Depending on your level of handiness, there are about a zillion different ways to turn a truck camper into a cozy, home-away-from-home living room. I’ve done multi-week road trips with just a sleeping pad and a sleeping bag thrown over the corrugated metal bed of an old Toyota pickup, but I can’t say that I recommend that. On the other extreme, lots of people build elaborate wooden sleeping platforms that wouldn’t be out of place in an Architectural Digest spread. If you have the time and the skills for that, well, I envy both of those qualities.
Here’s an easy way to build a foundation for a cozy-as-a-living-room space in the bed of your truck. This guide is based on the second-generation Toyota Tacoma longbed, which is what I have. You could build the exact same thing for the shortbed, but unless you’re about five feet tall, you’ll have a hard time sleeping back there.
I split the difference on my setup, valuing flexibility and ease of installation. I also wanted to be able to use the entire bed of my truck on a daily basis, so a full-time sleeping/storage build was out of the question. It took a bit of research in camper forums to hit on the right blend of simple and stable. Couple slats, a plywood platform, and voila: storage below, with sleeping area above. No hammering necessary. My favorite part about this setup is that when I get home from a truck camping trip, the whole thing easily pops right out of the truck, and the bed is ready for normal truck stuff again. And if everything was nailed together, you’d have to store an unwieldy contraption. This way I just have to slide a couple thin pieces of wood to the side of the garage.
To follow my recipe, you will need:
- One Toyota Tacoma, model years 2005 – 2015 with the six-ft bed, and fitted with a camper shell
- Two 2″ x 8″s
- Two pieces 3/4″ plywood measuring a total of 57″ in width, and 73″ in length (side notches are to accommodate the cubby holes in the bed. In my case, the two pieces are different widths, but they add up to 57″).
- All-weather carpeting
The beauty of this setup is in the simplicity. It takes all of 45 seconds to remove or install the platform. Plastic gear bins, a surfboard or two, possibly some fishing poles, you name it, fits below the platform. My wife and I are both over six feet tall, and because the platform elevates the sleeping surface above the wheel wells, we can comfortably sleep up there, with everything we need for a week on the road packed neatly away below us. If I’m traveling alone, I can bring only the narrower side of the platform to sleep on, which leaves room for me to sit on the bed of the truck, my back resting against one of the supporting planks. A nice cozy place to sit out a rainstorm. We throw a three-inch thick natural latex foam mattress over the platform, and it’s as comfortable an outdoors setup as you’re likely to find.
Obviously, the customization potential is off the charts. You can install hinges toward the cab end of the platform so that you can open a little door to get to things packed far from the tailgate. If your camper shell is insulated—and it really should be—you can attach velcro strips to hang curtains, string lights, install fishing rod holders, whatever you like. These little lanterns from Black Diamond are lightweight, and can be hung from hooks attached to the ceiling, or just tossed in the corner to add soft lighting. The tailgate is the perfect kitchen counter. I like to set up a propane stove on the tailgate, and then I hang a small curtain between the stove and the sleeping area to keep frying, oily smells from getting in my sleeping bag and clothes.
While there are some truly breathtaking truck camper setups out there, unless you’re in a place to permanently convert the back of your truck to a sleeping area—in which case, you’d be better off with a van anyway—being able to quickly throw this platform together and take it apart makes impromptu truck camping trips even easier.
Camp Notes is a big high five to the fun of sleeping outdoors and all that comes along with it. You know, camping and stuff.
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Another pretty simple option is to simply place a camping cot, or two, back there. You can store stuff underneath, and if you need more storage, a net on the ceiling of the camper could work. Easy to take out either way, I like this setup too.
I had a similar setup with built in cabinets running down the side in my Toyota. Question though, so much dust got into the camper when I was driving on dirt roads, does anyone have a solution to that problem?
Hey Devin, I’ve also got a similar setup and what I found was that pulling the topper off, flipping it upside down, and refreshing the weather stripping between the bed and topper greatly sealed the elements out. I had some water making it’s way in during prolonged rain (not so much dust) and this almost completely fixed any water from getting in. With my bed liner having channels running the length and my gear mostly in the center compartments, a little water getting in and running out the back of the tailgate wasn’t an issue.
Depends on where it’s coming in from. Dust often gets in through the tailgate. Cabela’s makes a tailgate seal. It’s kinda hard to imagine dust coming in from the seal between the shell and the bed, but I suppose that could happen. I’d do whatever it took to try to fix it without taking the camper off. Such a pain to get it off and on again properly.
If you have an opening front window (against the cab) crack it open while driving. This forces air pressure into the box and the dust stays out. I’ve done this with two different trucks/toppers and it works great. Also the foam tailgate seal helps a lot.
That’s a great idea. I think the main problem is the dust coming through the tailgate as Justin said.
How much effort do you truck-bed sleepers put into getting the truck level?
Chocks, blocks, etc?
About the same amount of effort I put into making sure a tent is level. I don’t bring blocks or anything. It’s probably easier to use pillows to mitigate any issues from not being level than it is to drive up onto blocks. If I was using a pop-up camper or something that was tall, I’d probably use blocks.
I have some issues with condensation building up on the inside of my shell on cold nights. Curious what people are doing to stop this if possible?
Carpeting or some sort of fabric liner takes away the cold hard surface for moisture to condense on and provides insulation.
I like your simplistic setup – my only comment is the picture of the plywood panels is a bit confusing, because the driver side panel is upside down, and the passenger side panel needs to be spun 180 degrees = top should be at the bottom bottom should be at the top ? The layout of panels shown in the picture, is not how they would layout in the back of the pickup bed… Nit pick.
Is it a certain brand of bed liner that has those “pockets” for the 2×8’s to fit so nicely into, or is that (or something like it) common?
The Tacomas have a composite bed already and all have the “pockets” from the factory. I’ve seen camper build outs in some Chevy trucks that appear to have them too. Not sure if those were aftermarket bed liners or not.
Thought about using this setup but; 2x8s are 1.5 inches high and the pockets are shallower, leaves the plywood not resting on the supporting side “rails”. Only 2 cross supports, might leave heavier campers sagging a bit between the plywood pieces(pinch!).
notch it bro
Cool set up. Thanks for posting. Super simple and breaks down fast. Perfect weekend solution
I love it!…Simple, Versitle, and Effective!…Nice work Justin! (and good call on notching the ends of the 2×8 crossbeams losian!)
This is a great solution, with a few adjustments I made for my 2006 Tacoma long bed. First, the cross beams should be 1″ thick, not 2″, in order to be flush with the rest of the Tacoma’s shelf where the main plywood board will sit. Also, on my truck, those cross beams fit perfectly in the slots at 7″ wide and would not fit at 8″.
With the cross beams flush, the 3/4 inch plywood sheets should be perfect, without needing to notch them in the middle to get around where the Tacoma has little bays. At 3/4″ it should fit perfectly without notching (by measurement, as I have not actually put it in yet).
Finally, the length of the plywood sheet for my bed will be 69.5 inches, with a notch tapering from 65.5″ to 69.5″. At 73″, it will run into the housing at the hatch end of the truck bed.