Tarp for sleeping in the back of a short bed Tacoma?

Shredgnar

New member
I bought a 5' bed Tacoma TRD OffRoad. I planned on putting more money into it and getting a GFC camper or a trailer, or a RTT. However, in these times of economic uncertainty (Covid-19) I'm putting that on hold till things settle down. I'll probably just get a fiberglass topper, ARB or Leer, unless there's something else better but in the same price range.

So with the topper, I'll want to create some kind of sleeping arrangement that allows me to sleep in the back with the tailgate down, and topper open. So can anyone recommend something that would cover the back, and seal well enough to keep bugs, and rain out? Any other ideas? I guess I could just skip the topper and get a bed rail mounted RTT with rails but I use the truck for work a lot so would need to be easily removable.
 

BritKLR

Kapitis Indagatoris
Many teen years of summer rafting southern Missouri, northern Arkansas with a blue tarp and an old pickup, skip the tarp....youll spend a ton of time, money and effort (and duct tape) trying to keep bugs and rain out and do nothing but frustrate yourself and look redneck.....Save and buy a cheap craigslist topper with screened windows and a battery powered fan and life will be good. Have fun!
 

1000arms

Well-known member
Many teen years of summer rafting southern Missouri, northern Arkansas with a blue tarp and an old pickup, skip the tarp....you'll spend a ton of time, money and effort (and duct tape) trying to keep bugs and rain out and do nothing but frustrate yourself and look redneck.....Save and buy a cheap craigslist topper with screened windows and a battery powered fan and life will be good. Have fun!

The 5' bed might be too short to sleep comfortably. If so, keep BritKLR's advice in mind and consider something that seals from the bugs and could be set up on the bed+tailgate, such as https://www.amazon.com/Kodiak-Canvas-1-Person-Sleeping-Olive/dp/B01DTZP7LY?ref_=ast_bbp_dp . There are also truck bed tents such as https://www.amazon.com/Kodiak-Canvas-Size-5-6ft-Truck/dp/B072L6GRBM?ref_=ast_bbp_dp but they can be tough to seal well.
 

MK13

New member
I used to use a tarp over a PVC pipe frame to camp in the back of my '84 Toyota pickup and it worked ok. It worked fine for rain but since I left the tailgate end open for air circulation it wouldn't protect me from bugs. I didn't have major issues with bugs because I was usually camping up in the mountains in Colorado and there weren't many bugs that bug spray wouldn't protect meet from. I just had to make sure to bungee strap it tight to the truck and frame and angle the tailgate end towards the ground and it did a good job of keeping rain out. I would think for your application you could use a tarp over the tailgate end angled towards the ground the keep the rain out and use a screen of some sort to keep most of the bugs out.
Just a thought.
Though, as others have said you may be better starting with a topper that has screens already built into the windows. Or just go ahead and get the RTT you know you really want.
 

Shredgnar

New member

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