Alter Wildernest Longbed to fit Shortbed?

[dakotadiesel]

I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota with 6.5 ft bed. There is a wildernest topper tent that is for long bed's near me that is $400. I have never seen one in person, do you guys think I could cut off about 12 inches in the front of the wildernest to make it fit my bed?

I realize it probably isn't for the faint of heart or purist but I'm going to probably paint my entire Dakota with Monstaliner soon. While I'm doing all that body work I could alter the Wildernest to fit.

 

[surlydiesel]

Having no real good info to give you but if it's for a "fullsize" truck, you might be able to french the cap around the cab of your truck and leave the roofline alone? But width becomes an issue as well. it would be too wide for your truck all the way around...

So, sounds like a huge ordeal to me.

-jorge

 

[dakotadiesel]

Thanks for the input. From what I can tell the width is ok just the length. The Wildernest's look like htey have extra room towards the cab that I could "chop" and reattach...that was the idea at least

 

[JCMatthews]

If you've never seen a wilderness, it appears that the tent is the same size on all of them. To fit short beds, the design the so that the tent over hangs the rear of the truck, and the camper door angles back to the tailgate. You could probably design it lik a flip pack wher it extendes over the cab, but stll opens side ways.

 

[mog]

NO.
I went down that route. I bought a Longbed Wilderness for my 2002 Ford F-250 short bed thinking I could shorten it to fit.
The mounts for the springs go down the side very close to the front and rear and are a critical part (heavy load), so not just a 'cut & glass' change.
No way to do it without major headaches IMO.
I had driven 600+ miles to buy the long bed one. Within 3 months I found a short bed unit less then 2 miles from my house for 1/2 the price....ahhhhhhh

 

[dakotadiesel]

Thanks Mog! I had just drew up what I was planning to do. You can see on the longbed versions it looks easy to cut off a few inches towards the front and glass back together. Not everyone understood what I meant I should have used paint earlier

Good to know, I will not be trying this! It seems so easy in concept... I will just hunt for the real deal 6.5ft version! Thanks again for saving me the headache of driving out there to get the long bed version!

 

[mog]

Thanks Mog! I had just drew up what I was planning to do. You can see on the longbed versions it looks easy to cut off a few inches towards the front and glass back together. Not everyone understood what I meant I should have used paint earlier

Good to know, I will not be trying this! It seems so easy in concept... I will just hunt for the real deal 6.5ft version! Thanks again for saving me the headache of driving out there to get the long bed version!

Yup, you could see I was planning on doing the same thing.
This is after buying it (with 600 miles of travel)
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(click on any photo to enlarge)


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Here are the spring supports.
You can see how close they are to the front and rear.
Major component so it would be hard to move them, and the windows would probably be in the way.
I would guess it would be easier (relatively) to cut in the center and take out the needed amount. But that would mean shorting the flip-open part and the tent.



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Also the 'old' trucks these were made for, had straight (front to rear) beds.
A lot of newer trucks like mine, taper front to rear, so that is something to watch for. Not a deal breaker, just an FYI

 

[dakotadiesel]

Oh man that stinks, 600 miles of travel! Thanks for all the tips this has been a life saver!