Truck Camping Photo Thread

There's not a lot I know about this cap because I bought it second hand from a backyard cap dealer who didn't know much about it himself. There's no branding on it and I think it may not be made specifically for tacomas since it doesn't meet the taper of the bed. It's light since it's aluminum - easy enough to lift for one person, but a little awkward from the size. A.R.E. and most likely other brands make some similar ones for third gens.

http://www.4are.com/product/cal/

 

I like the look and simplicity of it, didn't even realize ARE had basic aluminium caps so thank you for that!!

 

Appears from their website they don't have any options for DCSB though, just shot an email off to the local dealer to see if they know more than the ARE site...

 

You're welcome! I'm pretty sure they had one that fits third gens because I put in that model year in my search to see if they make them for Tacomas. I like the outward opening windows on all three sides for loading / accessibility and visibility. The only drawback is that there is no insulation and I sleep in it. I've come across some ideas to insulate it and I think that will be my next mod to make it warmer / cooler as needed.

 

Bummer. Hopefully you'll come across a company that makes them though. The good thing is that they don't have to fit the contour of the cab so just the dimensions of the bed have to work as far as I can tell.

 

Pretty much what I'm looking for at this point, going to have to take a tape measure and head out to the used canopy store!

 

Not sure what shipping and exchange rate would do to the price, but pretty quickly I found at least 2 companies that make made to order aluminum shells and one of them started out around $1k.

http://www.workmatebylifetime.com/

http://www.jasoncaps.com/light-duty-unicover

Maybe there's a Canadian equivalent?

 

You should go for it. I already booked another camp trip to this place.

 

Sub
We camped at a recent duck hunt
I have a platform with a droor in the back then sleep on a 4" think memory foam pad, I used my backpacking sleeping bag and if anything I got too hot throughout the night, I think the low was like 20 degrees that night.

 

Mind sharing your idea for insulation?

 

Two week camping trip with family of five taking the long/wrong? Way to Cabo from Nevada. Kitchen on the tailgate, tent in the cactus. We had room for an inflatable stand up paddle board but not much else. We had to eat through 1/2 our food before we had room for souvenirs.

 

I love those camping trips.

"Okay kids, everyone needs to eat at least 2 chocolate bars before bed!"

 

Sure, this is what I have in mind so far:

For the windows I'm going to cut out covers made of this material and secure them temporarily when needed with some sticky back Velcro.

$28 Reflectix BP48010 Double Pack Insulation, 48 in. x 10 ft

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BPAULS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483591646&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=bubble+insulation+48&dpPl=1&dpID=31Io+mGxiWL&ref=plSrch

For the ceiling I'm thinking of going this route:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...with-a-lot-of-bs.460158/page-11#post-13836161

My ceiling looks like his trailer's on a smaller scale.

 

was thinking the same idea for the windows,
but I was going to sew almost like a "pillow case" looking deal out of a tough material (personal preference to make it seem more rugged, really could be done with any cloth like material.), put the insulation in it, then sew ( or attach somehow) 4 magnets to each corner (my window lining is metal) I kind of like the magnet idea more than velcro, i'll test it out.
then you could roll them up and stow away when not in use pretty easily.

then a friend told me a tip for sealing the truck cab to the shell, use a bike tube ( bought a 18" tube today) and put it in the space, then fill it up! i thought it was brilliant, i'm going to test that out too

 

I like the sound of your idea - try to have a reflective material on the outside if possible - even metallic spray paint sprayed on the fabric could reflect sunlight off of your windows. Speaking of packability I remembered sometimes the dollar store and discount stores have those silver accordion style windshield shades that could be cut up to the size of windows to make them foldable and storable. Liking the magnet idea too.

 

oh yeah this would work well too, i'm thinking on the cold side of things, so I want it a little thicker i think..

 

Check out weather stripping the tailgate.

 

yeah i have been, last camping trip i noticed the gap, very notable from inside. I went to a few hardware stores with a open mind to see if anything looked like it would look good in there, not enough to really search but thats on the list

 

I recently cut fitted pieces of reflectix for out tear drop camper windows. works pretty good. I cut them a tad large and they just push into the frame. It was much needed after last weeks trip to the Oregon coast!

 

Might be worth a try:

https://m.summitracing.com/parts/AGI-30946

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/which-tailgate-seal-kit.160847/