The Reality of Building a DIY Truck Camper 

It's a known fact that if you add flames to it you WILL be faster.... Great build.

Hi Nate, glad to see your truck worked out. Remember me, the guy in California with the same truck 8 foot bed? I wound up keeping it. we have the best years for chevy trucks! Keep on truckin, stay safe!

*talent. Skill. Passion. Dedication*

Common misconceptions about aerodynamics is that the tapered shape should be at the front. If you want to improve mileage it is more effective to put the tapered shape at the rear. The big flat space at the back just creates a low pressure region that holds the truck back. As a guy with an Ambulance.. I have an 8'x10' flat wall at the back of my rig. I am happy to get 11.5 and if it is a 12 mpg tank, I start racking my brain as to what I did differently.

I’m using a 2006 single cab Chevy Silverado 1500 with the little 4.3 V6. My camper is a Capri Cowboy, similar in shape to your DIY build. My fuel mileage is 11.5 mpg on the low side to 12.5 mpg on the high side. I had to remove the tail gate, rear bumper, Reese hitch and corner jacks to keep it under the truck rating. Very impressive camper you have built. Like you I have a small ac, MaxxAir fan and a couple 12 volt fridges. All powered by 400 watts solar, 300 amp hour LifePo4 and inverter. I really like the simplicity of your power station too. Great job!

I've been remodeling mobile homes for about 5 years now. Everything from demo to electrical framing and flooring. My best advice I could give you for the camper builds in the back of the trucks is try to make the front a little more aerodynamic maybe try steaming and bending wood and putting very thin plywood or fiberglass and mold the front to say the roof of the truck and your gas mileage will be almost the same as it was stock I'll be keeping an eye out for your next build. 🙏

Looks like a cool setup! Congrats! I’ve been living in my Truck Topper Camper for about 9 months now. One thing I love about my setup is the pass-thru window. I just slip from the cab straight into the camper area. I wanted a stealth setup, as I often visit family in the city and needed a free place to snooze for the night. 😁 Great videos!

For anyone who adds a slide-in camper to their truck - I highly recommend taking the truck to a nearby CAT Scale, once with the cargo bed empty and a second time with the camper installed. If you have been guessing the weight, you may be surprised - not always in a good way.

Wind deflector with storage inside for your surfboard and other flat items accessed from a side opening door

Value for money is unbeatable and the skills to do a good job are invaluable but after three years living in my custom built Promaster ($92,000) I like standing up in my 12 foot home. Very well done in any event.

Nice to see this follow-up on the build. Looks so nice inside, professional 👌

Around here, I drop off used oil, paint, etc, at the local hazardous waste drop off (free). They weigh your vehicle when you go in and leave, I have been doing this for years to get the weight of my vehicles and trailers for free, (I am frugal). Get your base weight with a full tank of fuel, and anytime you want to weigh anything fill your fuel first.

Well that was pretty thorough. There's a Canadian guy (Slim Potatohead) who used an old snowboard or something like that for a deflector for his fiberglass camper trailer and he noticed a difference - just as you did with the shell on - the wind didn't get caught by the tailgate and make the engine work harder. Nicely done.

those sound like great MPGs, my 3/4 ton,6.0L suburban averages 10mpg

Hey Nate ..... You did a GREAT job on your DIY camper unit !! 😎👌👍👍

Interesting build, it's good to see videos of what other people come up with. The problems they encounter and how they overcome them. My thinking is maybe a bit different than most in that my first concern is efficiency and fuel costs are major in that calculation. For example, I used to own a 1989 Nissan D21 Hard Body pickup, a 4x4. On the highway it got 25mpg. Off-road it did great even at high altitude. Did so with a shell on it, 25 gallon aux fuel tank and a full bed of gear for a five week trip across the Western US. I've often thought that something like that with the pickup bed removed would be a good platform to build a light weight dedicated camper. That is, cab on chassis approach rather than slide-in. Probably aluminum frame rather than wood or steel. Possibly a Ford Ranger would do well. Right now, it's just thinking and making vague plans.

THANK YOU!!! You very succinctly and intelligently answered every question I had. I have a '97 Chevy K1500 with the shorter 6.5 foot bed and I am wanting to build a camper or something. I don't think I'll live in it but I will be doing extended camping trips. The weight was the biggest hurdle for me with my truck being a half ton. You did an excellent job building that. Only thing I'd of done different is put an angle on the front and used that space for storage. I understand your constraints though. Great job!

I knew someone who used a snowboard as a wind deflector,just mounted it at an angle.worked good

I think the only efficient way to make it aerodynamic is to incorporate a counter-levered truck cab hangover with a rounded front edge in the next one you build it would give you a little extra storage as well. These are all good skills, you have the basic knowledge to build a cabin from scratch if you ever purchased some land or you could just build a base for this build to rest on to give you a cabin.

Absolutely excellent video sir and you share data up front instead if dragging on like others. Geeatly appreciate you sharing this data.

I remember years ago in the uk my dad used to have a wind deflector for pulling a caravan. It used to clip into the roof rails. Funnily enough I hardly see them these days.

There's a whole lot of room over top of the cab........great for a sleeping space, or extra storage, (if you would built out over the cab as well).

Has it concerned you at all that someone could close your tailgate and you're trapped in the camper? You could probably punch out through the AC hole, but you'd be pretty exposed.

Cool build. The problem to me as far as costs are concerned will always be the V8. I live in a short wb high roof Promaster that is fully built out and I get 20mpg. I’ve been very impressed with the pentastar V6. If I was getting 12mpg I wouldn’t travel nearly as much I do and that expense would be discouraging for me. If I want to do limited truck things the odd time I can just hook up a utility trailer. I’d take fuel efficiency over 4x4 any day but I don’t venture into the wilderness often.

Looks great. Much applause 👏.

Idea to up mileage abit maybe, an aluminum wedge attached top front level w cab top angled up to front top of box

That's a really lovely compact travel cabin, the interior is particularly nice and the entire cabin looks to be beautifully constructed and fitted out! Setting aside one's time and labour, you couldn't really get much on the market for what it cost in materials, and with self building it may be built and fitted out exactly as you want it to be.

Nate you build a nice little homemade camper just build you a little bit of a wedge and I'm sure of what you said you'll get at least another mile per gallon if that's worth it to you you learned a lot on building this your next build is going to be amazing😊

Awesome job sir. Looks really nice. 👍

I've thought about building camper similar to yours, but went a different rout with my build...Anyhow my thought on the flat font is to build a roof box/wind deflector. It would be strapped to the roof of the truck. Probably make it out of foam board.

More aerodynamic with the bed topper camper. Totally agree. I know people who drive with their tailgate down to eliminate the wind drag it causes. Going around the cab into the bed and hitting the tailgate, I think creates some kind of "wind-drag" (for lack of a better word).

Some may confuse it for a pipeline x-ray inspection rig😅 most of ours are made of fiberglass, and are the darkroom for processing the x-ray film.

Thank you for the video. Blessings to you.

Maybe not so much a wind deflector but alway can angle a solar panel off the camper down towards the truck extra solar and may help with the aero either way it’s bonus sun or bonus fuel saving

Awesome stuff. My guess for the wind deflector idea is don't overthink it. Should just be a big Styrofoam column cut in half and slapped up there on the front. Then just coat it. Shouldn't take long nor be expensive. See if it makes a solid 1 mpg+ difference or not. Anything fancypantsy would require some Aerodynamics Engineers spending WAYYYY too much time to figure out. lol

Nice! After having seen the build and you in it I think v2 may benefit from a roofline that is pitched lower at the cab side and higher in the back. This gives more headroom in the sitting area and better wind flow when driving. Hope you do a v2 at some point. These builds are fun.

Nice looking build Nate. Looks so awesome. 👍🙌 😊 🚐 🌏🧭

Very well done, especially the interior looks like a studio apartment. Yeah, you could possibly gain another 2 miles per gallon making it aerodynamic 'wind deflector'.

Thank you for the break down! Trying to follow you folks doing this build. Money is a big thing!

You have all that space over your cab though!

Another idea to (maybe) improve aerodynamics is to add a roof-top storage box above the cab section of your truck. You would gain much needed storage space too.

If you ever were really bored...You could go to the local dump weigh the truck with the cap And google the weight of the truck from factory ..dont forget the fuel weight too

Very spacious-great job, Nate!👍 Happy Fourth!🎉🎉🎉🎉

Checkout ENDGAME camper builds for inspiration for the next build.

Thanks for sharing . You've done a fine job of building to suit your needs .

Awesome job

Nice break down on your camper build. I’m getting ready to build a 16x24 shed/shop and my budget I’m shooting for is $5k…now I’m thinking 🤔 I might be spending more. Hey Nate if you are ever out my way, you know you’re welcome.👍🏻

Great job w/the build! Hope your recent travels have afforded you some surfing opportunities!

roof rac and old skake board deck ,mounted on front of rac

You did great, what a good thing to be handy.

Stunning man!

This looks a lot like the one I built, but mine mounts to the bed and has a cab over and stands 9'4" to the top. It weighs 800lbs. as far as milage 9-12mpg. Good job on the build, thanks for sharing. I can't believe how close they look. Stay safe, thanks again.

Great job 🙏🏻🙌🏻 definitely the way to go…

i had to nurse a 2006 2.2 turbo transit home from valencia,spain through france to york uk.French toll roads are probably the best roads i've driven.i kept my speed to 58mph and managed to get 56mpg.if i got the same mpg as your camper i think i'd cry and stop driving 😂

Have you tried shade cloth? I wonder if you can keep it from flying away due to the winds of the desert. I'm glad I found your site and subscribed and will keep watching!

Looks like a very clean build. Reusing what's on hand, having friends and neighbors donate their unused or lightly used extras. Always good options, saved me lots of money on my last build. My only question, from what I can see on this video. What do you do if someone shuts your tailgate while you're in the camper? I've been in some strange neighborhoods and have friends with twisted sense of humor. So closing the tailgate, trapping the door closed, would be a real possibility. I saw no other opening big enough to get out through so what's your options if this happens?

Wow,you did a nice job!

Great job! Thanks for sharing.

Use your surfboard as a wind deflector... Better gas mileage and a place to store it. 😅

How do you deal with security with that fan so close to the inside door handle and lock? Seems like someone could break in through that fan fairly easily?

I would have gone with a higher height. Great job.

You go dude.😊

When your saving over 2 thousand or more on rent utilities... fuel cost is much easier to sleep on. Do you sell these units? I'm not clear but could you run that ac daily without problems catching up to recharge battery? How much time does it take to recharge your batt after using the ac all day? Thanks I live in a van since 2016

The fact that the tailgate can be closed and block the door while you're inside makes my claustrophobia flare up.

like the build, but worry someone could potentially lock you in, closing the tailgate, people using signal jammers now a days, it would give them enough time to steal everything but. any ideas on security or area control with this set up?

You can get 3500lbs rated electric camper Jack's for 150 a piece at harbor freight

Seems pretty doable. Currently converting my Hyundai veloster

it came out great!

I just came across your feed. We are in NM also. Where are you exactly?

Great build 👍👍👍👍

Maybe you can build a foam nose for it for aerodynamics… just a thought 💭…

what a great video - great content

Nice job on the build Nate…. I have one concern though.. And you may have already thought of this or had someone else bring it up. If you are in your camper sleeping and someone shuts the tailgate, How are you gonna get out?

Nice build.

Very informative video. Nice job on the camper. I built our camper this past year, took six months to complete. You can see it on my channel if interested. Question - when taking longer trips, do we need to have some kind of arrangements in place for possible unforeseen truck repairs? I think it could be difficult to get a truck towed into a repair shop with a camper on it, and no jacks on board to remove it. Thanks.

4:30 I don't know, I got a lot of shit lying around bro😂

the door is a mistake too, if someone latches the truck little door you cant get out lol, you are trapped

Very clear and informative. Thanks! I’ve been wondering about you in the camper in this awful heat we’ve been having in the Bay Area. Is your A/C keeping up with it?

I really like the look of it. How do you get out if the tailgate is up? Also, I'm thinking of doing something similar but with access to the front/cabin, not sure if possible

Use another big solar panel as deflector.

Very cool!

820lbs in real money is about 372kg. That’s excellent. You could hang that off a bongo van just about. In fact I have look after a dude in hospital that was 400kg!!

Wow, You Sure Know Your Stuff, Congratulations. It Looks Great!! Question? Do You Cook In The Truck?? I Just Found Your Channel And I Will Be Back. Thanks From San Diego.🌴

I am not confident on the waterproof aspect of the build. 60 mph wind driven rain is a tough thing to overcome. I hope for the best however am doubtful.

How do you get out if someone closes the tailgate when you are inside?

Nice video man.. 👌🍎

That is interesting my friend. 👍👏🇺🇲

Hey Nate nice job yet I've been watching you for over a year now building stuff as long as the square you were there what is the outside diameter up the DIY truck camper

Quick question on the door... if someone were to come along and raise your tailgate, would you be locked inside? Maybe a thief as he rummages through the inside cab? Not sure if you can reach out that little window to lower your tailgate.

Great video’🎉

Very nice

I see someone can walk up and close the tail gate and then what ?? How do you get out ??

i hope you are sprouting broccoli, radish and mung beans, broski

Nice work. Good video. But you are joking when you say "costed," right? I need to know that.

I gaged when you mentioned mpg .

Fyi the empty bed is bad on fuel economy because of the tailgate. It acts like a parachute. That is why the topper improves the economy.

You could do this for a living

And also the aerodynamics, or lack thereof.

Satellite Beach - Indian Harbor

Nice build. If you’re living in this camper full time, where do you store your four jacks?