"So I found this thing on Craigslist..." Tacoma Camper Build [djmase]

[Super Doody]

I had a question about the infant seat solution. I use the word solution delicately because unless your partner is somewhat short and tough enough to put up with a bit less leg room than previously, it is not a total solution. BUT, short of buying a different truck, it is a pretty solid fix.

If you pull off the back panel you can remove one of the seat cushions to make a bit more space for the base to slide back. Takes about 30 minutes with basic tools.
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I use the shoulder belt through the hoops because the truck doesn't have factory lower anchor points, only the upper.
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With the baby seat in place, the passenger seat can be in a fair recline spot and one or two clicks back from the front most position. It works for my wife, but may not work for all. Try it out, could be a very good money saver, or at least a short term solution.

We use the Chico Keyfit 30. I looked at the Keyfit 22 thinking it would be smaller, IT IS NOT. Buy the 30 which is good for up to 30lb baby. The frame is the same size for both units. In Ca once the kid hits 22-ish LBs they can go in a front facing seat...that will probably go better in an access cab Tacoma than the rear...we shall see.

I had the same issue with my 03 tacoma and my 1 yr old daugther. The other options (although not ideal esp for long trips) is to have your wife sit in the jumper seat and your baby in the passenger seat with the air bag turned off. Good on you for removing backrest to get more room for the baby seat. The unfortunate thing is that as your baby exceed the height limit on the infant seat (30" on the chico keyfit, we had the same seat. Most babies will exceed the height limit before the weight limit) , the convertible car seats are much bigger and they require a certain amount of recline. I searched all over for a solution and finally gave up and bought 2006 double cab tundra.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the kids stay rear facing till 2 but we intent to keep our daughter in the rear facing direction as long as possible

. This article describes the physiological reasons on rear facings seats:

http://csftl.org/why-rear-facing-the-science-junkies-guide/

 

[djmase]

I had the same issue with my 03 tacoma and my 1 yr old daugther. The other options (although not ideal esp for long trips) is to have your wife sit in the jumper seat and your baby in the passenger seat with the air bag turned off. Good on you for removing backrest to get more room for the baby seat. The unfortunate thing is that as your baby exceed the height limit on the infant seat (30" on the chico keyfit, we had the same seat. Most babies will exceed the height limit before the weight limit) , the convertible car seats are much bigger and they require a certain amount of recline. I searched all over for a solution and finally gave up and bought 2006 double cab tundra.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the kids stay rear facing till 2 but we intent to keep our daughter in the rear facing direction as long as possible

. This article describes the physiological reasons on rear facings seats:

http://csftl.org/why-rear-facing-the-science-junkies-guide/

I have been looking for an affordable Tundra DC for this exact reason. Looks like you are just a few miles ahead of me on the journey!

 

[Overlanerd]

Nice build! Way more room than the Flippac. Truck campers make camping with kids doable. Nap time, changing station, lactation room...

The car seat issue is still... an issue. If we decide to be masochistic and have a 3rd kid, we'll definitely go with the Chico Keyfit 30. The Graco we had takes up way too much room. My 5'-3" wife's knees were almost touching the dash in a double cab.

 

[djmase]

Put a little CO detector in the camper after the last run of cold with more LP burning than usual. I have been collecting horror stories lately and believe that every single TC should run one or two COs to be safe.
I also put a little duel plug USB dc charger in for the iOS devices...really convenient set up. The plug quality is less than ideal, but it works and makes life a bunch easier...all in all it's a win.

 

[djmase]

In an interesting turn of events, I bought a diesel to put under the Sun-Lite.


With three of us, the Tacoma is nearing the end of it's course. We can't fit a front facing seat in here, and after a discouraging six months of hard shopping for a Tundra...I ended up with a duramax, 4x4, extended cab, 6 seater, with 4x4...all in all, I am pretty amped!

Plenty more build to come...esp now that I can haul the bacon!

 

[djmase]

New wheels under the Sun-Lite. The Duramax was and old school, "side of the road with a sign in it" find. Called the guy up, he came and met me, we haggled, and I picked it up a few days later...Much better fit for the family.





The SL fits in there nicely. There will be tons of storage in the wheel well areas, and some room to do swing away or rear storage on the back, while maintaining about 10" of front porch with the gate off.

More to come.

 

[ManbIKE26]

Great looking D-Max!

As a full-size truck guy, I think you'll love the extra space. Is the cab likely to touch the camper in off-road situations? Looks like a really tight fit.

-Mike

 

[Expedition.Report]

looks great!

Keep the posts coming!

 

[djmase]

Great looking D-Max!

As a full-size truck guy, I think you'll love the extra space. Is the cab likely to touch the camper in off-road situations? Looks like a really tight fit.

-Mike

Fingers crossed, no...but in reality, quite possibly. I put the whole deal on a platform, but I only have about an inch of clearance so if stuff gets rocking, it's possible we will have a strike. Going to monitor. I have it fastened down in the bed pretty well, so unless the truck moves a fair bit, or the camper flexes (more likely) I may make it out alive. It is already a fair piece higher than it was, so I was walking the line on how high/low to set it on the stand. In hind site, I should have thrown an extra 1" in there....

Live and learn.

 

[djmase]

Also, I listed the Tacoma on CL today for $8,500, sold in 4 hours. Feeling like maybe I was a bit under market value...

Again, live and learn.

 

[djmase]

My camper doesn't have a built in heater, as discussed in other posts, but it is still equipped with a full size LP tank to run the three burner stove which we rarely use...seems like a false economy. I wanted to recoop the space for storage and potentially a little gravity shower on the outside of the rig.
From the factory it has this big fire box with a tank, I store some gasoline in there for my dual fuel coleman equipment.


Picked up this bad boy. The age of my system causes it to have the old school LP thread on it. I bought an adaptor that supports both the old and the new system.


Tested the plumbing and the stove burn.


Retro fitted and mounted the old metal strap.


Then threw some odds and ends in there until I solve the shower riddle.

 

[djmase]

Moving the TC from the Tacoma to the 2500 definitely changed the driving experience in both bounce and body roll, but the 2500 still felt a bit bouncy down the road, so I decided to poke around and check out the shocks' condition.




Could easily be compressed and would not even consider any sort of return movement.

Opted for 5100s....




Sadly, when I was in there I found that both of the front hubs were completely cooked and needed replacing at $170 a pop...lame.

 

[djmase]

We needed a secondary counter badly. The 'counter' above the ice box is a 1/4" sheet of compressed garbage with a vinyl wood sticker over the whole thing...if more than a fleece is set on it, the whole unit visibly sags.



I have a bit of cypress in the garage so I laid up a few pieces with the biscuit joiner and made a proper prep station.


Then we went to the beach and celebrated with a pizza.

 

[djmase]

After running the Sun Lite on the 2500 for few weeks I could not get comfortable with the fit. The short bed camper on the longbed truck looked too weird. So, I did the only reasonable thing, sold it on Craigslist. It took about 18 hours from listing to sold. It looks better on his Tundra than my Tacoma, anyhow.
I will miss you buddy....

Onward to an 8 footer.

 

[djmase]

Then a day later I saw this post...


The ad literally said, "4 wheel pop-up camper, for sale"

...I had to buy it.

Stay thirsty.