Tell me about the lightweight and cheap camper shell on your truck!
August 23, 2020 1:26 PM   Subscribe

I am the proud owner of a 2000 F150 work truck. I want a camper shell on it that I can remove myself (with mechanical assistance if needed) fairly easily. Has anyone used the folding convertible-top type covers? how hard is a bare-bones aluminum shell to remove?

This is going to be for camping. I don't want to spend more than the truck is worth either (so not much!). I know truck bed tents exist but they don't seem like they'd save any time or effort over just setting up a tent on the ground. However I'm willing to be convinced.
posted by genmonster to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)
 
How much is your budget, specifically? Truck and car mounted tents exist for the sole purpose of being much faster to set up than a regular tent. I've slept in a Tepui tent (but not purchased or installed) and it was pretty great. Setup took all but...uh, six minutes? This video show the setup of one of their models and is edited down, but not by much.

A neighbor of mine uses their work trucks for camping and already have burly construction style racks or something on them and just leave the tent up there the whole time and put all their work stuff below. They have a hardtop tent that they use, and have mentioned that's specifically why. which regardless of your price range is probably too expensive (hard tops seem to be about twice as expensive as the regular buddies)
posted by furnace.heart at 2:11 PM on August 23, 2020


If by a "bare-bones shell" you mean a canopy (covers the bed at cab-height to the tailgate, has a lift-up door on the back and windows in the side, often known as "bed-toppers"), I've removed fiberglass canopies on full-sized trucks myself, and I'd guess they weigh about 150 pounds.

The easy way to do it is to have stands on either side of the truck which are slightly above bed height, front and back. You unbolt the canopy, lift one end, put a board across the stands, repeat for the other end, and drive the truck out from under it. Sawhorses with risers for extra height work well as stands. (Obviously, this takes some space to do, and your canopy is going to remain where you remove it.

I know there are hoists for garage ceilings which can lift off canopies after attaching to them with straps, but they will take some specialist installation (or at least special care) to insure the ceiling joists can take the load.

In my experience, the biggest issue with getting canopies off a truck is them getting stuck on. (Either someone decides putting sealant on them is a good idea (it isn't), or they've just been on so long the rubber seal has "glued" itself to the truck bed.) A friend has a truck where we determined we couldn't get the canopy off without destroying it. I recommend at least popping the canopy loose once a year or so to make sure it will come off when you want it to.

In-bed camper shells are obviously fancier and typically come with jacks on the sides which allow you to drive the truck out from under them when you need your truck for hauling stuff. Often these are quite inexpensive used, but...it's a used camper thingy, which you'd want to inspect carefully for leaks and whether all the goodies inside still work. They're also often pretty heavy; the bigger ones need F250, or even F350, load capacities to not overload the truck.

Canopies are pretty useful in general, so it's what I would look at first. That said, they'll keep the water off of you, and that's the beginning and end of it--they typically are not insulated.
posted by maxwelton at 2:14 PM on August 23, 2020 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks maxwelton- I apparently meant a canopy. An actual enclosed camper is way too expensive/fancy for me.
posted by genmonster at 2:24 PM on August 23, 2020


I got a used shell for my old Tacoma and it was fine. They had a bunch of different used fiberglass shells in their yard that would fit different trucks; their whole stock appeared to have been painted white (if they weren't white in the first place) so the chance of an off color combination was minimal. It might have cost $400 six years ago in California?
posted by LionIndex at 2:30 PM on August 23, 2020 [1 favorite]


At one point, I saw lots of used truck camper slide-ins/ shells at very affordable prices. There's a big surge in camping/ RV-ing, but even so, post on craigslist/rvs looking for one and I think you'll get a deal on something that will just need to be cleaned up.

There are removal instructions online, and I searched hastily. also, what maxwelton posted.

I have camped in my Ford Ranger compact truck using 2 tent poles, to make crossed arches held in place at the corners, covered with mosquito net and clipped with clothespins, and a tent rainfly available, because rain happens. Bungee cords always come into play. Stuff is packed in a good sized plastic trunk. You need a flat surface to sleep on, so plywood, then as many camping pads as you require. It's kind of like erecting a small tent in the bed of the trunk. Staying dry and having fresh air with no skeeters is the basic requirement.

People like the idea of camping, buy gobs of nice gear, use once, store in attic/ garage, so asking around for equipment is pretty successful and sustainable, also cheap. I keep a huge checklist of camping gear, you might find it useful. I now car-camp in a Prius, so I pare way down.
posted by theora55 at 2:33 PM on August 23, 2020 [2 favorites]


Echoing maxwelton‘s advice on using a stand to remove a canopy. I tried to slide a lightweight aluminum canopy off my little 2WD Toyota by myself and ended up splitting the seam where the front of the shell connects to the side. They’re light enough for two people to lift off but not recommended to try alone.
posted by not_the_water at 6:49 PM on August 23, 2020


I've helped move a couple on and off of trucks. They aren't super heavy, so two people can do it, but they are really awkward and tricky to move. The approach of sliding onto stands and then driving the truck out from under sounds way better. But there is a reason most people with truck canopies never take them off.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:03 PM on August 23, 2020


One other thing to consider, if you go with a canopy...if your truck has a sliding glass rear window, they make canopies with sliding front windows, allowing access (such as it is) into the bed from the cab. The dog I had at the time would ride in the covered bed, but we could keep in touch with him in the cab through the windows (this was a standard cab without any space behind the front bench).
posted by maxwelton at 7:47 PM on August 23, 2020


Oops, one final final thing: If you live where it's hot and sunny, white as a color for the canopy is so nice to keep the bed relatively cool. I had a dark truck with a matching canopy and it would get HOT back there in the sun.
posted by maxwelton at 7:51 PM on August 23, 2020


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