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Implementing a bed into Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by amylase, Jun 30, 2011.

  1. amylase

    amylase New Member

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    This proposal may sound odd. I move around a lot and travel long distances not infrequently. I work and I study. Today I'm here, next week 600km else where. Pay is significantly better working rural but study keeps me in the city. Bottomline is sometimes I sleep in my car and I totally don't mind it except the condition could be improved in particular ventilation and postures. So just two questions about a third gen Prius I'm getting soon:

    (1) How long can the car's fan go on for continuously and still able to start the engine later? Can the fan be left on for say 8 hours on lowest speed overnight when I sleep in the car and in the morning the engine could still start?

    (2) Has anyone tried customizing a bed into their Prius? I'm 180cm tall so length wise from the end of boot to back of passenger front seat should suffice.

    Any suggestions? :confused:
     
    #1 amylase, Jun 30, 2011
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Leave your Prius in Ready and you won't have to worry about running down the battery.

    Tom
     
    #2 qbee42, Jun 30, 2011
  3. Flaninacupboard

    Flaninacupboard Senior Member

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    A member on here (think it was Hobbit) made a board for sleeping in his prius. looked like it worked fine.

    If you leave the car in Ready the engine will fire up for a few minutes every couple of hours to keep the battery topped up if you just leave the fan running. If you leave the AC on the engine will run a lot more frequently, but will still only cycle on and off as needed to keep the battery charged.
     
    #3 Flaninacupboard, Jun 30, 2011
  4. Corwyn

    Corwyn Energy Curmudgeon

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    #4 Corwyn, Jun 30, 2011
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Thanks for posting the links, Corwyn. Saved me the time. lol

    I would like to mention that your bed height is a factor you should consider. If the matress is too tall then you reduce legroom (height) in the rear. This doesn't sound like much of an issue but it's kind of nice to be able to move your legs around at night without bumping into the rear hatch window.

    Also to to use a firm structure for your mattress support or a really firm-bottomed mattress. The reason for this is there is a gap between the end of your rear seat backing (when the rear seats are flipped down) and where your front seats start. This gap is more than a foot wide so if you have a firm-bottomed mattress or use wood as a base structure, you can bridge that gap and give yourself an extra foot or more of usable space. I'm 6'3" so using that gap enables me to sleep straight instead of in a slightly curled fetal position. :)

    To make life really simple I just use a Coleman twin-sized inflatable mattress. It comes with the inflation pump and fits perfectly in my GenII. Although a real mattress would be nicer.

    Something like this: Coleman - QuickBed Airbed 4D Pump Combo - Twin -
     
    #5 F8L, Jun 30, 2011
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Keep in mind that Hobbit has a Gen2, not a Gen3. The seats fold different, in a manner that makes Gen3 less useful or flexible for sleeping.
     
    #6 fuzzy1, Jun 30, 2011
  7. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    How about a sleeping bag on top of a prison matress? crack the windows.
     
    #7 cproaudio, Jun 30, 2011
  8. GSW

    GSW PRIUS POWER

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    Something else to keep in mind is if you keep it in ready mode, be sure the HV battery intake does not get blocked.
     
    #8 GSW, Jun 30, 2011
  9. amylase

    amylase New Member

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    Fabulous. Thanks guys for the input. Will definitely try some of them out. I probably won't pull out the back seats though.
     
    #9 amylase, Jul 5, 2011
  10. tedjohnson

    tedjohnson Member

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    I bought a piece of mosquito netting and some small magnets to hold the netting in the grooves and a curtain rod to space across the rear opening to hold the netting up. Then you can leave the rear deck open for good ventilation ( if it doesn't rain). works good.
     
    #10 tedjohnson, Jul 5, 2011
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