Should I trade my Taco for a van?

Thanks for the advice guys (and all the No's have it ). I like to do my own vehicle work when I can, and I don't think I could find similar advice on how to fix all the things wrong with my first gen Tacoma on a 'van-enthusiast' website, if such a thing exists!

I'm going to go the bed cap/topper route. When I used to live in Massachusetts and Arkansas, and travelled a lot of state and county routes, I use to see discount/used bed cap places everywhere. Haven't seen a one since I moved to Philadelphia. Any suggestions on anything local to my area, or any luck finding these at pick-a-part junkyards? The rattier the better, to disguise the bikes inside! Craigslist here has been pretty skinny and I really want to fit it on the truck to see if it gives me bike clearance before buying, so eBay isn't a great option either. Thanks!

 

I know this site really is amazing. I was looking at f150s for a while but happy I got the Tacoma and found this community. Very helpful!

 

Honestly, I think external bike security is almost always an issue, hence you see a lot of vanlifers have their bike storage under the sleeping platform. If you park it anywhere remotely populated, there is a risk. That said, I tend to wind up in "bike towns" like PC, Grand Junction, Moab, etc which seem to have enough communal awareness from other bikers that it prevents a lot of that. But leave it parked outside a gas station in SLC for 5 mins...that's a different story.

The elements are something you just have to accept. East coast has soaking rain, Utah has moon dust ankle deep in the summer on some of the access roads. Bring a rag, some lube, and maybe some rinse water and just deal with it. All you can do really...

It's funny you say that about the boat, I spent several weeks on a 41 footer sailing from Miami to the Bahamas and back on a live aboard dive trip thing. It is amazing how fast everyone goes a little "native". The scalliwag factor is real.

 

I would love one, but even a reasonably built 4wd one is like 75Gs. Maybe that's just the Utah / Cali market though.

 

Crosspost from the Bikes and Tacos thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/all-things-bikes-and-tacos.445155/

All right everybody, as I posted earlier, I had the opportunity to demo an Alta Rack "Alta Six" shuttle style hitch rack this weekend in exchange for marketing-use pictures and thought I would share my thoughts.

**As a disclaimer, I wasn't paid for this or anything, just thought I would offer my comments on a decent product and support the little guy**

https://www.altaracks.com/product/alta-six-gpr/

So Alta Racks really took off this last year with their 6 bike shuttle rack. Currently it is their only offering, but unlike Recon or North Shore, it is adjustable / scalable. The rack has 6 baskets and rear wheel tie-ins. The default offering includes 4 regular size tire baskets that will fit 24-29ers, and then your choice of 2 baskets that fit either regular, plus, or fat bike tires. We had my friends Marin with 27.5 x 2.3 tires in the plus basket and was still plenty secure, so you aren't as limited as the basket selection might appear at first. As a secondary retention measure as well as to secure the rear wheel, Alta branded voile type straps are used. The baskets were quite tight against the rubber, but no rim contact was made. This reduces the possibility of damage to the bike, but did well even on the bumpiest of shuttle roads. We took it down the Grafton Mesa road and up Guacamole Mesa. If you know anything about these roads, you know they are NOT gentle. We were sure to strap the bikes down, and everything held strong (even through a few enthusiastic rally drifts around dusty corners).

In the below picture, you can see the wing bolts that are used as set screws on the rack. These allow you to move the baskets and tire holders left/right to avoid rubbing between the bikes, and also allows you to remove baskets. This trip we only took 4 baskets (3 regular, 1 plus). For those of you that aren't partial to the Alta Racks branded plates on the outside baskets, they are bolt-on so you can take them off.

You can also adjust the height of the top and bottom bars by undoing and adjusting a couple of lag bolts for different length bikes and depending on off-road clearance needs. You can see the holes in the below pics.




Loaded up and ready to rock! Utah sunsets, American flags, and Christmas lights on the RTT rack, what more could you want?



One of the reasons we wanted to try it out was to test practicality on mid-size trucks (maker owns a Dodge diesel), but also experiment with an RTT setup.
My Tepui Ayer on top of a C4 rack clears the front tires in the upright and locked position by a few inches when the tent is deployed. The rack also has the ability to swing down 45 degrees to clear tailgates, make it easier to load, etc by use of a redundant combination slam latch / pin adjustment. You might also note that I have my tailgate down. My 2nd gen / 2015 could drop the tailgate and clear the slam latch by about 3/4 of an inch. 3rd gens with the deeper bed will likely not be able to enjoy this feature, and will have to tilt it down.

Tagging @Box Rocket and @C4 Fabrication FYI in case someone asks you about this in the future.



Alternate view of vestibule clearance from the kitchen:


Tailgate access and view of the slam latch / pin adjustment plus the wheel straps. "Like a glove...":


A bonus feature on this rack is that there is a slide in bracket that retains a bike stand attachment. It holds it quite securely, and at a reasonable height for most chores without too much stooping:



Finally, here is the description from the Alta Racks website for a full lid.

 

Thanks for the bike tips! You're right, I guess it is something I just have to learn to get comfortable with, and all things need maintenance.

That's a definite on the scalliwag factor. Land-based girls may be hesitant to get from the bar to the boat, but boat girls are a different story. Of course, there are very few young, good-looking, single boat girls out there ...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yUafzOXHPE

 

Naw, they're all expensive. But the Mitsubishi Delica ...

If only we could get those new-model Canadian ones (we're stuck with 25-year old ones in the US) I'd probably go for one of them over a Sprinter.

 

There is a right hand drive '87 Delica for sale here in Utah. Thing is pretty sweet.

 

Haha, my buddy made me watch that episode before I began my trip. Frequently thought about it while at anchor outside a few Bahama bars

 

Only trade it if you can fit 33s on it.

 

It's pretty crazy comparing American Delica prices to Canadian ones. So much cheaper, so much newer over across the Northern border. I believe the under parts were based on the Pajero, which was our first (cramped) SUV for a family of six growing up in Saudi Arabia. It was a great little truck, though definitely not as capable as the Land Cruiser we replaced it with and overlanded all over the Middle East.

 

But Mav did it anyway...maybe not the best to use in this case

 

welcome to TACOMA world!and NO!