Thoughts on the Truckhouse Tacoma expedition camper...

[Porkchopexpress]

I'm not 100% sure the going for a rip photo is real. So hard to tell these days with CG. Has anyone seen a video?

At the very least, it is probably photoshopped to look pretty but I think that's standard in advertising. There is also a video on their Instagram account. Look up truckhouse.co

TruckHouse® on Instagram: "The rendering drives great #truckhouse #truckhousebct #toyota #adventuremobile #4x4camper #toyotamotorhome #explore #adventure #offroad #expedition #expeditonvehicle #overland #overlanding"

2,411 likes, 97 comments - truckhouse.co on May 13, 2021: "The rendering drives great #truckhouse #truckhousebct #toyota #adventuremobile #4x4camper #toyotamotorhome #explore #adventure #offroad #expedition #expeditonvehicle #overland #overlanding".

www.instagram.com

 

[rruff]

TruckHouse | Adventure-Ready Expedition Vehicles

TruckHouse, builders of the carbon BCR - the most adventure-ready expedition vehicle on the market.

www.truckhouse.co

BCT | TruckHouse

TruckHouse BCT, the most adventure ready vehicle built for the intrepid nomad.

www.truckhouse.co

I want to see this part:

" Effortlessly float down the gnarliest roads with the long travel independent front suspension and the beefed up rear end - think trophy truck. "

 

[SitesSD]

"Trophy Truck"

 

[FreedomTraveler]

First off, I have nothing to do with this company. This post is only made to help answer some of the previous post.

I did spot this in Carson City this week, the picture I took is real and not photo shopped or faked in any way.

A cool guy came out when is saw me checking it out and did mention the following;
-This is number 2 ( I did not see number 1. )
-It weighs about 500lbs. ( No, I did not have a scale with me. )
-They have 7 orders. ( No, I did not ask to see there order book. )

All this being said, I was impressed in what I saw in it's unfinished state.

As for price, that between the sellers and buyers to determine whats fair.

I do not think they want people coming by, so I will leave out the address where it is at.

Safe travels.

 

[Steve_382]

Looks like they are getting closer to unveiling the first unit.

BCT | TruckHouse

TruckHouse BCT, the most adventure ready vehicle built for the intrepid nomad.

www.truckhouse.co

 

[saf5000]

People like these guys are needed to push the industry along, good on them. Cool concept and for a lot of people this will be a great size/capable camper. I think they went for the Tacoma for the cool factor, which I think it has. Personally, i thought they'd be better off going all in on the "small" side and sticking to Supercab or regular cab half tons which have decent payloads depending on configuration.

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This is a Brazilian guy with a sandwich panel camper on a single Ford ranger, a really tidy build with full wet bath. Payload is probably somewhere north of 1400kg depending on what trim and suspension fitted

Im personally looking to go this route after my Iveco daily build is now stranded in NZ and I'm now based in Aus.

 

[tacollie]

Payload is probably somewhere north of 1400kg depending on what trim and suspension fitted

I like seeing campers on shelter platforms. In the US to get 1400kg payload you are in the 3/4 ton truck territory. Their Tacoma's payload is under 600kg. We don't have a good way to increase it. They are adding big brake kits, long travel suspension, and a custom rear axle to carry the weight. That's added complexity and a lot of aftermarket parts.

The 3.5 in the Tacoma is an ok small truck motor but the auto transmission is poorly matched to it. Fuel consumption is going to be bad. It'll be similar to a 3/4 ton truck.

An AU spec Ranger is a much better platform to build on. To bad Truckhouse is in the US?

 

[Dances with Wolves]

Build it on something like this, then you're cooking with gasoline.

Cactus Plastic Fantastic - '21 Ranger build

And so we have the beginning of something like my 6th build of the camper / overlander / expo sort. I still have a fairly heavily built '15 Sprinter 4x4 but wanted to put something together that's lighter, more capable off-road, and able to haul @ss down rough roads. I love the van for longer...

expeditionportal.com

The Tacoma with any of its motors is weaksauce, unless it's supercharged. Mine struggles going up Parleys Canyon with a shell, 3 people, a full tank of gas, a Costco run, a few suitcases, and the AC on. I wouldn't want to drive it with any camper on the back unless the road is flat or downhill.

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

Fuel consumption is going to be bad. It'll be similar to a 3/4 ton truck.

LOL! My Tacoma, fully loaded and pulling a trailer, gets far worse gas mileage than any 3/4 ton truck! It's really the darkest side of using a Tacoma...

 

[FJ SD]

At minimum

I think what bothers me so much about this/them is their willingness to take peoples hard earned money for non refundable deposits before they even have a working unit to test and make adjustments before hitting market.

All the drawings / renderings in the world aren’t going to be able to determine what works and what doesn’t in real life

People can choose what to do with their "hard earned money." If a pre-rev company wants to throw out renderings and see who bites while developing for another 6-8 months why not? If they in fact have 7 deposits secured, then the jokes on you I guess? I cannot fathom why you are consistently so invested yet so negative about not just truckhouse's progress but with so many threads on Expo? I have no relation to Truckhouse whatsoever, yet I find their entrepreneurial endeavors far more compelling than what you are up to. You talk a big game of supporting small American companies yet you trash this one getting off the ground AND you chose to purchase DIY panels from China.

I fully agree with the public consensus that this should be on something other than a tacoma, but maybe we should all just let them actually build the damn thing and see what happens. If it implodes then harsh criticism should be expected, but for people who have likely never developed a product ( or anything) at this scale to pick apart young American entrepreneurs who are taking a serious risk (and progressing the stagnant camper space) by is utterly ridiculous.

 

[rruff]

If a pre-rev company wants to throw out renderings and see who bites while developing for another 6-8 months why not?

If it implodes then harsh criticism should be expected, but for people who have likely never developed a product ( or anything) at this scale to pick apart young American entrepreneurs who are taking a serious risk (and progressing the stagnant camper space) by is utterly ridiculous.

There are many legit criticisms regarding how this was marketed. I listed all the ones I could think of somewhere in this long thread...

A lot of people on this forum have experience "developing products on this scale"... or at least enough experience being around product design, development, and business management to know that renderings and a plan amount to almost nothing.

Some people like to throw money at crowd funded projects via non-refundable deposits... and hope that something comes of it. It is certainly possible that Truckhouse could build a very nice rig... and I hope they do! But they showed close to zero ability to do so when this was introduced.

About "taking a serious risk"... the people who put up the deposits are taking the risk.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

You talk a big game of supporting small American companies yet you trash this one getting off the ground AND you chose to purchase DIY panels from China.

I do, and I stand by it…

I tried VALIANTLY to get my panels from GXV, that makes them in house in the US. As mentioned on my build, 3 phone calls, and 3 emails unanswered. I had cash in my hand and they didn’t seem to want it.

Same with AEV. Cash in hand ready to buy bumper, and hood. They were down right rude on the phone the 2 times I called, and played stupid about knowing if their stuff would work on a 5500. Turns out the entire body is identical between the 2500 and 5500 and the stuff I wanted to buy would of worked. So their lack of spending 5 mins doing research lost them about $3k of my money.

Kelderman, Baja Designs (yes I know some parts made in China), Buckstop, and LifeBlue had amazing customer service so they got my $.

Total Composites responsiveness and customer service was top notch also so they got my money.

Would I prefer it have gone to a US business? For sure! But the only one in the game had horrendous non existent customer service, soooooo.

Simple concept really ??‍♂️

Customer service is a long lost art that is fading fast in the US sadly, and ill stand by that statement all day as well. Of course there are still some companies that believe in it and thrive because of it, but its far from the norm.

My horrendous experience with my brand new $30k FWC was a glowing example of horrendous service that lost them at least 4 other campers, friends were considering buying, and went elsewhere after my (and another friends) debacles.

 

[Steve_382]

I see that TruckHouse is going to unveil their interior this weekend at the CO Expo show. I think people will love what they see. Can't wait to see the official pictures.

 

[Steve_382]

You can get a look at the interior of the BCT on their Instagram page.

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[bajajoaquin]

There’s been a lot of talk about size and how it’s weird using a Tacoma because it makes it big.

The thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the small camper combined with the double cab. Why optimize around carrying four people when the camper won’t comfortably accommodate them? That is a lot of space dedicated to a use that is transitory. Who is this for? A young family of four? It’s pricy for that market. A couple with the money to spend? Those extra seats are suboptimal space utilization.