Norcal Spotted and BS Thread

I'm throwing them in the garbage. Wait. No. Don't want to be that guy. Sure, you can have them once the replacements show up.

 

and they match!

 

Yeah it's a fiberglass shell. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/d/toyota-tacoma-lb-are-series/6422183591.html

What utility shells do you recommend? I personally like @Toynado setup

Yeah, been doing some measurements on my existing setup ... the platform will be quite high if I want to be able to fit a cooler under it

Might have to give up the bedslide ...

 

Fucked up and broken?

 

Toynado's is exactly what I was thinking.

Also, sorry, thought you had a 2nd gen for some reason.

 

i see a group buy in the future.

with 17" wheels can we fit the 14" rotors?

 

Like Don and Jason said, you lose a lot of real estate. Bedslide profile is 4.5” (according to their website) and the wheel well height is 9.5”. So only 5” of storage height, but obviously less since you need the clearance to slide out.

Putting everything in waterproof containers, then using the bed slide to easily unload is an option. Then sleep on the slide like Don suggested. But if it’s raining, you have to put all the wet containers back on the slide. Then your bed platform will be wet at the next camp spot. A rear awning would help.

Putting the platform higher is an option, but not a good one. Assuming the platform profile is 2” (sheet + bracing), and a compressed mattress is 1” above the platform, that puts you at 12.5” above the bed (9.5 + 2 + 1)- if the platform is on the wheel wells.
Bed depth is 19”, so platform would be 6.5” below the top of the bed.
Top of bed to top of cab is 20.5”.
Subtract 0.5” for the shell profile, and you have 26.5” above you when you’re sleeping.
That’s just enough to turn over or sleep on your side. Putting on pants is doable, but challenging.
So putting the platform higher would really suck.
Probably better off building some full drawers, the Decked system, Frontrunner drawers, or Goosegear.
Or get a high-top camper and put the platform higher, if you really want the Bedslide.

I camped in a cab height shell for 5 years and only felt comfortable when the mattress was at bed height.

These are all just my opinions, based on experience, so YMMV.

TL;DR - Get a popup camper

 

@916TacoTruck
If you do put in a claim, keep the following in mind when writing your description of the circumstances:

iv. TRED 800 and TRED 1100 are not suitable in conditions with temperatures below -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit). For cooler conditions please consider the TRED Pro device which is rated up to -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).

Pretty sure it was warmer than that...

 

That’s the only time i actually used them was in the snow and they cracked in multiple places.
Actual photo of them below.

 

Details available on what you did? I need to do something for the sides of the tailgate. Big gaps there.

 

I did a couple things.

I stuck weather stripping in the tailgate. I still have some small gaps on the tops of the tailgate at the ends. For those I cut a piece of shop towel in half and jam it in there.

I also filled all the vent holes in the bed with expanding foam insulation. You can also use a sponge dipped in some kinda oil that doesn't degrage like mineral oil. Tear bits of foam off, dip them in oil and jam them in the holes.

I tried a thing that worked really well but turned into a pain in the ass after a while. I glued some pipe insulation (the pool noodle looking stuff )into a loop and jammed it between the camper shell glass and the truck cab glass. Open both windows and run the HVAC on high to pressurize the bed area. This forces dust out. It works amazingly well. The problems are that I like to wheel with my windows down and the insulation is a pain in the ass to keep in place. I tried an inner tube but it expands and contracts with elevation changes too much.

 

Good info. Thanks.

How about one of these? Probably run into the same elevation change issue.

 

Saw this sweet setup in Chinatown last weekend. Anyone on here?

 

Probably. Although I wonder if the material in that tube is less stretchy than a butal rubber bicycle tube?

I think I used a 20" mountain bike inner tube. It fit really well. I attached a topeak mountain morph bicycle pump to it and just left it attached. The only problem is I try to mountain bike once a week so I'd always be taking it off the inner tube.

 

For me, the bedslide was mandatory with a shell. I didn't want to be crawling on my hands and knees every time I had to retrieve something. I had considered a platform until the slide was actually installed. It was obvious nothing was going on those precut slats for the boards. I got a Tacoma instead of another 4Runner because I no longer wanted dogs in the cabin. But I had to have a shell for the dogs. Wife demanded it. So, my primary use is for dogs/hunting. I only sleep in there if I'm running solo. If the spousal unit comes along we tent camp.

 

Sacrificed the cubby doors with this method of sealing, but over all very effective. Some dust intrusion but nothing like before

 

Sounds good. Let's all go out and start or own town... Tacovillle, have to own one and be into *modeling it to live there

*modding