Best vehicles to sleep in

[Mike]

Humor me... You're on the road, your day is done, and it's time to sleep... ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. Obviously not in the middle of nowhere, but still, you're sleeping in your vehicle. You may do this for many days. You may also do lots of driving.

What do you choose?

My shortlist:
Honda Element - seats fold to create a bed, still like driving a car, rear windows are tinted enough. Sweet: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rishio.com/blog/2008/06/in-my-element-bed-platform.html">http://www.rishio.com/blog/2008/06/in-my-element-bed-platform.html</a><!-- m -->
Dodge Sprinter - tons of room, bulletproof motor, but do you want to drive all over the place in one?

Thought about and dismissed:
Prius or any regular old hatchback or wagon - No privacy.
Pickup w/ a cap - Just not a great option.
Conversion van - Hell no.
Camper anything - No.
Vanagon - Too unreliable.
Dodge Magnum - A Dodge.
Aztek - It's an Aztek.
Hearse - No.

[ScottyB]

awesome, a kind of trip i've thought about myself :thumbup: so what are you doing, buying this vehicle or renting?

if privacy is important why not just put a heavy tint on the windows of whatever you're driving, even if its a regular hatchback or wagon? its not that much of a hassle and you'd have alot more choices. the windows on an element aren't any more private than heavily tinted windows on anything else.

element is king IMO. i love the sprinter too but could see if you didn't want to drive one. the only other things i can think of, pending your tint rule are:

WRX wagon...very fun, not as much cargo space and rougher/louder. get an outback sport for better mileage:


roadmaster wagon...bulletproof, easy and cheap to fix, classic comfy American touring, but obviously a land whale and worth nothing (could be good).


HHR panel van....lots of privacy, some decent room, not enormous to drive, but not very attractive:


i can't think of anything else that isn't an SUV or truck, or German.

[PDenbigh]

I built a "shelf" in the back of the F150, and I have a topper on it that has just a slight rise to allow for extra room. I then use either a tempurpedic-type 3" foam pad or two of our self inflating thermarest camping pads if I'm lazy. I then insulated the underside of the shelf with foam insulation, and I built foam insulating cutouts to cover the windows for the winter months. I can go from the cab of the truck to the bed through the rear window. I have foam weatherstripping between the cab and the topper windows, and I can pre-heat or pre-cool it with the trucks heat/AC as I near the destination. It's really comfy. Alison, Cooper (the pup), and I sleep back there at least a few times a winter. Anything below 30 degrees and I have a little heater I hang from the ceiling (so it doesn't get caught in the sheets).

The nice part about the shelf is that I still have a ton of room under it. I can bring all my track stuff (tires, tool box, creeper, welder, etc, etc) under there, and we sleep on top.

We went snowboarding in northern VT last year, and on our way back spent the night at a truck stop in the Adirondacks. I stayed there because it was about 10 degrees that night and we needed the heater... but quickly learned that a truck stop is a noisy place! So, from then on we sleep in restaurant parking lots, hotel parking lots, etc. If we don't need a plug for the heater, our sleeping options increase greatly.

[Mike]

sweet trip idea!

I didn't say anything This is all hypothetical.

if privacy is important why not just put a heavy tint on the windows of whatever you're driving, even if its a regular hatchback or wagon?

i simply don't think they're long enough, either.

element is king IMO.

yeah, no matter how much I look into other things, I keep coming back to the Element. The fact that it will be less spartan than most of the options is a huge plus. It also gets like 27mpg highway (SC model).

roadmaster wagon...bulletproof, easy and cheap to fix, classic comfy American touring, but obviously a land whale and worth nothing (could be good).

if i'm going "bleh" and american, i'd go with a conversion or cargo van before this.

HHR panel van....lots of privacy, some decent room, not enormous to drive, but not very attractive:

doesn't look big enough.

[Mike]

lots

if i already had a pickup, i'd go that route, but i feel a pickup is just a bit spartan for living/driving for a long, long period. i may still come back to them, but can't see why i'd choose one of a cargo van.

[CaptainHenreh]

I know you threw out the Magnum because it's a dodge but...for a single person you probably could do alot worse.

[Mike]

Ford Flex? Having trouble finding info on removing the rear seats... Not folding them down, but actually taking them out and building some sort of loft as in the Element posted above. It seems to have a longer rear... I think in the Element I wouldn't be able to stretch out fully. Edit: Nope, huge PITA to remove...

Rex, the Magnum has the "lack of storage when sleeping" issue since the roof is so low.

[Sijray21]

i've actually slept in the back of an element once. it was actually pretty comfortable with me being 6'1". being able to open the windows was also really nice because it rained that night.

[Steve85]

Just did this at Sebring last weekend in...



The 3.5L is something like 245hp/tq so it moves out surprisingly well, handles good and is quite big inside. A couple drawbacks with regard to sleeping... second row captains chairs do not fold forward very well and the floor is not flat enough to be very comfortable w/out an air mattress.

You'll never drive/buy a minivan, although it would function so well for what your looking for, so this was merely an excuse to tell about my recent experience in a related thread.

From your list I would probably go with the Element...though it's as ugly as anything else on the road. I would personally get a little claustrophobic in anything much smaller.

[Mike]

I'd totally go with a minivan, but haven't found anything that rivals the Element in terms of configuration and space.

[ScottyB]

if i'm going "bleh" and american, i'd go with a conversion or cargo van before this.

yeah...i can't see you driving one at all, but figured i'd throw it out there.

not really that relevant but a pretty cool sprinter setup. i'd love to do this if i had a few grand and some time on my hands.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://runutsadventures.com/bike/?page_id=8">http://runutsadventures.com/bike/?page_id=8</a><!-- m -->

[Steve85]

I haven't done interior room research but I would think the Odyssey would have more room than the Element inside. I understand configuaration (edit:even I can't spell it), the Element is certainly more directed at someone who would be inclined to sleep in it and the minivan just gets you comfortably to the hotel.

Our 04 Odyssey had easily removable second row seats and a flat folding rear bench. Our friends have a newer gen one and it's noticeably bigger (and nicer) inside.

Too bad about the Flex seats for ya, I really like it and it will be a contender when the mv goes away.

[ViPER1313]

Why no on the conversion van?? A lot of them have a rear seat that will fold into a bed.

Other quirky (and not that great idea) - Nissan Cube. The back is surprisingly big, you would be driving a car and the rear seats fold perfectly flat, although there would be no other space for cargo if you were sleeping in it.

[CaptainHenreh]

Rex, the Magnum has the "lack of storage when sleeping" issue since the roof is so low.

I suppose, but that could be mitigated with roof storage?

[Jeff]

XJ? ZJ/WJ/WK? Wrangler Unlimited?

Edit - Magnum's are sweet and can be had cheap. Lots of room in them really.

[Mike]

Why no on the conversion van?? A lot of them have a rear seat that will fold into a bed.

I wanna pretend I have a *little* style. And they're not the most ergonomically friendly vehicles in the world. At the end of the day, they're still a work van.

[.RJ]

Why no on the conversion van?? A lot of them have a rear seat that will fold into a bed.

Only you would suggest that. Or maybe Jeff, if he wasnt balls deep in the Jeep koolaid.

[Mike]

XJ? ZJ/WJ/WK? Wrangler Unlimited?

Element has more space.

[Evan]

element is not good sleep in if youre just folding down the back seat.

take them all out and put down an air mattress and i guess it would be ok, but im not sure if its long enough for a 6 footer.

i knew a guy who lived in a free candy van for a while, even thats not a ton of room.

[Mike]

element is not good sleep in if youre just folding down the back seat.

definitely wouldn't that. check the link i posted... here... easy button <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rishio.com/blog/2008/06/in-my-element-bed-platform.html">http://www.rishio.com/blog/2008/06/in-my-element-bed-platform.html</a><!-- m -->