Wildernest on a light 2wd truck

[elportodave]

Hi,
I just recently purchased a Wildernest camper and was wondering if anyone has put one on a light 2wd truck. My truck is an 1988 Toyota regular bed, and i am worried that this might be too much tent for such a small truck. Any advice such as adding extra leaves for the rear suspension etc...

Thanks

 

[Grim Reaper]

80's toys sag without any extra weight.. Hit you local 4x4 shop ask for some stock TJ rear coils from their scrap pile.

Do this:

http://www.gearinstalls.com/dc.htm
http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showf...&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=7&vc=1
Did it on my 86 4 Runner and it rides great

 

[erod]

got any pics?

 

[kcowyo]

How much heavier is a Wildernest than a regular fiberglass topper?

It can't be that much difference and the rear won't sag under the weight of a topper. Depending how much stuff you store in the bed, sagging may not even be an issue. Have you put it on yet?

An option for an adjustable solution would be airbags from Firestone or Airlift. You can increase the psi in the bags to compensate for the amount of gear in the back of your truck. They are very well received by the slide-in camper crowd and they will certainly correct any sagging that may occur from the Wildernest.

Congrats on getting a 'Nest - :beer:

 

[Bella PSD]

My Flip Pac was about 330 lbs when I started on it. So a Nest should be about the same. My regular fiberglass cap is about 175 lbs. All these #'s are for full size so yours might be even less. They are not all that heavy. Think of it like this, its about the same as two adults that are 165 each in the bed of your truck. Pretty cool how lite the Wildernest is!!

Louie

How much heavier is a Wildernest than a regular fiberglass topper?

It can't be that much difference and the rear won't sag under the weight of a topper. Depending how much stuff you store in the bed, sagging may not even be an issue. Have you put it on yet?

An option for an adjustable solution would be airbags from Firestone or Airlift. You can increase the psi in the bags to compensate for the amount of gear in the back of your truck. They are very well received by the slide-in camper crowd and they will certainly correct any sagging that may occur from the Wildernest.

Congrats on getting a 'Nest - :beer:

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I saw a 2WD Toyota with a wildernest on it the other dayh here in Park City...

 

[elportodave]

Wildernest Pic

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I am going to keep the Wildernest and beef up the rear suspension. Here is a picture of it when i brought it home. It's not a great angle since i wasn't trying to s I tied it down from the inside, but now i need to permanently attach it. There are already 3 holes in each side, but they don't match up with the holes i have already in the truck bed rails and i don't think i can get the drill upright enough to make new holes while the camper is loaded on the bed. Any suggestions on the best way to mount it?

 

[elportodave]

Thanks Dave. That was me who posted on your other site. I appreciate your advice, it is very thorough and easy to follow. I will give it a try this weekend and then send in some pics or questions if they arise.

I like the gold also. I was expecting white when i went to go check it out and didn't think i was going to like the gold, but it was such a good price and great find off of Los Angeles Craigslist that i just had to pick it up, but now it is growing on me, even with the blue color of the truck. Personality right?

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

We had a Wildernest on a 2WD 1986 Toyota pickup. They only weigh about 250 pounds, IIRC. If the suspension shows signs of sagging (which it will once you load it with gear), you could get by with an add-a-leaf kit, but I've seen a lot of those break - they rarely match perfectly with the rest of the spring pack and are thus usually under more strain. If the truck is a long-term project a custom spring pack would be the best solution.

 

[ntsqd]

I agree with Jonathan's suggestion, but if a custom spring pack is a bit too much you might try the 4 leaf add-a-leaf Rancho kit for Toyota 4x4's. Check that the spring widths are the same first. If so, then insist on it and not the far less desirable and far more common 2 leaf kit (1 per side).
They're a bit more work to put in, but you'll be happier with them than with the typical 2 leaf kits. Keep in mind that even though these work better & live longer than the common single leaf kits, they're still a band-aid and they will eventually fail.

Otherwise you might have a look at air springs.

On the drilling of the bolt holes a couple of thots;
fiberglass prefers lots of small fasteners over a few large fasteners, i.e. five 6mm bolts down each side is preferrable to three 3/8" bolts down each side.

If leveraging the purchase of one of those cool angle drills just isn't in the budget, use a scratch awl to scribe where each hole is on the top of the bed rail. Remove (I know!) the Wildernest, and drill in the center of those scribe marks. This is more prone to error than Dave's method, so measure/eyeball it twice (or more) & drill only once & not the other way around.

 

[ntsqd]

The issue with bolting all composite structures is that they can't stand highly localized loads. They need distributed loads, the loading needs to be spread out over as large an area as is practical. Since you're using a greater number of fasteners, each fastener can be smaller in size.

On the drilling, no doubt that the angle drill is the best method. To do it w/o one requires shifting the 'Nest out of the way to drill both it and the bed rails. A PITA for sure, but it's the way we used to do things like this b4 angle drill motors were available.

 

[ntsqd]

You mean that you've never used an "egg beater" drill? Oh man, you just haven't lived until you've drilled a large hole thru thick plate with one of those. One hole can be a 1/2 day experience......

 

[MountainBiker]

On my '87 Toy 2wd I swapped in an extra leaf, and it was perfect for heavy loads. The leaf came from my friends '88 1-ton 2wd Toy, because he wanted to soften his suspension! So see if you can find the leafs at a salvage yard from an 86-87-88 1-ton, and you'll be set.

 

[Bella PSD]

If the nest is only around 330 lbs., I would think that no mods would be needed. 330, Thats not much.

?Louie

 

[elportodave]

Thanks everyone. I have seen some pictures on other threads about the Wildernest causing damage to the truck bed walls/rails. My Toyota has the rails that are C shaped at the top and not really two sided. Have any of you had any problems with the rails of your truck beds? Should i rig up some sort of support as well? The pictures of the damage that i saw the rails had been pulled apart because of the extra strain when the tent is set up.

Thanks again for all the great advice.

Here is a picture of my old rig. I bought this one for $500.00 and drove it from California to Costa Rica and back. The whole trip took about 8 months. And i took this thing on some pretty hairy roads.

Dave