Questions for wildernest owners or those in the know

[homemade]

A question for any wildernest owner or resident expert who may know. I have a ‘04 F-350 short bed and I sometimes see long bed full size wildernest campers for sale locally (but not so close as to make it easy to drive over and check out, usually a couple hundred miles away) but none for a full size shorbed. I was wondering if it would be feasible to do a cut-back on the lower rear of a wildernest to make it fit on a shortbed. What I mean is how they were manufactured for short bed compact trucks, the top of the camper is longer in the rear than the base and it cants frontward and downward from the top to the tail gait area. As a second question, are the base dimensions “one size fits all” for applications, that is are all the long bed full size shells the same or are they specifically sized for the brand of truck like the flippac campers?


Thank you for any info

 

[STREGA]

I had a Wildernest on a SB Mazda PU back in the early 90's, it had the forward slant rear, never could get use to the look of it and using the rear door was akward at best. Wouldn't be worth the effort to modify it IMO, also since they have not made Wildernests for about 15? years they probaly will not fit on the newer style PU beds very well. I don't know about Ford PU's but newer Dodge PU's get narrower at the rear of the bed for Aero reasons.

 

[homemade]

I had a Wildernest on a SB Mazda PU back in the early 90's, it had the forward slant rear, never could get use to the look of it and using the rear door was akward at best. Wouldn't be worth the effort to modify it IMO, also since they have not made Wildernests for about 15? years they probaly will not fit on the newer style PU beds very well. I don't know about Ford PU's but newer Dodge PU's get narrower at the rear of the bed for Aero reasons.

Right, the canted roof might not look great but from pictures I have seen it isn't too bad either. The newer Fords do have the tapered beds also but I have seen a picture of a short bed newer Superduty with a short bed version of a wildernest on it that looked like a good fit - at least in the pictures. I think someone on this forum had/has it. So at least some are an apparent good fit on the newer tapered bed trucks.

Thanks

 

[paulj]

If you have chance to look at one, measure two things - the width, and the distance from the front edge to rear internal reinforcing.

Obviously the width has to match your bed rails. And if you are going to cut the fiberglass at angle, you still want to keep that reinforcing intact.

As noted the compact shortbed (which I used to have) version was clearly cut from a longbed shell. I don't know, though, whether the door frame was the same or not. The shortbed frame is flat. The upper end of the reinforcing supports the tent frame, and if I recall correctly, one of the springs. So it is essential to the structural integrity of the opened unit.

As to looks, the bobtail shortbed was unusual, but in its own way aesthetically pleasing - at least on my white, with black trim, S10 pickup.

 

[billith]

Wildernest sizes

I have had 2 Wildernest, one for a short bed and one for a long bed. As far as I know there is only a short and long version. The short being 6 ft. long, and the long being 8 ft. long. I wouldn't cut anything if I were you, unless your a skilled fiberglass tech and really know what your doing. If you have a long bed and want to put a small Wildernest on it, I would make the bed smaller around the bed rails. I would get some 2x10s and bolt them to the bed rails, match up the rear door with the tailgate, and bolt the Wildernest to the 2 x 10s, then silicone any gaps and places where water may want to leak in. However mounting a smaller Wildernest may be doable, it may look a bit funny, but it could work. I have know a few guys that really wanted a Wildernest, but their truck was either too long, or too short. So what they did was to get an old pick up bed trailer to mount the Wildernest on, and the problem was solved. Hope this helps in some way.

 

[homemade]

Sage advice

Thanks for the information. I have no fiberglass working skills, I was thinking of cutting back the shell at an angle, reinforcing the inside lip with square steel tube and probably using polycarbonate for the rear window. If I can check out one of the closer units for sale next weekend maybe I will have a clearer idea of if I could do it or not.

Thanks again

 

[Shiryas]

I have had a Wildernest on my Toyota for 4+ years. It is the 'Slant Back' version listed above in this thread.

"DaveinDenver" on this board would be the expert on these things, his WilderNest webpage is http://www.wildernest.org/ . He may take some time getting back to you since I think he was buying a new home.

I will defer to Dave's expertise but I do not think there is going to be an easy way to shorten up one of these topper/shells. There is a lot of fiberglass on the inside that is built up as a truss type system to transfer; the loads from its weight, as an anchor for the lid's cable suspension, and as a mount for the lift assist springs. Again I may be mistaken but when I was at Dave's garage he also mentioned repairing the steel understructure beneath the glass overlay on one of the toppers he was working on. A lot more involved than a cut and shut scenario.

I think you need to find another route.

The Wildernest has been great for me in the deserts of Utah/Colorado and the two trips down to Baja, but . . . I do wish I had something a little more camper like . . . FWC, would be much better for the inclement 'shoulder' seasons that I like to get out in.

Just food for thought.

 

[paulj]

... Again I may be mistaken but when I was at Dave's garage he also mentioned repairing the steel understructure beneath the glass overlay on one of the toppers he was working on. A lot more involved than a cut and shut scenario.
...

This is the reinforcement that I was talking about. If I recall correctly there is a vertical rib glassed into the shell side, just behind the side window. The piece is about an inch wide, and 2-3 deep, running from bottom to top. I would not cut or alter this piece. I think it would be safe to cut the fiberglass behind it.