Thoughts on the Truckhouse Tacoma expedition camper...

[Steve_382]

If TruckHouse sees a demand for a camper on a Ram or an F150, maybe they will offer that.

If they were putting it on an F-350 Supercab, we would likely have put a deposit down. For now they don't seem inclined to stray from the Tacoma. The camper seems almost perfect for our purposes. Not for everyone of course. I haven't seen anything else even close in the $300K range. And on a F-350 Supercab it would still only be about 22' long.

 

[rruff]

If they were putting it on an F-350 Supercab, we would likely have put a deposit down. For now they don't seem inclined to stray from the Tacoma. The camper seems almost perfect for our purposes. Not for everyone of course. I haven't seen anything else even close in the $300K range. And on a F-350 Supercab it would still only be about 22' long.

You might inquire with Bahn. They were stupid-busy last I checked, but they build similar type shells and will sell just the shell for ~$40k, or customize the whole thing to your taste. Total Composites has partnered for interior builds also, if that appeals. If you do the interior and build-out work yourself or hire a reliable local, you can save a lot of money that way.

 

[calicamper]

Cali, the point was not to make a direct comparison, e.g. RS4 to Tacoma, but to share insight from someone in the industry. He sees hundreds of claims per week and the vast majority are from customers who own European cars. Are Toyotas perfect? Absolutely not. Do they build the most reliable vehicles on the planet, per the market and third parties? Yessir. It is likely for those reasons and the popularity of the Tacoma here, that TruckHouse chose a Tacoma on which to build its camper.

Toyota will never make up two decades of development, IMO. It is the Japanese culture to be conservative, efficient, practical and reserved. As a company, Toyota is not interested in having the latest tech or the highest HP V8 in their fleet. That is not now, nor has it ever been, their niche.

If TruckHouse sees a demand for a camper on a Ram or an F150, maybe they will offer that. In the mean time, there are millions of happy Toyota owners the world over. In Australia, the HiLux is the best selling vehicle, of any kind, in the entire country. I don't imagine that came to be by accident. Many of these trucks are used for going out in the bush, have trays or racks on the back of them and are actually used for something other than going to the mall. Maybe one day, Toyota will bring the HiLux here, but for now, we get Tacomas with low payload capacities. Travel light.

Hilux was out sold by the Ranger last yr in its top markets. Which by the way are tiny compared to Los Angels CA Auto market where the Toyota trucks are not the top sellers.

 

[nickw]

Hilux was out sold by the Ranger last yr in its top markets. Which by the way are tiny compared to Los Angels CA Auto market where the Toyota trucks are not the top sellers.

When I was in Aus a couple years back I saw just as many Rangers as Hiluxes....the locals I talked to seemed more impressed with them also. Also, over a few beers, the locals were much more interested by some of our rigs like the F150 Raptors and HD trucks than anything we could get....

 

[nickw]

Toyota vehicles are world-renowned for their durability and reliability. Both of these are functions of proven, simple, logical, un-$(#*RCked around with design/technology. Example: the "gutless" engines that Toyota is criticized for are some of the most reliable on the planet, e.g. 22RE, 1HZ, 1HD-FE, 2F, 5VZ-FE, 1UZ, etc.

By not changing the touch screen 17 times in 5 years or hell, not even offering a touch screen, Toyota has maintained high reliability and longevity. Talk to anyone who owns a shiny/flashy new car and ask what breaks. The answer is gadgets, "new" stuff and hardware that is pushed, e.g. 320 HP from a 2.0L turbo motor, vs 200 HP from a 3.5L NA V6. The latter will run for 300k miles, the former will be dead, or require serious repair in under 100k.

Mountains of evidence exist to prove these points, as a good friend of mine works for an extended warranty company. They cover new (add to your 3/36k warranty) or used (2018 car with 50k on it, extended to 100k). I cannot count the number of completely absurd case files he has shared with me over the last few months. Here are a few off the top of my head.

A brand spanking new Ram TRX that won't shift out of 4WD. It is two months old and only has a few thousand miles on it. The dealer could not find the problem, so the transfer case was replaced. Three weeks later, the truck is back at the dealer with the same problem. The techs and FCA corporate are baffled.

Edit: Turbos for a 2017 Audi RS6 are $16,000/pair installed. Failure occurred with less than 40k miles on them.

A headlight assembly for a 2015 Audi A7 costs $3255.71 EACH.

An Audi A5 with 50k on the clock needed a new motor (blow by and turbo failure) at a cost of more than 25 grand installed. Show me a 2021 Toyota LandCruiser or LX570 that won't shift out of 4WD or one with 50k on it that needs a new engine. I bet you there isn't one on the whole planet.

TFLTruck bought a new 2021 Defender and for MOST of the first three months they owned the vehicle, it was broken or at the dealer being repaired. This is supposed to be a brand-new, cutting edge, state of the art, ground up, best of everything, do it all truck. We aren't talking econo-boxes here. These things are 50k - 80k.

A good friend's father replaced an automatic transmission in a 2012 Ram 2500 with less than 100k miles on it. The cost installed was more than 6 grand. Show me a LandCruiser with a 100k on it that has puked its transmission out. How can Dodge not figure out how to build a slush-box? This has been an issue for decades now.

I will take 170 HP four-cylinder engines (3RZ-FE), manual transmissions (R-151) and transfer cases (RF1A), and simple HVAC and radios, and you can have your lane departure warnings, 360* cameras, air conditioning controlled by your phone and 47 way adjustable power seats. I will also take a $100 bet that when I get ready to sell my Toyota, it will be worth a lot more than your Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Kia, Chevy or whatever other pile of crap you bought instead of a Toyota, with a fraction of the repair bills accumulated. I am not a "fan boy" - I understand quality and time value of money. If Kia built the most reliable trucks and cars on the planet, I would buy them instead. They don't. I am brand agnostic. Buy shiny/flashy/new or buy logical, proven design, e.g. fifth gen 4Runners have not changed much over their life span. Built in Japan using proven tech, they are as reliable as rain in Florida in the summer.

So, circling back around, you may now see why everyone from Colorado Overlander (camper rentals), to NGO, humanitarian and peacekeeping organisations (Red-Cross / United Nations), as well as their war-mongering counterparts choose to travel in 70 Series and 200 Series Land Cruisers, not Ford Explorers, Chevy Equinox or Hyundai Santa Fe. Even the jihadis understand reliability. Have you ever seen a picture of a militia group in the bed of a Mercedes X-Class or a VW Amarok? Possible, but not likely, they too are fond of 70 Series pickups, as they are disinclined to dump their hard earned dollars into $16k turbos or $3200 headlights.

You can have proven, reliable and durable vehicles to truly go over-land, or you can have three sunroofs, 172 apps on your 12" touch screen and nine air-conditioned seats to take all of your friends to the mall with you. The two are mutually exclusive in my book. For these reasons and others, the designer(s) of the TruckHouse chose a Tacoma, not a Canyon/Colorado or a Ram, which are some of the most unreliable trucks you can buy according to J.D. Power, Consumer Reports and friends who have owned all three.

Saying a Tacoma is the most reliable vehicle in the US market has little to do with ROW spec LC's with tech from the 1970's. Lots of Mercedes are still used this day as Taxis in Africa which has no bearing on modern Mercedes reliability....same for the Uni-mogs & Gwagens.

A good buddy of mine got stuck on the mountain with his Tacoma stuck in Low Range 8 hrs from home, brand new truck, $2k+ for a new Tcase, had to have it towed home 8 hrs on a flatbed - it's one stupid example, but never say never.

The majority of HD domestic rigs are very reliable and robust.....this guys is one of the most traveled dudes around, using Fords:

Turtle Expedition

turtleexpedition.com

Of course there is a sim guy in a LC60 and another fella in a G-Wagen...

I was the biggest Toyota fanboy back in the day, they were built to a simple, robust and high standard but don't feel like the new vehicles off that same level of design....particularly compared to some of the newer domestic offerings.

 

[simple]

The interior revealed

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I was the biggest Toyota fanboy back in the day, they were built to a simple, robust and high standard but don't feel like the new vehicles off that same level of design....particularly compared to some of the newer domestic offerings.

THIS

 

[nickw]

The interior revealed

Watched the vid and 100% respect for those guys working through the issues and figuring out how to make this work and the interior is incredible....

But when it comes to modifying and reinforcing the frame, re-gearing to 5.29, putting in a bigger aftermarket axle, putting on bigger aftermarket brakes F&R, upgrading radiator, upgrading alternator, ECU tune, wiring / software updates so crawl control works and option for super-charger...begs the question, what is the flippin' point of a Tacoma? With all the aftermarket components service at a Toyota dealership gets more difficult and I'd be concerned with reliability....I would 10/10 times take an OEM rig from any manuf. than a modified Toyota from any era nevermind the components on the vehicle (trans, tcase & front diff/axles) that are not reinforced....

 

[simple]

It kind of falls under a similar question of why build a drag car out of a Honda civic? It's just what they are excited about and if there are enough people to buy them... To each their own. The interior came out super sweet.

 

[nickw]

It kind of falls under a similar question of why build a drag car out of a Honda civic? It's just what they are excited about and if there are enough people to buy them... To each their own. The interior came out super sweet.

I guess for me it falls under what the goal is....if the goal is to have an camper that looks like a Tacoma, they nailed it....but if the goal is to have reliability and capability in a camper, then I think it falls short.

I think having a fast Honda Civic is cool.....if being cool is the goal.....

 

[rruff]

But when it comes to modifying and reinforcing the frame, re-gearing to 5.29, putting in a bigger aftermarket axle, putting on bigger aftermarket brakes F&R, upgrading radiator, upgrading alternator, ECU tune, wiring / software updates so crawl control works and option for super-charger...begs the question, what is the flippin' point of a Tacoma? With all the aftermarket components service at a Toyota dealership gets more difficult and I'd be concerned with reliability....I would 10/10 times take an OEM rig from any manuf. than a modified Toyota from any era nevermind the components on the vehicle (trans, tcase & front diff/axles) that are not reinforced....

The loss of the drivetrain (and a bunch of other parts) warranty... combined with the higher likelihood of problems... is definitely a downside. An F350 or similar would save so much mod headache.

I bet it will ride and drive really nice though... maybe class leading in that respect.

 

[nickw]

The loss of the drivetrain (and a bunch of other parts) warranty... combined with the higher likelihood of problems... is definitely a downside. An F350 or similar would save so much mod headache.

I bet it will ride and drive really nice though... maybe class leading in that respect.

Really? I'd have to respectfully disagree there, while I think IFS is generally a good thing, the SA Fords and Dodges ride pretty good, particularly with weight. If IFS is your thing a Chevy with sim mods to this Tacoma would ride equivalent (I'd think)....nevermind powertrain....passing, pulling hills, accelerating, etc with the big gas or diesels....

 

[rruff]

The "class" is expo style campers that you can buy, not ones you can theoretically build. Any ideas? Maybe the Nimbl on a F350.

 

[nickw]

The "class" is expo style campers that you can buy, not ones you can theoretically build. Any ideas? Maybe the Nimbl on a F350.

Scout?

 

[pugslyyy]

It looks like Toyota is thinking about getting back into this game, could mean some higher capacity chassis availability - https://jalopnik.com/toyota-is-recreating-the-1970s-magic-of-its-chinook-cam-1847868087