Making Things! A Platform Bed for our ‘06 Toyota Tacoma

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We bought our truck, Blanquita, specifically to hit the road to Baja Sur and enjoy camping along the way. Of course we have a tent, and beachside sleeping is nice, but sometimes you want a little more security at night - from rain, wind or whatever. Sometimes, you just don't want to set up the tent. Hence, the platform bed project for the bed of our truck!

This project came in at under $100 for supplies, and under 3 hours of work, including the trip to Home Depot. Measurements mentioned below fit perfectly for our 2006 Toyota Tacoma with 6 foot long bed. Do try this at home.

Tools Needed:

  • scissors

  • staple gun

  • hammer

  • (we didn’t even use the marker pictured)

Supplies Needed:

  • 2 pieces of 3/4″ thick plywood – each 56″ long and 28″ wide. (we could have gone 2 inches longer)

  • Carpet padding the same size as your plywood

  • Indoor/outdoor carpet approximately 4″ wider on all sides. (two 64″ x 36″ pieces)

  • Two 56.5″ long 2×4’s, and two 57″ long 2×4’s. (because our Toyota truck bed is slightly wider in the rear than in the front.)

Step 1:

Cut the carpet padding to perfectly fit inside the dimensions of the plywood. Cut the carpet to allow for a 4″ wrap-around on all sides. Spray the backside of the plywood excessively with 3M Spray Adhesive, and press the carpet padding to the plywood.

Step 2:

Lay the plywood with the carpet padding face down against the underside of your carpet. Wrap the carpet and begin to staple to the backside of the plywood. Work your way around in a cross pattern to pull tight as you go. Hammer in the staples when you’re done.

Voila! A padded, carpet-wrapped plywood plank to sleep on. It’s actually quite comfy.

Step 3:

Rest your two 2x4's across the factory notches in your truck bed lining. Lay the carpeted planks on top. No screws needed. (yes, we could have swept the truck bed first.

We made this! A Beagle-approved padded truck bed, covered with forest green indoor/outdoor carpeting from Home Depot.

Final step will be to purchase a few under-bed storage containers, allowing the platform to be open for dogs, while the storage remains underneath. Official testing begins in March with a trip to Big Bend State Park.

2023 Update! As of 2023, this platform bed has traveled over 60,000 miles from the tip of Cabo to the northeast of Canada and back several times. We’ve slept many comfortable nights on this bed, with an additional thin mattress pad.