I have now used this netting for over two years and still love it. During this time, I had also received a job offer from my company to move into a process consultant position starting at the beginning of February. I needed to be in San Antonio, Texas on my start date, giving me only a month of traveling time. With no time to continue the bed setup, I popped the seats up as they were before and we took off. One amazing benefit of the job was that I could work with just a laptop and wifi.
No more computer monitor, phone, ethernet connection or VPN router to deal with! It was such a relief and eliminated an entire plastic bin of stuff I had been carrying around. Staying at the AirBnB meant I had a shipping address. And with being there two months, I would have plenty of time to finish the bed setup and completely re-organize the 4Runner. I started doing some research and created what was to become my favorite setup. The first item I put on was a StowAway hitch cargo carrier.
This solved all of my prior issues with the rear hitch carrier. First, it was waterproof and had a lock on it. The other huge benefit is that you can purchase it with a swing out arm. That way I could simply unhook the arm, swing the carrier around and still get into the trunk. No longer did I need the large plastic Brute bins. Instead, I put duffel bags and items directly into the carrier, thereby saving a ton of space. Next up was adding storage along the rear windows to hang some of the smaller items and remove even more of the plastic containers I was carrying.
I went with the Rago Modular Storage panel system. Although expensive, I still have these installed to this day and love them. They are solid construction and hold a ton of gear. Another expensive part of this setup was buying all the different OneTigris molle pouches to hang. Although they are great for hiding the gear, you can also just bungee your stuff to the panels and save a ton of money.
The other place in the 4Runner that you have a good amount of storage is the center console and glove compartment. I purchased a tray , console organizer and glove box organizer which allow for better use of all this space.
The glove box then fit wet wipes, tons of protein bars, napkins and paperwork for the 4Runner. The center console could hold so many of the little items, such as my GPS, tools and of course, chapstick. Next came what I had been waiting for: a mattress. Since I knew we would be sleeping in the 4Runner quite often, I went with something comfortable. I purchased a twin-sized folding mattress , as a regular one would have been too long.
By having the folding version, I was able to cut off one of the smaller pieces in order for the mattress to fit perfectly. To protect it from all of the pet hair and elements, I put a waterproof mattress protector that zips over both. Add on a normal set of sheets and my favorite sherpa blanket, the rear of the 4Runner now felt like a comfortable little home.
Finally, after many hours re-arranging the 4Runner we had our long-term setup. Although it cost quite a bit of money to build this out, we spent many nights camping out of the back. This saved us more than we would have spent on hotel rooms and eating out. The boys also had a large area to spread out in while we drove, and they seemed overall very comfortable.
There were many times that I had to quickly pull over to scoop out the box before the smell overwhelmed us all. After leaving Texas, we ended up traveling through many areas of the West with this setup, staying between AirBnBs and the back of the 4Runner.
We slept out in the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho, waking up to the bugling elk. We ventured up to the Grand Tetons and fell asleep to the mountains right outside of our door. Although the AirBnBs gave me the comfort of showers and a table to work at, I preferred our weekends out camping. Slowly we began spending more time camping, and I became more comfortable working from the road.
I took meetings at campgrounds, in parking lots, and at different town parks. When building out a vehicle to travel in, it will absolutely take trial and error to find the setup that works best for you.
Although our initial setup was functional, it was nowhere near as comfortable as what we ended up with. In the end, some of my favorite memories are of Jasper, Napoleon and I camping out of the back of the 4Runner. We had everything we needed, and the 4Runner took us to any boondocking spot we wanted. Even after purchasing the Basecamp, I have still taken the 4Runner out by itself for some beach side camping.
Sooo, let me get this straight, sweetheart! But, u reconfigured 4x to keep working and travel with 2 pets? Or could there beee a broken heart involved? Haha even with all of the litter messes, Napoleon is still family so he gets dragged along! And yes, I really did all of it for the love of travel. So all 3 of us hit the road! Thanks for following along and hope you enjoy reading our future posts!
I really like your writing style, good info, thank you for putting up :D. For the past three years my dog and two cats have been traveling and loving full-time out of our HiAce camper, and we all love it.
I love the ability to put a kitchen in the front, with those large windows, so it would be similar to your trailer in that respect. Last edited by Mutant; at PM. It's not ideal unless you have a way to eliminate the hump between the cargo area and seat backs.
Taking out the seat bottoms gives you 4" or more room front to back. I'm thinking about buying a small trailer.
Removed the seatbottom semi permanently on my 60 split side. Debating on getting the 8 gallon action packer or something else. I will get some measurements with the seat all the way forward and go from there I guess. Side note I'm 6' 5" and I will be able to fit just so with the gate closed and my boots off.
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Toyota - 4Runner. Join us now! Mark Forums Read. User Tag List. Page 1 of 2. Thread Tools. Rate Thread. Taylor20 Member. Sleeping without a platform Anybody just fold down the rear seats and sleep on a pad without bruising drawers or a platform? View Public Profile. Find More Posts by Taylor ColoRAD Member. Find More Posts by phattyduck.
Mutant Banned. Quote: Originally Posted by Taylor20 Anybody just fold down the rear seats and sleep on a pad without bruising drawers or a platform? Find More Posts by Mutant Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Find More Posts by theesotericone. Quote: Originally Posted by theesotericone That's how I do it.
Quote: Originally Posted by Mutant Been toying with taking the seat bottoms out semi permently. The idea is to make it fit snug between the wheel wells. At this point, you can really use anything. I thought about bed-lining it with raptor liner or using rubber plated flooring.
Ultimately, I decided that using carpet would be best to minimize friction when installing or removing the cargo platform and to keep a consistent look. Finally, you can choose to add eye bolts at each corner and attach it with a turnbuckle to the cargo tie down points for added security. The finished product should look something like the picture above. The entire process took about 1 hour to complete and is wife approved since it can be easily removed when needed. In the future, I may add a sliding table between the platform and the cargo floor or build an entire drawer system should the need arise.
On the side, I am an outdoor enthusiast who loves camping, fishing and building up my 4Runner. I built this platform with a few modifications to the one illustrated. Mine use tapered skids on runners under platform, towards the front so the platform slides easier on factory carpet when installing.
I blocked off access to underside with a support that runs left to right at rear of platform. This made it easier to wrap and secure the carpet which was the same material as stock carpet. I have used it twice now for sleeping. My main reason for the build was to level out cargo area for hunting gear. Nice mod, thank you for the share. Just to clarify, if you have the sliding cargo tray, which I do, you do not need anything to level out the area.
Great Mod. I want to do the same. Would all the dimensions be the same on a 5th gen that has the third row or will this blueprint work only for one with the cargo tray? I can only seem to find the volume of the cargo space but not the length. How long is the bed? Will I be able to lie down with the trunk closed? If you are alone and can lie diagonal then it might be doable.
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