The transition into spring is often a season of anticipation, marked more by the preparation for future adventures than the immediate arrival of warm weather. This week, that preparation took a significant step forward as I finally placed the order for an ARE MX camper shell for my truck. While the $5,400 price tag was a sharper “bite” than I had initially hoped for, the investment feels justified. Life is expensive, but I’ve worked hard to earn the means to outfit my rig properly.
I opted for the “Outdoorsman” windoors, which feature both outward-opening glass and screens, along with a sliding front window that folds down for easy cleaning. I’ll add a boot later on using gasket material or one of those kits you can order online to bridge the gap between the cab and the cap.
According to the estimates from Ruth’s, the shell should arrive in about six weeks. This timeline puts me on track for a Memorial Day weekend installation, though I’m undecided on actually camping then; the holiday weekend is notoriously buggy, and I may prefer to spend that time meticulously moving my gear over and perfecting the setup.
Driving the big truck— after years of driving my lifted Silverado—is surprisingly effortless. I’ve found that I’m quite comfortable maneuvering through city traffic and tight parking spots, thanks in no small part to the rear-view camera and towing mirrors. They are absolute game-changers, turning a “ginormous” vehicle into something that feels manageable and responsive.
Between these larger logistics, I’ve been tending to the smaller rhythms of daily life. A quick sweep of the local thrift stores yielded a solid work shirt from the Salvation Army, even if Goodwill was a bust.
To cap off the day, I’ve been logging miles in the Pine Bush. It’s a cool, lingering sort of cold, and the King’s Road barrens and Madison Ave trailheads aren’t showing many signs of spring just yet. Still, it’s a good day to kill time, take some photos, and clear my head before the inevitable grocery run at Walmart.
The gear is coming together, the truck is ready, and now, I’m just waiting for the weather to catch up and my cap to arrive.
I’m staring at my shiny new 2026 Ford F-350, and all I see is a countdown.
People raise an eyebrow when I say this is likely the last rig I’ll ever buy before I punch out from the state. To them, 2040 feels like a sci-fi movie. To me, it feels like next Tuesday. In fourteen years, I’ll be fifty-seven, backed by three decades of state service and a Tier 4 pension that says I don’t have to answer to anyone. If the math holds and the markets don’t implode, I’ll be sitting on a net worth that could buy a “vinyl-covered” life in the suburbs—the kind with the 72-degree HVAC, weekly trash pickup, and a porch cluttered with Amazon boxes.
But I don’t want the plastic life. I want the dirty life that smells a little like hog shit and burnt plastic.
While the rest of the world is busy paying for high-speed internet and utility bills that never end, I’m scouring listings on NY Land Quest and Christmas Associates. I’m not looking for a McMansion; I’m looking for the “backwaters.” I’m looking for a place where the only recurring fee is property tax and the only “smart” thing I own is the phone in my pocket to check the weather.
The dream is simple: fires and guns. Livestock that I’ve raised, hunted, and butchered myself. I want a life that isn’t wrapped in cellophane and sold back to me at a markup. I want pigs, goats, and maybe a few head of cattle on a patch of land where a burn barrel isn’t a legal liability and my constitutional rights aren’t up for debate.
Every time I fire up this truck to commute through the city, I feel the wear and tear—not just on the engine, but on the vision. Right now, every trip to the woods is a “burden,” a logistical dance of fuel costs and travel time. By 2040, I want to be in it. I want to trap and homestead full-time, trading the bus pass and the bike commute for a pair of hog shit-covered farm boots and a quiet morning somewhere far beyond the New York border.
Of course, fourteen years is a long time for things to go sideways. A market crash, a catastrophic wreck, or a literal bus with my name on it could end the dream before the first post-hole is dug. There’s also the nagging voice that says fifty-seven is too young to toss the hat in. Maybe 2041 will offer some “interesting opportunity” that keeps me at the desk for one more year of golden handcuffs.
But then I look at this truck again. I built my last camping rig fourteen years ago, and it feels like it happened yesterday. Time isn’t just moving; it’s accelerating.
Some people spend their lives buying things they’ll eventually throw away. I’m spending mine building a future where I don’t have to buy anything at all. 2040 isn’t just a retirement date—it’s the year I finally go home.
Rained for a while after dark yesterday, but this morning has brilliant but maybe a bit chilly skies with a stiff breeze,mercury around 42 degrees. Still my windows are open as I like fresh air, though I may close them before I head out for the day.
I am going to head over to Ruth’s to order the truck cap today, 🚚 hoping that I can take delivery in June or maybe July at this point, but I think it’s worth the wait to get the one I really want. Patience is a virtue. I go back and forth about the ARE MX Cap, but I like the one I had on my old rig, doing a similar configuration with the outdoorsman windoors, but with one change – I want a sliding window in the front and if possible a boot between the cab and cap to keep out dust and allow at least some heat/air conditioning to pass betwee, along with run a power cord to cab when I want to work from the cab. 🤷♂️ We will see how it goes, I have no idea about order delays until I got there. But I know what I am up against, but what may have been true a few years ago with order delays may be less true now. Things will be a lot more expensive then 15 years ago, but I’ll get a lot of use out of this truck cap like I did the other one. I guess if it’s not an option I could swing by Capital Region Truck Center and look at a Jericho Cap or maybe head up to Galway and consider a Leer but I might not want to do that this weekend.
I am going to shower in a bit, 🚿 but first the pinto beans 🍲 need to cook down a bit on the stove. Maybe head out a little after 9 AM this morning. First stop would be to head to Goodwill on Western Avenue to look at clothes for work, then over to Ruth’s to hopefully order a cap there, and then over to Salvation Army to see what other clothing options are out there. 👚 Then hiking in the Pine Bush. I would bring my mountain bike, but I don’t have bed map out of my old truck, and no good way to secure the bike in the truck, and I don’t want to scratch the bed or bike up. So it will be a nice hike day to hike. 🚶 Going to bring the camera and take a bunch of picture to upload later on. Hoping to spot a lot of signs of spring. 🌸 Then I want to go to Walmart on Washington Avenue Extension and get some groceries, and head home. But not until after 5 PM to avoid the worse of the Saturday. I would prefer to watch the sun set in Pine Bush but that would make for a pretty long day. 🌇 We’ll see.
Fire all the experienced employees. Slash and burn programs, get rid of the scientists and experts. Repeadly enact policies that go against the scientific consensus. What could go wrong?
Experts matter. Experienced employees get critical work done, even if it’s not immediately apparent the value of their work. Getting rid of such people only risks things going terribly wrong, and not having the people needed to discover risks and address problems when they arise.
I’ve had my reservations about the mid-high roofline. Visually, it might look a bit odd towering over the cab’s clearance lights, but that’s a common look for trucks with slide-ins or campers. Those lights are more about legal width requirements and aesthetics anyway; they don’t actually have to be the highest point on the rig.
There are practical trade-offs, too. The MX profile will likely ding my fuel economy compared to a flat cap, and it’ll put my kayak pretty high up. However, given the heavy-duty truck’s weight, lower center of gravity, and solid frame, it should still handle well on the road.
In terms of clearance, the MX will put me at a height similar to my old lifted Silverado. That means automatic car washes and parking garages are out, but with solar panels and a kayak rack planned for the roof, I shouldn’t be using those anyway.
When I look at the big picture, the price difference is negligible over a 15-year lifespan—especially with the market performing well. The extra headroom for camping is a huge plus, and even if I have to wait until late summer for delivery, it’s worth it. This setup is going to be my adventure partner for the next decade and likely carry me right into retirement.
I’m going for it.
Comparing my old versus new set up…
The interior height from the bed floor to the roof for a 2026 Ford F-350 Super Duty with an A.R.E. MX Series camper shell is approximately 44 to 46 inches.
Compared to the 2011 Silverado (~46″), the 2026 F-350 typically offers a slightly shallower bed but a more modern, streamlined cap design, resulting in a nearly identical total clearance.
Height Comparison
Bed Depth
21.1 inches – SuperDuty
22.4 inches – Silverado
Camper Shell Rise
~23 to 25 inches – SuperDuty
~23 to 25 inches – Silverado
Estimated Total Height
44.1 – 46.1 inches – SuperDuty
45.4 – 47.4 inches – Silverado
Key Differences in the 2026 F-350 Setup
Bed Depth: Modern Super Duty beds (6.75′ and 8′) have a standardized height of 21.1 inches. This is about an inch shallower than the older Silverado, which may slightly reduce “floor-to-ceiling” height.
Shell Design: The A.R.E. MX Series for the newest Super Duty models is engineered to match the taller, more vertical cab of the F-350. While it still provides roughly 4 inches of rise above the cab, the total vertical gain from the bed rails is usually about 22.5 to 24 inches.
Space Considerations
Sitting Up: At roughly 45 inches, you have enough room for an average adult (sitting height ~36″) to sit comfortably on a 9-inch thick mattress or platform without hitting the ceiling.
Cargo Volume: The 6.75-foot bed on the F-350 provides 65.4 cubic feet of volume before adding the shell; the MX shell effectively doubles this usable protected space.
The Super Duty cab is taller relative to the ground. However, when measuring interior space (bed floor to camper roof), what matters is the cab height relative to the bed rails, not the ground. Because the cabs are a similar height above the bed, the “Total Interior Height” remains comparable between the two trucks.
Despite the Super Duty being a much larger truck overall, the interior “headroom” from the bed floor to the shell ceiling is within 1 inch of the 2011 Silverado because the Silverado’s deeper bed compensates for its slightly shorter cab.
I saw that post on Facebook the other day and isn’t that life? Temporary measures are hard to give up, especially if they enhance power and prestige of an institution or simply work well enough and aren’t in our faces every day.
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