cheap sleep system (for 1 person)

[txj2go]

I rigged this for an upcoming solo trip. I bought a "folding foam topper" from Amazon for about $60 and used it with a 2' x 4' piece of plywood I had left over. The back seat is just folded down, the front passenger seat is pushed all the way forward and tilted forward. The space in the back measures 75". The foam topper is advertised to be 25" x 75" but seems a little bit longer. I didn't anticipate it squeezing next to the console but that isn't a problem and I could even cut off that piece of mattress if it bothered me. There is about 18" of space left beside the mattress for gear.
I'm going to test it out before my trip. I want to determine if it is worth removing the rear seat. For just me I think there is enough room for gear even with the rear seat in there. The mattress folds into 3 pieces so there is more room for gear if you aren't using it.
I know it's possible to buy thin foam toppers for standard house size mattresses in places like Walmart. I thought if this doesn't work I can buy some foam from walmart and cut it up at add to this system.
Using the plywood on the back seat, that part of the platform slopes but I am ignoring this for now because sometimes in remote areas the car won't be level anyway. My driveway slopes too so if it works out where it is now it should be fine in random remote campsites.

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[MyDaughters20JL]

thanks for this! I've slept in the back of my JLU for one weekend (2 nights) and it was uncomfortable as hell: maybe I'll give this a shot before forking out the money for a RTT

 

[Bob Burd]

That's close to what I use, minus the plywood. A 4" thick piece of memory foam with similar dimensions. I sleep diagonally. Roll it up with sleeping bag and pillow and takes up about half the cargo space during the day with seats upright. Very comfortable.

 

[Morbo101]

I use a klymit 2.5 inflatable mattress. Pretty comfy sleeping cabbed up last week. Even slept on my side. 49.99 at big5.

 

[gbr]

This fits a twin beautifully. It's a bit high one the foam mattress is in, so I'll be lowering it this summer. Took about 4 hours to build.

 

[txj2go]

This fits a twin beautifully. It's a bit high once the foam mattress is in, so I'll be lowering it this summer.

I can see the advantages to that kind of system. I only intend to sleep one person and I wanted to have enough room to sit up and read if I had to which is why I kept mine lower. For now I'll probably leave the rear seat in and see how it goes with cargo room.

I slept in the Jeep last night to test out the setup and it went well. I sleep on my side, pressure on my hip is the controlling factor. I turned over more during the night than i normally would but this is typical when camping. I have an old thermarest pad that I might try adding under the topper, or if I have a chance to go by Walmart I'll see if they have a cheap mattress pad that I can try.

One thing I hadn't figured out was how difficult it is to get into even my low setup. I'm not sure if I can crawl in head-first through the rear passenger side door so I scoot in backwards. I sit on the edge of the bed and pull myself in, then swing my feet in and around to the back. Get out by reversing these steps and get out feet first. This is easy enough with the back empty. I'm not sure how it will work with half of the back full of gear. I may have to leave some empty space behind the driver's seat for maneuvering. I'll have to test that next. I want to be able to stealth-camp such as in a Walmart so I don't want to have to crawl in through the rear hatch.

I've seen people build rear shelves for cargo, so their feet go under the shelf and there is room for cargo above the feet. I might try something like that to give me more room. I know you can buy shelves like this pre-made from metal but those are more expensive than what I'm willing to spend right now. This year I'm likely to do only 2 solo trips. When I go with other people we will be using a tent.

 

[gbr]

I've seen people build rear shelves for cargo, so their feet go under the shelf and there is room for cargo above the feet. I might try something like that to give me more room. I know you can buy shelves like this pre-made from metal but those are more expensive than what I'm willing to spend right now. This year I'm likely to do only 2 solo trips. When I go with other people we will be using a tent.

That's on my list. I figure I can put a lot of stuff on a solid shelf.

 

[txj2go]

That's on my list. I figure I can put a lot of stuff on a solid shelf.

With the height of your platform there might not be enough room to have a shelf and still fit your feet under it. You could have a higher shelf and still put things on it. I've seen people string some netting from side to side to put lighter things like clothing on.

Well your photo gave me an idea. Since my mattress is pretty low I could have a shelf and have room for my feet to fit. I'm pretty good with woodworking and I think I could make a wooden shelf in the same configuration as the metal ones, but I also thought I it would be quicker for me to make a partial platform like yours that would form a shelf only in the back of the car. It would probably have to be a little bit higher though. I'm going to take some measurements tomorrow and see what I can work out.

 

[txj2go]

Looking at gbr's photo, and thinking about what I've seen from a youtuber that I follow, Tristan Higby, it struck me that I could build a shelf to use with my system to gain a little bit more storage room. With approx. 24" width reserved for sleeping, that leaves about 16" or so on the driver's side for storage. For a week long trip with boxes of food and cooking gear, suitcase, ice chesk, folding chairs, ... you run out of space quick. Of course when you aren't sleeping you can use all of the space for gear but at night it helps to have the shelf to put some of the gear on.

For convenience I bought a 2'x4' piece of plywood from Lowes, cut notches on the ends to fit over the rollbar supports. I ripped a couple of scrap pieces of 2x4 to make legs and screwed the plywood to them. I screwed a 1x1 strip of wood along the front edge to keep things from sliding off, it's yet to be seen how well this will work. The notches hold the shelf in place so the legs don't have much stress on them.

And that small Home Depot box is my kitchen/cleaning stuff.

 

[GrumpyBadger]

I resorted to "retail therapy" last April early on in COVID, so I bought the Goose Gear full seat delete and then put a folding mattress in essentially identical to yours. I fold it up and lean the back against the tailgate as a chair and read before bed. As you can see in my pic here, it gets a bit tight in there with the fridge and a couple duffel bags (my cooking, food, and clothes instead of in hard side totes). I think it sleeps great for me - I use flannel sheets and one or two blankets depending on temps... I find sleeping in a mummy bag almost impossible. My only issue with getting into the thing is dirty shoes... I bought a collapsible wash basin to put my shoes in on a front seat to keep the bed clean.

 

[txj2go]

My only issue with getting into the thing is dirty shoes... I bought a collapsible wash basin to put my shoes in on a front seat to keep the bed clean.

I've done a lot of backpacking and tent camping. One the hardest things for me with dealing with the tent is getting up in the morning, putting my shoes on and getting out of the tent. After all this time I finally realized I should bring some cheap slipon shoes that would be easy to put on when I'm ready to get out of the tent. And my wife has a lot of old rugs that she doesn't use anymore, the next time we are out with the tent I'm going to take a small rug to put on the ground in front of the tent to help with tracking dirt in and out.
My method of getting into the back of the Jeep is to back into the side door and sit on the bed, take my shoes off and then scoot the rest of the way in. Putting shoes back on in the morning is a little easier than dealing with the tent but I could also use the slipon shoes.
If you had a rear shelf you could take some of those items off the floor. You might prefer some of the commercially available metal shelves, they don't have any legs extending to the floor.

 

[GrumpyBadger]

If you had a rear shelf you could take some of those items off the floor. You might prefer some of the commercially available metal shelves, they don't have any legs extending to the floor.

I thought about a shelf (I always appreciate the suggestions on here!), but I sleep with my head to the back because of the constricted space up by the center console. I really don't mind the stuff to the side, as it turns out - the bed is wide enough for my sleeping style.

Between the spaces under the Goose Gear, a couple duffels, and the front passenger seat space I really don't have so much stuff that it bothers me. I can go for weeks like this. I used to do it in a 2-door 2006 unlimited Jeep with the passenger seat removed (3 months living in that back in 2012 - I kept it in a storage unit near Denver airport and flew in occasionally to play).

Once I chuck my job for good I will likely graduate to an Ursa Minor topper and live in it for a couple years. But till then, this should do for my solitary camps.

Love these threads to compare styles and find new gear!!!

 

[LittleDog]

I like being able to see out the rear, so no shelf for me, but I still have lot of junk.

I have a four-door and have added extensive storage via bar bags, the XG Gamma bags, netting, and just stuffing things between the roll bar and hard top roof; I used to have the entire centre area clear for sleeping, but then I added a fridge and even more junk.

The old JKloud hammock system is pretty great, and they have a JL version now, but it requires both rear seats down and performing some minor surgery on the rear roll bar trim (actual c-pillar?) to deploy at full-length. But it also works horizontally over the four-door rear seats without modification, so if you are short, sleep curled sideways, or are just want to hang out with the doors open, I recommend it. I'm both short and can sleep curled. It also lets me use the rear footwells for storage. It would probably also work if your "stuff" level was below a maximum height in the back. It doubles as a sunshade for top-off as well.

I know people used to hang hammocks diagonally inside JKs, so it should be possible with the larger JL, and current hammock technology.

If sleeping in the back, I recommend rigging the tailgate to open from the inside. It's really easy to do, and if you have a tailgate table, you get to wake up, open the back and table, and start breakfast right there. It's great.

 

[txj2go]

I spent a week in Utah in my rig, slept in the Jeep 6 nights. Everything worked well. At the last minute I made some bug screens for the back doors using some fiberglass window screen that I had. They worked too but I need to change them to make them more durable.

The shelf is stable until you hit dips in a dirt road going a little bit too fast. I'll try to improve this in the next version of the shelf. I have other trips planned the rest of this year so won't be making another solo trip until next spring.

It's a little tight in the Jeep when you carry enough camping gear for a week and need to provide room to sleep. I was careful with my packing and it worked out.

 

[xtremejoe]

Has anyone figured out how to move the front passenger seat a bit further forward to get more room. I need a few more inches to be able to stretch out. My head is rubbing on the back of the front seat, otherwise this would be perfect.

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