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If you ever consider sleeping in a TC, never get the SWB!


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Bought the 2014 TC in SWB, wanted the LWB but this one had more of what I wanted. Overall, love it, drives like sports car. But, planning a long trip and wanted the option for my wife & I to sometimes camp in TC, saving $$ & being able to pull over whenever & wherever to sleep. Bottom line, we are both too tall for the vehicle. I can build a 2/3 platform for the passenger side, put the front passenger seat down, and use a twin size air bed for one of us to sleep while the other drives. Too bad the drivers seat doesn't fold down, too.

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sorry to hear that.

which door do you have in the back - barn doors or liftgate?

maybe you can leave the back door(s) open, have a wood floor that slides out, maybe with some fold-out legs if needed and add some type of canopy or tent covering over the door to give you a little extra legroom and space. not as stealthy or secure but it could be an option to consider.

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Barn doors. Was really wanting the security of being able to lock up. If I could get the wifey to truly camp, one of those SUV tents with the open drawstring side would work fine. Likely going to mostly motel it on our upcoming trip. Was looking into doing a partial camper conversion to one of my cargo trailers last year but did not follow through ;(

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  • 1 year later...
  • 4 months later...

If you're in it alone, you can lay at an angle and be fully stretched. I do it in my SWB all the time, but it's just me and my dog. With the back seats in, it's nearly impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position, and if you flip the seats up, the latches stick out. I tend to move a lot when I sleep, and the one time I tried sleeping in the back with the seats flipped up, I whacked my head pretty good. For those times where I need the rear seats in, but also need to sleep in the van, I have an air mattress that fits over the back seat, and includes parts that fill the footwell, so it's larger. I have to curl my legs, but It's better than any other alternative I've seen or tried. 

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Built an elevated platform with a 63X56 mattress.  With the seat forward a large pillow is stuffed between the platform and seat.  At 6' 5" with head at the back, I can stretch out comfortably in a 2012 SWB cargo van. 

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I think most of us buy a vehicle which best suits what we need it to do 95% of the time and you just get by the best you can the other 5%.  This is not always true, of course  -  There are tens of thousands of pick-ups in this country used only as commuter vehicles which have never towed anything and 95% of the time, they haul nothing other than the driver and an occasional passenger.  IMO, those owners have the 95/5 rule backwards and they could be commuting in a 40 mpg vehicle which cost half as much and renting/borrowing or hiring someone with a truck (or using a trailer) the other 5% of the time and end up saving a bunch of money

The SWB TC is more like a sports car (I know a guy who autocrosses his) while the LWB is more like a . . . . truck.  If you NEED a LWB most of the time (business truck or family of 7?) by all means, buy one, but if your only objection to a SWB model is that you might find it a bit uncomfortable to sleep in the back a few times per year, that's certainly do-able in the 'sports model' and not a good reason to buy the truck!

Don

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I'm 6'2" & the wife is a shrinking 5'10". The SWB 2014 was not good for the two of us sleeping together in it. I like to stretch out. Yes, I was quite happy with the sports car handling of the SWB, just wanted more for the growing grandkids and luggage space on trips. Looking at picking up a full size blowup bed for the LWB, it will just squeeze a little crossways. Also, getting nylon screening to make net bags to go over the large doors to allow the windows to be left open for ventilation without bugs.

 

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19 hours ago, Beta Don said:

I think most of us buy a vehicle which best suits what we need it to do 95% of the time and you just get by the best you can the other 5%.  This is not always true, of course  -  There are tens of thousands of pick-ups in this country used only as commuter vehicles which have never towed anything and 95% of the time, they haul nothing other than the driver and an occasional passenger.  IMO, those owners have the 95/5 rule backwards and they could be commuting in a 40 mpg vehicle which cost half as much and renting/borrowing or hiring someone with a truck (or using a trailer) the other 5% of the time and end up saving a bunch of money

The SWB TC is more like a sports car (I know a guy who autocrosses his) while the LWB is more like a . . . . truck.  If you NEED a LWB most of the time (business truck or family of 7?) by all means, buy one, but if your only objection to a SWB model is that you might find it a bit uncomfortable to sleep in the back a few times per year, that's certainly do-able in the 'sports model' and not a good reason to buy the truck!

Don

Good insight regarding the SWB and LWB Don.  Not having driven the LWB it's good to know.  I too can see Boomerweps issue with both persons being tall.  Absent an elevated bed that's a problem.  My son is also 6'5" and he spent his first five day festival sleeping in the SWB with no complaints.  It's all interesting.  :whistling:

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1 hour ago, Boomerweps said:

I'm 6'2" & the wife is a shrinking 5'10". The SWB 2014 was not good for the two of us sleeping together in it. I like to stretch out. Yes, I was quite happy with the sports car handling of the SWB, just wanted more for the growing grandkids and luggage space on trips. Looking at picking up a full size blowup bed for the LWB, it will just squeeze a little crossways. Also, getting nylon screening to make net bags to go over the large doors to allow the windows to be left open for ventilation without bugs.

 

Yah Boomer, I'm interested in this too for those especially hot and humid days.  There's normally no heat relief until the due point often 3:00 AM or later.  Soooo, I guess I'll look around to see what's out there or if I need to craft one myself.  Since I carry a hitch cargo basket I likely will have to craft one.  The elegant solutions take time to imagine, so I guess no hurry.  :dance:

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  • 3 months later...
On 3/4/2015 at 11:38 PM, windguy said:

sorry to hear that.

which door do you have in the back - barn doors or liftgate?

maybe you can leave the back door(s) open, have a wood floor that slides out, maybe with some fold-out legs if needed and add some type of canopy or tent covering over the door to give you a little extra legroom and space. not as stealthy or secure but it could be an option to consider.

None of that will work while he is driving and his wife is trying to sleep.  He gets up to freeway speeds, and she'll go flying out the back.

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On 3/5/2015 at 8:16 AM, Boomerweps said:

Barn doors. Was really wanting the security of being able to lock up. If I could get the wifey to truly camp, one of those SUV tents with the open drawstring side would work fine. Likely going to mostly motel it on our upcoming trip. Was looking into doing a partial camper conversion to one of my cargo trailers last year but did not follow through ;(

Some PVC pipe and tarps could be duct taped together if you really need to.

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2 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Some PVC pipe and tarps could be duct taped together if you really need to.

I have an EZ-Up 10x10 with the screen room side attachments. That and some small plastic tarps and some cable ties can make for a great camping extension to the TC. Including a privacy potty area.

All that said, wife & I have been researching small enclosed camper trailers, 18-19 foot, empty weight near 3K#, for towing with the Explorer. If I hadn't traded in the 2014 TC on a 2017 TC, we'd already have the new trailer.

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Those Explorers are really good vehicles for what they do.  I had one until about a year ago,  It was one of the packages with the 5.0 engine & AWD.  I didn't want to part with it either.  It was mechanically perfect, and modded for power.  But when a car has rust all over, leaks, and the entire interior is so trashed......it would have cost me so much to restore it that a new car made more sense.  Not to mention that the old Explorers were only 5 passenger vehicles, and that the fuel mileage was so bad that my fuel savings alone paid for the Transit Connect.

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If you're doing a sleeping platform, the fold-flat front passenger seat makes length a non-issue, even on the SWB (which I have). However, if you're sleeping on the floor it is indeed a bit of a crunch for people over 6'... The fold-flat passenger seat was the main reason I was sure to get non-power cloth seats instead of the leather ones which don't have that feature.

 

That all being said, this last weekend we slept on the floor of the SWB... Smallest rig at the RV park by a mile!

Screen Shot 2017-09-18 at 2.13.23 PM.png

Screen Shot 2017-09-18 at 2.13.03 PM.png

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