This thread is great! I am currently in the process of converting my 96' into an overland camping rig and will be posting up soon. OklahomaGreyBeard's truck is awesome!

 

Here is my current setup. I picked up the cap used for $300 installed at a place called Ishler's in PA. It's a small family run business. I looked specifically for a high top for use in camping. I'll be doing a thread on the build up soon.







Plenty of space and even skylights!

 

Some pictures of the new to me canopy and lights.
9 pin trailer plug PO installed.

Toggle switch for led strip lights in front and not pictured back of canopy

Front Led lights and the rv light on a separate switch

 

New to me canopy

 

I like this setup, do the lights still have power with the truck off? I ask this because it looks like you are pulling power from the trailer wiring.

 

Yes there are two hot lines to the nine pine plug and the canopy is grounded through the plug.

 

That's a really good idea, I'm going to have to do something like this with mine. Add in a bumper dumper and your set! Lol

 

Don't mean to highjack this post, but seems like many have great ideas and thought I throw this in there. Looking for a Bedrug for my truck, but they don't make any before 1999. Or maybe there is a year that will fit my bed? Or maybe another company that makes them for my year?

 

I got lucky today and picked up this really nice Leer camper shell for $225. Its in great shape. I just need to have it repainted, which a friend of mine offered to do for me. It has the removable front window that allows access to clean it and the rear cab window. It also has an LED dome light and a third brake light.

I did look for any other obvious connectors behind the tail lights and under the rear of the bed and found nothing. I'm wondering where to get power for the dome light and where to get a signal for the third brake light.

I'm thinking that some fairly dim lighting under the bed rails could be nice.

 

It's been a long time so I wouldn't trust my memory too much. But I seem to recall that my '95 F-150 had a green(?) wire hanging loose somewhere near the master cylinder that was the feed for the third brake light. I needed to run it back to the topper, but it was the one for that light.

For the dome light I ran a new wire from the battery (actually off the starter solenoid), through a fuse. Since I had to run the brake light wire from under the hood it wasn't a big deal to do that one as well. Although you could also go off the 12V power line in your 7 pin trailer connector (if you have that).

By the way, I wired my first topper with the plug at the back corner because that seemed like the right thing to do, but it wasn't uncommon to hook the wires as I was sliding something in or out of the bed. Then I got a slide-in camper that had its electrical connection in the left front corner so I rewired my topper to plug in there as well. I've found the wires are more out of the way there.

 

I got power for the third brake light from the light green wire at the connector under the center of the dash. I was not able to find that wire anywhere else.

I also ran a 12v power wire from an auxiliary fuse block under the hood that I previously installed for the dome light as well as a power point with one socket and 2 USB ports.

I am looking for some type of round connector that might fit in the hole in the front of the rear stake pocket above the tail light for a nice clean install. Does anyone have any ideas for this?

I will be setting up a way to lift the camper off the truck and store it in the garage fairly soon. I'd be interested to see ideas here as well.

 

When I had a garage I could store my topper in I screwed 4 eye-bolts into the ceiling (find the trusses, not the sheetrock) and attached chains to the eye-bolts. I would lift the topper up enough to put 2x4s between the topper and the bed rails (one in front, one in back). The 2x4s also had eye-bolts. I would lift one corner of the topper at a time and used snap hooks to attach the 2x4 to the chain. This would suspend the topper a little above the bed.

This would let me park the truck under the topper as ling as there was nothing stick up in the bed. Or sometimes I'd go to the trouble to lift the topper all the way to the ceiling and hook it there for more clearance.

 

That's sounds like a great simple setup. I picked up some of things to do that today. I also picked up an electric hoist to raise it. I'll post pics when it's done. The camper goes in for paint next week.

 

I dropped the camper off at the paint shop last week, and got it back in only two days. It sure looks better now.

 

That is one fine looking truck. It even looks better with the camper shell. Congrats!