keepin the sun out

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Nemesis Gnat

Nemesis Gnat

Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Threads
57
Messages
482
Location
Sugarloaf, CO
so ive been spending some nights in the back of my 85 fj60, and something has come to my attention, and im hoping maybe some of you expeditioners can help me out here.

when the sun comes up, it gets bright... sometimes (like all the time) i like to sleep in a lil bit. anyone have any solutions for keeping light (and perhaps spying eyes) out? curtains or something?

also tagging this on the end here, can anyone find wind deflector dealies for the windows so i can still have my windows open in rain and stuff? i have no ac, and summer rains aint cold enough for windows up...
 
I had the same problem with my 80 series, what I did was put up a screen and stapled a 1/4 PVC pipe at the bottom so I can roll it up, to hold it at the top of the window I used velcrow stapes, it works pretty good but its ugly
good luck
 
Stop annoying your wife/girlfriend and you won't have to sleep in the car :D

I've been living out of my 60 for over 10 months now, and here's pretty much all we do. Stuff like jackets and stuff tends to pile up to kind of cover parts of the rear windows, but mostly I just make sure that I park so that the windshield points toward the sunrise, and then my normal windshield reflective sunshade thingy (that everyone has) protects us from most of the unbearable morning solar blast.

If you want a more snazzy option, we have been meaning to make curtains with magnets sewn into them. A strongish magnet will stick through the upholstery on your 60 to the ceiling and most other parts especially close to the windows. This makes for really easy installing curtains that don't damage or mess with your trucks interior. We used to just hold the curtains up and stick the magnets over them, but we slowly lost all the magnets and have been too lazy to do the project properly.

You can also design something that hooks over the inside edges of the doors around the door windows... it doesn't hinder closing them and is very solid. I have steel bars in place that just slide on and off all four doors so I can feel safer leaving the windows open while I sleep.
 
hey im lucky enough to have a girlfriend that loves to sleep with me in my car:flipoff2:

but that magnet idea sounds like jsut what im lookin for, easy to make, removable without permanent damage to the interior... relatively cheap... ill have to whip somethin like this up and see how it does for me

thinkin something like sewn in pockets to hold the magnets so i dont lose ummm....:hhmm:
 
my brother used tin foil on his drive to Alaska. havent personaly tried it though
 
Window tint?
 
i actually thought about it for a while, but i dont like the visibilty that you lose at night and stuff...

that curtain idea with magnets seems right to me, im doing some magnet research right now... anyone know of a cheap place to get some fancy magnets?:meh:
 
old speakers have really powerful magnets. You don't need fancy ones though, I did it with just two or so round ones stacked on top of each other on each corner, I got them at home depot. ThinkGeek :: Stuff for Smart Masses sells SUPER strong little magnets, though they're not super cheap and you could probably find the same things non-branded elsewhere much cheaper.
 
The RV I rented had curtains on tracks. The tracks were pretty narrow and were riveted/screwed to the metal interior. The curtains gathered at each pillar (B, C, D) when open.
 
I've been thinking of making some sort of solid curtain "boards" that would also act as insulation to keep noise out and heat in. I figured if I make them right I ought to also be able to magnetize them out of the way to the ceiling above the cargo bay for storage when not in use.
 
ya i was looking at making the magnet curtains so they roll up and hang out up by the headliner when not in use, that way they dont get lost in the clutter of gear that i always have

i was also looking at a heavy dark fabric for the same insulation properties that you were talking about... almost like removable magneted window blankets... depending on how much weight these here magnets can hold
 
I used cardboard cut to size. It stayed in by friction. While it was cheap and very dark, it didn't look that great and was a pain to store when not in use. I would like to get some of the reflective material they make the windshield sun shades from and make custom-sized versions for my other windows. Add a few suction cups to attach, and roll up when not in use. That seems ideal to me.
 
I was thinking something thicker for insulation purposes because we're going to really cold places, and having recently slept in the truck in a really cold place... we were $&%#ing freezing (at least anything not under the covers was). Another thought was a big car cover to actually cover the whole car... should also help to keep the engine's heat in and stop it getting too cold until morning? Not sure how much space this would require to store.
 
well i car camp in the rockies in colorado during the winter, so cold is a very real concern (where i lived last year, there was a 2 week stretch where at the warmest point during the day, it never got above 0F on my thermometer)

i found a really warm sorta fuzzy blanket (but not as thick as a full on blanket) type fabric that i like, now im looking at exactly how its gonna attach...:hhmm:

itll run around the rear of the car and the rear door windows, and then right behind the front seats (less area to keep warm at night). im trying to see about a magnet that holds up the fabric, but will also not be a huge heavy cumbersome piece of stuff to fall on your head in the middle of the night. also considering some sort of safety pin set up, but one that wont pull out of the headliner and leave big holes...

and im hoping to have it all done before this weekend for a bike race... duct tape may be my immediate fix...
 
So you're like... creating a little curtained-off area? Hmmm interesting. I would just cover each window individually. The rubber window seals are one of the easiest parts to magnetize stuff to.
 
If I sleep in the 60 I use Coleman cots that span the rear wheel wells and cantilever over the folded rear seat. Full 6ft. + length and two abreast they are snug to the outer panels with storage underneath. I have sets of those collapsable silverized front window sunscreens. Pop them open they fit btween the cots and the panels and cover the windows. Bit primative, but they refract the heat out of the rig and provide pretty good privacy.

Got mosquitoes? I have a four sided mosquito net I bought from REI that I hang inside the truck by clipping it to the rack and then shutting the doors. Can open the windows / rear hatch and still stay bug free.

Like the magnet idea...or track like the Volkwagen Westafalia camper I had for years.
 
wow that's a great idea for the bug screens. The bars on my windows I refer to above were also for that purpose, but unfortunately due to rough handling and storage the bug screens on them have been punctured, so now they really only keep out mosquitoes larger than 6"...
 
You just suck, and need to come back to California, and spend some time wheeling and riding mtb out here.

Then we can take it over to a buddies shop for a limo tint. :D

(It's Obi, what up?)

Also, I'm in the process of making some boards, with a rubber grommet style surround that pop in and out of the window sills,
they're really not hard to make, and you can use bike boxes for the cardboard templates..

*Just finished the tint on my Runner...
2815521797_99a39a14d6.jpg


Also, these are a bit expensive through SOR, but worth it, or you could aways make mods to a vehicle cover, sewing in the mesh windows, and flaps.
*The Suburban ones are just long enough to actually use over the tailgate as an enclosure if done right.
 
Last edited:
Velcro, industrial Velcro.
 
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