Truck with topper

[Oopslala]

The longer I sit here in Arizona thinking about spring and summer, the more I want a smaller living area that can go places my camper just can't.  Right now I'm thinking I'll do this spring and summer in the camper and return home to Michigan mid summer to renew the drivers license and see family.  


Then it'll get complicated, I'm thinking a topper with 200-300 watts of solar.  I'll just bring the fridge and run some 12v led lights and probably the small inverter for laptop and phone.  I plan to tent camp hopefully at least half the summer, so I won't need much in the shell.

Can you drill into a fiber glass shell and not risk structural damage that may cause the panels to rip off going 75 on the highway? That's my biggest concern.  With the batteries I'd just put them in a plastic container and vent them outside.

I'd use the topper for spring and summer, then come back in late summer and switch to the camper once winter starts to appear in the distance.

 

[poncho62]

Lots of people do the truck cap camping thing....there is even a couple of Facebook groups. Might want to check them out and get some ideas.

 

[DuneElliot]

When on road trips and don't want to take the camper I sleep in the back seat with a foam mattress folded to fit.

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Last summer I saw someone camping in their suv with a truck topper --- cooking/living/taking care of other "requirements" in the suv; sleeping on a mattress on the suv roof but under the topper. Guy said it worked great for me; but seemed too close to sleeping in a coffin to me (roof was less than a foot over his head laying down)

 

[Queen]

We put an ARE topper on our truck recently, one of the options was to order it with a roof rack, that might make a nice mounting point for solar.

 

[29chico]

The longer I sit here in Arizona thinking about spring and summer, the more I want a smaller living area that can go places my camper just can't.  Right now I'm thinking I'll do this spring and summer in the camper and return home to Michigan mid summer to renew the drivers license and see family.  


Then it'll get complicated, I'm thinking a topper with 200-300 watts of solar.  I'll just bring the fridge and run some 12v led lights and probably the small inverter for laptop and phone.  I plan to tent camp hopefully at least half the summer, so I won't need much in the shell.

Can you drill into a fiber glass shell and not risk structural damage that may cause the panels to rip off going 75 on the highway? That's my biggest concern.  With the batteries I'd just put them in a plastic container and vent them outside.

I'd use the topper for spring and summer, then come back in late summer and switch to the camper once winter starts to appear in the distance.

On a glass topper I would mount some of the Thule "artificial rain gutters" on the exterior walls of the topper.  If you use some reinforcing plates on the inside of the shell to distribute the clamping force of the bolts you will have a stout system that you can mount Thule rack feet to.  They make at least two different height feet.  Make sure to radius the edges of the reinforcing plates so that they do not cut into the glass fibers on the inside of the topper.  Might be good to use some of that peal and stick thick rubber tape that is used on truck bed rails that are about receive a topper.  The inside of a glass topper is much rougher than the outside.

The Thule feet that are designed to clamp to rain gutters are going out of style so they can usually be bought for cheap on ebay or Craigslist.  I donated a set of them to a charity a few months back.

 

[frater secessus]

Can you drill into a fiber glass shell and not risk structural damage that may cause the panels to rip off going 75 on the highway? That's my biggest concern.

Yes, I've done this with no problem.  I set the panel back a bit so it would be under the windblast deflected by the truck.

 

[masterplumber]

When my older son went on his first road trip a few years back we made a rack for the topper I gave him. Mind you we only had $75 in the topper including a new lock and paint, so drilling holes in it was no big deal. We mounted a length of 7/8" Unistrut near the outer edge length wise on each side of the roof. Bolted through several places and used fender washers on the bottom side. Seal the holes with silicone or sikaflex or similar product of course. Then we added 3 pieces of 1" electrical conduit across ways using standard Unistrut clamps. For your application you could mount the panels directly to the Unistrut using L brackets and Unistrut nuts and forgo the conduit. Just make sure you isolate the aluminum from the steel with a thin rubber pad or something.

 

[Woltz]

So this is my personal thoughts. I am saving for a vehicle and I'll get which ever one fits my budget and works without problems. IF that's a truck, a topper will be 100% needed. With that in mind, I am hoping to make it out of wood, to fit my needs. The below link is to a picture of the look I'm going for. Not some crappy plywood. That being said though, I have no idea how I'll make it. But that's what I hope to do if I get a truck. Fiberglass is nice, it'll be lighter than wood and will keep the rain off if there's no holes not reinforced, but it just looks ugly. And if I'm going to be using the space a lot, I'd like it to feel homey.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/7c/b3/5b/7cb35b36dfa949299754a3ded6b20e8c.jpg

 

[Queen]

Looks like it's built the same way as a wooden canoe, very cool!

 

[DLTooley]

A canopy is not stealthy, but who wants to camp in a place that requires it? I sleep on 1/2 of the bed and cook on the tailgate. My bed rolls up and I store my cooler, water, and propane tank in that rolled up space. I have a 50 watt on my hood and it looks great. Mounting solar on the canopy is doable, just make sure to have at least a large washer to distribute the load stresses. The bigger the better. A rack is a very good alternative if the dimensions work for your panels.

 

[amwbox]

A canopy is very stealthy....after you've already climbed in and pulled the tailgate closed behind you.

I traveled out of a Ford Ranger in exactly this way for nearly a year, including wintering over in Northern Idaho. Its tougher to do urban camping this way...you have to be very choosy about location, so you can enter and exit unobserved. Solar panel is no problem...just use good fasteners backed with big washers...seal with butyl and urethane. The panel does negatively impact your stealth. If you have a full size truck, its higher up and less obvious. Mine was plainly visible on the Ranger from any 4WD vehicle . I stuck a 12 volt deep cycle battery behind the passenger seat and ran 12 volt plugs to the back. I don't think I was ever able to cycle the battery below 30% or so, and I only used a 100 watt panel.

I've actually just bought another Ranger pickup...and I'm thinking about doing this again as I do a sailboat refit on the hard this year. Not allowed to stay on the boat when it's out of the water.

 

[DLTooley]

A canopy is very stealthy....after you've already climbed in and pulled the tailgate closed behind you.

I traveled out of a Ford Ranger in exactly this way for nearly a year, including wintering over in Northern Idaho. Its tougher to do urban camping this way...you have to be very choosy about location, so you can enter and exit unobserved. Solar panel is no problem...just use good fasteners backed with big washers...seal with butyl and urethane. The panel does negatively impact your stealth. If you have a full size truck, its higher up and less obvious. Mine was plainly visible on the Ranger from any 4WD vehicle . I stuck a 12 volt deep cycle battery behind the passenger seat and ran 12 volt plugs to the back. I don't think I was ever able to cycle the battery below 30% or so, and I only used a 100 watt panel.

I've actually just bought another Ranger pickup...and I'm thinking about doing this again as I do a sailboat refit on the hard this year. Not allowed to stay on the boat when it's out of the water.

I am tall enough that the 6' bed is an issue and sleep with the tailgate down, and the kitchen set up on same.  I have done it, but if needed I would be in a place where I wouldn't be sleeping comfortably.  At a place like this, I sleep very well - just making sure to have my tail pointed away from the wind.

[video=youtube]