Thread: Disco 1 and 2 - can you sleep in them?

Originally Posted by DiscoDB

Get a D3 - can make up a double bed in the back.

If worried about the TDV6 then get the 4L petrol, and if worried about the air suspension - get the coil sprung S model.

Either way it would make a great tourer.

Thanks, a D3 or D4 would be great, I can sleep in my D4 easy, but like Defenders they are a bit more than I can afford. D1 and D2's are such bargain buying.

I made up a portable bed setup for my D2.

Used it for sleeping in the snow (Hotham) with my son on weekends

It was a bit average, but worked. I had the main box in the back with the back seats folded down and a sliding shelf with legs that went across the folded seats.

It also had a folding layer that would allow the front seats to move forward and upright for maximum length. I had double inflatable mattress in it. Biggest problem was roof space.
Getting in and out was hard work.

So every second weekend 2 of us would sleep in the back and the other weekends I had both boys and regular accommodation. so I needed to keep the back seats operational

I'm just shy of 6.1 and it worked. only just.

I would definitely look at a D3 because of the smarter seating design

Why not buy a small tent that takes 10 minutes to whack up, an air mattress & a sleeping bag.
All folds down to about 1m square of storage space.
Jonesfam

Like me, my friends are old farts, and crawling into and out of sleeping bags at ground level is a thing of the past. We did two decades of that on motorbikes, now we want 'soft'. That's why we choose Land Rovers instead of those LC200 farm carts.

When we had the D1 we did a few trips of a week or so sleeping in the back. I'm just over 6' and found it quite comfortable for sleeping, the biggest hassle was getting in and out the rear door particularly if it was raining or during the night for a nature break. Slept with our heads at the rear.
The last trip we did we had one of those cheap car extension tents that sat over the back of the vehicle
Made a simple storage platform for behind the seats out of cube-lok with 12mm ply on top that took a couple of plastic storage tubs underneath.
Rear seats were left in but folded down for sleeping. There was another piece of ply that normally sat on the top of the storage but could slide forward and the back edge sat on the front of the storage frame - front sat on the rear seats.
Procedure for setting up the bed was to fold the rear seats down flat, move the front seats all the way forward and then tilt the backs fully forward to maximise leg room.
Then slide the loose piece of ply forward so it sat on the rear seats and the front of the storage. I normally sleep on my side with my knees slightly bent so didn't have any issues with the length, and when I did want to stretch out I just poked my feet over the center console between the front seats.

We were traveling pretty lightly though, and I definitely couldn't do it on an extended basis - just from the hassle factor. Comfort wise it was fine.
Awesome for an easy weekend, but for us, in a D1/D2 for a few weeks it would definitely be a rooftop tent...

Steve

Here's a very viable and economical alternative, albeit much to the camping snobs' disapproval (Rick130 ), the bogan Kings rooftop setup. The hardtop tent can be erected and closed in under five mminutes. It's comfortable, insect and weatherproof. Access is not arduous but i recommend mounting it flush to one side and fitting a shelf/verandah to the other side. That will require a short length of angle or flat to be attached for the ladder to hook onto. The shelf gives somewhere to leave your sandy footwear while you sleep.

20201230_171321.jpg 20201230_171336.jpg

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Here's a very viable and economical alternative, albeit much to the camping snobs' disapproval (Rick130 ), the bogan Kings rooftop setup. The hardtop tent can be erected and closed in under five mminutes. It's comfortable, insect and weatherproof. Access is not arduous but i recommend mounting it flush to one side and fitting a shelf/verandah to the other side. That will require a short length of angle or flat to be attached for the ladder to hook onto. The shelf gives somewhere to leave your sandy footwear while you sleep.

Thanks Ian, I hadn't thought of that - could be an easy solution. Cheers, Paul