Switch's 2022 Tacoma Access Cab Build
- Thread starter Switch
- Start date
Switch
Observer
Last weekend I checked off a few more items on my project list.
My wife has been asking for this for a while now. We use the truck bed as a sleeping platform and she cannot close the tailgate because it weights more than she does. So the idea was to add some straps to pull the tailgate closed.
I got these on Amazon
The tailgate screws didn't fit in the eyelet.
But that was nothing that a littler persuasion couldn't fix
I mount the straps on the ends so they would be out of the way. I have them angled inward just a bit so they don't block the tailgate latch
Also did the diff breather mod. I prefer to mount the top breather behind the fuel cap area.
The side lights on my ARE truck cap work great. But for camping, they are too bright and I have not figured out a good way to dim them.
So I 3D printed diffusers that snap on.
The light on the right has the diffuser in place.
I'd still like to figure out a better way to dim these lights. I've tried a few stepless PWM switches on Amazon and they don't play well with these NiLight LED. I purchased a Skene IQ275, but that means adding a separate switch. So until I figure out a better way do dim these lights, I'm just going to use the diffusers.
I need to fix that dent.
My wife has been asking for this for a while now. We use the truck bed as a sleeping platform and she cannot close the tailgate because it weights more than she does. So the idea was to add some straps to pull the tailgate closed.
I got these on Amazon
The tailgate screws didn't fit in the eyelet.
But that was nothing that a littler persuasion couldn't fix
I mount the straps on the ends so they would be out of the way. I have them angled inward just a bit so they don't block the tailgate latch
Also did the diff breather mod. I prefer to mount the top breather behind the fuel cap area.
The side lights on my ARE truck cap work great. But for camping, they are too bright and I have not figured out a good way to dim them.
So I 3D printed diffusers that snap on.
The light on the right has the diffuser in place.
I'd still like to figure out a better way to dim these lights. I've tried a few stepless PWM switches on Amazon and they don't play well with these NiLight LED. I purchased a Skene IQ275, but that means adding a separate switch. So until I figure out a better way do dim these lights, I'm just going to use the diffusers.
I need to fix that dent.
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Switch
Observer
Last week I did a long overdue rear seat delete in my access cab. What I noticed about how people approach the seat delete is the Law of the Instrument in full display. Welder's build with steel, carpenters use wood, people with money buy kits from Cali Raised or Goose Gear. I live a mile from Tap Plastics. So, I went with 1/4" ABS sheet.
More important was what got installed under the ABS shelf: 200AH of LiFePO4 batteries charged by 2 100W solar panels/Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Solar Charge Controller and a Victron Energy Orion-Tr Smart DC to DC Charger for when the engine is running.
Which is also my ice cooler delete, since this all powers my new Dometic CFX5 25 fridge which now lives behind the passenger seat.
I put my old storage drawer on top of the ABS shelf.
More important was what got installed under the ABS shelf: 200AH of LiFePO4 batteries charged by 2 100W solar panels/Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Solar Charge Controller and a Victron Energy Orion-Tr Smart DC to DC Charger for when the engine is running.
Which is also my ice cooler delete, since this all powers my new Dometic CFX5 25 fridge which now lives behind the passenger seat.
I put my old storage drawer on top of the ABS shelf.
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ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
Just seeing this thread.
Wanted to ask you since the first page, what are you tying the front of the canoe to underhood? And what are you trying it down with?
I've got a Leer cap with a Trac Rac "CapRac" on my Sierra and have a Pelican Colorado canoe that sits rearward when centered on the rack, as yours seems to do. The kayaks without the canoe are fine, but the canoe is longer
ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
Really great build, @Switch .
Though some of it seems superfluous to me (especially created for light housings for example), I like a lot of what you have done -stuff I want to do but have never been brave enough, like lighting on my Leer cap and switches. That second battery ove been meaning to install and I love the solar that was on your hood. I'd like to do that as well as on the Leer cap between the rack. It's the connections to the fuse block that throw me off.
Really cool and it's been fun and interesting read. Even the stuff that's "not for me" displays some real know-how and is appreciated for what it is.
Thanks for building and letting us see it in-progress
Switch
Observer
I run a single piece of 1 inch webbing that is 12 feet long in a loop from the bow of the canoe to under the driver's side hood hinge then under the hood to the passenger side hinge and then back to the buckle at the bow of the canoe. So, the webbing forms a triangle with the top (buckle) at the tip of the bow of the canoe and the webbing running horizontally from one hinge to the other under the hood. When I close the hood, it tightens the webbing just enough to pull the bow of the canoe down and inch and I can pluck the webbing and make a "thong" sound.
Switch
Observer
In other news, I've always wanted to see the Mojave desert when when it was flooding. In the video below, we are using our GPS to make sure we are actually on the Mojave Trail. We crossed the river where it was about a foot deep and normally would have been dry. The water level at the Afton Canyon crossing was 6 feet (normally it is 1-3 feet), so that wasn't an option.
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