Cargo Area Bed Ideas?

[JohnSKepler]

The Expedition's a pretty good-size vehicle that should sleep a couple of medium-sized adults for a few days. It's not going to be the lap of luxury but for a night out under the stars it would be a lot cheaper than selling my paid-for 2014 Limited and taking out a second mortgage for a Sprinter or Transit. I kind of like the hard-shell rooftop tents but climbing out there in the middle of the night for a **** frankly seems a little dangerous! I'd love an Airstream but I've not bought nearly enough lottery tickets in Idaho for that! In fact, I've not bought any.

One problem, though with the Expo, is the rear seats. I have the captain's chairs as the second row and they only lay semi-flat and they have a massive gap between them and between them and the rear seat. I can see that a sheet of plywood would go a long way towards making a nice flat surface but it also seems like it would take some furring strips and a few other touches to make it really work. It's also very heavy and unwieldy. And then, the entire rear area would be shut down for anything else.

Wondering what folks have come up with, if anything, for sleeping in their Expedtions, from the platform to curtains, to anything else that really helped it be a nice spot to snuggle in. Thanks!

 

[Matt Conti]

Hey John - What I did was cut a piece of plywood to the max. length that'll fit - then rip it down at 31.5", which leaves a 16.5" as well. I fold down the dirvers' side rear seats and put everything on that side: a folded cot, camp chairs, folding table, tri-fold mattress, cheap carpet, duffel bags, cooler, etc. This way you still have seating for 4. When you get to your evening spot, fold down the passenger side seats, put down the 16.5" plywood. Over the plywood I lay a $19 carpet from Home Depot (gotta trim it down a bit). It's actually pretty awesome back there. I camped a couple nights like that, my wife/daughter did also. The only other thing you might notice (I did) is that the far rear of the cargo area is a smidge lower than the folded seats - $10 interlocking foam pads at Harbor Freight took care of that.

 

[steeltoe]

99% chance I'm solo if I'm car camping. I bought a couple of plastic folding tables that happen to be the same thickness of the captains chair. I line these up on one side and throw a camping mattress and sleeping bags on it and it's golden. I'm 6ft & ~225lb for reference.

I sleep with my head by the seat and my feet at the tailgate. I keep sandals in that 2nd row driver's side door and pop out there when I need to **** at 5am. When I wake up in the morning I pop the the tailgate, pull a table and make breakfast.

Been doing this maybe twice a month for the past year. Love it.

I did try to bring my gf one time and that dimple in the middle sucks. we stuck a separate firm pad there for her over the gap and she slept flat while I slept propped up. I'm thinking of building something out of plywood instead but I'm not sure what yet.