TC to Cab Window Tunnel/Donut

AKSuperDually wrote:

Driving through crappy weather, the camper acts as a big scoop funneling all kinds of******down to that gap. .

Yeah we hit some crazy weather in Utah and a small Falcon was flying and fighting the wind when it struck my cabover and disapeared. When we got to our campsite I started setting up camp and reached for my carpet stored in my wheel wells. Instead of grabbing the carpet I pulled out the dead Falcon. I felt sorry for the little guy.

delosholly wrote:
Thanks for the replies.

2. About the inner tube, does it cause any damage to the paint on the TC or truck?


Thanks to all, Del.

No damage, I did have some black rubber marks that was easily removed with simple green. Speaking of simple green, that stuff works great on removing virtually anything off your fiberglass from squashed dried bugs, dirt build up around your seals to rubber roof steaks.

I had one that came with my leer canopy, used it up the Alcan....and rubbed a lot of paint of the cab of my truck. Be aware of that. Driving through crappy weather, the camper acts as a big scoop funneling all kinds of******down to that gap. Hard to keep it from getting between your "doughnut" and the cab of your truck. Still kicking myself over it. Every time I see the bare paint spot.

I had one when my kids were small that was a 12 - 14 inch tube made of water proof cloth material. Each end of the tube had a sewn in metal spring like the one in sun shades that twist into loops to store.

The shape of the window made no difference as it conformed to any shape.

I remember it worked quite well but wasn't 100% effective at keeping all the rain out but what little water leaked in didn't cause much of an issue.

I'll have to check the shed to see if it's still out there and maybe get a picture.

Thanks for the replies.

1. I await the pics of the homemade foam "donut".

2. About the inner tube, does it cause any damage to the paint on the TC or truck?

3. We will also keep the litter in the cab. I have removed the back seat area which opened up a lot of room.

4. I could not find anything on the Northstar website about a donut. Could you post a link?

Thanks to all, Del.

Northstar sells the cab donuts

we also have a cat and we keep her potty in the truck cab.works super and gives us more room in the TC. we cover the potty when driving and if she needs to use it she lets us 3 know.

I use a inner tube for a tire I found at the local auto parts store. I got the smallest size I could and it works like a champ! I actually removed the pass thru window entirely and the inner tube made a perfect water tight seal against the elements. The kids were able to crawl through and use the restroom while traveling (which I don't recommend doing anymore). It doesn't matter how your camper lines up each time as it will conform pretty easily.


Looking past my kids hard at work at their legos, you can see how i removed the pass thru window and added the inner tube


This is proof it worked as we drove through a huge winter storm through Utah and Colorado and not a drop of water entered the camper

I 'll post a picture of the one I made for the same purpose when I get to the computer later.
I got a 3' sqft x 3" foam and cut out the center to fit the window and cargo light. Fit some wedging to take up the slope and used spray adhesive to hold together. Then reinforced the unit with black gorilla tape. I slip a cat box liner over the top for rain protection.

I made it from 3" thick foam. The bottom rests on top of the front of the truck bed wall. You can put a couple pieces of duct tape from foam tunnel to bed to hold in place. I usually don't need it. On my truck TC the gap widens between the two as you go up to the top of the cab. I measured, fitted and cut the wedges to be about a half inch thicker then the mated truck and TC. The foam is glued together with spray adhesive and limited overspray. We then used Gorilla brand duct tape to reinforce the unit. I guess it's about 5 years old now and still works good as new. I made the wedges about 1 1/2" thick so they would compress between the cab and TC and conform to the curves. I place a plastic bag over the top to keep it dry. We have never had a leak problem even after hours of pouring rain at highway speeds. It has had no trouble with flexing while driving and it has left no marks of usage. I have 1 1/2"rubber spacers on the front so when loaded, the TC consistantly has a 1/2" gap
between the top of the front bed wall and the TC. You can accomplish the same laying a 2x4 across the front of your bed to achieve a consistant gap if need. Our cat loves it. It gives him that little extra space to roam and be free. He usually goes up to the bed and climbs under the covers when in transit. It's the only time he gets under covers. Be sure to cut out for your cargo light. Hope this helps.

Side View.


TC Side.


Truck Side.