Camper Shell Build Out

[SwampCobra]

Folks, I'm a kayak tournament angler who will be traveling to tournaments all over the Southeast this year and I'm gonna be doing alot of sleeping in my truck simply because motel rooms are just to much $$$.

I'm looking to build a sleeper/kayak carrier in the bed(short) of my Ranger. Inclosed are a couple of pics to show you what it looks like for any ideas. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Doug

 

[straycat]

That is gonna be cramped in that pickup bed. I would either get a nice clean used small travel popup camper or get a pickup bed camper that can be mounted in the bed and then when you need the truck and not the camper you can take it out of the bed and leave it at the house on the free standing supports. I had one years ago on my 4x4 Toyota truck and it was nice. I could stand up in it and it had running water an electrical hook up for power. It slept three people and it was not really cramped.

 

[triumphrider-1]

MaoriExpeditions (Travis) has a nice build up of his truck, as well as a travel/expedition trailer.

Truck:
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20626

Trailer:
http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119162

Or are you looking to just finish the inside for sleeping/living, and stash the kayak on top?

 

[SwampCobra]

Yeah considering that my kayak is about 3' wide it's gonna be cramped. What I thought about doing was building a plywood bed that sat above the kayak. The height of my kayak is around 14", so I'm thinking about going in that direction. I wanted gather as much input as possible before I did anything to it. Thanx !!!

Doug

 

[Zeisan]

Back when I had an IH Scout 2 I was looking at the camper tops fit those, they were nice. If a bed camper isn't an option I'd say build a rack on the shell and see if you can find an in bed air mattress for a ranger. I've seen those on jegs and other sites. Depending on the weather you might want insulation.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I would setup a rack on top of the cap to mount the kayak. You could build to long rectangular boxes to go over the wheel wells down each side and leave the middle open. Maybe put a door in them to access the gap in between for small storage sections. Have pieces of plywood at the front that can be slid back over the (2) sides that you could sleep on top of with your stuff stored under you at night.

Some guys just make a platform above the wheelwells and slide stuff underneath. I would want something that could break down so I could actually sit up in the middle if I wanted to.

 

[88_Eddie]

this should be a cool build. why cant you put the kayak on top of the camper shell? then you'd have the entire inside of the bed to yourself.

 

[SwampCobra]

Well the whole reason I bought a truck and sold my Cherokee is so I wouldn't have to throw a 70lb.+ kayak on top of my vehicle. LOL

Doug

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

A couple of eye bolts from the center of the roof and a couple on one side of the roof, run a rope from one bed rail through the eye bolts to the other bed rail so you can lift the kayak up out of the way. Air mattress and sleep at an angle. Really fancy make a screen to hang off the end of the canopy door, similar to a shower curtain.

Richard

 

[88_Eddie]

well, vice versa. find a tent that you could put on top of the camper shell. i doubt you're gonna want to sleep with a wet kayak in an enclosed space.

 

[triumphrider-1]

Sticking the kayak on top of the shell, or in a small trailer, would probably be the best route. I'm assuming your kayak is 10'-14' long, so only part of it will be in the bed, also exposing your other stuff to the elements.

 

[straycat]

Well the whole reason I bought a truck and sold my Cherokee is so I wouldn't have to throw a 70lb.+ kayak on top of my vehicle. LOL

Doug

I had 2 4x4 Cherokee's, both with 4 doors with roof racks and carog carriers on them and I could haul anything on top and in the back. I loved the room in them. I took my Kayak out a lot to real neat places on the roof racks. We could camp in them as well for a weekend. I would not want to do it for a week...but the weekend was great for camping out in them.

 

[tpelle]

The thing I never see mentioned in these camper shell buildups is the bed length. Your Ranger bed is only 6' long, and if you are close to or over 5'-6" or so, your feet are going to be overhanging whatever platform you build inside the bed. You really want to be able to sleep on your stomach, so your feet are going to want to be extended "tippi-toe" out, making you taller, and also keep in mind that you aren't going to want to sleep with your head right up against the front of the bed or the tailgate.

I have been thinking about this a lot, and I think there are two practical paths:

1. If you are determined to use a camper shell, I suggest augmenting it with one of those truck tents that set up behind the truck and connect to it via a sort of sleeve that attaches around the open tailgate and camper shell back window. The ones I've seen permit the sleeve to be disconnected from the truck and zippered closed so that the tent portion remain set up and you can drive the truck away for sightseeing, going to the grocery or out to dinner, or, in your case, hauling the Kayak or boat to the launch site. I envision a sheet of plywood to "smooth out" all of the ribs of the bed floor for comfortable sleeping, with a hinged flap that extends the plywood "bed" over the tailgate to lengthen the sleeping platform out to the end of the open tailgate. In this case the Kayak could be carried on top of the camper shell.

2. Utilize one of those tents (a Sportz bed tent or similar) that actually set up on top of the pickup bed. Again the truck bed would be provided with a plywood floor with the hinged flap as I described above.

Option #1 actually makes the most sense to me, as by sleeping directly on the bed floor you maximize headroom in the camper shell so that you could at least sit up in "bed". Also having the tent "addition" means that you could unload your gear into the tent, leaving you with a lot more space in the "bedroom". Plus, as I said, you could leave your campsite set up with your "stuff" inside the tent if you need to drive your truck somewhere.

I don't really think you can get away from hauling your kayak on top of the camper shell, assuming your kayak is more than 8' long or so. Remember the bed is only 6' long.

 

[alexpmcmurphy]

martinjmpr had some nice pictures of something that sounds like what your looking at trying to do over in the Bug Out/Survival, Overlanding & Camping Vehicles section. it could work out even if your over 6' tall if you slept at an angle. looks like hes also got underbed storage for fish poles and whatnot figured out too

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showpost.php?p=697660&postcount=33

 

[backroad101]

well, vice versa. find a tent that you could put on top of the camper shell. i doubt you're gonna want to sleep with a wet kayak in an enclosed space.

Agreed. Go to a junkyard and grab a roof rack of an Explorer or something. Then you would have the bed completely open and free of the smell of a wet kayak