Sleeping in a pickup for overnight stays?

[Shizzle]

Have been looking at Show Trekka trailers that have a bit of living/beds etc. Usually we put campbeds up in the trailer, however I'm looking to make the process a bit less hassle. We have a double cab Ford Ranger with a hard top canopy - it suddenly dawned on me that it would possibly make a nice little mini camper, if not a tiny bit cramped! (I am only 5'1 and my 8yo daughter is tiny). Does anyone else do this?

I would have about 140cm X 150cm of space, so by my reckoning two large cot mattresses side by side on top of a piece of ply on a frame would give us some sort of a bed and I wouldn't have to faff on clearing hay etc out the trailer and getting campbeds out! I've seen a few blow up beds to go in hatchback cars so it maybe isn't as weird as I'm thinking! Or are campbeds in the trailer a tried and tested method if you don't have luxury lorry living ??

 

[Flowerofthefen]

You can get hammocks to hang in trailers so you don't have the faff!!

 

[Shizzle]

You can get hammocks to hang in trailers so you don't have the faff!!

You can, I have seen these! I was just thinking it might be cosier in the pickup, plus it has plug sockets etc...guess I'll just have to try it.

 

[I'm Dun]

You can buy foam to make your own mattress for awkward shapes, its usually denser foam, then slighty softer foam then memory foam all covered in the thin mesh type material. Costs surprisingly little. Definitely less than an matress. It can be rolled up and tied to keep it like that till its needed. Camping stove and cassette toilet and you are sorted!

I'm going to buy a van next year and convert it into a camper van and use it for pulling the trailer for similar reasons.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

I know a few people who sleep in the back of their pick ups.
A work colleague done it recently.
Went off for a few days with her dog hiking and slept in the pick up

 

[Gloi]

Try it at home and see how you fit. I've slept in the back of estate car plenty of times on my travels

 

[Caol Ila]

I sleep in the Yeti, and I used to sleep in the pickup I had in the US. If pickups had a six foot bed here, I would own one. OH is slightly too tall to sleep in a UK pickup.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I think that the load bed of a double cab Ranger is only about 1.5 metres long...

 

[pistolpete]

Loads of ideas on YouTube about sleeping in cars. It’s a thing!

 

[Frano]

What about privacy in a car. No curtains.

 

[splashgirl45]

I think that the load bed of a double cab Ranger is only about 1.5 metres long...

OP has said its 150cm long so is aware and is only 5ft 1in so should just about manage,

 

[Keith_Beef]

OP has said its 150cm long so is aware and is only 5ft 1in so should just about manage,

You're right, I missed that detail...

 

[splashgirl45]

 

[Orangehorse]

Rather cramped and cold, how are you going to manage if there is rain? Making a trailer into a camper isn't so much trouble, some Trec people who are camping well into autumn use one of those pop up tents for extra insulation. Put a rug down over the trailer floor to cover the hay. You can have a light, a radio and a small gas burner for a late night/early morning cuppa in relative comfort (I exaggerate) and you can do that without going outside.

 

[Caol Ila]

What about privacy in a car. No curtains.

I made windows out of insulation and space blankets, which I cut to the shape of my car windows and attached with suction cups. Recently, we bought professionally made ones as my DIY specials, which had lasted for about four years, were on their way out and there's a company in England making really nice ones, fit to the make and model of your choice.

Haven't done much Yeti camping this year, but here's us at the barn on foal watch, with the car in camper in mode. These are the professional ones, not our DIYs.

I should add that you need ventilation, or it's horrible. I have wind deflectors on my car, so you can crack the windows and stay dry, no matter how hard it rains. This is where pickups sort of fail. As far as I know (and I don't really know because I haven't looked), no one makes wind deflectors for the windows on a pickup truck shell. The ones on my old Ford F-250 in the US (and my father's current truck -- a Toyota Tacoma) had mesh windows, but if it chucked it down and they were open, you'd get wet. However, it is super unpleasant sleeping in a vehicle without ventilation, so it is something you would need to figure out.

This is what they are: https://www.energizedcustoms.co.uk/thermal-blinds-for-skoda-yeti-2009-2017-full-set.html

Rather cramped and cold, how are you going to manage if there is rain? Making a trailer into a camper isn't so much trouble, some Trec people who are camping well into autumn use one of those pop up tents for extra insulation. Put a rug down over the trailer floor to cover the hay. You can have a light, a radio and a small gas burner for a late night/early morning cuppa in relative comfort (I exaggerate) and you can do that without going outside.

Camping in a car is no worse than a small tent. If it's raining or a midge-infested hole of death, you swear a lot and question your life choices. Then you suck it up and cook.

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

We were overnighting at a show a few years ago and the family next to us had an ancient Landrover with a caravan type awning attatched to the side . There was a mum and dad and 3 kids living in it for the best part of a week . Have seen a similar set up on transit vans operating as trade stands at shows and always thought it would make a good alternative if we ever sold the horsebox ! I assume that you can get them custom made somewhere ?

 

[Shizzle]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply! Lots of lovely advice here. There are also tents you can put over the tailgate so you can leave it open, which would give more space and ventilation, I just thought it might be fun! My husband's response was 'we have a motorhome' - yes we do, but 1, you won't allow me to tow with it, and 2, it will get horsey stinky very quickly!?

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Please be really careful…a neighbour slept in car when took his family camping and died due to lack of oxygen inside the cab.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Google SUV pop up tent. Someone was having this discussion on another forum and these look fab, the one they were looking at was about £30 and fitted off the back

 

[snowangel5]

Please be really careful…a neighbour slept in car when took his family camping and died due to lack of oxygen inside the cab.

That sounds really devastating for the family

 

[Shizzle]

Please be really careful…a neighbour slept in car when took his family camping and died due to lack of oxygen inside the cab.

That's awful, I'm so sorry to hear that.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

It was beyond awful…his lovely wife went totally hysterical running up and down the street screaming like I’ve never heard before or since…the police officers were tremendous. It remains with me and I am a bit wary about falling asleep in the car.

 

[Lyle]

Done it in a Ford Falcon Ute- so the tub is a bit bigger than a dual cab. There is a small sliding front window at the front of the canopy, in line with the car rear windscreen, we had this cracked open for air flow. We sleep in a canvas swag- but when in the ute or horse trailer we don't put the poles in it, so it's just flat. Snuggle in with the comfy mattress, doonas and then the layer of canvas over the top. Spent a night in -5 degrees celcius like this once. Many, many beanies/gloves and a hot water bottle I prepared before bed. I survived! I would highly reccommend a swag- I spent my youth sleeping in tents/horse trailers on raised camp beds/hammocks and they are cold! The layers of canvas in swags really keep the heat in. When you're done simply roll it all up, with the bedding still inside. Being waterproof, you can even lug it out and stick it under your trailer to get it out of the way during the day. The trap in Australia is just to make sure there are no huntsman spiders the size of your face nestled in there before you zip yourself in

 

[Annagain]

You can get camper pods to fit on the back of a pickup but they're not cheap.

To give you an idea - Demountable Camper for sale | eBay

 

[Shizzle]

Done it in a Ford Falcon Ute- so the tub is a bit bigger than a dual cab. There is a small sliding front window at the front of the canopy, in line with the car rear windscreen, we had this cracked open for air flow. We sleep in a canvas swag- but when in the ute or horse trailer we don't put the poles in it, so it's just flat. Snuggle in with the comfy mattress, doonas and then the layer of canvas over the top. Spent a night in -5 degrees celcius like this once. Many, many beanies/gloves and a hot water bottle I prepared before bed. I survived! I would highly reccommend a swag- I spent my youth sleeping in tents/horse trailers on raised camp beds/hammocks and they are cold! The layers of canvas in swags really keep the heat in. When you're done simply roll it all up, with the bedding still inside. Being waterproof, you can even lug it out and stick it under your trailer to get it out of the way during the day. The trap in Australia is just to make sure there are no huntsman spiders the size of your face nestled in there before you zip yourself in

You have no idea how much the thought of checking my bed for huntsman spiders terrifies me! I had wondered about the hammock beds being a bit colder. I once camped on the top of Shap before an endurance event and the air in my airbed froze, it isn't something I would care to repeat ?

 

[Shizzle]

You can get camper pods to fit on the back of a pickup but they're not cheap.

To give you an idea - Demountable Camper for sale | eBay

My husband and I had seen one of these on the road - very cool but you could get a motorhome for the price!!

 

[I'm Dun]

My husband and I had seen one of these on the road - very cool but you could get a motorhome for the price!!

Not in the current market you couldnt! Its gone crazy. Even the cost of vans has shot up as people are converting them into camper vans

 

[Lyle]

You have no idea how much the thought of checking my bed for huntsman spiders terrifies me! I had wondered about the hammock beds being a bit colder. I once camped on the top of Shap before an endurance event and the air in my airbed froze, it isn't something I would care to repeat ?

Imagine this... Camping with my Dad, brothers and partner in the middle of no where. We've all gone to bed in our respective swags and would have been drifting off. Suddenly, theres an awful thrashing sound coming from my Dad's swag, and he starts to bellow like a goat. Thinking we are being attacked by the South Paddock Axeman or some similar nightmare, we jump up to find he had had a creepy crawley bunkmate

 

[Landcruiser]

I have slept in the back of my pickup, a double cab Mitsubishi L200, with a Truckman hard top. I left a salesman at the dealership very bemused when I climbed in the back and shut myself in when I was looking to buy it
Stretch out? Tick*. Handle on the inside? Tick. Darkened windows for privacy? Tick. Adequate ventilation? Tick.
* I am 5 ft 7, and can sleep stretched out diagonally. I'm still to make an appropriately shaped thing to sleep on - I shall probably cut down a piece of sponge foam stuff to fit.

 

[Shizzle]

I have slept in the back of my pickup, a double cab Mitsubishi L200, with a Truckman hard top. I left a salesman at the dealership very bemused when I climbed in the back and shut myself in when I was looking to buy it
Stretch out? Tick*. Handle on the inside? Tick. Darkened windows for privacy? Tick. Adequate ventilation? Tick.
* I am 5 ft 7, and can sleep stretched out diagonally. I'm still to make an appropriately shaped thing to sleep on - I shall probably cut down a piece of sponge foam stuff to fit.

Haha, this was me the other day, I realised I'd better shut the tailgate in case the neighbours thought I was strange ? we have an Alpha E canopy with darkened windows, however they are the pop out ones, they don't actually pop out very far tbh. If you can manage diagonally in a double cab bed at 5'7 then I'll have loads of space!