I wanted to increase the usefulness of the truck for camping/sleeping/boondocking/dry camping purposes.
Here are my goals:
small camping/sleeping/BOV area that sleeps two
reasonably weatherproof
cheap
shell can be easily removed
any decking can be disassembled by one person and stored flat in the bed of the truck.
have some rudimentary 12v power
After reading various truck, camping, and boondocking forums I decided to take this route:
get a free/cheap camper shell off craigslist, preferably a high rise.
Build a cargo deck as the basis of the sleeping platform, using the truck bed's built-in features for such things. Sleep and live above the deck, store cargo below the deck.
Install a simple, functional solar charging setup for maintaining 12v power.
More detail on the backstory page.
Solar is not the only choice here, and probably not the best for most uses.
A quick review of what I considered from simplest to most complex:
Stand-alone deep cycle battery - cheapest and simplest solution. Downside is it requires external charging so can't go for long. But for very short term uses this would be fine: charge it every time before you leave home.
Dual battery setup - probably the best solution for many uses. Deep cycle battery charges using stock alternator, and is used when ACC key position is used. Downside is you have to have room to mount the battery under the hood or run very heavy cables to it. Possibly harder on the alternator. Would require the truck to run to recharge in the field. Most importantly for me, I don't have the skills to do this install.
Solar - I went this way for the geek pleasure of it, and because I would like a system to work completely off-grid and without any source of external power, and should recharge without any special thought on my part. Downside is lack of stealthiness, complexity, and cost.
The PWM controller was running the panel at a max of 14.4V at around 3A (PWM chargers run the panel at the charging voltage).
The MPPT controller was running the panel 19.2v - 21v during my quick testing; the higher voltage is downconverted yielding an increase in Amperage (minus about 3% losses in the DC-DC conversion). In my observed case the MPPT controller made available an additional 29.01% power to the system (charging or load).
My back of envelope calculation suggests it would take ~5.5hrs of sunlight to bring a 20% discharged batt back to float with the MPPT charger instead of ~7.5hrs with the non-tracking PWM-only controller. It might not sound like much but IMO it could make the difference between getting topped off and not getting topped off.
Or being able to top off a slightly larger battery.
practical uses and lessons learned
The deck effectively makes an internal tonneau that passers by can't see under. The storage area underneath is "out of sight, out of mind." The deck is also exceptionally useful for taking groceries home.
You can't reach over the truck bedrail and get something out out by the cab because the shell (and maybe the platform, depending) is in the way. I made a drag pole out of scrap PVC pipe, an L-bracket and two hose clamps. I was inspired by the "Ford Ranger Camping Kit" video below. Works great.
organization
I keep storage items in underbed storage bins. This keeps things dry, dust-free, and organized. Right now there are three containers:
Truck essentials - jumper cables, tie downs, a few tools, cyalume.
Preparedness essentials - Get Home Bag, including change of clothes, food, and water. Small coleman stove and pan. 5gal expandable water carrier.
the mousepad
