Thanks for the tips. The soft topper/canback is something I've been thinking about. I've also thought about welding up some bars and doing an almost "military" style cap. Then I could make it tall enough to fit the bike even if I needed to lean it abit.
I was planning on a normal camping cot or something along those lines. There are some old 1950 cots kicking it in the attic. I might cut one of those and hinge it off the wall. Would make for a very simple quick setup. Plus I could make it removable with 2 bolts.
Ramcharger tank is definetly something I would like to do. I've been thinking about making a rear swing out bumper that could still be used with the tailgate open. It would allow me to hack off 3 feet of that hitch carrier too which would improve the departure angle with it in the hitch.
Springs/shocks/tires will have to wait until after graduation unfortunately. But the idea when I bought this truck is that it would last me as long as I wanted it to last. Whether thats a year or a decade.
So about this pic.(as always its worse than it looks, imagine the whole area under the truck looking exactly like what the left front tire is on)
I really did not expect the truck to be able to climb that. It was seriously rutted and pretty steep. It had 4 foot holes and large rocks with a very difficult choice for a line that wouldn't tap my transfer case. But I was very surprised how well the truck took it. In fact it was easier to drive the truck up in 4low and 1st than it was for me to walk up it. I was very impressed and pretty much think the truck will do just fine for any offroad I would want to take a 6k lb truck for now.
Other thoughts on the trip. That sort of travel rocks, and I definetly need to set up something so I can lay out fully in the back. The bench isn't cutting it. I also think a winch, or some sort of recovery equipment like snow chains is a very good idea. I got into one area with a pretty steep dirt hillclimb in a snowstorm and I was somewhat concerned about getting back out(I gave up on finding the connecting route on the map). The muddy river crossing(after the storm, it was a dry wash originally) worked just fine though. It was comforting to have the bike as a backup, given any situation if the truck broke/stuck then I could ride the bike out. Probably wouldn't be fun in a snowstorm but I would survive.
Hiking in Arches national park was a big highlight.