My 2013 Tacoma Access Cab Chinook build in progress

It will be good Justin...not like an RV with solid over cab structure...

 

I had a windshield visor on my 85 back in the day and it blocked all view of the lights.

 

Gotcha Justin! This is going to be high enough that I can not see it at all while driving!

 

The rack was dry fit and welded on a temp wood stand... ready for finishing after some grinding and clean up...

 

The rack looks good. The way you are anchoring it looks like it would put extra stress on the truck's roof and front of the camper. I think a couple supports going down to the hood area would handle the weight and rough roads better. Just my opinion.

 

Thanks for your thoughts Poolguy... I am wanting to keep the rack out of my field of vision. I have more structure to work with than meets the eye. The top camper mounts will bolt to a pair of steel plates that will be secured to a 4"x1 1/2"fiberglass laminated ring that runs continuously around the top of the camper. Very substantial and meaty... the back of the cab roof where the camper joins is sandwiched with a 1"x3" steel tube member that then ties the cab to the welded steel camper subfloor. i am distributing the load over the roof channel that is designed for rack mounting....If I feel that I need additional support, I will run a a tube parallel to the windshield frame and tie that to steel structure under the hood....

 

sounds like you thought out through.

btw: you have a great build!

 

Looks great! I'd still be leary of putting heavy items in it as it seems to focus the load at the front because of the cantilever. I know the channels were made to strengthen the roof and attach tracks on the DC's but even there it's spread out so the rear carries some of the load as well as having B pillars. Could the second spare mount on the front bumper? Those channels aren't like the frame of the truck, not made for serious weight.

 

could always airbag the front end too, heh. LT range D or E tires and airbags and a taco can go way over its weight rating reasonably well, as long as you don't drive stupidly with that extra weight. I wouldn't fly off of sand dunes with that camper

 

i just hope bouncing around won't cause problems with the windshield seal. I doubt it would be a problem with light loads but off roading derates recommended maximums and a cantilever focuses loads rather than spreading them out.

 

How has life been? November is coming up and I was curious if you were still planning on being in the Los Angels area. We will be out of town during Thanksgiving week, but I would really enjoy hearing about your build, and the adventure it sounds like you are on.

 

Thanks for checking in Cfayne! Life has been getting in the way of my project finishing... I am plugging away but not there yet. My more relaxed pace has been pleasant... I don't want it to become a job. I will keep you posted on getting to the west coast!

 

Got my hand held shower plumbed and mounted on a diamond plate bracket inside the forward utility box on the drivers side.... for the shower, I ended up with a bidet sprayer. I found out it is tough to find a hand held shower with a trigger valve.

 

It looks like it could work as a beer tap! If you drink enough beer, you probably will not care what you smell like anymore!

 

I have been busy doing other stuff. Guess I needed a break from this project but got back to it today! Got all the 110 volt side together today. Tested the outlets and good to go. 12 volt side next! Feels good to be back on it! After the electric I can finish the interior details...wall covering, upholstery etc.

 

I have so many questions lol - Just posted about if anyone had done a Chinook build.

 

Made a bunch of progress on the interior wiring. Temp mounted the little LED puck lights with dimmer. Also a 12V oscillating fan. They are wired. All of them then come down for the final grey felt upholstery then reinstalled... mounted the battery switch for the 2 battery system. The 2 batteries get connected with #1-0 cable through the switch with an isolator that connects to the starter circuit... also mounted a switch for the second fuel tank gauge. Some bus bars for future 12V needs and wiring for the little demand water pump. Also a cigarette lighter for another charging option and circuits for the fridge in 12 and 120 volt...All the circuits are run through the fused switch panel.... I have another switch that will separate the 2 12V sources... the house battery or the 12V step down transformer if I am plugged into shore power or the generator is running. The 2 position 25 amp switch will not allow the circuits to be fed by both sources at the same time. I have a retired boat electrician working with me a few hours at a time which is awesome!

 

Glad to see you back in the game. The build threads have all the cool stuff 'n ideas.

 

Getting pretty close to finishing up the camper wiring... tomorrow We are going to try and tackle the wiring for the auxiliary battery with switch and isolator. I need to wire a leg to the starter circuit... a leg that is only hot while the starter is turning (not continuous while running).... does anybody have any insight? I can for sure find one by trial and error but being a fundamentaly lazy guy, I would love it if someone could point me in the right direction! Thanks!

 

every starter I've seen, there's just two wires.... the really heavy one that goes to a big stud on the solenoid and comes directly from the battery, thats always powered, then a thinner wire that comes from the ignition switch and energizes the solenoid when you turn the key to 'start'. from https://www.customtacos.com/tech.ol...6toyewd/06toypdf/ewd/2006/tacoma/h/em01d0.pdf it looks like the starter circuit is yellow/green.