Marusho
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(Sorry but I said "Quad" cab rather than "Crew" cab when I posted this. I'm fixing that mistake in this text. Hope I can fix the heading too. Thanks for the correxion.)
I do little mods that do not affect the truck in any way. Previously I have posted my RamBox Inserts design, my DashCams-in-the-rear-window installation and my Cargo Bars install.
I was curious about whether I could sleep in the back of my 2019 Longhorn Crew Cab truck, on an elevated platform. The answer is that I could, and I'm 5'8" and 170 pounds. Here's how I would do it.
I carry three items in the rear floor, with the seat bottom folded up. These are my 56-quart Igloo Koolmate 12V cooler and two attached-lid plastic tubs, model Quantum Distribution Container QDC2115-17. Dimensions of these tubs are 20 7/8" x 15 1/8" x 17 1/4" high. The height is the same as my cooler. These three items do not quite fill the space so there is an area between them where I store smaller items. (BTW, I have at least 30 of this line of tubs and love them. The place to get them is Zoro. Never buy anything there without a 20% coupon.)
I travel regularly to my cabin in the mountains, 4 hours away. I load the tubs with supplies and clothes and put my food in the cooler. I have used this cooler for 20 years on hundreds of round trips and I can highly recommend it. However these thermo-electric coolers are very inefficient, so they are not so good for use when the motor is off. There is a 5A draw. If you have access to 120V you can use an adapter (about $15 for a Chinese one) but they get hot as a pistol, so place the adapter someplace suitable (and let it cool down a few times per night).
Back to my description of a possible sleeping arrangement: With the seats moved forward and tilted forward, there is a full 3 feet of space between the folded back seat bottom and the front passenger seat back. There is an additional 2" of space behind the driver seat, since (in my truck, with power bucket seats) there is more travel. I could sleep on a platform 3 feet wide.
The distance between the rear arm rests, which are just above the 17" height of the storage units, is only 5'2 5/8", but just above these arm rests the distance increases to 5'7 11/16", which I could live with.
The console is 1" taller than the storage units and fridge, so that protrusion could be integrated into the support system for a sleeping platform. Exactly how this platform would be fabricated would take some trial and error but with a width of 62" it would store nicely in the short bed. Provision would have to be made for the irregularity of the tops of the tubs, but that's not a big consideration.
The biggest chore would be building a platform or frame to level the Ram's rear floor. It is sort of flat-ish, but in actuality is very lumpy and tippy. This item would need to have a little depth, perhaps 1", so the 3 storage units would be 1" higher, and adding a little more height for the sleeping platform would bring it closer to the top of the arm rests, so the wider mattress measurement of 5' 7 11/16" is the correct width.
For a mattress I'd get the densest 3-4" twin size mattress topper (ebay $40) and trim it to fit with an electric knife.
I don't want to sleep in the cab of my truck. This is just a mental exercise. If I wanted to sleep in my truck I wouldn't have bought the Ramboxes, which preclude attaching any kind of cap or camper to the bed. I've done my share of tent and van camping though and wanted to know what my options were. I could build what I've described in a weekend for under $100. I'd prefer to stay in a motel, but some of the nicest places don't have motels; and some motels don't have vacancies.
One final thought: 120V mattress pad. 3rd grade math would be adequate to compute how many hours it could be used without depleting the battery, but Ram claims that cannot happen since they disable the inverter.
I do little mods that do not affect the truck in any way. Previously I have posted my RamBox Inserts design, my DashCams-in-the-rear-window installation and my Cargo Bars install.
I was curious about whether I could sleep in the back of my 2019 Longhorn Crew Cab truck, on an elevated platform. The answer is that I could, and I'm 5'8" and 170 pounds. Here's how I would do it.
I carry three items in the rear floor, with the seat bottom folded up. These are my 56-quart Igloo Koolmate 12V cooler and two attached-lid plastic tubs, model Quantum Distribution Container QDC2115-17. Dimensions of these tubs are 20 7/8" x 15 1/8" x 17 1/4" high. The height is the same as my cooler. These three items do not quite fill the space so there is an area between them where I store smaller items. (BTW, I have at least 30 of this line of tubs and love them. The place to get them is Zoro. Never buy anything there without a 20% coupon.)
I travel regularly to my cabin in the mountains, 4 hours away. I load the tubs with supplies and clothes and put my food in the cooler. I have used this cooler for 20 years on hundreds of round trips and I can highly recommend it. However these thermo-electric coolers are very inefficient, so they are not so good for use when the motor is off. There is a 5A draw. If you have access to 120V you can use an adapter (about $15 for a Chinese one) but they get hot as a pistol, so place the adapter someplace suitable (and let it cool down a few times per night).
Back to my description of a possible sleeping arrangement: With the seats moved forward and tilted forward, there is a full 3 feet of space between the folded back seat bottom and the front passenger seat back. There is an additional 2" of space behind the driver seat, since (in my truck, with power bucket seats) there is more travel. I could sleep on a platform 3 feet wide.
The distance between the rear arm rests, which are just above the 17" height of the storage units, is only 5'2 5/8", but just above these arm rests the distance increases to 5'7 11/16", which I could live with.
The console is 1" taller than the storage units and fridge, so that protrusion could be integrated into the support system for a sleeping platform. Exactly how this platform would be fabricated would take some trial and error but with a width of 62" it would store nicely in the short bed. Provision would have to be made for the irregularity of the tops of the tubs, but that's not a big consideration.
The biggest chore would be building a platform or frame to level the Ram's rear floor. It is sort of flat-ish, but in actuality is very lumpy and tippy. This item would need to have a little depth, perhaps 1", so the 3 storage units would be 1" higher, and adding a little more height for the sleeping platform would bring it closer to the top of the arm rests, so the wider mattress measurement of 5' 7 11/16" is the correct width.
For a mattress I'd get the densest 3-4" twin size mattress topper (ebay $40) and trim it to fit with an electric knife.
I don't want to sleep in the cab of my truck. This is just a mental exercise. If I wanted to sleep in my truck I wouldn't have bought the Ramboxes, which preclude attaching any kind of cap or camper to the bed. I've done my share of tent and van camping though and wanted to know what my options were. I could build what I've described in a weekend for under $100. I'd prefer to stay in a motel, but some of the nicest places don't have motels; and some motels don't have vacancies.
One final thought: 120V mattress pad. 3rd grade math would be adequate to compute how many hours it could be used without depleting the battery, but Ram claims that cannot happen since they disable the inverter.
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