Tiny truck bed campers?

[cluttonfred]

I've gone "tent" camping in the back of my VW truck.

Neat old VW, but unfortunately that solution won't work wit the type of short-bed truck (Ford Maverick, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Jeep Gladiator) I have in mind.

[RJ Howell]

That small a rig... I just don't see a non-cab over. Horizontal slides?? Been there with trailers and not going back, just too many mechanicals to deal with and the seams...

Besides it's just a bedroom at that point. If that's all you'd be better served building a tear-drop.

I thought you were against a slide out extending bed from the cab-over.. With all the research I've done, I still look at the cab-over, pop-top designs as the best overall systems. That being full or angled lifts.

[cluttonfred]

Thanks, RJ, for the feedback. No decision yet, I don’t even have the truck yet, just having fun exploring ideas while overseas. So far there are two approaches that appeal to me most.

The first is something like the Capri Cowboy, just a small wood-and-foam T-shaped box to suit a compact pickup bed with the tailgate closed. The twin-size bunk would be oriented across the pickup rails and would fold away or form a couch when not in use.

The second would be an over the cab type like the Scout Yoho with a full bed oriented across the width of the truck in the cabover plus a love seat and folding table one one side and galley on the other side in the pickup bed.

Both would have to be fairly tall in order to allow full sitting height in bunk, though the Cowboy could be lower (less than full standing height) because the bunk is at the level of the rails not on top of the cab.