My wife and I have a 2yo and 4yo and have a deposit on a GFC (the camper, not the RTT). We’re looking at trucks to put it on and are largely looking at used Tacomas or maybe a Ridgeline.
We’d like to be able to sleep a couple people downstairs in the bed if needed, but it seems that most of the Tacomas available have 5ft beds, and the Ridgeline only comes with a 5ft bed.
So I’m brainstorming about ways to sleep with the tailgate down, that could keeps out bugs and rain, while keeping the 2yo from wandering out in the middle of the night.
For wet weather, I figure one could relatively easily make a “rain fly” for the bed extender by having an appropriately-sized tarp that you attach inside the (closed) GFC back panel then drape out over the outside of the extender so it hangs down past the tailgate (might need to weigh down or tie down the outside tarp edge), with a similar setup using mosquito netting for dry/mosquito-y weather.
Questions for you all:
Do you ever sleep adult-sized people ‘downstairs’ in 5ft beds, and if so, how?
Do you think that bed extender idea would work? Would it interfere with the GFC frame?
We have a family of three, we are all “big”. My daughter sleeps downstairs sometimes. We have the GFC to be enclosed so I haven’t used any extenders. With all of this being said it’s small for the three of us. My wife hates it, I love it. It stays and we get a trailer in a couple of years. Honestly it’s good for two people and a dog. We have started to use an awning tent for more space and comfort.
I will take naps downstairs for an hour or two at most. It is only because I can sleep anywhere, otherwise not a sleeping space for me.
This is only my experience so take it as a grain of salt.
I cut the front half of the tent off, including floor (that goes under the tailgate) and then I clamped it in place and marked where I would need to add velcro (I trimmed excess after) Theres 2 tent pole holders in the front that I passed 1" elastic through, which holds the bottom down and goes under the tailgate which pulls the tent floor up against it. Not sure if I explained that well enough.
@nat3060 I’ve slowly been stepping towards the solution you’ve created. I’m not too fond of the of-the-shelf options out there, besides maybe the Topper Tent, but that’s tough to stomach at nearly $400.
Can you share any more details or pictures? What tent model did you start with?
I have a 10 yo and 5 yo and they sleep downstairs (north south) in my Nissan Titan crew cab (5.5ft bed) with the tailgate closed. I have a Bed Rug that offers some padding/warmth and kids use their sleeping bags. There’s a little bit of extra room for their backpacks and miscellaneous items but all my camp bins go in the truck and some outside. It works for now but as they grow I’ll be looking for a new solutions too. Good luck!
