfect and I am 6'2" |
Rob Davison (Pokerob)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 05:22 pm: |
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i wasnt worried about the look so much as the bed sores. damn thing might not hurt now, but 4.30 in the morning when your pad slides out you are gonna be aching.. hehe
needs shag carped
rd |
Blue (Bluegill)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 06:16 pm: |
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don't forget to shag carpet the walls and headliner |
Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 06:23 pm: |
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Yes I agree, everything needs to be covered in shag
Still not worried about the bed sores as I sleep on a pretty big conglomaration of padding -I love camping but not waking up sore
I might look into the cheap futon pad idea as well |
Peter Carey (Pcarey)
| | Posted on Monday, January 13, 2003 - 06:46 pm: |
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Don't forget the carp with the shag. |
Todd W. McLain (Ganryu)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 07:50 am: |
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I have a friend of mine that builds something similar for Land Cruiser 80/100's. He builds them out of wood, same as yours, but covers them in the same thin carpeting that they use for subwoofer speaker boxes and adds some cushions to the top. |
Rob Davison (Pokerob)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 10:01 am: |
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hmm,, actually that thing with a few modifications should be craft-maticable like a futon. raise the back part up wedge it with a couple tubafores and toss in the mattress. |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 10:17 am: |
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Yeah, I like the idea, but I think I'll wait till the motorized version comes out for us spoiled and pampered D2 drivers. |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 10:18 am: |
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Carter, I am curious to know if you can get the thing out without dismantling it.......... when you need to for some reason?
gp |
Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 10:40 am: |
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Yeah Greg, that worried me for a second also since I screwed the top on inside the truck. It is BITCH but you can get it out, you have to fold the seats all the way up, lift it up and spin it sideways, then pull it out. |
Carter Simcoe (Carter)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 10:45 am: |
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Oh carpet covering is a good idea too, but I would have to shell out for marine grade w/ all the we fishing gear I always throw in the back of my truck, others might be able to get away w/ the cheap stuff though. |
Paul Schuetz (Schuetz)
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 21, 2003 - 02:29 am: |
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This is what I use with my RRC. Works very well takes less than 5 min to set up and used to come with a canvas covered egg crate bed mat cut to the back of the vehicle.
http://www.xocom.com/ss/Sleepers.html |
John Moore (Jmoore)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 23, 2003 - 07:23 pm: |
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Nice cheezy music on the sleepers site! As much as a like my new D2, I miss the drop down gate on my 88RRC. Much nicer for loading 2X4's and such.
-John |
Bob Foster (Coppertop)
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 11:19 pm: |
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As for the hinges, you may want to check out a cabinet style hinge. One that will fold away when it is open. Or you could attach the standard hinges with a smooth bolt. Looks great!! |
Greg (Gparrish)
Senior Member
Username: Gparrish
Post Number: 1093
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 03, 2003 - 10:04 am: |
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Carter and all,
I was thinking about Carter's design above for a load divider and sleeping solution and had another thought on it: Would it be possible to build this such that the the unit serves two purposes: load management and division, and load guard of the front passengers. Could you build such a unit that is built from aluminum or steel mesh, has a load/dog guard that folds forward to make a flat bedding area? Then just carry a foam pad to make it a bed. If you used a mesh of flat bar stock sort of like the Trek product it might help with the sleeping comfort.
Just a thought. I'll try to sketch a picture on MS Paint of what I'm thinking of. |
Greg (Gparrish)
Senior Member
Username: Gparrish
Post Number: 1094
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 03, 2003 - 10:15 am: |
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Crude attempt to draw my idea:
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Carter Simcoe (Carter)
Senior Member
Username: Carter
Post Number: 1986
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 03, 2003 - 10:42 am: |
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Well my initial thoughts are that when folded flat the "L" made from the flat part and the back and the cargo divider might not be long enough to make a sleeping area but I'm not in my disco w/ a tape measure right now either. But that is a good idea and as with most stuff I'm sure you could get it to work if you mess with it long enough.
Also FWIW my sleeper has stood up pretty well so far, used it a few times and everything worked great. I don't leave it in all the time, just throw it back there when I'm going to need it. |
carl seashore (Drcarl)
Member
Username: Drcarl
Post Number: 49
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 23, 2003 - 10:40 pm: |
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here is an example of a pretty slick job that seems to have stood up to some use. now i just need to find a welder nearby...
http://www.northbyrover.com/
check out preparations, about halfway down the page.
cheers,
carl |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
Senior Member
Username: Gparrish
Post Number: 1554
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 - 10:57 am: |
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Now that's a really cool design. I like the fact that you can still keep everything stored neatly underneath, yet fold it out and have a bed. Also, with a mesh or web load guard, you could keep all 4 seats in place, and still have gear stored.
I wonder if you could build a system that would work but all you to keep the storage bins in place? Not sure I would want to remove my storage bins for water cannisters.
Thanks for the link.
Greg |
Lewis Jones (Cutter)
Senior Member
Username: Cutter
Post Number: 263
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 11:54 pm: |
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Nice work Carter! I need to do something like that to my TReK, i'm still just at the 'notes scribbled on a napkin' phase right now.
Thanks for the pics,
Lewis |
Wicks (Wicks)
Member
Username: Wicks
Post Number: 132
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 04:49 am: |
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Self-made wooden constructions arent what I'd call ghetto. Momo wheels (steering or otherwise), Bellargio "armor" plating, New Range Rovers, etc., are ghetto.
On the contrary, wood brings some authenticity to any rover. |
EricV (Bender2033)
Senior Member
Username: Bender2033
Post Number: 290
Registered: 08-2002
| | Posted on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 08:25 am: |
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Some rovers bring me wood.
LOL |
Tim '92 RR (Snowman)
Senior Member
Username: Snowman
Post Number: 649
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 08:28 am: |
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I wonder what the original author of this thread is up to these days? |
Jack Quinlan (Jsq)
Senior Member
Username: Jsq
Post Number: 529
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 12:24 pm: |
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he's on a cross country killing spree to take revenge on the people who took away his reason for being. Unfortunately his disco broke down and he never made it out of Arkansas.
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