A.R.E. DCU 29” Camper build

So I picked up this 29” DCU cap with the intention of building it out into a camper and taking a one or two month road trip with my girlfriend and dog. If that doesn’t happen, at the very least I will have a sweet camper.

Here it is when I picked it up:






It was a former pest control cap, subjected to whatever harsh pesticides they used as well as a ton of mold from the humidity being trapped inside. Friends helped take it off the truck into the garage and then I spent a good 7-8 hours cleaning it out with bleach/water. Followed that up with beginning to insulate it, and here’s where it stands as of tonight:




Wires will be for the Maxxair dome vent fan and another LED ceiling light



Put slits 1” apart in the foam board and used blue tape to hold it all together. I’ll add that the expanding spray insulation was rather useless and a waste of time (and now I get to spend more time removing it )



Current plans are to:

• Add a bed/drawer system
• Solar panel + all the goodies required
• Aux fuse panel/switches for camper accessories
• Inverter in cab and in the camper
• 6” Maxxair Dome fan w/LED light
• 4-6” ABS Solar shower (whatever I can find)
• 10gal RV undermount water tank with spigot (inside the toolbox)
• Cut a cubby/night stand where the red rectangles are
• 12v electric fan
• LED ceiling light
• 6 LED pods at each part of the roofrack that sticks up
• Bug screen for passenger windoor
• Get keys made for locks + add a deadbolt inside
• Large mountain range decal on the side
• Add bed stiffeners
• Drop down table inside
• Awning outside
• Fire extinguisher and mount
• Heat reflective curtains
• Long, narrow shelf above passenger windoor for clothes
• Some other stuff I’ll think of as I go

Still not entirely sure what I’m doing to cover the insulation/framing, I’m open to suggestions on that and anything else you guys might think would be helpful or cool. Will update this thread as I go.

Here’s how it currently sits:

 

Got some more insulation up today, made it a pain in the ass that nothing was square. The ceiling pieces are all different widths, so one side of the rectangular piece will be 33.75” while the other is say 32.5”. Two additional steps really but enough to be annoying. Most of the mirroring pieces inside were also different measurements than their reflection. I’m gonna add again that the spray insulation is probably more headache than it’s worth.

Roof vent comes tomorrow, I’ll be cutting that out. Haven’t decided on the other LED lights I’ll be putting inside but I’m leaning towards LED christmas lights (purely for aesthetic purposes, I’ll have plenty of other light sources).

Still not sure what to use to cover the insulation either.

 

Looks good! For covering the foam you could try some carpet or a fabric for a light weight solution, would probably help with condensation. like what this guy did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXU58AM7V8Q (around 6:15)

 

Thanks, I was considering going the carpet route but not everything is super flush and it’d probably drive me nuts to see stuff poking out. I’m thinking of going with 1/8 ply

 

Yea I did 1/8th ply in my camper too. The wood really helps give it a cozy vibe. If you can find baltic birch around you i would really recommend that, way better than what you can get at the home centers.

 

I’ve seen yours for sale on marketplace

 

Ha small world! Yea i got rid of my first gen and have a third gen now. I could make it work on the third gen but I sorta want an excuse to build a new one I had fun doing it.

 

Hell yeah, the high top utility caps aren’t a bad option to start with either.



Also finished fully insulating it today, Maxxair vent fan came in (didn’t come with the LED light like it said so I got $25 off). Picked up some MDF board that I believe has veneer on it, but it flexes nicely at 1/8” and saves me from sanding/staining ply

 

Well here is the current state of the camper. Fully insulated, covered the gaps with aluminum tape. Although not much gaps as all the insulation was pretty much friction fit, hardly glued any in place aside from the roof.

Paneling is 1/8” hardboard. $20 a sheet couldn’t go wrong. Tricky to work with, and I’m not much of a carpenter in the first place. But the more I did, the easier it got. The passenger windoor was my first attempt with this stuff, tailgate hatch and cab window side were my last two. Gaps between the paneling bothered me so I ran some 3/4” quarter round trim along the top that I lightly burned with a torch and polyurethaned.

The curve in the cap seemed a little tricky to get the HDF board to follow, so I made a small cubby shelf along the top that will likely be clothes storage. Before adding the shelf I lined the ceiling and bottom of the shelf with carpet I had leftover from the dog platform seat delete. Did exactly the same on the toolbox side of the curve. I also cut into the toolbox and added a hatch as that will be my nightstand/electronics charging station. Painted the toolbox with chalkboard paint.

Cut a hole in the roof to add the Maxxair 6” dome vent fan (sketchy). Wiring for both the fan and RV light was ran channeled into the insulation and is tucked away nicely with no wires showing. Ran the wiring into the toolbox which will house my battery wired to (eventual) solar panels & charge controller. From there an inverter will be mounted on the inside of the cap, on the toolbox.

Currently working on the bed drawer system. I am going with UHMW strips on the base as my slider material. I’ll sand and wax the bottoms of the drawers which should make it super smooth. I’ll have to come up with something to keep it from tilting when at full extension (maybe just two longish strips of UHMW that meet parallel).

Much more planned to do so stay tuned!

 

Not pretty but functional for now. Haven’t tested any weight in the drawers but it seems like the UHMW plastic does a good job with making it slidy. Turnbuckles keep the whole system from moving around.

I’ll be prettying it up and adding dividers soon. Either going with carpet or a vinyl cabinet liner type material for the inside bottom of the drawers. Gonna finish the poly coat on the drawers and add some extra bracing as well. Currently only being held together with wood glue and a ton of brad nails. Going to sand and wax the bottom of the drawers too for extra slidy action.

Also have to cut some strips to put on the sides so that I can add more platform to the top of the system. The tops will be held in friction fit so they’re easily removable for storage.

 

Building a camper out of the taller utility shells is on my list to do soon. They’re far more usable than regular fiberglass shells I think. You’ve built exactly what I’m envisioning for my truck. Nice work!

 

Thank you, had the idea coming back from vacation on the west coast and flying over all the trails cutting through the mountains. Got home and found this a week later. The boring tedious shit is out of the way and now it’s onto the fun stuff

 

How's the build going? Appreciated seeing all the pics you posted along the way here.

 

Digging this build!

Planning on replacing my Leer 180 and doing something similar. May then turn it into a DIY ripcord style wedge… but want to try the utility shell by itself first.

 

Thanks

Going pretty well, got it on the truck and finished out the sides on the bed platform, so it covers the whole bed now. Don’t have pics of that yet. Also added a power inverter, a usb/cigarette outlet setup, and a fuse block in there, still have to wire up and get a deep cycle battery. Was able to contact the lock company (Bolt) who made the locks for this cap, and they sent me 3 retrofit things that go around the lock cylinder for the new updated cylinders they have. $60 and all the locks are coded to my truck key now, so no extra keys. Bed stiffeners were added and trimmed to fit the platform.

This thing definitely slows the 2.7 down on the highway. Im having to use 4th gear just to climb hills I used to maintain in 5th no problem. Holding off on the last few things I want to do until it’s warmer and I’ll need/want them for camping. Most importantly waterproofing it, I didn’t use any material when I put it on for now. Don’t have a ton of free time with work these days.

 

Keep an eye on your hardware.(If there is any original left) I have one of these on my work truck, with the barn doors. Most of the screws holding the doors on backed out and wallowed out the holes over time. Also the rivets holding the door dampers snapped off.

 

I retightened them all but I’ll definitely have to look at them once in awhile

 

Looks good and functional, I like the graphics too. I'd either round the bottom of that shelf edge or add something like carpet so it wasn't squared off- my dumb self would find a way to bang my head into it and with my luck get a splinter.

You could add an air damn to the front or on the truck to help direct air over the top, may help a little with mileage.

 

Thanks. I thought this thing was slow before, I could really feel even the slightest wind on the highway. MPGs have definitely seemed to tank

 

Are you finding the side toolbox pretty useful? I just bought my utility shell and am considering building some sort of tool box enclosure for one side