Just purchased 2010 rav4 base with I4 and 4 wheel drive. My wife and I do a lot of camping in the spring and summer and I have been looking at tents that attach to the hatch of an SUV. Then I thought maybe I don't need the tent at all. Have any of you tried making any modifications to the cargo space with seats out or down that would allow for two to sleep comfortably?
camping mods
cburt21
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Just purchased 2010 rav4 base with I4 and 4 wheel drive. My wife and I do a lot of camping in the spring and summer and I have been looking at tents that attach to the hatch of an SUV. Then I thought maybe I don't need the tent at all. Have any of you tried making any modifications to the cargo space with seats out or down that would allow for two to sleep comfortably?
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http://www.rav4world.com/forums/98-...s/98-4-3-interior/77783-has-anyone-built-car-bed-inside-their-rav4-camping.html
http://www.rav4world.com/forums/98-...4-make-rav4-rear-sleeping-bed-platform-two-step-step-walk-thru-read-more-h.html
And there are many more discussions found by searching for camping sleeping .
An interesting point is that one of the above show that a conversion for a RAV 4.3 is the same for a Prius because they have the same rear floor layout.
For mine I just lay out two roll-up camping mats and pile on blankets.
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We went camping with just a couple of air mattresses and some blankets. I got one twin air mattress to go on the floor and a full to go on top of it. The twin underneath helps get up over the wheel wells and we sleep on the full. I think you could even do better with one of those double height twins. The most glaring issue is that the air mattresses stretch out after some use and we had to add some more air after waking up in the middle of the night.
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As a veteran, I learned to sleep damn-near standing up. Can do it anytime, but I don't wanna spend any more of my life like that.
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I use two closed cell foam pool floats for my wife and I to sleep in the back of my RAV4. We usually camp at a lake so we can also float on them in the water or lay them on the ground and sit on them. They wash off easily if they get dirty or rained on but they have gotten pretty pricey at nearly a hundred bucks each. But I will never again buy anything inflatable if there are other options.
My wife and I just this past weekend went camping in our 2009 for the first time since purchasing it new more than a decade ago. We are set up for towing (example) and considered a small travel trailer (example) but were inspired to remain more agile by this thread among others on this forum and the SUV RVing channel among others on YouTube. The following configuration worked really well for us, and I am resurrecting this thread in hopes of seeing more examples of what folks have done and are doing with their 4.3 RAV4s!


2009 Toyota RAV4 Sport V6 AWD SAP
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Elevated Storage Rack Behind Rear Seats
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2009 Toyota RAV4 Sport V6 AWD SAP
Elevated Storage Rack Behind Rear Seats
Very nice setup bjmsam.
Years ago I'd done something very similar with a Mitsubishi Expo, a car about the size of our current '06 RAV4, but with two variations.
First, I mounted the bed floor on a frame that raised it about 8 inches. That gave me lots of storage underneath accessible from either rear door or the back. On 4.3 RAV4 it would also allow access to the rear underfloor storage.
Second, I mounted two 12V computer fans in a thin piece of plywood that fit the rear window nice and snug when I rolled the window up to it. I covered them with screen and had them switched so I could run one or both. Used the rig all one summer while traveling with my dyno business. Then I upgraded to a pickup with a slide-in camper for all the comforts of home.
Years ago I'd done something very similar with a Mitsubishi Expo, a car about the size of our current '06 RAV4, but with two variations.
First, I mounted the bed floor on a frame that raised it about 8 inches. That gave me lots of storage underneath accessible from either rear door or the back. On 4.3 RAV4 it would also allow access to the rear underfloor storage.
Second, I mounted two 12V computer fans in a thin piece of plywood that fit the rear window nice and snug when I rolled the window up to it. I covered them with screen and had them switched so I could run one or both. Used the rig all one summer while traveling with my dyno business. Then I upgraded to a pickup with a slide-in camper for all the comforts of home.
Thanks! Wow, an entire summer - awesome! I opted against a raised platform in the interest of maximizing headroom (sitting up to read, change clothes, etc.), hence the shelf, but 8" sounds like a good compromise. Hanging a fan from the reinforced infant seat hook in the ceiling worked well, but shrouded fans in the windows sounds like a great approach for having privacy shade on the bottom and ventilation screen on the top. Thanks for the great ideas!
Funny thing about it was most of the CGs I stayed at said you couldn't sleep in your car so I'd set up a small tent on my site, throw some inexpensive stuff in it, and after dark climb into my metal tent for the night. Was especially nice hearing it pouring rain on the roof while I stayed coxy & dry.
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That was a great idea. I think i couldn't sleep in my car. This is the best idea for a car sleeping. Thank you for helps my car camping.Sleeping Platform
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