Truck Camper Systems

[paulnack]

Ok.. its basically the opposite of backpacking, but I don't know where else to start this thread..

Who out there has kitted their pick ups with camper shells and custom sleep platforms and cabinets? Lets see some photos of what you've made.

 

[justinspicher]

I wouldn't say that I've kitted out my pick up, but I'm able to use it for sleeping. I have a 96 Toyota Tacoma that I have an aluminum camper shell on. I put my Helinox cot in it with a wooden footlocker I have when I am going to stay in my rig. I built a platform for these to sit on out of four 2x4's and 3/4" plywood. I slept in this configurations for six months after I retired and moved to Colorado before I bought a house.

 

[paulnack]

6 summer months I hope. I'm moving to CO Springs this winter with a partially converted school bus. I was gonna rent while I finish the build, but now I'm considering bus camping...

 

[justinspicher]

It was during the summer, I am pretty thankful too as the winter was a rough one.

 

[Jimss]

I have a Tundra with topper...works great! I haven't gone to the trouble of tricking it out with a platform. If I spent weeks in the field I likely would consider a platform. I have plenty of room behind the seat and beside me in the bed for gear. I have a padded bedrug bedliner in the bed, sides, and topper which insulate it a little. I cover the bed with a tarp when hauling leaves, etc....sometimes tricky to keep clean. It's super nice having the mobility to sleep in the topper where ever I end up for the night.

 

[sparelink]

Here is what I have setup in my current truck. I use a under bed storage tub underneath. Coolers on the side. Works pretty good for a run and gun setup.

I got a foam mattress I throw on top and a -30 bag to sleep in. I will run a buddy heater for a few minutes when I wake up to take the chill off if needed.

 

[Brian Fahs]

I have a Tundra with topper...works great! I haven't gone to the trouble of tricking it out with a platform. If I spent weeks in the field I likely would consider a platform. I have plenty of room behind the seat and beside me in the bed for gear. I have a padded bedrug bedliner in the bed, sides, and topper which insulate it a little. I cover the bed with a tarp when hauling leaves, etc....sometimes tricky to keep clean. It's super nice having the mobility to sleep in the topper where ever I end up for the night.

I have the exact same setup. Absolutely love it.

 

[Blacktail_Packer]

Check out https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/

It’s an overlanding forum. There used to be some good ones one pirate4x4 and ih8mud also

 

[paulnack]

Overlanding is a deep rabbit hole... lots of info online about people's rigs. I was curious about what the hunting community was up to specifically.

Bed rugs seem like a popular accessory for this, I'll have to keep that in mind.

 

[jon_rinfret]

I built mine for about $215. It’s made from 3/4 pine plywood. I was looking at getting a Decked System but I wanted to give this a shot first. My has removable lids with rope pulls for easy removal. It works great so far. I do have a bed rug system and and insulated ARE topper as well. The vehicle is a 2017 F250 with a 6’7” bed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jon_rinfret]

Here is another photo of the frame work. there are 6 large compartments and 6 small ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nephewjephew]

Great thread, can't wait to see what other folks are getting into. I just picked up a older slide in camper for my truck (gotta love craigslist), and have a small 5x8 cargo trailer I will be towing along for gear and hopefully animals. In theory it should be a great mobile camp. We shall see how it goes this fall.

 

[spacemonkey]

I just finished my second sleeping platform build with full 6ft pull out drawers. The drawers are 11.5in deep so you can fit quite a bit of gear in there. I used square steel tubing & skateboard bearings for the track, and cut the top into removable panels so I can utilize the sides for storage.

This will be my first year sleeping on the new platform, but my old one was a few 2x4's with a plywood topper and it worked great.

The initial design was loosely based off a YouTube video I found, but of course had to make a number of adjustments along the way:

 

[coop2424]

Mine is nothing fancy but does the job. I think I slept in this 21 nights last year and was really comfortable. Just a large single drawer with divider down the middle. I also just put in a trap door to take advantage of the room in the front where drawer isnt.

 

[BoulderMountain]

I built these drawers.

 

[paulnack]

Seems like the drawer configuration is a popular design. I don’t have anywhere to store a monolithic piece of bed furniture, so I’m going to build a hinged platform that will stay permanently installed. I’ll be able to use it in 2 widths ... depending if I have company ... and will fold up out of the way when not in use.

I’ll post some photos once I get a chance to build it.

 

[JoeDirt]

I truck camp, my 17 year old son and I just spent 11 days truck camping. Really nice to be mobile in unknown areas.

Setup is a platform bead with a simple no hardware drawer (UHMW strips and wax) 145 quart RTIC cooler that says in the truck filled with frozen milk jugs. Also have a pressurized keg for my water needs.

 

[coop2424]

JoeDirt. How do you pressurize your keg for water and did you modify it for this? Interested in this since I have a couple kegs laying around.

 

[JoeDirt]

JoeDirt. How do you pressurize your keg for water and did you modify it for this? Interested in this since I have a couple kegs laying around.

No mods, I just use my little 12v pump instead of Co2. I have a tap for pressurizing and water dispensing. The other tap I put hose fittings on for filling the keg. I also have a hand pump party tap as a backup. Would suck to have a keg full of water and no way to use if something breaks.

Now the water was a little fizzy with just air. I leave the tank with pressure in it and "untap" it when not in use so I dont have any accidental water leaks. I might just use a little Co2 tank next time. I use it for hosing off meat and filling a smaller portable water jugs so carbonation doesn't matter.