DIY SUV Camper Build:

A Complete Guide

Dreaming of hitting the road, but short on funds to buy a beautiful immaculate camper van? Here’s our guide to easily converting the back of your SUV into an inexpensive comfortable overnight camper that can be converted in minutes! 

We always dreamt of hitting the open road and traveling. When 2020 hit and we were quarantined at home, we watched what felt like millions of videos of camper van build after camper van build convincing ourselves that we had developed enough knowledge to build out a state-of-the-art camper van. While we likely overestimated our amateur construction and design skills, we DEFINITELY underestimated the cost of one of these builds!

With skyrocketing vehicle & fixture prices, we knew that a camper van was not in our cards at this point. The camper van dream may have been on hiatus, we weren’t ready to completely shelve our car camping dreams. Thus, a new dream emerged…the build-out of our beloved 2022 RAV4 (lovingly known as Ravier)! 

For this build, we wanted a bed that was inexpensive to build, easy to convert, provided enough storage space, and was, of course, comfortable to sleep in! After two years of incredible car camping trips all across the US, it’s safe to say we are fans of this design. 

After sketching several designs, we were almost there, but we were concerned about convertibility. Then, we found this blog post with a similar design to ours that utilizes drop pins to make the platform bed easily converted in literal MINUTES!

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The Materials: 

  • (1) Piece of 3/4 inch plywood - this will need to be cut into (2) 42 inch x 32 inch pieces

  • (2) 8-foot 2x4s - these will need to be cut into (2) 20 inch, (1) 17 inch, & (9) 6.5 inch pieces

  • Indoor/outdoor rug - Any carpet will do here, but we found this kind to be the cheapest, softest solution. Make sure whatever you choose is large enough to cover the 42”x64” platform.

  • Carpet Tape - We used this outdoor carpet tape.

  • (12) threadless bolts

Tools Needed:

  • Drill

  • Measuring Tape

  • Scissors/Box Cutter

  • Sandpaper

  • Square Circular Saw - this is not necessary if you have the lumber (2x4s) cut to the specifications listed above at the store

First Things First…

While the plans above fit our RAV & our needs to a tee, the measurements can easily be manipulated to fit your priorities! 

Here are a few things to consider when deciding on your measurements: 

  • Your height. We are SHORT people (read: 5’4 & 5’8…if we are being generous). 32” boards worked well for us. Our taller friends (read: 5’8 & 6’2 if we are not being generous) added a 6” board on a hinge that extends the headboard to add some height. This does require you to move your seats forward before setting up for the night. 

  • Width of your cargo area. 42” boards fit perfectly within the narrowest point of our cargo/backseat area WITHOUT scraping the sides. It was important to us that our set-up allowed us to maintain the condition of our car. Making sure we could slide the boards in and out without scraping the sides makes set-up/tear-down easier and helps us keep our car in good shape. 

  • Height of your drawers. Our drawer boxes are 6” tall so the 6.5” height allowed us plenty of space to slide our drawers in and out. 

  • Height of your folded-down seats. Of course, it’s important to make sure that your platform clears the highest point of your seats when folded down so that you don’t have an uneven bed platform! Our platform clears the highest point with space to spare and levels our sleeping area. 

The One Where We Build the Thing

  • Measure measure measure. We measured: 1.) the width of the narrowest point of the cargo area to determine the width of our platform, 2.) the length from the backdoor (when closed) to the back of the front seats to determine the length of our platform, 3.) the height from the highest point of the backseats when folded down to the floor on each side AND in the middle seat (the floorboard is slightly elevated in the back middle floorboard in our RAV4). Our measurements led us to know we needed two platform boards 42” wide x 32” in long (for a total length of 64”), as well as (9) 6.5” legs, (2) 20” legs, and (1) 17.5” leg.

  • Take a trip to the hardware store. Once we had our shopping list in tow, we headed to our local Lowe’s and picked out a sturdy plywood, 2 2x4s, carpet, carpet tape, and 12 drop pins (with a few extras just in case!).

  • Cut the lumber. We actually had the lumber department at Lowe’s make the cuts for us by bringing our list of measurements with us. This kept us from needing to make many cuts at home, though we did use our circular saw on one of the platform legs. All cuts can be made at the lumber department if you are looking for the most cost effective option!

  • Buff out any rough edges. Rather than catch a wayward splinter during set-up, we took a few minutes to sand any rough patches.

  • Carpet that bad boy. Carpet tape is probably the stickiest material to ever exist, but it is very convenient for a quick job like this! We measured 42”x32” pieces of carpet, as well as 2 42”x1” strips and 4 32”x1” strips for 3 of the platform sides. Please note that you do not want to carpet the interior side of the platform boards since these will need to fit snugly together when setting up the platform. Place a strip of carpet tape and firmly secure the carpet on top! You can trim any excess carpet with scissors or a box cutter.

  • Drill the holes. Once we were finally finished dealing with the carpet tape, it was time to lock the legs into place.

    • Back platform legs: The platform over the cargo area needed to have permanent legs, so we knew we would be securing 6 individual legs to the platform with long screws. We also knew that we wanted to secure the legs with the thin side facing the backdoor to give us as much width as possible for storing our drawers under the platform. Note: The internal side of the platform will need to have the legs secured with the wide side facing the front seat in order to attach the ledge legs to these legs. Using our drill, we screwed each of the legs to the platforms (one person firmly holding the leg in place beneath the platform board). We placed screws at 1” and 3” on the 2x4s to give 1” clearance on each side and make the legs as secure as possible. Note: It’s helpful to use a table or sawhorse to balance the platform and affix the legs underneath.

    • Platform ledge: Once the 6 permanent legs were attached to the back platform, we needed to create a ledge for the front platform to rest on by securing these to the internal legs (on the non-carpeted side) on the back platform. These 3 legs need to be permanently secured to the platform legs, BUT they need to have holes on top for the drop pins to drop into. It is much easier to go ahead and make the drop pin holes before securing these ledge legs to the platform legs. We used a larger drill bit to drill holes at 1” and 3” (same as the screw holes). We tested the drill holes out to make sure they were large enough for the drop pins to fit into. Once the drop pin holes are in place, you can screw these legs to the platform legs. Just make sure that the screw holes do not interfere with the drop pin holes.

    • Front platform legs: For the front platform, none of the legs needed to be permanently secured, so we knew we would need to make 12 drop pin holes in the platform (2 per front leg & 2 per platform ledge leg). We measured in 1” from the side and 3” from the sides (where we drilled the platform ledge drop pin holes). We also measured the direct center of the board and drilled a hole on either side by 1” to line up with the center platform ledge leg. We repeated this process on the front side, as well, before drilling holes at 1” and 3” on each of the front legs.

  • Set it all up! Once all the holes were drilled, we set up the platform to ensure that everything was working smoothly. We had a few drop pin holes that fit a bit too snug, so we used our drill to widen the holes a bit to ensure a smooth set-up.

Last Things Last…

  • Decide on a mattress. While there are plenty of options available, over 2 years of SUV camping has led us to believe in our tried & true: this 4in folding Milliard mattress. The mattress is comfortable and easy-to-fold, allowing us to store it easily when not in use.

  • Buy the other items that you need to take this show on the road. Read about our Top 10 Favorite Items for SUV Camping to get the details of everything you need to enjoy your time on the road!