For a lot of SUVs, a great sleeping setup is the “table,” where you’ve got a sheet of plywood that is held up off of the floor of the SUV by 2×4 supports at the corners. Your bed and bedding material go on top of the plywood, and your gear goes underneath. It looks something like this:
I saw an interesting variation on this theme when I was browsing Reddit and came across this post by user FuzzyHugMonster. He uses small buckets as supports for the plywood platform. I asked FuzzyHugMonster if I could share the photos here, and he agreed. Here they are:
The buckets are smaller 2-gallon ones (these ones, to be exact) instead of the larger 5-gallon ones. I think this is a great setup because it’s cheap, non-permanent, and easy to install/remove. (I’ve seen similar setups with plastic milk crates instead of buckets.) Note how the bucket on the left is right-side up while the two on the right are upside down. Buckets placed right-side up can be used for storage if necessary.
Here’s another picture:
Check out the blue water jug on the right side of the photo. It’s bungeed to what looks like a bench or small table—a great use of space. And in the middle of the photo is a blue bag, which is an Ikea shopping bag. These things are great for hauling gear. My girlfriend and I went tubing on a river the other day, and I put our two tubes, two life jackets, flip-flops, two towels, sunscreen, and two water bottles into the bag and easily carried it to and from my SUV. And the best part about those bags? They’re just 99 cents. (Look for them next to the checkout lines at your closest Ikea.)
Here’s one final shot of the Bronco’s interior in the sleeping configuration:
Looks cozy, doesn’t it?
My only problem is that I want to haul friends around to a camp site (where they can tent camp or something) and then i can set up my sleeping arrangement in the back (of a bronco, for example). Could I split the plywood in two section and store it in a covered roof rack with the rest of the gear that I can’t got in the back when the second row of seats are up and in a usable position? Thanks.
I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to do that. But why store it on the roof? Couldn’t you just make it so that it folds in half back onto itself? Then when you get to a campsite, just fold it back out again.
Greetings, Tristan: I emailed you a while ago with what I thought was a great idea–a folding tent cot. You told me to let you know how it worked. Short answer–it didn’t. I neglected to notice there were no supports on the ends of the cot. I spent the test night being catapulted all night long every time I got in and out. Plus, it was way too big and still uncomfortable. I’m going to try this pail set-up with bins. I’m putting a foldable table on top of the bins along with padding. Thank you for the tips.
I had the same thought with my camping cot but now realize that it really wouldn’t work (Thanks, Darla!). Did you try this and if so, how did it work out for you?
I’m in the planning stage.
I’m going to make a camping box like the QUQUQ and i can fit a 195x160cm bed in my bronco if i slide the seats foward and I am going to keep the backseat, just fold the backseat and fold the bed over it.
Hi Tristan! Really glad that you found the Reddit post by #FuzzyHugMonster and that I found this post because, I have a ’93 Ford Bronco XLT that I want to start camping in with my dog (she’s big) but, I don’t want to do any seat removal or building…this looks perfectly doable! Like #DarlaMeyers mentioned above, I had the same thought with my camping cot but now realize that it really wouldn’t work (Thanks, Darla!). BTW, I found your YT channel and subscribed. 😉