AlumEscapes AluCab Canopy Build Thread

[2012Taco]

The Truck:
Truck is a 2012 Tacoma DCLB. Some things fitted over the years:
- Blue Sea ACR and Dual Duracell 35/85AGM
- ARB front bull bar, 9" round LED's, Rigid SAE pods, Warn 9.5xp-s with in cab control
- Cali Raised LED side pods and windshield mounts
- Wet Okole seat covers and Weathertech floor liners
- OME 886 front coilovers, rear DAKAR HD leaves
- Konig Countersteer Offroad 16x8 wheels, Duratracs tires in 265/75R16, Range C
- Pelfreybilt engine, transmission and transfer case skids
- All-Pro Apex sliders
- All-Pro dual swing-out rear bumper
- LRA 34 gallon fuel tank
- Full sound deadening
- Kenwood DNX693S radio/navigation


The Camper:
- AluCab 6' Canopy Camper custom ordered with passenger side Shadow Awn and table slide and shower slides reversed


Exterior:
- Removed stickers
- Reversed rear door swing - modified strut, limit strap and interior light (handle slam latch to come)
- Door mount license plate and lighting
- Modified All-Pro rear swing outs - chopped driver and passenger swings to convert passenger side tire swing to a driver side swing
- 80/20 1030 series roof bars for solar and kayak mounts
- Two Renogy (RNG-100D-R-BK) 100W black panel frames charging approximately 12A max
- Stainless fold down steps
- Rotopax 2 gallon fuel and water cans on Molle panels
- Rigid rear mount reversing lights
- Brake, turn and reverse auxiliary LED lighting on Molle panels
- High mount reverse camera
- Side mount LED light under awning
- Custom rear entry step
- Powertank 6# propane tank mount and Worthington 6# aluminum tank


Interior:
- RaceDeck flooring fitted as a raised liner
- Indoor/Outdoor carpet mat
- Dometic CFX 75 Dual Zone
- AluCab side screens
- Under bed platform bed lighting
- Removed rear bed platform (will replace with webbing net?)
- Storage Logic pouch on door
- Extended wiring from passenger to driver side to suit truck fitout
- Renogy Adventurer-Li 30A charge controller and BT-1 Bluetooth module
- Augmented mattress with 1.5" memory foam topper


Still to Do:
- Seal up a few spots
- Tacoma needs new tires
- Electrical and interior build out for storage of camping gear
- Reinstall on board air
- Rear door slam latch setup to remove cargo container style hardware
- Rear door screen
- Bike mount
- AluCab water tank
- Under awning lighting
- Find a home for recovery gear
- Motorcycle trailer
- Prinsu rack?
- Propex heat?

 

[2012Taco]

Trip Reports - Reserved

 

[2012Taco]

So I have already been using the Tacoma for travel since new and in mid 2013 I began fabrication of my own offroad camper trailer (see build thread here). From spring of 2014 to the fall of 2019 fall I've used this setup to travel most of the eastern seaboard and into Canada covering roughly 16,000 miles in that time. In 2019 after stepping up from a CRF250L to an Africa Twin, I reached the conclusion that I'd have to rethink my travel setup to be able to bring the new bike along on trips. I was also keen on shedding some weight from the travel setup overall and moving from a camping trailer that could carry the bike to a camper on the truck and a bare bones bike trailer seemed like the best compromise.



Options in late summer 2019 were narrowed down to the Drifter, AluCab's Canopy and Khaya offerings, the Treehouse or the 4WC Fleet. Being and engineer, I had to go with pros/cons:

Drifter:
Pros - Light, love the look and the overall low profile when it's on the truck, the construction seems very robust, price is competitive, it can be well customized with side doors and awnings and insulation
Cons - Low profile limits bedding being stowed above, I hate the rear door setup and did not want to have a topper style glass door and tailgate I'd have to seal and open and close from inside the camper, they are long lead and located on the west coast making procuring one logistically challenging, essentially non-removable

AluCab Canopy:
Pros - Proven platform, light, east coast distributor, I like the rear awning over the window allowing the screen to be open in wet weather, I like the rear door option over a tailgate and window, I like the slot construction for accessory mounting
Cons - Tall profile overall but leaves room for bedding to stay stowed up top, wasn't a huge fan of the diamond tread pattern initially, door swing, awning and shower/table all setup for right hand drive vehicles, essentially non-removable

AluCab Khaya:
Pros - Proven platform, I like that it is all self-contained and could be easily removed when not in use, could be fitted with heat, again east coast distributor and I like the rear awning over the window allowing the screen to be open in wet weather
Cons - Tall profile overall but leaves room for bedding to stay stowed up top, wasn't a huge fan of the diamond tread pattern initially, expensive, heavy

Treehouse:
Pros - Light, affordable, could be setup with rear doors instead of a tailgate/window combo, local fabrication, dealer and support
Cons - Unproven construction, the tent fabric and window/screen solution seems backwards, essentially non-removable

4WC Fleet:
Pros - Proven platform, I like that it is all self-contained and could be easily removed when not in use, could be fitted with heat, again east coast distributor, I prefer the pop-top over clamshell as it reduces the overall height when stealth or boon docking
Cons - Expensive, heavy, wide, would not work with a rear bumper tire swing leaving me nowhere to carry a full size spare tire

After talking with Rin at OK4WD and concluding that I could order the AluCab Canopy Camper with a right side awning and with the table and shower mount reversed I was pretty well sold on that being the next setup. A deposit was made 13 September and the wait began. In the meantime I began stockpiling parts for the coming build out and working up sketches on how everything would be packaged in the new setup. Due to the holidays and a few other things I ended up getting my camper installed at their shop on 28 January.



At roughly 500# I believe the new camper is almost an even trade for the LEER 100RCC I had before along with the storage solution I had built inside. I do plan on hitting the scales soon to get a somewhat close baseline as I know the truck as I had it before approaching 7,000#. With the new canopy handling has changed slightly as the center of mass is obviously higher and I have seen maybe a 1 to 1.5 MPG drop so far. Overall, I'm still pleased with the outcome but will be reinstalling my front sway bar and maybe adding a rear if the front alone still feels vague. I also plan to address the taller profile with a chopped down Prinsu cab rac or similar for the added storage and smoother air flow.

 

[2012Taco]

Since getting this thing in January I've been taking advantage of the abnormally warm weather to chip away at the build list. First thing first was to do some cleanup. Being an aluminum camper with carpeted finishes on the inside meant that during the building and journey across the Atlantic a good bit of aluminum burrs made their way into the soft goods. A bit of time with the shop vac and tweezers took care of pretty much everything. While I was in there I pulled the fabric covers off the wiring/structural profile to clean up in there and finalize plans for where I would route my wiring and such.

Next on the docket was the floor. I had the idea to use ventilated garage flooring instead of a plywood deck or a bed rug as I wanted to be sure any leaks or spills would not end up soaking into the carpet. The garage flooring with carpet overlay also gives nice flat floor underfoot and gives a small air gap that seems to aid a bid in cold feet. Fitment was pretty straight forward overall once I decided where to start. Cuts were made on a mitre saw and everything just snaps together. End result turned out pretty good and I'm still able to shop vac through the floor pretty easily to take care of anything that works its way through the carpet.



Next up was mounting up the fridge. I wanted to be able to access the fridge through the passenger door as that will be where I'll be doing my cooking under the awning and by the future propane mount on the rear passenger plate. Mounting was a bit of a pain as there isn't any template provided for the blind anchor holes on the bottom of the Dometic. I ended up making one to use so I could be sure I kept the unit tight to the wheel well and away from the front wall of the canopy so I'd have room to open the insulated cover and have room for my chair storage in the front corner.



Last on the docket was getting the carpet cut to fit to finish out the floor.



Next up was to install some lighting on the rear. I had these Rigid pods from my LEER topper and knew I want the extra reversing light when setting up camp. I used similar hardware as the Molle panels use and bolted them down but didn't get a chance to punch the holes for wiring until later in the week.



I also wanted to augment my factory rear stop and turn lights as the future tire carrier and propane tank could obstruct view from side angles. I found some LED units online that fit the Molle panels perfect and got to drilling.



All mounted up but still to be wired.


More to come!

 

[jjohnson1892]

Brilliant idea with that garage flooring! May have to steal that...

What size bolts did you end up sending down through the truck bed for the fridge? Getting ready to do that in my camper, although in a different spot.

 

[2012Taco]

Brilliant idea with that garage flooring! May have to steal that...

What size bolts did you end up sending down through the truck bed for the fridge? Getting ready to do that in my camper, although in a different spot.

Thanks, I ordered my flooring through www.bigfloors.com as it was the best deal at the time and shipping was free. So far I'm happy with the garage style flooring over anything else.

From my notes it looks like the fridge bolts were stainless M6x1.0. I used 60mm long ones to go through the bed and garage flooring and run ~1" into the holes on the fridge. I don't recall for sure but that seemed to be about the depth of those blind holes though it's hard to tell since they are full of foam. I plan to put some plates between the heads and the underside of the bed soon just because the heads on an M6 are small and the bed is composite but it's more to be safe than sorry - I'd hate to have a loaded fridge become a projectile back there in the event of an accident or something.

 

[2012Taco]

Solar:

I have had success with Renogy products previously and decided when I moved to this platform that I'd step up to 200W of solar from the 100W I previously ran. This should make up for the increase in fridge size from the ARB to the CFX 75 and overcome some of the inefficiencies with hard mounting on the roof and partial obstruction by the kayak rack or tree cover.

Parts:
80/20 1030 series roof bars for solar/kayak mounts
Two Renogy (RNG-100D-R-BK) 100W black panel frames charging approximately 12A max
Renogy Adventurer-Li 30A charge controller and BT-1 Bluetooth module
Renogy in line MC4 parallel branch connectors
Renogy in line MC4 15A fuse

I went with the tnutz.com 80/20 profile in their 1030 variety as I wanted the wider bar profile to match the overall scale of the canopy. Once I decided on an overhang amount on the bars they were chopped down to length and the ends tapped for ¼"-20 screws to secure the end plates I had on order.

I wanted to keep the panels as tight to the roof as possible so I elected to mount them through the ends of their extrusions into the sides of the 1030 bar to keep them as unobtrusive as possible.



Wiring is straight forward and secured under the panels and are run to the AluCab installed Anderson plug on the rear of the roof. From there the AluCab wiring rand to the passenger rear corner of the canopy for connection to the vehicle. This would not work for my application and I needed to extend all of the factory wiring from the passenger rear corner to the driver rear corner to work with where I intend to provide my power connections. Not too much trouble to do as all the AluCab wiring is run behind the Velcro in panels - some work later and the rough in was complete.



I still need to construct my combination bed access step and electrical cabinet where the charge controller will eventually go but I left myself some excess to work with. In the meantime they are at least mounted and unplugged but ready to go otherwise.



I'll also end up adding at least one additional 1030 bar on the front for the kayak front mount but I have those materials on order along with the bar end covers.

 

[Bigmo]

I wanted my awning on the passenger side. I ordered mine in January of this year and was told that they would only mount on the driver's side. Must have recently changed. Disappointed but not not a deal breaker. Your build is looking good. Thanks for all the info. Brian

 

[2012Taco]

I wanted my awning on the passenger side. I ordered mine in January of this year and was told that they would only mount on the driver's side. Must have recently changed. Disappointed but not not a deal breaker. Your build is looking good. Thanks for all the info. Brian

That's a bummer for sure - it was going to be a breaker for me as I wanted the fridge and cook setup off the passenger side. They were hesitant to do it but said they would otherwise I was just going to order the RHS awning and find a way to mount it myself.

That said you might have dodged a bullet - they had also agreed to reverse my shower and table mount but didn't and I didn't find out til it was unboxed at OK4WD. Rin there was able to get it swapped around without any signs of an issue but he said it was a pain to do as AluCab glues almost everything together on these before bolting or riveting.

I imagine after the issues with my order they might be hesitant to do anything other than their package builds?

 

[TSnider]

Hard Korr lighting will fit the bill for amazing under awning lighting. Dimmable, and orange for bug mode.

 

[camodog]

I wanted my awning on the passenger side. I ordered mine in January of this year and was told that they would only mount on the driver's side. Must have recently changed. Disappointed but not not a deal breaker. Your build is looking good. Thanks for all the info. Brian

Same thing happened to me. I am actually disappointed that Alu-Cab refuses to adjust to the North American market. Same thing with the door swing. I wish they would listen to the customers who are spending good money on their products.

 

[Bigmo]

The story I got is basically they assembly line these units and any deviation from the norm throws everything off. I originally was not even going to opt for the awning, which they would have done, but they said it would have been the only unit in the world without the awning and that they had never sent one out without it. In the end I had narrowed my purchase down to two different wedge campers and Alu-cab came out on top for me even though its not perfect. Now its wait (have been told should be here end of March/first of April) and watch the progress of all the great builds and gather ideas. Thanks. Brian

 

[Spencer for Hire]

The story I got is basically they assembly line these units and any deviation from the norm throws everything off. I originally was not even going to opt for the awning, which they would have done, but they said it would have been the only unit in the world without the awning and that they had never sent one out without it. In the end I had narrowed my purchase down to two different wedge campers and Alu-cab came out on top for me even though its not perfect. Now its wait (have been told should be here end of March/first of April) and watch the progress of all the great builds and gather ideas. Thanks. Brian

Which camper was the alternative and why did you go with ALU?

 

[Bigmo]

Which camper was the alternative and why did you go with ALU?

Thought long and hard about the Vagabond Drifter. But in the end the distance to go get it and what is now a year plus wait from time of order was to much. The alu-cab with the rear door verses tailgate and the fact that the company has been around a long time swayed me this way.

 

[2012Taco]

The story I got is basically they assembly line these units and any deviation from the norm throws everything off. I originally was not even going to opt for the awning, which they would have done, but they said it would have been the only unit in the world without the awning and that they had never sent one out without it. In the end I had narrowed my purchase down to two different wedge campers and Alu-cab came out on top for me even though its not perfect. Now its wait (have been told should be here end of March/first of April) and watch the progress of all the great builds and gather ideas. Thanks. Brian

Yep - That's what I was told after we unboxed mine and found that the table and shower mount was backwards. While I understand that customization can interfere with assembly line efficiency I can't agree with not making a "US Package" that would have the reversed door swing, reversed shower and table mount and a right side awning.

That said, I guess I should be happy I was the pain in the butt that made them try it since I ended up with most of what I wanted!

Thought long and hard about the Vagabond Drifter. But in the end the distance to go get it and what is now a year plus wait from time of order was to much. The alu-cab with the rear door verses tailgate and the fact that the company has been around a long time swayed me this way.

Same for me. I reached out to them about logistics and some build questions and never got a response. I know they are swamped and maybe they didn't think I was a serious buyer but I never heard back from them. After that, I was a little turned off to the idea of dropping that much coin on outfit that I never got responses from. That was my situation at least, but I know others have been very happy with the Vagabond product and process, but I believe all were on the west coast.