Is it possible to take the Gen III car camping and sleep in the back? I was interested in buying some 4" x 4" lumber what is the maximum length I can put in car. I was wondering if 2' x 8' plywood would fit or 4' by 8' plywood (probably a pipe dream). Sorry I never put the seat down yet.
1) There is room to sleep. 2) You can carry 10' lumber and pipes, as long as you run them up onto the dash. Make sure to bring some padding to protect the plastic on the dash. 3) 2'x8' plywood can be carried, but you will need to run it over the passenger seat. 4) Not a chance with 4'x8'. Tom
I think Tom is right. Just a couple of additions: #2: If you have lumber longer than 10', you can open your passenger's side window and run the lumber out the window and hopefully you can wedge it with the passenger's side rear view mirror. Or, you can have it hang out the back but need to tie down the rear hatch (I avoid this whenever possible). But padding is very important whichever way you do this. #3: I think the easiest way to handle 2' x 8' plywood is to lower your back seat (the right side is good enough, but both sides might make it easier), move your passenger's seat all the way forward, take off the headrest then tilt the back it all the way back. The reason I don't like putting the plywood just over the top of the passenger's side seat is because it can move (left to right), in which case it can tear your ceiling upholstry (I've done it on my Explorer) or hit you over the head. #4: You can fit 3' x whatever length into the Prius, but will have to tie down the back hatch. I buy almost all of my wood at Home Depot, and have them cut it to 2' x 4' pieces (or something close). Then, it will fit into the back seat without doing all of these gyrations. So, you might want to do some pe-measurements to figure out what size wood you need, then have it cut to size or maybe close enough to get it home, then trim it to size. Dumb Mike
For lumber, just rent a truck for $20-30 and save the hindsight of "would have, could have, should have". Even if the rental costs $100, it's cheaper than a new seat cover, mirror, trunk seal or just about any other part that's likely to be broken.
I also have a small SportsRig trailer for our Prius. I use it if I need a few sheets of 4'x8' that can't be delivered. It's too expensive of a trailer to consider just for hauling small amounts of wood, but if you also need to move canoes, kayaks, and bikes, you might give it some thought. Tom
