T100 Extended Cab Truck Cabin Build

Anota

Observer
A few months back I started a real crappy thread when I first purchased the truck. I wanted to start new with one thats easier to follow and more extensive on the build I'm doing. The plan is to shred a (homemade?) truck camper and do a bed-off, frame mounted cabin/camper. I want to do this because a few friends and I got bit by the van-life bug! My first vehicle was a 1973 vw bus hightop camper but it wasn't practical as i was throwing stupid money into it to build an overlanding baja bus. So i sold that, took a small loss, and at the same time a friend threw this truck up on CL. I grabbed it for $2400 with around 259,000 miles. Seems like a lot but i know if i put some tlc into it it'll be fine. 4x4 works great and I'm slowly debugging all the problems it has.

So the first thing to do was grab a cap for the bed and get some new shoes. The stock steel 16" inch rims weren't doing it for me and I love FJ rims. So I waited for a pair of take-off's that only had 30 miles on them and grabbed them for $700. Seemed like a lot but all-in-all after I sold the steelies and tires for $350 I wasn't too bummed about spending $350 on new rims and tires that will keep me on the road for awhile.
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Next was I tore through the engine bay with new hoses, new plugs, and new wires. Then all new suspension with an AAL package to stiffen up the rear for the camper. After that was over I decided to take the bumper to cut excess metal off from when the truck was used to plow and clean things up. Did a cardboard mockup of a bumper I may get after soon. So currently the cap is up for sale and I've got the truck camper on hand.

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After i grabbed the camper from a junk yard up in Mass for $500, the first order of operations was to get the camper off the bed. It easily weighs over 1000lbs and the truck didn't like that at all. Luckily I've got a trailer hanging around and decided to build a frame to put the camper on so i can work on the truck and camper at the same time without the truck feeling all that weight. It was made up of simple 2x4 framing and after 4 hours of slowly cranking the camper off the bed i was able to reverse up to the trailer and drop it down on the stands. It took awhile doing it solo but kept it as safe as possible!

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Once the camper was solid on the stands, it was time to hack it up. Over the past few weeks I looked at a few truck campers and camper caps and most actually had steel framing with was terrible. This having aluminum framing was a big plus so it was no question. I haven't found any builder marks so my guess is still that its homemade. And made very well! So the plan, as i might have poorly stated earlier, is to do a bed-off mounted camper on the frame. A major design decision behind this build was that i wanted it to be garageable while I'm away at school and still fit into an auto body shop when things I'm not skilled enough to tackle need attention. So back to the images below. I decided the best way to achieve this was to cut the part of the camper that slides into the bed off completely (this probably reduced the weight of the entire camper by half) and also cut the wedge off the front to make a 6'x6'x5' foot cabin that will mount to the frame off the truck (the bed will go into storage) and stand only 12"-18" taller than the cab. Yes, I won't be able to stand in it but the weight of the vehicle and aerodynamics will get as close to stock as possible. I also plan to travel in this long term so if i can get it to look very utility-box-esque, ill be happy. So here are the shots of the camper getting skimmed by around 150 pounds. By this time I've probably dropped its weight by 300lbs or so with all the extra crap that was in the camper that is now gone (60 gallon water drum that was half full.. SO DUMB almost 250 pounds of random weight)

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Anota

Observer
Here are a few interior shots so you know what I'm working with. For some reason the previous owner felt the need to build the right wall out of 1/4" sheet aluminum to weld on a bracket for his desktop mounts which probably weigh 30 pounds.
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Its nice that everything is made of aluminum so its easy to cut and re-weld if needed. The A/C might go but it might stay. Who really knows. Right now electrical runs from a regular outlet plug but the roof is prime territory for solar.
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Anota

Observer
Sorry to start up a thread and not get to it for weeks but traveling SoCal in a mint 1976 Toyota Chinook was too good an opportunity to pass up. Check this thing out! 4 guys, 4 surfboards and way to many bags for 10 days... Was a little tight but everyone we ran into out there, said we were doing it right

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Went from San Diego to LA for Malibu and back down to sano for 7 days of beach life... Nothing but fun! Heres a little malibu tip time

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Back to the truck. Since I've been back exciting things have happened. Im back to school now (least exciting) and I've got the body on the truck. After a quick run to the scrap yard I found an elevator door frame with had all the materials I needed. long 2x4 aluminum (1/8" wall) and a little aluminum angle with plenty to spare. The reason I hunted these down was I left 1" of the slide in belly of the camper intact so I could register the cabin as I slid it onto the frame so I can slide it on and off in the future easily. Pictures might help make since of this. New rear lights are in and mounts on there way. Im going to push the cabin as far back on the frame as possible to have 9"-10" of space in between the cabin and the truck cab for side out features and a place to tuck away gas tanks, tables, propane, ect. Its also pretty clear I need to build it out over the truck cab. Now that I'm back at school ill have ample time to weld up a carcass. Some pictures now...

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So one thing I'm not to happy about right now is the clearance i have with the rear wheels. I have just under 5 inches from the tire to the bottom of the body. If i need to cut stuff I will!

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Anota

Observer
So to keep this thread alive I've gotten 3 night in in the city and am not in love with the setup right now. I really would love to be able to stand up inside and have a cab-over bed. I think thats the next step for this build. And id really love to have some power. Ive looked around and the company Renogy seems like the best option. Im designing up the cab over unit now and hopefully can start making it in the next few days
 

NorthernWoodsman

Adventurer/tinkerer
Am I seeing aluminum mounted directly against steel? That's a for sure recipe for corrosion down the road. I recommend adding a spacer between of some sort- preferably a hard plastic. This is common on boats when mounting steel against aluminum- i.e. steel hardware and aluminum masts on sailboats. They often use nylon washers to keep the two different metals apart.
 

Anota

Observer
Im probably letting you guys down here but i pulled the camper off because it really sucked. Im going back to my original designs of building a cab-over camper cap. I'm in the process of stripping the camper to stock materials and slapping it all back together with the new configuration. Heres some pictures as it sits now.

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Only change was BFG mud terrains which are loud and slow but got them for almost nothing and traction is unreal. I won't put it over 60 and the engine just fine up to there. Just turned 271,000 miles today! woohoo

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Also slowly mocking up front and rear bumpers. Im focused on making a rear swing-out bumper to mount the tire and 48" Jack. Haven't seen one on a t100 yet so I'm excited. Other housekeeping on it to hopefully go through all fluids -trans, diff, ect. and get new urethane in everywhere. Everything is still rusted frozen but as i replace parts the truck only gets better and better
 
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Anota

Observer
Just 31"s (255/75R 17).. They were takeoffs from a rubicon. Next tire ill want something that is a little more road friendly. On gravel the truck feels smooth
 
Nice T100. Keep tearing it down and rebuilding it! It's the best way to dial it in for your needs.

I had similar intentions with my T100 I picked up 8 months ago. I opted for fiberglass though since I'm no welder. I've been living in it full time for six months and would love to redesign it to have a cabover sleeping area and store surfboards inside with out being 10 feet tall. I'll be watching to see what you come up with.

My build thread has a few pics if interested: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...t-From-bought-to-built-in-a-month-(hopefully)
 

Anota

Observer
Ive combed your thread quite a bit man! ^^^ Definitely dig your setup. But since having gained the experience of something taller than the cab i really don't want to have a setup taller 6" taller than the cab so I've been designing an all-in-one ladder rack setup to store EVERYTHING. What I also really want for this build is a space to stand up in so that begs for some actual engineering of a pop-up/ flip-pac roof in the bed of the truck.. Rhino drawings will get thrown up after thats all finalized.

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As for what the truck has gone through lately; really not much at all... I've just been doing local trips finally getting up to our place in vermont to get the truck in the 18" of snow that came last week and it was a blast. Showed up with the 200 yard driveway unplowed and the truck pushed right up no problem. That was short lived and I'm realizing i still have yet to do anything serious with the truck and its getting me on edge.. its kind of why I got it! So hopefully i can escape to some local tower trails.

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Also the next thing to do is get a rear swing bumper on there. I don't run a spare under the bed but keep it in the bed instead and it just takes up too much space and Ill also need a place for jerry cans and rescue gear to go too
 

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