So, I'm needing to heat my truck bed (with cap)so that my dogs can survive several days of driving in the northern Wisconsin winter. The only safe solution I've come up with is to add a splice to the lines just before my heater core, and install a new set of lines heading to a second heater core with a fan in the truck bed.

I'm already replacing my original heater core now, so it's not much more work. I'm thinking of routing the lines under the cab and drilling a hole in the bed to bring them up into it. I would mount a small box above the wheel well and place a second heater core and fan inside of it. The only real issue I have is deciding how to wire the fan with electricity, ideally it would be on/off the same way as the cab heat.

Does this seem like a reasonable idea? Is there an easy solution I'm missing? Electric heaters won't heat enough, and gas is too dangerous.

 

Get this:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...cStoreNum=2011

Run a power inverter to the bed to power it.

This electric fan will heat up your truck bed. I used one of them in iraq to heat up my small wooden box that I lived in. It kept my room toasty warm even in the winter. I KNOW it does not get below freezing in iraq, but it did snow twice. Considering your bed is not as big as where I lived, it will be fine for a dog.

That, plus a couple crates and your dogs coat will keep them warm.

REASON IT WILL WORK: It will keep circulating the air and reheat it, kind of like MAX AC but with heat.

 

That will work better than splicing into your coolant. trust me.

 

Ya man, Mr buddy heater will work good. Or get a sliding rear window and one of those rubber boots to connect the cab and shell...

 

I overlooked electric heaters because My trucks battery can't put out 1500 watts, unless I'm wrong. as a resut I will only get a fraction of the heating a heater is capable of correct?

 

just get an auxillary space heater like they use in buses and van's and run the heater lines back there like you were thinking...you can buy kits that come with everything you need to wire them up and no dicking around building one..id rather have that then an electric heater drawing high amps off an inverter heating it up...that in the back of a pickup is just a fire waiting to happen..

 

You could use something like a Mojave heater. If you want to make your own I'd find the instructions online and see how they hooked into the hoses. I'd link it for ya but I don't know how to do that on my phone

 

how about a kerocene heater lol.


ut a power inverter is where the power will come from , if worst come to worse get the bigger alternator and a bigger battery. probley less exspensice then going into the cooling system and possily getting your motor f*ucked up

 

i don't see anything wrong with installing a second heater core in the bed. i bought a 87 b250 van that had 2 heater cores. the ones in the back was just T'd in to the main heater core lines.

i don't see using an electric heater where you can not monitor it a smart idea. i always find the heater cords start to warm up when they are run long enough.

 

When my Cherokee's heater core crapped out I was told I could hack in and install a "bread truck heater" which is what many box trucks, like UPS and the like use. They are pretty cheap and it's not too hard to hook into the system with.

An electric heater is a really great way to set your truck on fire.