Rangers With Camper Shells/Topper Thread

[02 Black Edge]

BUMP!!!!

Been looking through this thread for a long time fantasizing about having one, and as of an hour ago I finally got one!!! It has a third break light with two wires, anyone know how to wire it or have any tips? Good lookin trucks!!!

[LiveLifeChill]

Originally Posted by 02 Black Edge

BUMP!!!!

Been looking through this thread for a long time fantasizing about having one, and as of an hour ago I finally got one!!! It has a third break light with two wires, anyone know how to wire it or have any tips? Good lookin trucks!!!

Pictures? Welcome to the club. Depends on how you want to do it up. I have mine wired up to my brake light which makes it work on the brake and turn signal. I'm sure someone else could give you the proper way to do it. Just ground the black wire out in the taillight compartment.

[98bogger]

Couple pics of the ranger b4 i took the cap off

[02 Black Edge]

Originally Posted by LiveLifeChill

Pictures? Welcome to the club. Depends on how you want to do it up. I have mine wired up to my brake light which makes it work on the brake and turn signal. I'm sure someone else could give you the proper way to do it. Just ground the black wire out in the taillight compartment.

Cool, thanks man. Ill take some pics tomorrow

[joshyddog]

any one got soft tops?

[Patmeweenie]

Heres mine... I posted it in a thread before because I was so excited to get it, but ill just leave this here.


Upgrades to come: paintjob, fix window seals, build a roof rack, install lights front and back (back for extra reverse lighting) and install stuff on the roof rack.

[02 Black Edge]

Some pics of it in the sunlight today! Needs a good deep cleaning to get all the spiders and ant colony that came with it haha. Ordered some new hydraulic arms for the back window today because they were both shot. Ill keep you guys updated...

[TB-9862]

Originally Posted by Patmeweenie

Heres mine... I posted it in a thread before because I was so excited to get it, but ill just leave this here.


Upgrades to come: paintjob, fix window seals, build a roof rack, install lights front and back (back for extra reverse lighting) and install stuff on the roof rack.

Ahh I wish I had one with the slightly raised roof on it .. sounds like you've got your work cut out for you!
I see you want to make it livable in .. I should whore mine again, I've added some new toys back there

Btw in your sig it says removing fender flares...selling them by any chance? lol

[LiveLifeChill]

Originally Posted by TB-9862

Ahh I wish I had one with the slightly raised roof on it .. sounds like you've got your work cut out for you!
I see you want to make it livable in .. I should whore mine again, I've added some new toys back there

Btw in your sig it says removing fender flares...selling them by any chance? lol

True story! Lets call for an update on all campers! I'll take some photos tomorrow.

[WyldeChild]

[TB-9862]

Originally Posted by LiveLifeChill

True story! Lets call for an update on all campers! I'll take some photos tomorrow.

I'll be gone from tomorrow afternoon until Monday and my camera is basically broken, so I'll update with the pictures I have recently

I FINALLY got around to finishing the electronics running to my shell!
Redid all the connections with solder and heat shrink (ya know..the RIGHT way to do it)

First off I replaced the wiring going to my roof mounted lights, and ditched the 6-pin quick disconnect for a beefier terminal strip. Also Ran a ground wire straight from the battery to the box. This sits at the cab/bed gap on the passenger side.





Next was the switch box in the back..








So now I have my work lights on the roof, speakers (3.5mm aux input only), "cargo" LED lights, and "interior" LED lights.

The work lights are controlled via a 'hallway' switch that is duplicated in the cab. Here they are turned on in addition to my aux reverse lights
NOTE - they don't turn on when I switch to reverse, its just this picture




Next are the "cargo" LED lights. regular old white. These turn on automatically when the window is opened using a mercury switch. Two override switches are wired in series with this. One in the cab to turn it off in on bumpy roads where the mercury switch goes nuts, and one in the rear to turn the light off when the glass is open during the day.



Then I installed some "interior" lights that I could turn on when the glass is closed and I'm inside. Basically it was too much of a PITA to wire up two operating circuits to one set of LED's (I blew up my original ones) so I just ran two separate strips. But when I was on Ebay I saw they had COLOR LIGHTS and I was like 'screw it, why not?!'. Its totally a novelty item but me and my buddies got a kick out of it haha



Yea, it also came with a remote that has like eighty buttons on it.

It has regular white, and the ability to dim the brightness which is cool. But more importantly it has colors!


I was imagining red lights would look like the inside of a submarine or helicopter but red just ends up looking evil..








My 12v outlet is also hooked back up



Last thing I put on the inside was a flat screen TV so I can play video games on my lunch break lol











This is how close I get to park at work (when its nice we get to open the big doors..the gray panel on the right is my HAAS lol



On the outside I've attached two short shovels, one round and one square



And lastly, a flag pole to hang my Coca Cola flag from. Found a window casement at the junk store for 2 bucks, riveted some L channel to it and its like magic! Fold down for driving and hoist it up for camping




And that's about it... Admittedly the last round of mods haven't been so much practical as they were 'for the hell of it', but I like them lol
Oh, and just to throw it out there, when I went camping I had all the lights on for at least 2.5 hrs, watched Fanboys (TV and PS2), then slept with my speakers on all night. Woke up the next morning and my Optima didn't even flinch; truck started right up. Optima batteries are the cat's pajamas!

I've taken out some of the random junk that's been sitting back there and seriously need to ditch that giant wood board because it is not at all comfortable to lay on lol

[Patmeweenie]

Originally Posted by TB-9862

Ahh I wish I had one with the slightly raised roof on it .. sounds like you've got your work cut out for you!
I see you want to make it livable in .. I should whore mine again, I've added some new toys back there

Btw in your sig it says removing fender flares...selling them by any chance? lol

Don't think im gonna sell em sorry man. I didn't mention that im going to be putting them back on after covering them in bedliner as well haha. I love those flares tho. I haven't seen a pair like that on any ranger around my town and I wonder why? most of them are more stylized like... with curves molded in it seems like similar to this:

[LiveLifeChill]

Originally Posted by TB-9862

I'll be gone from tomorrow afternoon until Monday and my camera is basically broken, so I'll update with the pictures I have recently

I FINALLY got around to finishing the electronics running to my shell!
Redid all the connections with solder and heat shrink (ya know..the RIGHT way to do it)

First off I replaced the wiring going to my roof mounted lights, and ditched the 6-pin quick disconnect for a beefier terminal strip. Also Ran a ground wire straight from the battery to the box. This sits at the cab/bed gap on the passenger side.





Next was the switch box in the back..

So now I have my work lights on the roof, speakers (3.5mm aux input only), "cargo" LED lights, and "interior" LED lights.

The work lights are controlled via a 'hallway' switch that is duplicated in the cab. Here they are turned on in addition to my aux reverse lights
NOTE - they don't turn on when I switch to reverse, its just this picture

Next are the "cargo" LED lights. regular old white. These turn on automatically when the window is opened using a mercury switch. Two override switches are wired in series with this. One in the cab to turn it off in on bumpy roads where the mercury switch goes nuts, and one in the rear to turn the light off when the glass is open during the day.




This is how close I get to park at work (when its nice we get to open the big doors..the gray panel on the right is my HAAS lol



On the outside I've attached two short shovels, one round and one square

And lastly, a flag pole to hang my Coca Cola flag from. Found a window casement at the junk store for 2 bucks, riveted some L channel to it and its like magic! Fold down for driving and hoist it up for camping

And that's about it... Admittedly the last round of mods haven't been so much practical as they were 'for the hell of it', but I like them lol
Oh, and just to throw it out there, when I went camping I had all the lights on for at least 2.5 hrs, watched Fanboys (TV and PS2), then slept with my speakers on all night. Woke up the next morning and my Optima didn't even flinch; truck started right up. Optima batteries are the cat's pajamas!

I've taken out some of the random junk that's been sitting back there and seriously need to ditch that giant wood board because it is not at all comfortable to lay on lol

Whew, you have been busy, gonna have to read that post a few times over so have patience for follow up questions. First couple though, are you running your stock alternator still? Second, yellow top or red top and does it matter what model optima? Last, I just removed the old lights I had inside the cap and out in led's as well as a red one in the cab, you say the red is a novelty item but actually it is perfect for camping because red won't kill your night vision and also it can't be easily seen(in case you are camping somewhere where you don't wanna be seen) so basically haha what light system is that? You have a link?

Looks good man, I'll toss some pictures up soon of updates. Truck has taken a seat on the back burner since I got married. :/ always good to see some of the stuff you come up with.

P.s. have you ever considered doing a cab through conversion? I've been tossing it around for awhile just figured I'd get your thoughts

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Your not allowed to post pictures of your truck man. Haha everytime I get mine like I want it, a picture of yours floats in and I'm like damnit! My truck has more potential. Everything right down to the Colorado plate. My wife and I may be moving there and on our list of reasons that plate made it on my list. Haha

[stephen]

im not going to quote all that, but TB-9862 i am very thoroughly impressed and jealous.

[02 Black Edge]

anyone done any cool mods to their camper shell? pics?