Ute bed or camper shell

[patsaricas222]

So I've been overlanding and 4 wheeling for about 10 years now. I currently own a 2012 nissan frontier with a camper shell by leer with a drawer system (homemade) with a bedslide on top of the drawers. On top of the camper shell I have a howling moon stargazer 1.6 rtt. With my previous 4 wheeler (jeep tj) there was enough armor around the body that when you brushed up against some trees it was not a big deal. With my nissan with the huge increased size and lack of fender body armor I've sustained some body damage, nothing that prevents me from driving buy unaddressed it will rust and frankly just looks unappealing. So I started looking at replacing my factory bed for an aluminum ute bed with trundle drawer and some aluminum side boxes. The benifits would be much stronger and lighter than my current setup, butcher the drawback would be my gear would not be covered and I would have to invest in some pelican cases. Does anybody run a ute setup with a rtt on top via the ladder racks. Some advice would be really appreciated.

Uteltd.com

 

[DodgeFan]

So I've been overlanding and 4 wheeling for about 10 years now. I currently own a 2012 nissan frontier with a camper shell by leer with a drawer system (homemade) with a bedslide on top of the drawers. With the huge increased size and lack of fender body armor I've sustained some body damage, nothing that prevents me from driving buy unaddressed it will rust and frankly just looks unappealing.

Uteltd.com

Hey Triple Deuce,
Im at a similar point in my build but not identical so hope my input will at least be helpful.

Before:
My girlfriend had a very clean Taco TRD that she wanted to kit out to LOOK expo and preform better.
That sounded good to me.
You know, install a sleeping platform, add some cargo boxes, flex the suspension a bit and just use the truck as it was intended/ factory equipped.
Big mistake!
Stuff started breaking, paint started scratching, motor started ticking and in a few short trips she has turned her truck from a really clean commuter into an ugly mess she is ashamed to park next to her bosses new Volt!

*I guess what im trying to say is that ******** happens on the trail, period!
(ie. I was driving on a perfectly safe (but muddy) river trail, reached down to jiggle my sticky Dana 20 x-fer case into gear like i had done thousands of times before and within a heart beat or two wound up launching my J-10 off the river bank and putting my copilots head into the windshield.)
Totaled the front end in prolly 5 seconds.
Unless you have big disposable income for weekly repairs (wrench for 5 so you can wheel for 2) you are better off keeping your daily driver a daily driver.

Install the recovery points, exo-skelaton and 300 gallon fuel tanks on a purpose built expo/overland rig.
On its first day out, its maiden voyage, "roll it off the side of a mountain" just to check out your cage and safety seats. (making a dedicated and disposable expo rig costs less than deprecation on wrecked new truck)

This repair only took 15 minutes to fix but since it was her daily driver we had to get it fixed asap.

After:
Now im building a dedicated overland rig.
Full size Dodge, RTT, ARE hi top shell with matching truck bed trailer and matching ARE shell.

Im gonna keep the build simple and cheap and if it burns to the ground, rolls over or throws a rod at 90 mph, it will scrap out for more than i have invested.

Not saying a decked out 2017 Unimog, ARB expo bumper or axle truss welded in the vacuum of space while on your lunch hour at the jet propulsion laboratory isn't cool, those things are very cool but just a little impracticle.

KISS principal is always best.

Hope that was helpful.
Robert

 

[Black Dog]

In contrast to what that guy ^ said, go ahead and use your DD. Stick a topper on it and use the money you saved by not getting a Ute bed towards putting good gear in the truck, maybe a dual battery with isolator, some good lights, nice sleeping pads, on board air, skid plates, maxtracks, whatever. Your vehicle is going to get trashed if you trash it and if you plan on trashing it you're gonna need an exoskeleton. Just drive modestly and you'll be fine.

Buuuut, Ute beds are freaking awesome and from the point of view of a guy who cuts firewood and buys hay I like it. For a DD to camp in though the topper seems better.

 

[DodgeFan]

In contrast to what that guy ^ said, go ahead and use your DD.

What THAT guy was saying is "its nice NOT to have to worry about destroying your DD!"
Thats it, nothing else.

Build it tough then drive it anywhere.
Its a lot more fun that way. imho

But absolutely, invest in a high quality sleeping pad. This pad was from Ikea, cost a solid hundy and is so comfy ull never want to get up. If it below -10* degrees we put 2" styro under the pad if its over 100* degrees we put beaded seat cushions on top of it.

 

[2scars]

High mileage lower ball joints on a Tacoma are prone to failure. They are a 100K mile part that people neglect and then get upset when they fail at 200K. I drive my truck 500 miles a week in my commute and just returned from a trek into the mountains for the weekend. No problems. I also just rebuilt the front end with all new parts because I have 280K on my doublecab. Your talking points aren't even addressing what the OP is talking about.

OP, if you did do a Ute bed, you could have a marine upholsterer set you up with a canvas top to cover your gear and keep honest people honest. I all honesty, it is more a question of cost than anything else. Those Ute beds aren't cheap. Also check out http://alu-cab.co.za/ for some ideas, maybe a combined tray/shell that would protect your stuff and support your RTT, while still made of lightweight materials to keep strain down on the d-train.

My .02