The Tundra Supertool

[Derek24]

There will be a deal soon enough. Hey, at least you have 3 month off out of the year, your brothers have the money but no time!

 

[JCMatthews]

I really only have about two, and I work then too so that I can keep us afloat.

 

[JCMatthews]

It was divine intervention. I really felt like I should wait, and look what happened at my house. This is going to set us back the purchase price of the camper that I wanted.

 

[Malcolm3.4]

Looks like a new waste line to me. Such is life.

 

[jim65wagon]

I thought it was a new 4x4 only driveway.....keeps out the salesmen and general riffraff....

 

[Derek24]

Living in wine country, to me it looks like the start of a wine cellar! Classy!

 

[JCMatthews]

Don't drink, and could not afford the wine to fill it. I have considered lining it and putting in one of those pools that has a current so you can lap swim without actually going anywhere. Maybe I will leave it to use as a fox hole depending on the out come of the Presidential election.

 

[Kya]

This is a sweet thread. Your truck is nice! I have been looking at these double cab Tundras since my daughter has totally out grown our Dakota extracab, and the bed would be long enough to fit our FWC Eagle. I'm an elementary school teacher also, in Colorado. So, just like you dreaming of the popup, I'll be dreaming of your truck!

 

[JCMatthews]

Thanks for the kind words. Good luck finding a Tundra you can afford. Your daughter would love all of the room in the back seat. I have read your 14er thread, and loved how your truck was set up. I was over there last summer, however with all the family that came we stay in Ouray, and have to be back to camp each night. I'd love to have my Tundra set up like your Dakota and be able to just stop for the night wherever we are.

 

[Kya]

Yeah, it has taken us years to get the Dakota set up, and then the kid grows up. Didn't really think about that part. D'oh! I've even pitched the idea to my wife about finding a shop to cut the truck frame right between the bed and cab and make the backseat a sweet custom set up. She stares at me and tells me I've been spending too much time on "that expo website."

We cruised through Price a couple times this summer. Cool looking place. Took a 2 and a half week road trip to the PNW and back. It was almost too easy living out of the camper. Keeps the family happy and content.

I'll keep watching your build thread and trip reports. Keep it going!

 

[Wainiha]

Well, I thought that this weekend I would be showing you all my pop up camper. However, I decided that if I purchased the camper then I'd have no money to go and use it so I have put it off. I just hope that when, if ever, I am really able to purchase a camper there is a nice one in my price range. It was really hard to turn this one down. I hate being broke, but I picked being a public school teacher. i knew what I would earn before I went to college. Sometimes I just wished I had followed my brothers. They are an attorney, dentist, ears nose and throat Surgeon, and anesthesiologist. They could all afford a new camper. Well at least my tent keeps me dry.

School teacher is a very needed profession. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have doctors or lawyers.

Awesome pics.

And teachers are way under paid. That is our fault, sorry.

 

[JCMatthews]

Thanks for the props. The truth is that I could have been anything that I wanted, and I chose to be a teacher. I never really wanted to be anything else. I also knew good and well what I would make before I went to college and invested all of my time and energy into this profession. I have no regrets, just sometimes I'd like a little more money. Life is expensive!

 

[JCMatthews]

I've even pitched the idea to my wife about finding a shop to cut the truck frame right between the bed and cab and make the backseat a sweet custom set up.

Better yet, just stretch the frame enough that you can fit a stock double cab in place of your extended cab. Then you'd have the best of both worlds. A stock looking Double cab long bed where everything and everybody would fit.

We actually looked at Dakotas and loved them. The back seat of the DC was nice, but not quite big enough for three kids to grow.

 

[JCMatthews]

We had a bad case of Spring fever on a nice day back in January. So we headed out into the San Rafael Swell (here we just call it "The Swell"). I have been meaning to show a few pics, so here they are. We traveled out to Fuller bottom where we had never been and then out to The Wedge overlook. Hope you enjoy the pics.

 

[JCMatthews]

I did a little work on my truck over the last couple weeks. I felt that the leaf springs were a little soft, and I wanted to increase payload and height. I don't have a budget that allows a custom spring pack, so I bought add-a-leafs from my local spring shop. Springs, u-bolts, and center pins came to $ 101.00. This gave me 1 1/2 inches of lift in the rear, so I adjusted my Bilstein 5100s to give me anther 3/4 inches up front for a total of 2 inches there. I think the ride is great. It is a little firm, but certainly not stiff or jarring. My wife likes it and said she felt the stock suspension was a little weak. It really looks nice and not really lifted. If it was parked next to a stock Tundra it would be obvious. The second picture I have included is a shot of my truck after I installed the BFGs but unlifted so that you can see the difference.