Sliding bunk for K5 - Cheap and Fast.

[pblaze725]

With all due respect I don't like it.
I wouldn't want to haul the lumber around as it takes up space. I'm not claustrophobic but it looks pretty cramped in there. I would feel like a vampire in a coffin.
However, it gives me an idea. to save space and gain comfort one could stretch sleeping cot canvas or a hammock at the same location using the hardtop mounting bolts. When not in use this material could be rolled up and stowed away.

 

[4x4chvy]

WHAT?! YOU HATE MY IDEA?

No big. It was just an idea thrown out there for anyone who could get use out of it or ideas from it. Definitely a few steps up from a dripping wet tent or paying $75 for a couple hrs sleep in a motel full of other people's cooties when you're traveling.

Vampire coffin? That's pretty funny since I've essentially blocked out all sunlight with the velcro'd Reflextix window shields.

 

[pblaze725]

I don't HATE it. It's a great idea. It just wouldn't work for me. If you used hammock,or canvas or whatever material army cots are made of you could roll it up & keep it out of the way when not in use.
Hmm.. I wonder if you could fit an entire army cot in the back of the rig? Maybe chop off the legs lowrider style.

Whenever I sleep in the back of my rig I just fold the back seat forward ,throw a pad & sleeping bag in there and zzzzz...

 

[4x4chvy]

So do you actually live in your Blazer or stay in it for long periods?

Live in it? Oh, Hell no.

I've used it instead of a tent when remote camping or out wheeling - just pop open the tailgate and set up the canopy/screen house around the back of the truck. I made an additional screen section that closes off the under-truck area, so no bugs. Animals sometimes come in under the screen, but I don't mind sharing. Sleep right on the ground, or in the Chevy if it's raining.
The tailgate is the perfect height to use as a table or workbench. I made a couple fold-up stools.

I travel AZ to FL to NH. Motels are too expensive; I'm no fan of other people's motel-hooker-cooties or waiting around for 2pm check-in times.
I like to drive at night, then me and my truck get a break during daytime heat & traffic.

 

[4x4chvy]

hammock,or canvas or whatever material army cots are made of you could roll it up & keep it out of the way when not in use. I wonder if you could fit an entire army cot in the back of the rig?

Dunno what your truck is like - my fiberglass top couldn't handle being drilled into or supporting any real weight. It's had 24 years of road salt, extreme temps (20 below to 125 above) and 100% humidity to no humidity. It's very brittle and I'm afraid it'd fracture, crumble or crack.

Maybe go from the last bolt in the rear that holds your top on (or weld a support in a rear corner) ....then hang your hammock from that rear corner to the diagonally opposite seat belt shoulder bolt (?)

Cot - check out leveling off the passenger floor area like 4x4HIGH or RYOKEN did with theirs (see previous posts in this thread)

Rear dims of '87 K5

 

[pblaze725]

My rig is just like yours.
I wouldn't hang it from the fiberglass roof. I was thinking just like your bunk is suported on the bed rails. Just attach the material using the bolts that hold down the hard top through eyelets or something. I guess this would be more like a cot than a hammock (a giant cot). A cot is supported on the sides where a hammock is supported on the ends.
Same idea as yours,only using different material.

 

[4x4chvy]

That's a great idea! Sounds comfortable, too.

 

[andyblack]

I would recommend going with the cot, not the hammock. Hanging in a hammock would break the top for sure. Hammocks are popular in the east for backpackers, but we have to be careful where and how we hang them. I've heard of one actually pulling down a shelter on the Appalachian Trail when some bozo decided to use one of the outside corners of the shelter to hang his from. I've also pulled my privacy fence down in my backyard enough to have to stand the posts back up when I had the bright idea of hanging mine in the corner of the yard . Seems like the closer the mounting points are to each other, the greater the forces are that are being exerted. I'm sure there's a mathematical formula to figure it out. My point is, I think a hammock would break a fiberglass Blazer top unless the top was reinforced somehow. Maybe you could hang it from the rollcage if you had one.

 

[pblaze725]

Geez guys; I wasn't suggesting hanging a hammock from the top.I would hang it from the rear view mirror to the glass in the back window. (Just kidding)

I was thinking he could use hammock material (or cot material) in lieu of plywood and attach it on the bed rails similar to the original idea. This would give a little more headroom & if kept tight enough it could be comfortable.

Now that I think about it. I do believe I can fit an air mattress in the back of the bed too.

 

[Blue85]

I have used a double-bed size air mattress and also a futon mattress in the back. Good sleeping either way. The air mattress is easy to store, but can leak. Also, it's easy to wake up the wife every time you roll over, where the futon mattress is dead solid. the problem is that once you have a good bed in the back there is no space left for your stuff except the front seats. I have been thinking about something like this for ventilation and to have more space. No idea how it would do in the rain. I am also considering a plywood bed set at the top of the wheel wells with "under-the-bed" type storage boxes underneath.

 

[ryoken]

the only thing I keep in the rig once I get to the campsite is clothes... all the other stuff, fishing gear, tool bag, parts crate, etc, gets put in a 2 man tent.. works great for me..... I used to sleep in the tent, but screw that, I'd rather have that be my "storage shed" and sleep in the rig...

 

[Blue85]

I've done the same thing - at least when it looked like rain. But now my goal was to skip the whole tent set up and tear down. Then I started thinking about a canopy for shade, the truck tent, table and lawn chairs outside, etc. You can keep all of your gear in a trailer, but at that point you might as well pull a camper. You can't win because a motorhome won't take you to all the cool sites.

 

[Big Ray]

Not many things suck worse than a leaking tent; and mud is for 4x4s, not sleeping bags.
I made a quick and easy bed/bunk for camping, long distance travel naps, or just for more storage.
Easy and cheap to make - anyone can figure it out and get it done in about 30 minutes. Most of you prolly already have the materials hanging around the shop.
It's not permanently attached, comes completely out in less than a minute and it slides from front to back for easy access to stuff underneath it.

(Look on the bottom of the first page, Mod10 - Mod 12)
http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy28/swflawda68/K5/

Other ideas and more bunk pics in there, too, for the curious.
It's "love bug swarming season" in SW FL and all my screened windows are coming in handy .

You have an awesome truck


I like your "little" things, like lights readily available, shower, toilet, frdge (cooler)...really cool

 

[Coldpunk]

Hammock tents ftw

Better yet, get one of these.

I do a lot of backpacking and these tents are the best thing since sliced bread. They compress into a sack you can stuff into the glove box. I've had this hammock tent for two years and I may never camp in anything else ever again.

 

[shovelbill80]

i'd rather be disemboweled than try to climb into this thing

 

[Deuling]

I Like this idea, you know if you had multiple people you could fit 2 on top and 2 on the bottom and all sleep pretty decently comfortable in one K5!!!! I think ill be doing this, but maybe fitting the piece of plywood with some cushion of somekind.

But normally this used as my sleeping utilities
If shes a rockin dont come a knockin

 

[andyblack]

i'd rather be disemboweled than try to climb into this thing

Hennessy Hammocks are actually very comfortable and pretty easy to get into. Way more comfortable than sleeping on a mat on the ground in a tent. Most guys would rather have a matress in the back of their rig though I would suspect.