Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi folks,

I've been thinking lately of building a setup in the back of my car where we can sleep inside the car when camping. So building a platform where I have drawers underneath and then a nice mattress ontop.
It will mean being clever with packing everything nicely, and I suppose I'll definitely need a roof rack for the big stuff.
The big pro I'm thinking about so far is no need to setup a tent, as well as sleeping on a really nice mattress, and not a stretcher or blow up mattress - I hate pumping that damn mattress up each time!

So, what are the cons of this idea?

Edit: it's just me and my wife on these trips.

Thanks.
Cheers!

I think the biggest cons are the lack of head-room and the lack of somewhere private to change clothes. if you can handle those, I have always thought it's a very good idea.

I agree with Piet but in the back of the car you have about same amount of space than a rooftop tent

Maybe you must sent as photos of what you did!

I like more my Patrol's roofrack sideroof tent.

Cool, thanks for the replies so far.

Yes, that is the one issue I have thought about is it will be quite difficult to get dressed in there in terms of space, I think for privacy I would need to put some curtains up though (All I can think of now are those old Kombis with flower curtains in, yuck! :) ).

I think I'll start planning this project.

I take it you will be removing both sets or rear seats?

This gives you ample space to put in a nice bed and still leaves you with enough packing space for the essentials. Of course a roofrack is now a very good idea as you will need to store some stuff on the roof.

As for the dressing part, I will get one of those pop up cubicles, takes very little space, really not as issue to erect or take down and you can get dressed in the upright position

Depending on the size of the bed, convert one window to a gullwing and put the kitchen in there, will make life easier.

Table underneath roofrack and maybe as well turn one of the rear barn door panels into table for those quick stops.

Yes, I will definitely be removing all of the seats. Id like to have enough space under the bed platform for amo box height, so I can slide a whole bunch of them underneath, and possibly manage to fit a water tank under there as well.

I cant remember where I saw it now, I think it was a youtube video of a guy that installed this in his patrol, his had a lot more lids and doors and drawers etc, I want to keep mine as simple as possible though.

That pop up cubicle for changing is a genius idea! Thanks for that one.

Hi Graham,

I plaid around with those thoughts a couple of weeks ago.
I cut a plywood board creating a level surface between the backdoor and the front seats (rear seats being removed).
This was meant to be a one man setup which should be sufficient for a couple of days to a week.
The one side was used as sleeping quarter while the other side accommodated 2nd spare wheel, cooler box and everything else which would have been required. There was also plenty of packing space behind the front seats due to the fact that the floor of the car is sloping down. I did a "test-run" / sleep and it worked out ok.
If you intend to raise the floor in order to accommodate a drawer system; then I would think that the remaining room / headroom will not be enough to to get into the car without difficulty.

Drikus Griessel and wifey Sally only sleeps inside there TERRANO -- even if we have Lodge to stay in [only ONCE did they use the lodge room] In April they were on the road for 6 weeks running [Richtersveldt; Namibia; Botswana] and only slept in the Terrano.
And he built the whole shebang himself [AND there is a 80 liter fridge inside as well .. [Ja, Sally is kort maar ou Drikus is selle lengte as ek .. amper]

If you are at least on speaking terms with Rockafella, check this out:

http://theroadchoseme.com/the-jeep