One of the best reasons to build out your truck camper is to extend your camping season into some of those colder months. Getting off the ground and sleeping in a hard-sided vehicle will keep you warmer at night than that flimsy tent you bought at Walmart. But how much warmer you ask? By default, not much. But if you take the time to create some necessary insulation for your truck bed camper you can raise the inside temperature by almost 20 degrees (F).
After a cold night shivering in our sleeping bags while inside our truck camper at Yellowstone, I began researching different insulation techniques for future trips. I watched van conversions on Youtube, read up on how houses are built and studied four-season RVs to examine various forms of insulation.
Disclaimer, I am not a scientist. So this may be a little bit of bro science, but you need two things for proper insulation, a material with a high R-Value and space for air to be trapped. An R-Value is the capacity of an insulating material to resist heat flow, aka how well does the material trap heat (this is how manufacturers rate sleeping bags).
The tricky part of insulating a truck bed camper becomes finding a balance between thinness and a high R-Value.
Researching Truck Bed Camper Insulation
Van builds, and RV ‘s typically use a similar method to keep warm. Like a home, they filled the walls with that itchy cotton candy, also known as Fiberglass Insulation. While this is the best option, it means framing in your already tight truck cap. I was not willing to lose any more room in the back so that idea got trashed immediately.
My brain jumped to blankets as something thin and warm. While the thought of wrapping the inside of the shell in blankets sounds super comfy, the moisture created from your breath and the overall filthiness of camping led me to believe this idea would not last long.
So what is thin yet warm, soft yet durable, and can handle the indoors and the outdoors? The answer to this riddle is carpet! More specifically, an outdoor rug.
Adding Carpet to Your Truck Bed Camper
Step One: Identify Cold Spots
On a cold, windy night in the back of the camper, I could feel cold air blowing up from underneath the platform. Upon further inspection, I realized the wind was coming through holes cut in the bed liner for the tie-down loops. Covering these four corner holes was a priority.
Other than specific cold spots, the more area you can cover with the rug, the better. The truck is metal, and the bed liner is plastic. Both have very low R values. Cover the bottom and the sides of the interior to prevent the cold from seeping in.
Step Two: Adding Carpet
If you took our advice and bought a shell with the carpeted headliner, then this next part is super easy. Measure your truck bed then go to Home Depot or another hardware store and buy an outdoor rug like this one.
You can install the carpet with as much effort as you see fit. I was lazy, and on a deadline so I literally threw the rug in the back as is, so that it covered the holes and sides of the bed. I placed the platform right on top of it to keep the rug in place. Five minutes and I was done.
If I didn’t have a full-time job and had the energy to really spend some time on the carpeting job I would have cut the rug to adjust for the raised wheel wells and trimmed the sides to line up with where the cap meets the truck. With the material you trimmed, you can line the inside of the tailgate and the back (or front) of the bed. You can use Velcro or double-sided tape for the sides. The bottom of the rug will stay in place as long as the platform is resting on top of it. Even with my laziness, the carpet added about 10 degrees to the inside of the truck camper at night.
To possibly add another ten degrees to your truck bed camper, read part two of our insulation feature by clicking here.
Truck Camper Conversion Guide List
- Part 1: Should I Buy a Camper Shell?
- Part 2: Design Your Setup
- Part 3: Tips For Building Your Truck Camper Setup
- Part 4: Camper Shell Carpeting
- Part 5: Insulate Your Truck Bed Camper with Carpeting
- Part 6: Insulate the Windows on Your Truck Bed Camper Shell
Chad can be summed up by his idea of a perfect day: Waking up early to watch the sunrise over the mountains, warm cup of coffee in hand then grabbing his camera and fly rod, hitting the trail to explore some uncharted territory followed by cold beers and campfire steaks. Chad is often joined on his adventures by his wife, Tori, and their dog, Kona.
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