Building a bed platform for Prius Prime 2021

Hello,

My living situation is about to change. I was thinking that moving into my car for a few months may be the best option available to me at this time. I am looking for advice as to how to attach some 2 x 4s to the car

I attached the smaller 2 x 4s with the same bolts that came off from the rear seat assembly. For the longer 2 x 4s, I bought m8-1.25 x 70mm bolts and I drilled a hole in the piece of wood to try and use the same thread from the car, but it ended up all wobbly, so I took it apart

I uploaded a few pictures, the first two are how the platform looks with the plywood sitting on top of the 2 x 4s (the longer pieces are just held together with double-sided tape for now
The third picture shows how it looks now, I drew circles around the threads I was planning on using as well as the original 2 x 4 I poorly attached

I am not sure if I can directly drill into the car instead of using the pre-existing threads. In the fourth picture, I highlighted where I was thinking of maybe drilling so I could attach 2 pieces of wood, one on each side.
The last picture is just a close-up of the pre-existing holes

I may be doing a poor job of explaining myself here, but basically, I am wondering if there is an easier way to attach the 2 x 4s using the holes already there.
And if that does not work out, maybe it would be better to actually drill into the car, the question then is where can I safely do so without damaging any cables or really anything important

Thank you

 

Hey thanks for the reply man!
I did see that video, in fact, I added it to a playlist on youtube for, as you said, get ideas for the build. I guess I am worried if I drill into the car I will damage something that will cost me a lot to fix

Another thing is that a lot if not most videos I have seen are for the hybrid gen2 and gen 3 prius, and this one being a prime is proving difficult to find videos/tutorials on how to build the car, or where is it safe to drill, etc

 

Thank you for the reply man!
When you wrote about using brackets and fasteners you are talking about the zinc-plated corner brackets and stuff like that right? I took the 1st picture showing the brackets I bought thinking they would be useful,

As for the fasteners, you are talking about existing attaching points already built into the car, right? I circled the ones I thought could be useful in the 2nd picture, and show a fuller view of them in the 3rd picture, but I don't picture in my mind how could I use them with brackets and the wood. That may be a skill issue on my part, I am not experienced in woodworking at all, unfortunately

Also, for the board of plywood covering the battery and cargo area. I actually made that one, I had to remove the original one because it had rigid flaps that prevented me from putting the bed platform in place
Lastly, when you wrote about removing the battery, did you mean just take it all apart and take the battery off from the car completely?
The last pictures show how the cargo area looks without the plywood, the original cargo liner, the one I made

And sorry if this was too long, I just wanted to add, that I would very much appreciate you taking the time to take some pictures, and I would welcome any help you could provide

Thank you man

 

Huh using the 4x4 never crossed my mind. I've seen many videos guides/tutorials of people modifying their Prius, and they always used 2x4s but 4x4s make a lot of sense, especially since I am very preoccupied with the stability of the bed platform given that there are only 4 threaded holes in the car that I think could be used

Also, man damn that idea of talking about cabinet makers is amazing. It just blew my mind, because I am not experienced with woodworking, I have had to watch a lot of YouTube guides to get to the point I am in the build. I started fooling woodworking craftsmen near me to see if anyone is interested in giving me some pointers

I think the idea of the foldable platform that allows keeping the back seats could work in the earlier generations Prius. However, I found that the headroom of the car I bought is very small. For instance, with the platform in place and a mattress topper to lay on, I would probably have 20 inches between my face and the ceiling, is not pretty haha

Man I am trying to picture the upside-down trusses idea in my mind, even tried making a drawing to see if I was picturing it correctly, let me see what I can come up with, and edit this reply

 

I am not sure what happened, I was editing a reply but apparently, I ran out of time, only 15 minutes to edit expired. Now all my replies say that they are awaiting moderator approval, not sure if I messed up something, maybe all my replies were already subject to moderator approval to begin with, not sure

I am only going to reply with the edit I was going to make to my original reply, in case the reply does go through after being approved by a moderator

Edit: okay so this is what I came up with, first it has the 2x4 lengthwise at the bottom, then the trusses-like constructions. The last two pictures are images I used as reference. Is this close to what you were thinking?
Thank you man

 

Alrighty, so for the Simpson strong tie, this is how I picture the whole thing going together

Yes, I remember someone recommended also talking to a cabinet maker. I think I have to find a smaller business because the ones I have been cold calling seem to have a lot of business with their regular services that my situation does not seem worth it, or something

Also, I did manage to attach a back set of support legs with some corner brackets, so I am not that big, only 5'9 but regardless those support legs can't hurt, hopefully
Man, that tidbit about the cargo hook screw holes is golden, I definitely do not want a board of plywood severing my spine à la Final Destination movie

I was planning to build a sort of little "house" for the battery control an electric motor. There are some pieces that are kinda flexible near that place. I have kicked/bent one of them, did not cause any damage, but definitely better to keep it secure and away from other objects

 

Alrighty, after I successfully attach the first 2x4s I will add the bottom 2x4 lengthwise, and asses from there, maybe I just do the same thing at the top and call it good

From the research I did, apparently, the workaround to have the Prius Primes have the AC all night long, is to keep the car in Ready mode, AND lock the car from inside the car using the door controls, not the lock located in the fob, if that makes sense

I do have an OBD11 device, I did not know those were capable of monitoring the batteries, I will look into the DrPrius app, that sounds interesting for sure
Theres hundreds of things I got to do before I can successfully camp in prime but first among them is getting the bed platform finished haha. Hopefully by next week its done

 

For the photos with the plywood on top I just used double sides tape to keep them from moving, while I took pictures and measurements, its been a whole ordeal, but man it will be worth it