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A local brewery hosted a car camping competition so I started working on my camping set up for the Mav.
It took a whole lot of measuring but overall is pretty simple.
I started by cutting a 1/2 inch plywood sheet into a 48"x53" section that fits very well in the main truck bed. Then a 48"x24" section that connects via a breakaway hinge to the main board and rests on the tailgate at the "carry a load of plywood" angled position.
The rest of the board was cut up into 7" tall sections to go down the middle as a support and some small 7" pieces at the corners nearest the tailgate. (7" is technically a little high for where those wheel wells sit, but it worked well in the end) I coated those both in cheap-ass spray bed liner to make it black and hopefully fill in the texture of that chipped plywood. I'm happy with it
In this photo you can see how it is hinged to allow access to storage bins (even though you have to change the tailgate to actually access them.) It breaks away as in if you go past 90* you can slide it back a little and it disconnects from the whole thing, with one half the hinge on one part, the other half on the other plywood.
I used some 3" foam strips from my old job as a bed. We sewed up two 24"x53" pads to sit side by side for the main sections (the rip stop nylon fabric was 59" wide so to make one bed pad would have created seams and was bulky, plus this way I get to store it all in the back seats stacked) then a 48"x24" section for the tailgate area.
I ultimately will weld a "roll cage" like "trapezoid" deal for the bed and have a tarp hang from underneath that fully covers the bed (privacy and bugs) so I can still use use the structure to support a kayak or my roof rack. Btw the angle for how that cab sits is 10* off 90 so a 100* angle from the roofline bar to the side bars is what I'll be doing. Roughly 18" high I think, and I wanna say the cab roofline will be 54" wide. I plan to just weld metal plates at the bottom and use some old truck bed clamps to hold it on. I really wish the bed had those stake holes but, this is my first truck so I'm learning.
As for the canopy as it is in photos it is roughly 58"x105" ish I think. And I just sewed up old malt bags with some 1" webbing on the corners with opposing buckles on a loop. That way I strap a long piece of webbing that goes through the cab and buckles onto the front corners on the tarp, and clip some tie down ropes to 50lb bags for tension. The poles are used for holding up tarps like this, but are only 4' (we had them laying around) so I had to prop them up, ideally a 6-8' pole would be used.
Also it holds three adults! I didn't get approval for posting so excuse the crappy face coverings, but I did want to show how it fit with people in it.
It took a whole lot of measuring but overall is pretty simple.
I started by cutting a 1/2 inch plywood sheet into a 48"x53" section that fits very well in the main truck bed. Then a 48"x24" section that connects via a breakaway hinge to the main board and rests on the tailgate at the "carry a load of plywood" angled position.
The rest of the board was cut up into 7" tall sections to go down the middle as a support and some small 7" pieces at the corners nearest the tailgate. (7" is technically a little high for where those wheel wells sit, but it worked well in the end) I coated those both in cheap-ass spray bed liner to make it black and hopefully fill in the texture of that chipped plywood. I'm happy with it
In this photo you can see how it is hinged to allow access to storage bins (even though you have to change the tailgate to actually access them.) It breaks away as in if you go past 90* you can slide it back a little and it disconnects from the whole thing, with one half the hinge on one part, the other half on the other plywood.
I used some 3" foam strips from my old job as a bed. We sewed up two 24"x53" pads to sit side by side for the main sections (the rip stop nylon fabric was 59" wide so to make one bed pad would have created seams and was bulky, plus this way I get to store it all in the back seats stacked) then a 48"x24" section for the tailgate area.
I ultimately will weld a "roll cage" like "trapezoid" deal for the bed and have a tarp hang from underneath that fully covers the bed (privacy and bugs) so I can still use use the structure to support a kayak or my roof rack. Btw the angle for how that cab sits is 10* off 90 so a 100* angle from the roofline bar to the side bars is what I'll be doing. Roughly 18" high I think, and I wanna say the cab roofline will be 54" wide. I plan to just weld metal plates at the bottom and use some old truck bed clamps to hold it on. I really wish the bed had those stake holes but, this is my first truck so I'm learning.
As for the canopy as it is in photos it is roughly 58"x105" ish I think. And I just sewed up old malt bags with some 1" webbing on the corners with opposing buckles on a loop. That way I strap a long piece of webbing that goes through the cab and buckles onto the front corners on the tarp, and clip some tie down ropes to 50lb bags for tension. The poles are used for holding up tarps like this, but are only 4' (we had them laying around) so I had to prop them up, ideally a 6-8' pole would be used.
Also it holds three adults! I didn't get approval for posting so excuse the crappy face coverings, but I did want to show how it fit with people in it.
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