Truck Bed Topper Camping

[oswaldr2]

I’ve been thinking about putting a camper shell on my F-150 as I’ve found a nice used one for a good price. Not a deal breaker, but I keep thinking about how you get in and out of it and close the tailgate when you have a platform bed setup.

Let’s say I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, how do I get out? Open the glass, then how do you open the tailgate? It’s super heavy and seems like it’ll just crash down.

 

[Andy Mink]

I’ve been thinking about putting a camper shell on my F-150 as I’ve found a nice used one for a good price. Not a deal breaker, but I keep thinking about how you get in and out of it and close the tailgate when you have a platform bed setup.

Let’s say I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, how do I get out? Open the glass, then how do you open the tailgate? It’s super heavy and seems like it’ll just crash down.

I used to have a camper shell that I'd overnight in occasionally. It had doors in place of the tailgate. I believe Caravan Campers are the best made but you pay for it. But you can see the doors. I guess for the other kind you could tie a rope to the tailgate so it doesn't slam down.

 

[jmeb]

Don't get out when its cold. Invest in a well marked jug.

 

[oldschoolskier]

There are tailgate lift assists available which greatly reduce tailgate wt, well beyond what the factory does.

Yes I’ve done this before with smaller pickups, lift glass lower tailgate climb out repeat in reverse order.

The other option if you have a super crew cab is rear seat extender mattress set up. Basically turns the rear seat into a mattress by covering the opening where the legs go normally.

 

[teejaywhy]

May or may not answer your question directly, but here are a couple of threads on Truck topper camp setups from the Expedition Portal. Some cool stuff there.

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/lets-see-some-set-up-regular-camper-shells.23272/

https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...ck-shell-top-modifications-and-add-ons.69403/

 

[crgildart]

Let’s say I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night

 

[oswaldr2]

View attachment 95889

Haha, more a question about how my girlfriend who can't go in a mason jar

 

[James]

I used to just crawl over the tailgate. Then shut the liftgate/window. Had a platform about 10-11in high. Nice carpet, it was a better setup than cheap smelly motels. Except for worrying about waking up to some psycho staring in.
Winter’s a different story though.

 

[Magi]

Haha, more a question about how my girlfriend who can't go in a mason jar

https://www.shewee.com/ has a variety of products designed to enable adventurous bathroom usage for ladies.

 

[oswaldr2]

I used to just crawl over the tailgate. Then shut the liftgate/window. Had a platform about 10-11in high. Nice carpet, it was a better setup than cheap smelly motels. Except for worrying about waking up to some psycho staring in.
Winter’s a different story though.

I'm thinking more just summertime camping in Colorado, I suppose if some psycho could be looking in my truck bed, they also could be looking in my tent so having the camper doesn't really change the risk.

I assume you're talking about sleeping anywhere in the back of the truck though. yeah that's never fun to think about.

 

[Coach13]

I’m thinking that if you can sleep in the bed of a pickup truck you can get past where to pee. My Tundra CrewMax has a self assist tailgate so it’s perfect when I truck camp. I pull that thing right up to the Marriott, drop that self assist tailgate to get my bag and head in inside. I still just pee where ever I please.

 

[oswaldr2]

I’m thinking that if you can sleep in the bed of a pickup truck you can get past where to pee. My Tundra CrewMax has a self assist tailgate so it’s perfect when I truck camp. I pull that thing right up to the Marriott, drop that self assist tailgate to get my bag and head in inside. I still just pee where ever I please.

should I have opened the post with asking for a girlfriend?

 

[kimmyt]

When we had a camper truck setup, it was pretty easy to open the window and then the bed from the inside. We didn't have a gigantic truck though, just an old tacoma, so the tailgate wasn't too heavy.

 

[sparty]

I have no direct input on the camping question, but if it's a current-generation F-150, Ford puts an OEM tailgate dampener on the power-open tailgates and you can retrofit it on the more-pedestrian models pretty easily. It's on my to-do list for next summer as my wife doesn't believe in opening the tailgate gently.

 

[oswaldr2]

It's on my to-do list for next summer as my wife doesn't believe in opening the tailgate gently.

hahahahha