Camper Shells: your experiences and suggestions

[bigwapitijohnny]

Beautiful, What I want for my F250. What did you pay for the Snugpro?

Athabasca, sorry for the delay. I got mine for about $2100...I would check local dealers and compare prices. This price was > $800 LESS than the dealer across town...

Regards,

BWJ

 

[brian90744]

My shell=Flip-Pac

My unit with curtain and rear security on rear glass= keep the noisy looky loos happy.

 

[verdesardog]

here's my truck with the shell the dealer threw onfor no cost when i bought the truck. It was part of the bargaiing, I told him I needed a shell for my search and rescue dog. This is just something he had sitting in the back of his lot. I like it a lot and like the fact that is is a good color and does not make my truck look like an
SUV:

 

[Overlandtowater]

I started building a shell off of an aluminum frame shell to fit my bed I have the frame work all done I just have to find something to put on it for a skin. First I was gonna go with .040 aluminum sheets and will probably go that way when I get the dough to spend on the shell until then I thought about corrugated plastic sheets. ultra light weight kinda tough and will seal with pvc pipe cement... What do you guys think about this?

Don't mean to steel the thread just thought it might help any one wanting to build one also... Thanks

 

[pyrate]

Anyone have a suggestion for using a shell for sleeping but in the rain when it is warm enough you need to leave the screened windows open and yet keep the rain out?

 

[Overlandtowater]

you could drape a tarp over the shell and prop the sides off the side of the shell with some short push poles...you just have to figure some way to keep the tarp on the shell.

 

[pyrate]

you could drape a tarp over the shell and prop the sides off the side of the shell with some short push poles...you just have to figure some way to keep the tarp on the shell.

Thanks. That's kind of why I didn't want to go that route. I am considering putting some kind of sleeved channel above the window, making small awnings that will extend out past the window far enough to allow it to be open in the rain. But I haven't got much past the phase yet.

 

[LBPtaco]

Reverse light mounted INSIDE the rear window?

Has anyone mounted a backup light inside the rear window of their shell? Is there too much glare? I'm not ready to drill holes in my shell just for more back up light. My plan is to mount the light to a bracket that I have bolted to the rear window hinge, I can take a pic of said bracket if needed.

Thanks

 

[mkitchen]

My ideas for what they are worth

Regarding screens, I have a screened window in each side door of the shell but they are too small to be effective in allowing air flow. I am now in the process of making screens that will adhere to the shell with magnets that are sewn into the screen. When not in use, they will be stored in the camper shell. I realize that with an aluminum shell that won't be possible. I have two side doors and the tailgate on my shell so it should allow for plenty of ventilation and with the doors up, they keep the rain from coming in.

Regarding lighting; I have pondered that question for a bit and I came up with a magnet light that I can plug into one of my accessory plug-ins in the back. The light has a long cord so I can direct the light to where ever I need it. It doesn't work for a back up light but it is great for when I need to set up camp and the sun is already down. I too want a better back up light and I think that I am going to go with a single square LED mounted to the top of my rear bumper. I plan to wire it both to the reverse light and through a toggle switch.

I know that my ideas may not work for the above questions but I thought I would throw them out there for you. Let us know what you have come up with, eh?
Mikey

 

[LBPtaco]

Regarding lighting;I too want a better back up light and I think that I am going to go with a single square LED mounted to the top of my rear bumper. I plan to wire it both to the reverse light and through a toggle switch.

I know that my ideas may not work for the above questions but I thought I would throw them out there for you. Let us know what you have come up with, eh?
Mikey

I think im going to go ahead and try it, if it doesn't work as well as I like I'll just mount the light elsewhere. I'll keep you guys posted when my light shows up.

 

[LBPtaco]

Mounted my Blitzpro light today. I just tapped it into the reverse lights for now, i will probably run a wire into the cab so i can turn the light on when I'm camping or whenever I might need light off the back of the truck.

the red is just the reflection from my tshirt...

Here is a link to the light I used

I will see how well it works tonight or tomorrow night, hopefully the tint on the rear window of my camper isn't too dark.

 

[Rattler]

Mounted my Blitzpro light today. I just tapped it into the reverse lights for now, i will probably run a wire into the cab so i can turn the light on when I'm camping or whenever I might need light off the back of the truck.

the red is just the reflection from my tshirt...

Here is a link to the light I used

I will see how well it works tonight or tomorrow night, hopefully the tint on the rear window of my camper isn't too dark.

Let me/us know how the quality of the BlitzPro product is. I was looking around their website they seem like very reasonably-priced LED lights.

 

[Kilroy]

One picture it looks on the left side, the other it looks on the right. Got 2?

 

[fourfa]

Has anyone mounted a backup light inside the rear window of their shell? Is there too much glare? I'm not ready to drill holes in my shell just for more back up light. My plan is to mount the light to a bracket that I have bolted to the rear window hinge, I can take a pic of said bracket if needed.

Thanks

That's exactly what I did. I mounted a bracket to the inside glass with 3M industrial sticky tape, heated with hot air before install. Install was simple, just provide a short loop of free wire for the window to pivot. I liked this better than a fixed bracket, as it pivots safely out of the way with the window for loading and unloading. I seem to bang things there a lot (the shell's factory lamp was there and got smashed many times).

Glare is not a problem, even when the sun is in the picture. The problems are this: the dark tint on the window means less visibility at night. The glass stops most of the IR illumination (same problem). Dirt builds up on the outside pretty often, I try to wipe it clean every tank of gas. And I usually am sleeping in the back when I'm out in the truck; on cold mornings there's often breath condensation on the glass that kills the rear view. Less of a problem if it's warm enough to open the side windows at night. A few minutes in the sun clears the condensation.

 

[LBPtaco]

One picture it looks on the left side, the other it looks on the right. Got 2?

Just one, I mounted it on the left side, I figured that would be better for parallel parking.

That's exactly what I did. I mounted a bracket to the inside glass with 3M industrial sticky tape, heated with hot air before install. Install was simple, just provide a short loop of free wire for the window to pivot. I liked this better than a fixed bracket, as it pivots safely out of the way with the window for loading and unloading. I seem to bang things there a lot (the shell's factory lamp was there and got smashed many times).

Glare is not a problem, even when the sun is in the picture. The problems are this: the dark tint on the window means less visibility at night. The glass stops most of the IR illumination (same problem).

Mine is hard mounted for now, I'll have to wait and see how if it gets banged around too much. I tested the light last night in my driveway and it seemed to work pretty well, the light is still really bright even next to a street light, but I cant say for sure how the aim is. I'll have a much better chance to test it tonight after my class in the parking lot at school.