Toyota T100 "The Blue Beauty" From bought to built in a month (hopefully)

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Good eye aaronk. I dont scuba though. Just free dive a bit and hope to improve with the speargun during this trip

 

[AaronK]

Nice. I went spear fishing once with someone else's gun, shelled out a bunch of money on my own, then never went again 😕

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[theBullfrog125]

The water temperature difference between Washington and Mexico may have something to do with that? Lol

 

[AaronK]

It's definitely colder here!

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[Traveling 2gether Journal]

yeah, I've just been getting into it the last couple of years while living in Maui, Hi. I'm definitely a warm water with good viability only guy.

 

[SDDiver5]

Take an FII Free Dive class. The deepest I've gotten is 110 Feet and I can hold my breath for just under 5 minutes(hence my name). Well worth it. I slayed a 39 lb White Sea Bass last year.

Nice truck. I've always liked the T100 because not many of them are around. I think it will be more of a rare truck in 20 years. Nice build and good luck.

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Thanks sddiver5. I took a 1 day dive class in Maui that helped me out. I went from basically being uncomfortable diving at all to staying down for about 1.5 min and shooting fish at 35-40ft. It was a big improvement for me. I would totally recommend a class for anyone else that wants to get into it.
This is my first t100. I did a lot of research and considering different vehicles for the build, but I got to say I am happy with my choice so far. The truck is a great size and is pretty capable for a stock suspension rig. Plus I have been averaging about 17.5mpg on the pavement fully loaded with the camper and Mexican gasoline. I consider that pretty good.

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

A few more build pics, just in case anyone is interested.

cutting the top off the campershell that is to be our home


attaching the new rear wall to our camper


I found it was way easier to lay big sheets of fiberglass to cover the center sections of each panel while the panels where an the ground, then attach them to the camper with several layers of cloth covering the seams instead of trying to cover the entire section while it was vertical or overhead.





We had a god system by the end of the project. we precut all the fiberglass cloth to the size/shape we wanted for the section we were working on, then mixed the resin. Amie, my wife would wet-out each piece of cloth on a wetting board(clean piece of cardboard) then hand it to me so i could lay it in place and work out any bubbles while she prepped the next piece. I strongly recommend getting the pumps that fit into the resin and catalyst containers and dispense the proper ratio of each for you. It makes large projects like this way easier and would probably save me money in the end from avoiding incorrect mixing and extra cleaning.


lots of sanding and painting later and it was time to install the ARB awning. I put a bead of Life Seal around it to make a water tight seal between the awning and camper. This will hopefully result in a dryer area under the awning and no rain coming through the camper window on this side.




My bed platform consists of a 1 inch angle iron frame that I bolted in place, then added the plywood dividers. The bed its self is not attached in any way, just cut to fit snugly together and 100s of miles of dirt later it hasn't bounced or moved in any significant way.

 

[onemanarmy]

Awesome. Love seeing simple rigs put to use. No need for bumpers/sliders/lift kits/winches/light bars

more money to travel with

 

[gmtech]

sweet! you make surf boards or just naturally handy with fiber glass? Is the cab overhang strong enough to sleep on or is it just for gear?

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Thanks onemanarmy. I couldn't agree more.

gmtech
I have shaped 1 surfboard and done a lot of ding repair, but my large scale experience comes from boat repairs. I'm a captain and have done some time in boat yards.
I didn't design the cab over to be strong enough to sleep on(though you definitely could with the same construction techniques) It's mostly there for surfboard storage. Gotta bring the wife's longboards

If you're considering a fiberglass build, I say go for it. It doesn't take long to get a feel for it and you can build pretty much anything out of the stuff.

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

My wife and I started a YouTube channel to document our travels. The first few episodes cover our preparations for our current trip from California to Panama. They aren't dedicated "build" videos, but if you're interested in our truck/camper you may be interested in episodes 4 and 5 of our vlog.

 

[fbksurferjoe]

Enjoying the videos, it reminds me of when I started in the expedition stuff. Watching the stuff about the electrical issues made me cringe I remember going through the same headaches in the beginning. If you haven't already take the time run large gauge wires, solder your connections and keep it clean and organized. It will save you headaches in the future.

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[Traveling 2gether Journal]

thanks fbksurferjoe. I don't think I will ever truly understand electricity, but I have been learning. I used pretty heavy gauge, quality wire for most everything and every circuit has at least one fuse. I tried to keep it as clean and simple as I could. Spoiler alert... I find out later that my brand new battery was sulphated. This should have been obvious in retrospect, but that's how it goes when you try to learn as you go.
Oh, and thanks for watching. We just released our first episode from Mexico, https://youtu.be/r7IL9FzesE8 where we continue to show how inept we are

 

[Doc_]

Sweet build, man! I've thought about building a similar topper, myself, even down to the epoxy resin and fiberglass. This is a really great project and an even greater adventure, I wish you the best of luck!