short version - help choosing suspension, tires, and camper for a cheap minimalist on a 2015 dbl cab long bed taco
I have been lurking for a couple years and finally registered so I could look at pictures of all the cool build outs. Part of why it took me so long to register is that I don’t really off road and I am cheap so I don’t always feel included in a lot of the discussions. I do however obsess about truck camping and keep drawing up different configurations.
I have a 2015 long bed taco. About the only thing I have done to it is put a soft topper on the back and a brake controller when I towed a trailer in the 3k lb range. There are about 30k+ on the stock tires.
How I use it; mostly street driving. I live on a dirt road in the northwest which means I put a half a yard of gravel in the back for potholes a few times a year. I also put dirt in there for the garden. I tow a boat. I am a backcountry skier and climber. This means I am on snowy roads 20-40 times a year. I rarely go off road but I am often on bad roads or poorly maintained FS roads and crawling over washouts slowly and carefully. I occasionally take a month long road trip but mostly long weekends or a week tops. I have a couple kids 9, and 11, they are cool with roughing it. Wife isn’t really into the outdoors so it is usually me solo or with a couple kids. I carry a kayak at times.
My truck camping style - dirtbag minimalist. I have camped under the soft topper even in winter and been fairly satisfied. I would rather cook outdoors. I have backpacking stuff so the stove and kitchen and bathroom aren’t something I am looking for in a camper. It is kind of appealing to have something me and the kids could all sleep under but it is often just me and the kids would be fine with me kicking them out under a tent when they are along. I would like to sit up in a camper and it seems kind of cool to stand up but isn’t a requirement. I kinda hate most rv interior asthetics and materials. I need to see out the back for boat ramps.
Things I have considered; my number one would be the taxa firefly but they don’t seem to want to build or sell it. If there was a popup version I would be sold. I like the aesthetics and that it has jacks so I could get it off when I needed the bed of the truck for gravel. Seems built tough and a rack on top would be sturdy. Geoden looked like an interesting idea but so few pix exist and it would make my brown taco look kinda like an ice-cream truck
The bundutec bivak seems kinda cool and not so expensive as to offend me but awkward to crawl in and stealth camp. The riptide version recently posted, and the reason I registered so I could look at the pics, seems cool but am less inclined toward a cabover.
Baja, callen type. Smith built is close to me and I could probably get something close to what I want from them but aesthetics are kinda lame, to me, and I don’t like the heavy shell type that would be awkward to get on and off when I wanted to have someone load gravel in the truck. otherwise these seem really cool. Is there an easy way to get these on and off solo that I am overlooking? The price point of these is appealing.
Habitat; it’s cool. I like the aluminum aesthetic and weight. It’s a lot of money for a tent! and the bug situation seems difficult to manage. I can go a month without a dry day in the NW and I don’t have a garage so the thought of waking up in a few inches of snow and packing that tent and leaving it for a month is not appealing.
All terrain and four wheel camper - awesome but the price. I actually have money but for the time i would use it and my cheapness it is hard to get over. An eagle or bobcat shell with no amenities is a pretty nice option.
Is there a tall shell out there I could sit up under and get on and off solo I am overlooking? I have considered space cap and tuff port but seems expensive, heavy, and not sure I want to be surrounded by that much fiberglass.
Now to the questions. Anything obvious I am overlooking in terms of a camper? at what weight point should I consider helper springs? Should I do something already because of the loads of gravel, am I ok with a callen type camper without considering helper springs? Is a six pac type camper found on craigslist really too heavy for this truck? I see these occasionally and it seems a good cheap option but then I imagine bouncing around to a trailhead and think i might regret it. Curious how something 1000-1300lbs has performed on a taco for people doing the kind of camping, driving i have described. And finally, Tires; with the amount of street, fs roads, snow I described are there any clear winners, especially with the type and weight of campers I am looking at? I still have good tread but the sidewalls are looking battle scarred.
Thanks for any advice and Cheers if you made it through all that rambling.
Ron
I have been lurking for a couple years and finally registered so I could look at pictures of all the cool build outs. Part of why it took me so long to register is that I don’t really off road and I am cheap so I don’t always feel included in a lot of the discussions. I do however obsess about truck camping and keep drawing up different configurations.
I have a 2015 long bed taco. About the only thing I have done to it is put a soft topper on the back and a brake controller when I towed a trailer in the 3k lb range. There are about 30k+ on the stock tires.
How I use it; mostly street driving. I live on a dirt road in the northwest which means I put a half a yard of gravel in the back for potholes a few times a year. I also put dirt in there for the garden. I tow a boat. I am a backcountry skier and climber. This means I am on snowy roads 20-40 times a year. I rarely go off road but I am often on bad roads or poorly maintained FS roads and crawling over washouts slowly and carefully. I occasionally take a month long road trip but mostly long weekends or a week tops. I have a couple kids 9, and 11, they are cool with roughing it. Wife isn’t really into the outdoors so it is usually me solo or with a couple kids. I carry a kayak at times.
My truck camping style - dirtbag minimalist. I have camped under the soft topper even in winter and been fairly satisfied. I would rather cook outdoors. I have backpacking stuff so the stove and kitchen and bathroom aren’t something I am looking for in a camper. It is kind of appealing to have something me and the kids could all sleep under but it is often just me and the kids would be fine with me kicking them out under a tent when they are along. I would like to sit up in a camper and it seems kind of cool to stand up but isn’t a requirement. I kinda hate most rv interior asthetics and materials. I need to see out the back for boat ramps.
Things I have considered; my number one would be the taxa firefly but they don’t seem to want to build or sell it. If there was a popup version I would be sold. I like the aesthetics and that it has jacks so I could get it off when I needed the bed of the truck for gravel. Seems built tough and a rack on top would be sturdy. Geoden looked like an interesting idea but so few pix exist and it would make my brown taco look kinda like an ice-cream truck
The bundutec bivak seems kinda cool and not so expensive as to offend me but awkward to crawl in and stealth camp. The riptide version recently posted, and the reason I registered so I could look at the pics, seems cool but am less inclined toward a cabover.
Baja, callen type. Smith built is close to me and I could probably get something close to what I want from them but aesthetics are kinda lame, to me, and I don’t like the heavy shell type that would be awkward to get on and off when I wanted to have someone load gravel in the truck. otherwise these seem really cool. Is there an easy way to get these on and off solo that I am overlooking? The price point of these is appealing.
Habitat; it’s cool. I like the aluminum aesthetic and weight. It’s a lot of money for a tent! and the bug situation seems difficult to manage. I can go a month without a dry day in the NW and I don’t have a garage so the thought of waking up in a few inches of snow and packing that tent and leaving it for a month is not appealing.
All terrain and four wheel camper - awesome but the price. I actually have money but for the time i would use it and my cheapness it is hard to get over. An eagle or bobcat shell with no amenities is a pretty nice option.
Is there a tall shell out there I could sit up under and get on and off solo I am overlooking? I have considered space cap and tuff port but seems expensive, heavy, and not sure I want to be surrounded by that much fiberglass.
Now to the questions. Anything obvious I am overlooking in terms of a camper? at what weight point should I consider helper springs? Should I do something already because of the loads of gravel, am I ok with a callen type camper without considering helper springs? Is a six pac type camper found on craigslist really too heavy for this truck? I see these occasionally and it seems a good cheap option but then I imagine bouncing around to a trailhead and think i might regret it. Curious how something 1000-1300lbs has performed on a taco for people doing the kind of camping, driving i have described. And finally, Tires; with the amount of street, fs roads, snow I described are there any clear winners, especially with the type and weight of campers I am looking at? I still have good tread but the sidewalls are looking battle scarred.
Thanks for any advice and Cheers if you made it through all that rambling.
Ron
