Wondering if y'all have any suggestions for cooling the cargo area in a truck? We have a Ranch cap on it and am in desperate need of a "do-able" solution that WORKS! Keeping the sliders open and blasting the a/c doesn't make any significant difference...except for freezing me out when I'm driving. We have also tried the KoolerAire units (BIG waste of money!). An RV unit obviously won't work. Is there anything else...a portable a/c unit or mini type of unit that I'm overlooking? I'm trying to figure out if and how I could run something off of the rear seat heat and a/c system/vents (independently controlled) back there but am not having much luck with my "engineering" of it. LOL.
We haul dogs to competitions and, for shorter trips, hauling kennels in the back of the truck is so much easier than loading up a trailer. I've got the heating problem for winter solved. Now that it's 95 degrees with 95% humidity in the grand ol' midwest, cooling is the problem!
Any ideas, wize and wonderful truck guys and gals?
JC

Is this a bare metal pickup truck bed with the shell over it? Think about the cab-insulation all around and ventilation; whereas, the bed is bare metal that just lets the heat roll in.

I guess I could have clarified all of that in my first message, eh? I wasn't thinkin...
Anyhoo...
It isn't just a bare bones deal. The bed is Rhino lined and then insulated and carpeted. I did get the insulated headliner for the cap and made some curtains for the windows to keep the direct sunlight from causing problems. I'm *trying* to keep the heat out of there to begin with! LOL.
I just can't direct enough flow from the cab alone to make it *cool enough*.
JC

*thinks out loud*

Window tint always helps keep the sunlight heating down, but that's minor. If you want to get technical, you can put an inverter in the vehicle, beef up the alternator (depending on what amp it is now), and put some small window style fan or AC unit in it. Inverters for such an application can cost $800-$1000. A high amp alternator from a solid rebuild shop is in the $200 range. Extra power wire, connectors, miscellaneous will add $50-ish and .... hey, have you considered a box truck with a refrigerator unit? JK on that one.

Would fresh air from the outside do, or does it have to be air conditioned? An offroad air intake snorkel mounted on a side window or through the top of the cap might get some flow in, but then you have to vent it. Cabins have ventilation, but truck beds don't unless you install it.

Still thinking