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Yeah I'm a shitty sleeper and am unable to sleep like that even though I tried on more than a few occasions.Quote:
Originally Posted by kotuku
I need to be fully stretched out mostly on my side but occasionally on my back to relieve my hips.
I'm always jealous of you jokers who can sleep anywhere anytime at the drop of a hat.
2004 Volvo XC90, around 2m from boot to back of front seats, heaps of room. Pretty cheap to buy these days and pretty easy to maintain if you can do your own maintenance... only thing you have to watch is if the maintenance hasn't been done (i.e. replace regularly, around every 50k) on the coupling between the transmission and 4wd transfer box, then it won't actually be 4wd!
Yes I agree, it was to tight even for my short legs lol so I had to always have the tailgate down as per the photo I posted on page 2 but then bad weather comes into play as your bottom part is exposed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rn-85
The problem with a platform to get you level or above the wheel arches prevents you from sitting upright in bed as your headroom gets diminished by the roof of the canopy.
The struggle is real but doable at a cost to comfort.
Yes that was pretty much the exact setup I had towards the end of my ownership of my Hilux whenever it rained/showered however the mosquitos were really bad in quite a few hunting/camping spots, to the point they drove me crazy and sleep quality was severely diminished. The fly didn't keep the little buggers out even though I had it pretty well sealed.Quote:
Originally Posted by luckey
As I'm using the platform above I'll agree on the lack of headroom. That can be annoying.Typically if I get back to the vehicle and wanna just chill for a bit I'll hang out in a camp chair or if the weather is rubbish I'll just chill in the front passenger seat and have a beer or read, then just jump into the back on the platform for sleeping. If I don't have the pup with me I've also got the back left seat free and can just slide onto that if I need the headroom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 9STAGS
Possible solution to this- one of the guys I fished with a lot when I liveddown south, he used to sleep in the back of his truck with the tailgate down and used a mattress that had a mosquito net canopy stitched onto it, and attachments in the truck canopy that he clipped the mosquito net to- it kinda ended up looking like this (https://www.fruugonorge.com/2024-mos...31?language=en) except the netting was stitched round the edges of the mattress, so fully protected, and he had about four attachment points above. Basically like a mattress with a built in tent inner. In bad weather he just added a tarp over the opening to protect the tailgate end.
How much is yr budget ??
I couldn't find a picture of my Hilux setup but this is another sleeping platform I built in a Suzuki 4x4 I used to own.
With the front seats pushed all the way forward the end pieces would fold out and form a bed that was roughly 2m long from memory.
Worked really well for weekend missions away. I'm lazy and can't be bothered setting up tents. With this it was just park on the flat and done.
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Attachment 255057
U tube, outback subaru camping, heaps of ideas
Mitsi Delica
2015 Mitsubishi Outlander and I'm 6'1" but can get a 4" Mattress in the back no problem.
It's been like a second home for duck shooting down the swamp so usually take it and a Ezy-up, deck chair and Chilly and you're set.
Also is great for lying animals in the back of after a hunting trip if the 70L Icey-tec is already full. Wrapped in a Tarpaulin in the back with Ice bags in the gut cavity - no problem for long drives home.
CD.
It is obvious.
Again I am left the responsibility of reminding the world of the 4wd Hiace van.
Save your thanks, buy a Hiace.
I knew this guy who had an Isuzu bighorn. It was the most greatest truck ever built. You were silly if you wanted to spend more for a land cruiser or patrol... Couldn't bear a bighorn he reckoned.
Then several years later he got a Prado. Greatest truck ever he reckoned. Bighorns were absolute garbage and you're an idiot if you ever buy one. Prados are the best. You're stupid if you spend more to get a land cruiser when a Prado is better.
Few years later he gets a land cruiser.... You know where this is going.
Point is, he's been on forums for the last decade at least dishing out advice on what people should get, and the best truck ever is always the one that he has.
There's a lot of people like this on forums, so go out and try a few out. See what works for you.
Yep i agree. Ive toyed with the same idea, with a cover over the open tail gate from the canopy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hayden C
It would be a great win if you could. For me i want to arrive at the carpark the night before, not worry about the overnight forecast and head out in the morning. I dont want to dry/air out a tent then next day or two at home following a hunt, let alone packing in up in the wee hours.
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PVC material and in the back of the ute - if it's done right, the rear door on the canopy becomes the frame with the top of the tailgate and the two sides fill the hole. I can lay down in the rear of a ranger like this sweet as.
If it gets wet fold up into the back of the ute and no problem...
Some good options and ideas so far in this thread.
I'm not sure what my budget is at the moment. If its just going to be a hunting/fishing camping vehicle then it will be less than if the vehicle also becomes my daily driver as well.
I have to sell some gear to fund it, so I have time to look around and do some intel gathering and due diligence, hence the posting up of this thread to get the information ball rolling.
I'm inherently lazy, so the least complicated and less moving parts, extra gear needed or setup the better.
If back seats can't be folded down dead flat to provide a long enough sleeping surface then i have no interest, but it's hard to know without physically checking each vehicle option.
By asking all you good buggers with real world knowledge and related experience, then it makes my task of narrowing down my options that much easier, so cheers for the replies so far.
Ive got a bighorn, with the rear seat behind the driver, pulled out and the foot well filled in with a storage box, it works ok too sleep in, I’ve slept in multiple vehicles, over the year’s, chev pickup here in canada, couple suvs, Subaru outback etc, by far the best is a van, if for no other reason is you can sit up fully, are if a high model stand up, much easier to get dresses, cook, flipen everything is easier, on your feet over your knees.
Toyota troop carrier
Seems like this could be handy...
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...ing/5019044044
That looks like a good idea @trapperjohn
Yeh,,, should take care of the lack of leg-room under canopy, keep of weather and as side bonus a place to retreat to from sandflies and mozzies.
I was thinking about the same thing after seeing a ute with a tarp over the back parked up on the beach today. It's a fine line between freedom camping and homelessness in Northland. Anyway, I'd prefer an SUV for this kind of thing, but if you have a ute...Quote:
Originally Posted by trapperjohn
I think of freedom camping as a form of loitrering... nowhere to actually be and nothing to actually do,Quote:
Originally Posted by MB
however if your parked at a riverbed throwing a lure for trout or parked up at beach with surfcaster or at road end having
a siesta between hunts then your a camper with purpose...so not loitering.
I enjoy camping with purpose.
In my 2005 Forester I put the front seats forward and an old bed head with legs goes in the gap but you still don't have a flat surface so I put and air mattress there and had freezing night staying in Bannockburn as I should have used one of those insulated air mattress . I will make up something like yours .
So slept in the back of the dual cab ranger, the other night, so slept with the tail gate down.
I've done it in the past and it works really well. Previously, I've slept on the diagonal in an S shape, which results in a sore body, before the walk has even started.
Any how the drizzle came in and i tried shutting the back, but that sucked. So I put a feed bag over my sleeping back and left the back down, and it worked a treat. Can't say it will work 100% of the time. I think im going to get a little tarp made up to go from the rear glass to the tail gate.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2edea45a7c.jpg
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Not sure how high your glass lifts on your canopy but on my one the water flows to the hinge end of the glass and drips onto the back of the tray. Tarp would have to cover the glass and forward over a bit of the canopy to stop the drips.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rn-85
Bloody hell, you're right. Thats why the rangers tray always has water in it after rain.Quote:
Originally Posted by RUMPY
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When I slept in Terrano the other night it was still too hot with just sun roof open so I cracked the tailgate window open and placed container in opening so it stayed open all of a out 30mm. Worked a treat.rain wouldn't matter at all.
My canopy leaks where it meets the tray and the back of the cab, its been off and several times and always resealed yet still leaks. So no way would I sleep in the back in the rain.
If you've resealed the main canopy/well body seal a few times, its likely something else leaking. Look around the windows. Park it on a hill in the rain, what stays wet/dry can give you some clues. That said, leaks, know how to travel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy Jack
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My Crown canopy leaks by the little sliding window in the middle, between the canopy and cab. Water runs down the window and comes in through the bottom of that fuzzy seal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rn-85
It helps if I park on a slight incline, nose pointing down.
183cm sleeping platform in the back of the fj. We open the back window a bit for ventilation.
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Attachment 273000
A $20 tarp over the top fixes most issues lol
buy a uni mog yeah ha ultimate camper wagon
I had a Forester (2006) stolen, I thought it had an alarm because the when I pressed the key fob button, the indicator lights flashed and it beeped. Turns out it was just central locking.Quote:
Originally Posted by Friwi
Luckily it was Meth head kids, who just drove it across Auckland and parked it when the petrol ran out. They left all my fishing gear! No damage but smelly from the Meth. Police caught the little fellas, it just shows that Meth doesn't improve one's ability to hide, or one's cognition.
My new (2009) Forester has an alarm that is factory fitted, I'm happy with that.
Foresters are great cars, just sold mine (2009). Sorry to see it go.
As an aside:
I got a warehouse blue tarp, I tie one corner to the spokes of one rear wheel, put the tarp over the top and tie the other corner to the other wheel, I raise the tail gate and put two poles into the eyelets of the aft two corners, a bit of rope and tent pegs to hold the rear and tighten up the tarp, and voila!
Quite a big fly over the back, fold rear seats forward, inflatable single mattress, fold out camping table under the tarp for cooking on, sleeping bag and sleep.
It does not address mossies, or big weather, or security - its more for sunny days and calm nights, it folds up and stows in about 5 minutes and I'm off to new horizons...
Canopies can be a pain in the arse for leaks. I paid extra when I got my Ranger for my company and got the Fleetline fibreglass canopy with channels that the side and back windows close over so any leaks are directed out whether the doors are open or closed. It's a bit of a pain in the arse in some ways but it does not leak and has never leaked. I think I'd need to park it underwater to get anything into the tray, the only time I've had water in there coming from outside is through the edges of the tailgate when waterblasting the thing clean.
1990 GQ. Fit a double air bed in the back of mine
In my high top LWB you could just about set up a tiny home. It passed everything expect a fuel station though. Had it's own climate change phenomenon going on too, complete with clouds and fog...Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoover
