ETAV8R's 09 Tacoma Build-The Gini

[ETAV8R]

I come from a long history of owning Toyota trucks. The first was a 1990 2wd prerunner, second was a 99 Tacoma 4X4 TRD Xtra Cab, now I have an 09 Tacoma 4X4 Access Cab. I am not a wheeling expert but love going out learning and prefer to get to remote spots and do some camping. My truck is mostly stock TRD Off Road with Demello sliders and Konig Countersteer OR wheels. New tires to come.

After finding the BajaTaco either here or on Tacoma World I set out to design my own sleeping platform for my Taco.
I currently have an Undercover tonneau and have slept under it open with the tailgate down. Being close to winter in Mojave bugs weren't an issue. Knowing full well my rig will make it to areas where bugs will be prevalent, something to keep them out is important.

I don't like shells/toppers on my truck for extended periods of time and living in an apartment there is no place to store one. A Bestop Softtop would provide the best of both worlds. Unfortunately the Bestop will not work with the Undercover hardware in place. So now I'm thinking of either a scissor device or fold down posts to support the tonneau and sleep under it with some mosquito netting hanging from it. Any suggestions for what to use as support posts? What are people using for foam mattresses?

I have most of the sleeping platform planned and am getting ready to do the materials list. It is mostly copied from the BajaTaco design. Since I don't know how to post pics of my excel images it will be hard to share my exact ideas without making this a loooooooong post.

Other plans are:
Coilovers
Avid lightbar
Hella Blackmagics
CB/Aviation Radio


To be continued...

Named The Gini in honor of my mother Virginia. My cousin nicknamed her Aunt Gini long before I arrived. She served this country as a flight nurse in the CA Air Guard and treated many troops during her military career. She passed away in 2009. My truck shall carry her moniker to places she was unable to get to late in life.

 

[Redline]

Looking forward to you project, good luck with it.

 

[azyota00]

My build

Toyotas are awesome 4x4 veh. Just thought I'd post my blog because if you scroll thru you'll see my build. I opted to build a inside platform for storage purposes with an interior accessible compartment for "not so used" items. In the extended cab, you'll see that I build a cabinet that worked well but I am working on a better way to secure the shelving. You'll see the extent of our trip, we slept in the truck for 3 nights, coldest night 25 deg. There is not much room for anything but 2 people. We would put our clothes bags in the cab at night along with anything else in the way so it worked out fine.

http://duningartist.blogspot.com/

 

[ETAV8R]

So an update on the build...

Picked up the 2x10s and had them cut for free at HD. Learned that treated wood is potentially carcenogenic so I went with untreated. I want to treat and paint the wood.

I'm also trying to find heavy duty platform sliders, essentially a drawer slide which will be mounted to the vertical 2x10 and then attached to the plywood platform. Any suggestions where to find these? Seems as though it isn't as easy as I had thought to find.

Suggestions for type and thickness of plywood for the platform is welcome too. Azyota where did you get the sleeping pads? Those look streamlined. Are they comfortable, better than a thicker foam solution?

What are people using to tack down the carpet?

Thanks all. I will post pics ASAP.
:coffeedrink:

 

[washington taco]

I went to a local matress manufactor and had them custom cut a pad 3" thick 24" wide and 74" long ($90.00). Very comfy! I use it every week at the ski slopes. For the carpet I would use super 77 spray glue. I did not use carpet. I sanded mine and primed and painted it with gloss white to reflect as much light as possible and brighten up the area. I also used cabinet grade plywood/# 1 pine instead of press board. The surface turned out drywall smooth! I would post pictures but havent spent the effert to figue out how to do it.

 

[ETAV8R]

I've been searching threads for the past couple hours and have an alternate idea in mind. Since I have a 2nd gen and it has a small ledge running the length of the bed on the sides, why couldn't I just cut the 2x10s to fit the width of the bed, say 4-5 of them, then lay the platform on top of them? When needed I could fold the platform pieces on top of one another and slide all the 2x10s to the cab and then still be able to utilized the bed area.

Anyone with a taco have an idea what the weight which could be supported by the ledge?

The third idea would be to hang L shaped metal hangars from the track system and use that to hang the 2x10s on.

 

[xpdishun]

I'm in the same boat as you, just starting my own build and going through pretty much every thread on every forum known to man. I saw you resurrected a few old threads that looked like excellent builds I hadn't seen before.

Also, I found an awesome sleeping platform over at TW a while ago that I thought might help you out too. Good luck with the build, looking forward to reading about it.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/62510-some-pictures-new-member.html

 

[meafordmike]

www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/57002-i-built-new-seeping-platform.html

You can check out this easy to build ( I have limited skills) sleeping platform.

 

[ETAV8R]

I'm in the same boat as you, just starting my own build and going through pretty much every thread on every forum known to man. I saw you resurrected a few old threads that looked like excellent builds I hadn't seen before.

Also, I found an awesome sleeping platform over at TW a while ago that I thought might help you out too. Good luck with the build, looking forward to reading about it.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/62510-some-pictures-new-member.html

Nice build!

www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/57002-i-built-new-seeping-platform.html

You can check out this easy to build ( I have limited skills) sleeping platform.

This is somewhat like my initial plan but if I can just support the 2x10s on the ledge which runs along the inside sides of the bed then I'll do that. Otherwise I will go with my first plan.

 

[ETAV8R]

Well today I cut the 2x10's to the width of the bed above the wheel wells. They look and feel sturdy w/o any support from underneath. I am going to pick up the plywood tomorrow for the platform. I think all I will need is 1/2 inch thick for the platform.

What are good ways to cut and apply carpet to the wood planks and plywood?

If someone knows how to save screen images from excel I will post my plans up.

 

[ETAV8R]

Oh what a day...put the planks in the back of the truck and cut the plywood. Perfect fit thanks to help from the GF's dad. He's got the tools. Next will be putting the carpet on the plywood and mounting the 4x4s to support the tonneau. I will try to take pics tomorrow and post em up. It is coming along nicely.
:victory:

 

[mayhem]

Black Magics

I have a set of used black magics sitting in my garage in good condition, if your interested PM me and I'll send some photos...

 

[ETAV8R]

Finally some pics...Today I came up with some interesting ideas for securing the 4x4's to support my Undercover tonneau...

more to come...

 

[ETAV8R]

So finished up most of it over the past 3 days. Today did a set up to see how it worked. I am very happy with my budget build for my sleeping platform. It does exactly what I want. Still have to put cleats on the uprights so I can string rope on top of the tonneau to secure it. I will also put up a flag pole that can double as a holder for my toilet/shower enclosure. I still have to make a run to home depot to exchange some bolts for the uprights closer to the tailgate to secure them to the rail system.

Here's the pics...

 

[ETAV8R]

And a few more with the mosquito net up. I will try to get a few with the platform all stowed away later tonight.