2001 S10 2.2L Camper shell project

Several companies used to make small import campers. I had an Okanagan 7 foot that I had on the back of an 88 Ford Ranger and we actually camped in it regularly for 2 years with me my wife and our son and then did a couple trips with our daughter as an infant and 4 year old son. (ok THAT was cramped). Completely serviceable for a couple and quite comfortable for solo trips.

www.kenkraft.ca/#!camper-vans/c1co

http://www.northern-lite.com/truck_camper_lite_610.php

https://www.livinlite.com/truck-campers.php

http://www.northstarcampers.com/online-catalog.php?headerbar=0&view=prods&parentId=11&catId=12

That should get you started. :-)

on my Dakota shell, I just got in the middle, pushed my back up against the shell and walked it back with somebody helping as it slid off the rear.
bumpy

Another question:

So say i am in the back of my truck with the camper shell unlatched from the truck bed... i need to raise and lower it. What would y'all suggest i do that with ... a removable jack in the middle

Sillk wrote:
Well for the highway I was thinking of lowering it down...so it could like "pop up" camper..just high enough to sit at a table. My dream is to go park on a beach somwhere and spend the night listening to the waves....

It'd work perfectly for that or next to a mountain river/stream and any place else you want to go.

Well for the highway I was thinking of lowering it down...so it could like "pop up" camper..just high enough to sit at a table. My dream is to go park on a beach somwhere and spend the night listening to the waves....

Sillk wrote:
Camper jeff...how high did you go with it?

What do ya'll think about this. I have a camper shell now but it is low. What if I raised and lowered it when I am camping...I could use a pvc set up where one pipe sides into another and has holes drilled where I can lock it into place with a pin. Then I would use some sort of matterial/tarp for the space between the canopy and top of the truck bed. Or could use a folding side panel made of aluminum?

Any thoughts?

I matched the cab height. I could have gone higher but I never intended more than sleeping in the bed, no standing, no reason.
If you have something you think will work for you, go for it.
I bet you could make a pretty decent and solid structure with 1" PVC pipe and fittings. Plan it out, glue it up. Just make sure to strap it down to the bed good so it won't have the wind pull it off on the highway.
What you describe, raising the canopy with pipe and tarp to cover the sides should work fine. If you already have the canopy, that's a cheap way to do it and get by until you can do it right and get an F-350 and newer TC all in the budget you can afford. Good luck and have fun with it.

Camper jeff...how high did you go with it?

What do ya'll think about this. I have a camper shell now but it is low. What if I raised and lowered it when I am camping...I could use a pvc set up where one pipe sides into another and has holes drilled where I can lock it into place with a pin. Then I would use some sort of matterial/tarp for the space between the canopy and top of the truck bed. Or could use a folding side panel made of aluminum?

Any thoughts?

I had a 1986 Ranger with a 2.9 and 4x4 regular cab long bed. I made a wood frame canopy with a heavy tarp pulled over it. Worked great and was really cheap and easy to make. The frame was removable. I had cut down 2x4s to fit down into the stake holes at the 4 bed corners then connected 2x3s front to back on the sides and across the front and rear of the bed and the central span with 2x2s crossing side to side 16" oc. To prevent rain pooling on the roof, I put a 4x8 sheet of 1/4" plywood. A futon bed fit perfectly between the wheel wells and I could roll it up when not in use and stuff all my stuff in there. At camp, the stuff came out and got set up. The bed rolled out and the tail gate left down, up at night. The roof plywood hanged out beyond the down tail gate so in bad weather, the tail gate became a dry place to hang out. To make it darker and quieter inside I started putting an old comforter on the canopy frame then the tarp over that. I put ropes from tie downs over the top side to side to hold everything down when traveling. Made a great camper and I could go back packing a couple days into the woods then come back and have a nice place to stay for the rest of the trip or just stay at the truck and have a nice trip.
When you're young and poor, you find a way and I did.
Thank you Mother of Invention.
Or, you can try to find one of the old S&S campers that was designed for those smaller S-10 and Ranger trucks.
Good Luck.

Yeah, go for a canopy with the back doors. If you get one that has some height so much the better. Do your cooking outside anyway, you'll smoke up and stink up a camper in no time...look at your kitchen ceiling...if you think it's clean give it a wipe and smell the cloth. I traveled all over BC in a camper with a shell before I got the camper. More comfortable yes, but convenient no. With some height you can put a chair in back and your bed. But an S-10 is not going to stand much weight. Bedlam has some great ideas.

I too had a Mazda with a small shell. We, ( the 3 kids and Wife,) all went camping, and while we usually let the kids use a tent, and sleep out, we did use it to sleep when on our travels from So, Calif, to Vancouver Wash. It seemed like as soon as we got above the Shasta area, it rained almost all the time.