Sleeping in bed with a camper shell?

So I’m looking for cheap way to travel more and spend less.
Was wondering if sleeping in the bed with a camper shell and rolling down the rear glass window to let ac in, would be a good idea? Would the ac be enough to cool back there? Anyone try this?

 

Probably not... Plus you'd have to be careful about exhaust fumes and CO2.

I'd think your best bet would be to insulate w/some of that styrofoam garage door stuff (especially on the top). Maybe look at rigging some kind of fan to get air flow (and I'm thinking more in terms of sucking hot air out in lieu of blowing already warm air in)

 

I have done it a lot in my old Tundra. Plenty of air flow, but I usually kept the car off and used a couple of fans. Kinda cramped in the 5.5 bed, but works on an angle. Did a lot of ski trips this way too using a small propane "flameless" heater. Kept the heater in the cab with the rear window down and front camper shell window removed. Worked awesome.

Spent many nights in an old f150 doing the same. Longer bed was nice. Was great when I was young and didn't have means for hotels all the time.

 

In the old days guys would inflate an inner tube between the cab glass and the cap
slider. This keeps cold air and snow from falling in. Never tried it myself. I slept in the
back of my ‘87 F150 for several years but up north it cools at night generally. Never
used ac as you suggest. To me biggest factor is trying to find airflow when I camp.

 

My great concern would be carbon monoxide from the engine running.

 

I’ve slept in the bed with a camper shell. It works just fine, but as others have said , I wouldn’t run the vehicle while you are sleeping. That could be a good way to get un-alived. A power bank (I have a Milwaukee setup) and a fan would keep you from running down the battery. If you have slider windows on you shell, slide em open s bit for airflow.

 

Never leave it running, ever. Run it to warm it up or cool it down, shut it off.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention this. I used two plus bicycle tires on my 2nd gen. Cut and glued together with gorilla glue and tape. Only kept 1 valve. Dont need much pressure for a seal. Only use when needed. Not sure how it would work as a permanent installation but works decent. I have two tubes available to do it again.


However, I just installed 3M paint protection on cab window and will be installing this:

$48 D Shape Door Rubber Seal Strip,1" RV Slide Out Seal Self-Adhesive EPDM Rubber,Heavy Duty Automotive Weather Stripping for Fill Gaps,Apply to Car,Truck,RV,Boat and Home Application (18ft)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BM91B5ZL/?coliid=I1ABZ9FDZYOFD4&colid=3T5OH62AU8LJG&th=1

Someone else on a tundra thread said they installed it and it works great without touching paint. I put the paint film on the cab as extra protection. The idea is I can roll my window down and have a sealed passthrough or rolled up to keep separate. If the seal is good I'll keep the fold down window out permanently. Will be a good setup for the dogs.

Planning to add a 120v fan in the camper as well as something like this as well to get more airflow into the camper to keep the pups cool:

$25 Vornado Pivot Clip Personal Air Circulator Fan with Multi-Surface Clip, Quiet Portable Fan for Office or Bedroom, 3 Speeds, Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081W8MDZP/?coliid=IHEO4G7TMM7YV&colid=3T5OH62AU8LJG&th=1

Or a headrest specific fan like this:

https://www.amazon.com/sspa/click?ie=UTF8&spc=MTozOTcwOTYzMzMwNTY1OTQ3OjE3MjAxMTM4NDM6c3Bfc2VhcmNoX3RoZW1hdGljOjIwMDAxNjQ0NzczNzQzMTo6MTo6&url=%2FElectric-Passenger-Portable-Rotatable-Regulation%2Fdp%2FB07VB9QHWP%2Fref%3Dsxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa%3Fcontent-id%3Damzn1.sym.5439bf72-3da4-45fb-a22b-ecb711485806%3Aamzn1.sym.5439bf72-3da4-45fb-a22b-ecb711485806&crid=3UVY43AFUZZKN&cv_ct_cx=headrest+fan&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TCPBfkCw1ppGdKGs-YFh2FvUEk1UIDjcwVa-yrjFbkAxsBOXMW-eWgFqA8Nt_LlSIbJMI6H_nVcJzW2pDehOxw.qJg2xYT5hYB1BW1ZIeMbf_96RyrTjuwrrNK3blZa1Cs&dib_tag=se&keywords=headrest+fan&pd_rd_i=B07VB9QHWP&pd_rd_r=eccd8439-815b-4e6d-b6bd-104d5f0b71a4&pd_rd_w=Sg15D&pd_rd_wg=ChVD8&pf_rd_p=5439bf72-3da4-45fb-a22b-ecb711485806&pf_rd_r=4RAWFJB4PJMZKZ053PNV&qid=1720113843&s=home-garden&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=headreat+fan%2Cgarden%2C175&sr=1-2-364cf978-ce2a-480a-9bb0-bdb96faa0f61-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM