Platform bed in my v

One of the major reasons I bought my "v" was to use it for car camping. I have been camping in the back of my Subaru Forester for years, but was ready to upgrade to something newer and more fuel efficient. Am also super excited for the efficient heat/ac use during extreme weather.

I have seen another design for a platform in the v that is a raised platform to go over the rear seats (which don't fold flat in the v), but I decided to remove the rear seats and design a platform that is flush with the trunk floor. A bit of extra effort but worth it for 3 reasons.
1- I am 6'4" so any extra headroom I can get is worth it.
2- The holes in the floor that the rear seats were bolted to are great for bolting the platform to (m10x1.25 if anyone is curious).
3- I can use the extra space under the platform to store my coolers.

I started out by removing the seats and installing two rails on the floor to build off of. I used angle aluminum for the front piece as that surface isn't totally flat across, and the softer aluminum allows for a little flex.



Then I built the frame of the design off of that. I used a lot of corner bracing to make it sturdy, but used all 2x2's to keep it lightweight. I want to be able to remove this somewhat easily.


My platform installs over the top. The boards (3/4" thick pine, nice and light) are velcro'd to the frame - which makes them easily removable to access items underneath. I wanted to make the platform as long as possible (again, I am 6'4") but didn't want to restrict the front seats from moving all the way back and reclining. So the 2 boards closest to the front are hinged, and when opened up it overhangs about 6". I have to be mindful to not put too much weight out over the frame, but this is just where my feet go so it shouldn't be much of an issue.



I found these "coleman stacker" coolers on amazon. They are only about 8" high so they fit perfectly under the platform.



My wife and I have a road trip planned this weekend to put it to the test! Any thoughts or ideas for improvement?