Never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to make a "Man Van" out of my truck. Midlife crisis or something I guess.

Two questions:
1. Any MPG difference between cab-height vs. the taller ones?
2. Going to outfit the back for redneck camping, but it needs to be easily convertible back to a truck for hauling dirt bikes & dirt when needed. Any advice for building out a lightweight, easily removable-and-storable sleeping- system-for-two back there?

 

Artic fox camper

 

I recently sold my truck cap. I really enjoyed it while I had it. Buying a fifth wheel then getting orders to move kind of made it hard to keep lol.

Seriously though, it was a great buy and got a lot of good use out of it. During the summer months in Vegas it helped keep the heat down in the cab.

I can't really answer your mileage question. But now that it's gone, I love having my truck back lol.

 

Snugtop and ARE make some good camper shells.

 

I like the high top fiberglass cappers myself, but I am 6ft2.

I slide a 3/4 inch sheet of CDX plywood over the same height Rubbermaid style storage boxes, then roll out the camping pads, blankets and sleeping bags over it. The storage units hold all my camping gear and tools, The flat ply wood makes for a nice sleeping surface.

It all breaks down easily if I need it to go back to having a pick up truck.

 

Consider some of the fabric "shells". Softopper is one. Easiest on and off. Heat some good reviews on them.

 

Have an older Leer on my 87 Dodge D250 restoration project -- very decent quality.

 

Picked up a slightly used ARE for $1000 just after posting this. Also got new wheels and tires a couple of days prior, killed my MpGs


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Looks good. I have a Leer same style. Love mine 90% of the time. Nice to be able to keep stuff dry, safe and snow out of the bed in the winter. I have a long box and was going to say a full size cot fits perfect! But I see you got a short box. I elk hunted out of mine for a week on a solo hunt. Was perfect and easy to move camp. I think I saw some 6' cots on sportsmanguide. Sure you can find one somewhere.

 

Thanks! Now I need fender flares and a leveling kit (tires rub a bit even though they are only 1" bigger than stock- backspacing I guess). Fun never ends.

 

I thought I'd put this here in case anyone is interested on how I built out my shell for camping. I wanted something relatively lightweight and easy to remove.

I came up with a design that is basically a sheet of 1/2" OSB suspended on three 2x4s that lock into the plastic bedliner slots. I cut the OSB is two pieces and hinged in the middle so I can raise it up for access to the storage underneath, but rarely use that feature. The space underneath is perfect for storage of long skinny items like skis (up to 120mm waist), and a folding camp table and chairs, see last pic. I placed a rug over the top, and for camping I put down a woven rug on top of that with a therma-rest backpacking pad. Sleeps two comfortably. Have been camping three times with this set-up and really like it. Reasonably warm even in freezing temps and quiet in the wind. Better than a tent anyway.

Removes and installs in about 3 minutes or less with no tools required.