Sleeping in car or truck?

Comments

• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  May 2007

  Well, my wife and I lived out of our minivan for 10 months a few years back, but we were carrying so many toys (bikes, canoe gear, etc.) that it would have been a big pain trying to move that stuff to the front seat or to the roof to make room to sleep. We did see a couple using their Caravan for a "tent."
  
  I think a hatch would be a bit too small for comfort. A truck with a canopy could work, especially if you built a shelf in the back for gear that was a couple of feet higher than your feet.
  
  I'm not sure which SUVs offer seats that fold flush (or ones that can easily be left at home), but I think that would be the first criteria. Then add a rocket box for the roof for storage of excess gear.

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• jacqdavis Member Posts: 1

  May 2007

  My husband and I have a Honda Element EX since 2005. The folded seats are an awesome feature for people like us who like to sleep in the car and camp from the car.
  
  Definitely something you would find perfect for your needs. We never stay in hotels to travel across states ever since we bought it.
  
  After removing the head support from the front seats, the seats fold all the way flat (both front and back seats), and you can adjust it to form a contour bed. It is sometimes even more comfortable than the cheap beds in hotels. On cold days, let your car run in idle and have the heat on all night, won't even make a dent in your gas...
  
  Another great thing is at night, the moon roof makes it wonderful to lay down and look at the stars.
  
  
  
  We love it, and I am sure you will too.
  
  This is a cool website for you to check out and get an idea.
  
  This is another wonderful like about Honda Element's capability.
  
  Review about Honda Element.
  
  Honda Element Gallery

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• ladyblue Member Posts: 326

  September 2007

  When I had my Dodge Ram, I used to sleep in the back when camping. It had a hi-rise cap and an 8' bed, which was perfect for a full-sized air mattress. There was enough room between the foot of the air mattress and the tail gate to climb in and to store my overnight bag. The cap had a vista window, which was like a skylight, so I could look at the stars while lying down. The side windows of the cap had screens and slid open. I stored my gear in the back seat of the quad cab.
  
  This setup was ideal for two adults and saved me the hassle of setting up a tent for short weekend camping trips. In fact, I used to leave the air mattress inflated and the bed made from spring to autumn so that I could take off at a moment's notice.
  
  Ladyblue :shades:

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• ladyblue Member Posts: 326

  September 2007

  I forgot to mention ... I once had to spend the night in my PT Cruiser. That was definitely the most uncomfortable night of my life!
  
  Ladyblue

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• batman47 Member Posts: 606

  November 2007

  My partner and I decided to do camping in America, South America and Europe and in 2004 we bought a Hyundai Tucson V6 because the rear seats fold flat. We bought a roof box for our camping stuff. We packed everything in the rear seats and luggage space. We usually took the stuff out of the car and made our bed inside the car when the situation required. We came back to the USA in October 2007. Now I am in the process of buying a new car and the main criteria are the same, i.e. seats folding flat and 4WD or AWD vehicle. Could someone elaborate on this and give me some examples of vehicles with seats folding flat (5 or 7 seats)? Someone suggests that the Mitsubishi Outlander made do the trick.

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• thomasz Member Posts: 5

  May 2008

  The car looks so good and luxury.

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• john298 Member Posts: 1

  April 2009

  Two of us sleep quite comfortably in our Honda Odyssey. We take out the back seat (which still leaves one double seat which can fold up) I made I plywood floor in 5 sections to make the front part level with the back. It has a piece of carpet on top. We made a 4 inch thick mattress in 4 sections so it stacks up neatly when not in use. We carry a small boat type portable toilet in a roofbox and put it forward of the front seat at night. There is no smell if the right chemicals are used. We have specially cut sections of black corflute plastic (what real estate agents use for signs) to block the windows so no-one can see inside. The front windows are left wound down 2 inches under the rain protectors.
  
  Words really well - have a picnic at the beach or wherever - drive somewhere to sleep when you're ready for bed - drive back to a nice place for breakfast as soon as you wake up.
  
  You're not a campervan so you can sleep anywhere you like.
  
  Kiwi ingenuity.
  
  John

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• panamajeepster Member Posts: 1

  December 2010

  Hey John, I just bought a 2005 Odyssey I'm going to use to haul my bike to the track and the plan is to sleep in the van at the track. Any suggestions?

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  December 2010 edited December 2010

  My brother was up visiting last month in their Odyssey. He got a sheet of 3/4" plywood and cut it to fit behind the front seats, about a foot off the floor. He props the rear edge of the sheet on the back bench like John did, and put 3 screw-on legs on the plywood - one at each front corner and one in the middle. Then he put a camper mattress on it. He left it in one piece.
  
  So, he has storage underneath the plywood and the stuff that naturally gets tossed on the plywood gets stashed behind the rear seat when they decide they don't want to put their tent up for some reason. He's ~6' and fits fine.
  
  We took his van cruising one day and it only took about 10 minutes to remove the legs and stash the plywood and the cooler and other junk in my garage. You could just make one for one side of the rear and leave room for your bike inside.
  
  I think he may have stapled a bit of carpet on the plywood too. Sorry, no pics.

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