I've wanted a camper shell (topper, cap, whatever you call it) for a long while, but never could seem to be in the right place, at the right time to buy one that would fit.
So I did the next best thing, bought one that doesn't fit and modified it to fit.
This is an ARE DCU, from a long bed Frontier. That means it was about a foot too long for my truck. Set Sawzall to cut!
Picked it up at a dealer about two hours north of me in the small town of Harrisonville, Missouri. The dealer removes any campers or tonneau covers that are on a truck when they buy them at auction. Then one of the parts guys lists them on Facebook Marketplace.
First was the test fit. Indeed it was too long. Turns out it was exactly 14.75" too long.
Here we are about ready to test fit the shortened version, but first the tailgate needed removed. That turned out to be more than I expected. After much swearing and cussing, the bolts that held the hinges on were removed and...
It fits. Thus ended Monday. Tuesday was just finalizing shortening the frame, getting the front tin and trim back on. That took a couple hours and I didn't bother taking any photos.
That brings us to this evening. I got home about 6 and worked on it until it was done. First I shortened the side doors. This wasn't too difficult. I was tempted to shorten both ends, but that would have doubled the amount of time it would take, so I just shortened the front of each door. That offset the handle, but... Eh, whatever.
Lastly, I also shortened the shelf that was installed on the passenger side and reinstalled.
I also removed the stock backup camera out of the tailgate and fabricobbled a mount for it on the license plate. It's weird being that low, but it's better than not having one.
I still need to wire up the brake light and the interior lights, but I'm waiting on some parts for that to come in.
There's also a bunch of other parts on their way, things I've wanted to do since it was new. More content next week!