Opinions on this Custom Camper

Hey guys, new to the website and thought I’d give it a try since another one like it practically kept my old 98’ GMC Safari moving until I couldn’t afford to keep it.
In an attempt to replicate “van life” I’ve been looking at these shells made by some local guys. I’ll probably be living in it as long as I can while I’m working in Santa Barbara this summer.
What do you guys think about it?
Will a 6’4” dude be able to sleep in a truck bed for 3 months?
Will it destroy my MPG at 250+ lbs?
It’s a custom shell, so I can change/request whatever I please but I’m also broke...

 

Well it's unattractive but functional so figure what works for you. Can you get it with smooth sides instead of the corrugated? I'd also go for a white or light gray interior as opposed to an old school woodgrain interior- it'll brighten things up for starters and it makes it seem more spacious than it really is. You definitely want insulation if possible, both for heat and cold. At 5'10" I can barely sleep laid out in the truck bed so I guess you'll have to sleep diagonally which will eat up more space. I like the taller shell though as it allows you to sit up, provided you don't build a sleeping platform/deck. In my experience, if stealth camping is in your plans then being able to sit up and read, watch a movie, get dressed, etc. far outweighs the benefits of a drawer system which heavily eats into your sitting area. Add some blackout curtains that you can close up around the edges and a red light inside. Be sure you plan for ventilation, you need some air movement while sleeping as you generate a lot of moisture, moreso if you do any cooking in the back.

 

Thanks for the response! Luckily, I love how different it looks and have always been obsessed with wood grain interiors, I had it for my van. It has a vent installed in the pictures but I will most likely have a 12V fan installed. Everything else I already hoped to do you mentioned BUT I didn’t consider the negatives of the drawers. I assumed that they were rather small and wouldn’t effect my head space. I wish I could see the shell before it was made to see how much space it takes

 

Yeah I had wood grain in my VW campers; they work for the time period but I was happier when I upgraded my last one's interior. Personal preference. I like eclectic vehicles, especially house trucks. You could always build your own camper as well but you'd have to be careful of the weight limits of these trucks.

Anyways, the cabinets over the front shouldn't be a big deal, I was referring to the storage drawer systems with sleeping platforms on top of them. They make great sense from an organizational point of view and they work for camping but if you're actually going to live back there you will want as much room to move around as possible. That goes doubly so if you will be doing any stealth camping. If you have a place where you can park, set up a tarp or just hang out it's one thing but if you are basically restricted to the back of your truck then you need to be able to stretch and actually do stuff such as reading, playing on your laptop, etc. I would add a house battery of some sort for the back (and preferably a solar panel); if you're only using the main battery I'd add a low voltage cutoff to make sure you can start your truck in the morning.

You mentioned having vans so I'm sure you're aware of how easy they are to stealth camp out of; it's nice to be able to slide out of your seat and put a curtain behind the front seats then relax without having to get out and climb in the back with no one seeing you. It's especially nice in bad weather.