super light weight sleeping platform ideas?

[troyboy162]

my platform works fine but i nearly throw my back out each time i put it in there. the other thing i hate is the main bulk of its weight is high in the trucks center of gravity. my platform is 5/8 plywood with minimal sopport struts.

have you ever had or seen a cheapo futon frame or ikea furnature? what wood is that? super dry pine? ash? anyhow it weighs nearly nothing and is fairly strong, not to mention cheap. i might even be able to get the wood from lightweight pallets

my next platform will be lightweight and modular. no more hinges that i never use. it will be two piece with the rear section always in the truck to use as a shelf. the front part will removable and somehow ancher down as not to be a missle in a accident.

[Scuba]

Carbon Fiber :hillbill:

[4x4mike]

I'm not sure on the type of wood Ikea uses but I'd make a trip to Home Depot and look around. They have a lot of different types of "trim" wood in different dimensions. I recent bought some wood for a home project and it's poplar. It's pretty dense wood and easy to work with.

As far as the platform I'm wondering about plastic. I used to get displays from an old job and I used that plastic all over the place. Think big banner things that are hung from ceilings of large retail establishments. It was really thick and maybe with enough bracing it could work.

Another idea would be canvas. I'm thinking tons of grommets along the edges and pulled tight with 550 cord kind of like a cot. With a support in the middle you could have 2 "cots" that are light weight and strong enough for you and softer gear on top.

[troyboy162]

great ideas!

i have been looking all over for plastics that will work. like those bread trays at the super market when they are stocking the shelves. or one way plastic pallets. Trim wood sounds great too. maybe some hybrid wood/plastic/canvas thingy...

and steve if i could get stuff from work id have have the sweetest 10 pound carbon sleeping platform for elephants lol

[4x4mike]

Those bread trays are a great idea. Costco uses some type of plastic pallet but I haven't checked them out. I love milk crates. You could build a form and fill the form with milk crates and put something on top. Sleeping platform on top and compartment storage on bottom. You would just have to lift the top to access (that would get annoying).

[DHC6twinotter]

I've always like the idea of an aluminum frame and some sort of plastic inserts. I'm thinking some thin plastic for the sides and something like thick cutting board material for the top. That's my dream platform anyways. I'll have to learn how to weld aluminum. :hillbill:

[slomatt]

I've been considering fabricating some kind of composite panel for a sleeping platform, something like 1/2" of foam with 1/8" luan laminated on each side. This should be lightweight and very strong, it's just a bit of a hassle to work with because you have the reinforce all of the attachment points.

- Matt

[troyboy162]

I've been considering fabricating some kind of composite panel for a sleeping platform, something like 1/2" of foam with 1/8" luan laminated on each side. This should be lightweight and very strong, it's just a bit of a hassle to work with because you have the reinforce all of the attachment points.

- Matt


what kind of labor and costs are invloved with that? that really sounds ideal.

[CJM]

2 layers of 3/16 luan or 1 layer with AL flatbar as reinforcement, then make the legs out of luan as well.

That stuff can support alot of weight.

[DHC6twinotter]

I'd like to use something like this: http://www.professionalplastics.com/ABSSHEETFORMINGGRADE

http://www.professionalplastics.com/professionalplastics/content/images_inv/c/m/85252/absfr_full.jpg

$120 for a 48x96 sheet doesn't sounds horrible, but I wonder how strong 1/4" of the stuff is. Anyways, something similar to that is what I'd like to use.

[slomatt]

I've been considering fabricating some kind of composite panel for a sleeping platform, something like 1/2" of foam with 1/8" luan laminated on each side. This should be lightweight and very strong, it's just a bit of a hassle to work with because you have the reinforce all of the attachment points.

- Matt


what kind of labor and costs are invloved with that? that really sounds ideal.


The luan and foam are fairly inexpensive and can be found at Home Depot or Lowes. You would need to make sure you use an adhesive that will not melt the foam and apply it to the luan using rollers and then use a good amount of weight to press the layers together while they dry. As I mentioned above the difficult part is attaching the composite sheet to other materials since bolts could pull through the luan. One option is to put strips of 1/2" square wood inside the foam to use as faster locations, alternatively you could use fiberglass and epoxy to attach pieces together.

- Matt

[Seanz0rz]

a well engineered steel or aluminum frame supporting a 1/4" or 5/16" thick HDPE (cutting board material) would be perfect.

ABS is too reactive to heat to be sturdy in my opinion.

[Crinale]

iv been kinda workin on plans in my head for some kind of sleeping platform too.. the ideas in here for materials are great, keep em coming!

[some_odd_girl]

and steve if i could get stuff from work id have have the sweetest 10 pound carbon sleeping platform for elephants lol


That made me lol, quite literally. :P

[troyboy162]

a well engineered steel or aluminum frame supporting a 1/4" or 5/16" thick HDPE (cutting board material) would be perfect.

ABS is too reactive to heat to be sturdy in my opinion.


http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=18011&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1270&top_cat=60
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=17860&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1279&top_cat=60

i didnt think it would be but thats pretty dang cheap and would add greatly to strenght and weight savings.
http://www.learn-how-to-weld.com/mig-welding/mig-welding-aluminum.html

looks easy enough especialy when it just has to work a little bit to be strong enough

[troyboy162]

revisiting this since I finnaly made something. I have a spool gun for my mig so I made one out of aluminum. its very lightweight and I hope it will hold up but a few more legs would fix it if I start to have problems.
- decided against two piece design for weight savings and ease of production
- 1" 060 wall tube and 1"x1/8 flat bar
-40' of tube and 48' of bar
- weight is somewhere around 10 lbs
- had to go tall to fit the new cooler :(

oh and mig welding aluminum is creepy. The wire doesnt touch the puddle, its vaporized or something and just kinda shows up. Its really easy to blow holes in it too and impossible to fill big ones after they form
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/IMG_20121207_185123.jpg

[Seanz0rz]

how much?

[troyboy162]

not cheap... the place I went only had the fancy T6 aluminum so its got about $120 in material in it. Getting the extra stuff I needed to weld aluminum was another $150, but now I'll just need gas refills.

[stormtaco]

you hear here of a tent :hillbill: hahahha just kidding looks good.

[4x4mike]

Good looking. I've never welded AL but it sounds like it can be challenging.

In the long run the aluminum is going to be better. Plus its much ligher than wood or steel.

[Robinhood4x4]

You're the first person I've heard of who has actually welded aluminum with a spool. Do tell. How are the welds? What's the technique? How hard is it to weld?

[troyboy162]

The welds range from crap blown holes to what you would find on cheap chinease stuff (mechanically fine but not stacked dimes). The thing is the oxidation takes twice the heat to melt then the aluminum under it. You are sopposed to clean it with acid but my spray bottle was broken so i raw dogged it on the whole thing. The only technique i verified is it has to be a push rather then pull. This was thin wall and dirty so the worst case senario, but it came out usable.

[troyboy162]

this thing is tall haha, but its only for sleeping anyhow. I've been sliding myself in since I built my first platform.
http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/troyboy162/IMG_20121208_091507.jpg

[Robinhood4x4]

In the past when I've tig welded aluminum, I've always used a steel brush to clean up the oxidation. Is that what you mean by Raw Dogging it or you just burned through it?

It is pretty tall.

[jrallan26]

Be sure to weld aluminum in a well ventilated area, very toxic.....

[troyboy162]

It just burned through the crud. I really want to try the acid to see if it will work well. Thanks for the tip on ventilation. I had the garage door open.

[Crinale]

Did it hold up well at the T4T meetup?

[troyboy162]

I didnt get to try it out, but ill be on it this weekend. It should be ok. I beat on it a bit to make sure it would hold weight

[Crinale]

cool, well goodluck