Orange Crush - My 3rd Gen Tacoma Build

[Go4Lo]

Fridge Wiring

Finished up the wiring for the ARB fridge this evening. I had planned to try and utilize the OEM bed plug on the passenger side of the truck however after some research and help from others I was advised this would not be the most efficient power source for the fridge. As an alternative I ended up running a pair of 10ga wires directly from the battery to the drivers side bed storage compartment. There's a large factory harness running from the fuse box under the hood down the driver's side frame rail all the way back to the rear tail lights so it's just a matter of tracing the harness and securing the wires to it for the plug.

With the wiring in place the next step was to locate a spot for the plug mount. For this I chose to mount the plug inside the storage compartment to keep it out of harms way and provide a place for the extra wiring to go coming off the back of the fridge. Last step was to slide the fridge in and plug her up.





She fits like a glove under the tonneau cover and the nook in back corner of the bed. I still need to figure out a tie down set up and install the red top Optima but those can wait for another day.

 

[whec716]

Any reasons why you guys went with the KB rack over the CBI Rack?

 

[tmz1m]

Thanks for the Intel on the sumosprings, I appreciate it.

And good work on the fridge. Is that the 37q? I have the 50q and it doesn't fit under the top of the bed rails. I'm still thinking about whether I'd like to sell mine to get the smaller one.


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[tmz1m]

Any reasons why you guys went with the KB rack over the CBI Rack?

Mainly cost and I just liked the KB better. With shipping mine was $550, significantly cheaper than the CBI, so that likely made the difference for me. I'm really happy with it based on initial impressions.

 

[Go4Lo]

Mainly cost and I just liked the KB better. With shipping mine was $550, significantly cheaper than the CBI, so that likely made the difference for me. I'm really happy with it based on initial impressions.

Ditto...same reasons for me. Also like the fact that I can leave the feet attached to my bed and just unbolt the rack for storage when not in use.

 

[Go4Lo]

Thanks for the Intel on the sumosprings, I appreciate it.

And good work on the fridge. Is that the 37q? I have the 50q and it doesn't fit under the top of the bed rails. I'm still thinking about whether I'd like to sell mine to get the smaller one.


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Yes, 37qt. I had the 50qt before and the size for items in it was great but it was too tall to fit with the storage system I had in the back of my previous Land Cruiser so I sold it off and bought the 37qt. I just got lucky that it fits under the bed cover :sombrero:

 

[Go4Lo]

Tepui

So this showed up first thing this morning and like a kid in a candy story we had to unbox it immediately and do some garage camping. Work can wait...there's a new RTT in my garage! :wings:

Tepui Gran Sabana in Siberian Camo

 

[rickashay]

That tent is wicked. Probably so spacious inside!

Totally didn't dawn on me until now that you sold the 100. You probably have it mentioned somewhere but curious why you made the switch? I'll be interested to hear your feedback comparing the two platforms (although completely different) once this thing is built up.

Saw an orange 3rd gen Tacoma locally yesterday and I must say that it looked pretty cool!

 

[Go4Lo]

That tent is wicked. Probably so spacious inside!

Totally didn't dawn on me until now that you sold the 100. You probably have it mentioned somewhere but curious why you made the switch? I'll be interested to hear your feedback comparing the two platforms (although completely different) once this thing is built up.

Saw an orange 3rd gen Tacoma locally yesterday and I must say that it looked pretty cool!

Thanks! Really looking forward to getting out with the new tent with the family. Finished up the bedrack set up this weekend so now it's just a matter of mounting the tent and heading out.

About the 100, I had no beef with it. It was a great truck! An opportunity arose to sell it to an ih8Mud member who had been looking for a built '07 100 series so we connected and put together a deal.

 

[Go4Lo]

Bed Rack

After spending way too much time researching bed rack set ups I finally got off my rear and tackled adapting a set of TracRac bars to my Tacoma yesterday. I had sold myself on the KB VooDoo rack posted earlier in my build until I stumbled across a few threads where guys had adapted these TracRac bars to their trucks for carrying tents and various other gear. The advantages of going with these for my build is 3 fold, low cost, customizable, and ability to use the bed cover. The modifications took most of the day but I'm very happy with the outcome.



In an effort to firm up the mounting brackets for carrying a RTT and keep my existing bed cover I chose to cut the 90* angles off of the foot plates and fix mount them via 3-5/16" button head bolts through the bed rails. After the feet were in place I chopped 5" out of the vertical bars to make them cab height. I still may cut the vertical bars down bit lower once the tent is on and I have a better idea of its height over the bed and cab. Needless to say with 12 bolts holding them firm to the bed rails they are stout!

Fab work







Finished!

 

[tmz1m]

Nice job! One question -- are they easily removable or are you planning to leave them on all of the time (and correspondingly, with the RTT attached)? That was the big thing that sold me on the Voodoo rack -- the ability to slide the whole system off pretty easily, and store it all in my garage.

 

[Go4Lo]

Nice job! One question -- are they easily removable or are you planning to leave them on all of the time (and correspondingly, with the RTT attached)? That was the big thing that sold me on the Voodoo rack -- the ability to slide the whole system off pretty easily, and store it all in my garage.

Planning to leave these in place and remove the RTT when not in use. Speaking of the tent we test mounted it last night on the new rack. The fit is great and its solid but I do plan to cut the verticals down another 2-3" for a tighter fit.

Lighting is terrible but this at least gives an idea of the set up.

 

[nativeson]

nice!!! newb here never posted before (i'll post in intro). looking into roof top tents, tepui's just about a 10 min drive down the highway from me. just on the fence whether or not i really need/want one. is it hard to take the tent on/off your vehicle? currently have a 2015 titan pro 4x and a 1st gen 2003 double cab 4wd tacoma, tent may split time between both vehicles.

 

[Go4Lo]

nice!!! newb here never posted before (i'll post in intro). looking into roof top tents, tepui's just about a 10 min drive down the highway from me. just on the fence whether or not i really need/want one. is it hard to take the tent on/off your vehicle? currently have a 2015 titan pro 4x and a 1st gen 2003 double cab 4wd tacoma, tent may split time between both vehicles.

Welcome! Looks like you have a couple of nice platforms to choose from for a build. I really like the Pro 4X Titan's! I had considered one before getting another Tacoma but for some reason they are hard to find in my part of the world.

As far as mounting the tent goes it's not "hard" just awkward as they are bulky and can be heavy, 175lbs or so for the larger ones. Once you take it on an off a few times it gets easier. My wife and I can put ours on an off using the truck tailgate as a step up.

 

[Go4Lo]

For anyone following this thread I just wanted to share that the TracRac bars have been great so far. Yes, they've taken some work to customize to my set up but for me that's been the beauty of using them. The relatively low cost of has allowed me to justify cutting and chopping them to the point I feel they fit my truck and my set up. In continuation of this process we mounted an ARB 2000m awning on the TracRac bars last night with relative ease using a simple set of 3/16" galvanized "L" brackets from Lowes. Next up is adapting a set of Rotopax mounts on the passenger side and Maxtrax mounts on the driver's side.

Sorry for the lame parking deck pics but you get the idea. Headed out this weekend for the first trip with the new set up. :smiley_drive: