Adventure Camper Shell Build

wow. much platform. very spacious. comfy.​

I like to use my truck to sleep in when I go out exploring the world. It's great just to park and then be able to be have everything ready without having to set up. I would like to share my camping setup so any of you can get ideas as well!


Upated 11-10-16.

Leer Shell
Done
Bought
Bought new rear glass
Reflectix window covers
Angle brackets to hold nets
Reese Hammock Nets
Lighting
Paint reflextix
Hooks for nets to hug side
Replaced 3rd brake light
Straightened angle brackets for top net


To Do


Sleeping platform
Done
Bought
Reupholstered
Bottle opener

To Do
Lighting
Organizer for storage

Bed
Done
Removed plastic bed liner

To Do
Bedliner

Blueprint for side.

 

First off I bought the Leer camper shell for $80 off of Craigslist in July 2015. Pretty hard to find a color matched camper! Unfortunately it was missing the back window.


Ran without the back window for awhile because I didn't want to shell out the money, but I realized I had to do one day or another.
$350 later, new glass!

 

Mine was a deal at first... until I had to buy new back glass haha

 

In October 2015 found a sleeping platform on craigslist for $65! I was just about to start buying pieces to make a platform but just thought maybe I should look on craigslist. Well lucky enough there was this one on there 28 days old, called the guy and he still had it! Crazy luck. It looks as it came straight from a 1970s porn shoot... I didn't touch it until I replaced the carpet.

However, it is pretty sweet. Has three storage places under the benches on each side. The top wood can be placed on the rails to sleep over the whole top, or can be put on the floor of the bed giving a smaller area to sleep but a bench on each side to sit

 

Yeah it was! Since it was just a piece of curved glass and no metal frame it was the only one I could get. Yeah I haven't seen a colormatched one for my truck here ever since so I had to jump on the opportunity from my shitty cracked fiberglass one that wasn't carpet lined

 

I finally found time to change the carpet on the sleeping platform! With each pull I could hear the moans of long lost lovers
Took a total of 10 hours to redo it all and $30 for new carpet. Well worth it!

 

Next I got the idea from @Crom to put reflectix insulator on the side windows. It gets pretty cold while hunting and warm in the summer at the lake so I figured this would help keep heat in in winter and heat out in summer.
I measure the side windows and made a template. Then traced that template onto the insulation and cut it out.
The reflectix sits right in the groove where the window slides in and out so it doesn't fall out! I have a screen on half the window so the reflectix could not fit in the groove so I added soft velcro to the end so the sticky part of the velcro can connect to the carpet of the shell

 

I wanted to make overhead storage without having to drill any holes into the shell. So I used the preexisting holes in the camper shell already! Around the windows are little screws to hold it in and thought that would be a good place to start.

I bought 10 of these and spray painted them black



I had to drill out the bottom whole on the 2 inch side (as you can see above) as it was barely higher than the whole for the screw. I put 4 on each side and 2 on the front window. I cannot believe how perfect these were though for this application!


This picture make it look like these is lots of room between the top of the bracket and the roof. However there is half an inch between the top and the roof!

 

I bought 3 Reese hammock nets form walmart for $10 each. Perfect size for what I was looking for! I attached one of them to the roof and one to each side using the brackets I put above



This will allow for anything that is light to be placed above or to the side to keep the bed clean and less cluttered while camping

 

I then removed the shell and plastic bedliner as it was messing with the fitment of the platform as well as not creating a great seal with the shell. I relined the shell with weatherstripping and removed the bedliner.





The bumps in the bottom of the bedliner rasied the platform as well and now that it is removed I gained almost an inch of headroom!

 

All back together!



Next is to add various lighting, reflectix the 2 other windows, bedine the bed, secure the bottom of the two side nets, and make organizers for the side bins!

 

Nice well done! Just got a camper shell as well and like some of your ideas!

 

Thanks dude! Hopefully I'll be able to come up with more cool ideas for this!

 

Dude I have the same platform! Bought it for 70 bucks. I use these plastic storage tubs. They can be taken in and out quickly. Fits all my camp kitchen and supplies.

 

I had that set up back in the day in my '80, really liked it!

 

Hah that's awesome! You might know, so you know the two part sleeping board? There is that notch on the rails that is right where the small board ends on. What is that notch for?

 

It's a great setup. Easy to get cluttered though so trying to improve that. When things get cluttered with two people camping in the back... you're gonna have a bad time

 

freaking sweet man!!

 

Thanks dude! It's getting there

 

Weatherproofed the crap out of the tailgate. Hopefully these keeps out more dust and water. Crazy how big the gaps are