Four Wheel Camper on new 2020 Tacoma

I'd be more concerned of where your gonna put 3 dogs and a baby seat!

 

thanks for all the great advice...I am already learning a ton from all your posts. This may be a bit of a silly question, but could someone explain to me the basics of suspension...? I know that there are coils, leafs and struts. But what are all their individual functions? How do all those parts interplay with each other?

I think I still want to stick with a Tacoma. I just need to figure out the right combination of suspension modifications. I have read so many different suggestions on here, but don't know the difference from one to the other.

 

Plan is to have baby seat in the back seat of truck (why we want the double cab). The dogs will be in strapped down kennels in the camper. If its too hot for them to be in the camper, then they will ride in the back seat of the truck as well.

 

Marie @HeadStrong Off-Road you're up.

 

You may want to take a baby seat with you to the dealership and see how it fits. My son has a double cab and a 2 month old. That cab gets tiny real fast with a baby seat in the rear. Hopefully your wife is really short.

 

I hate to say this... because I LOVE my Taco but it’s barely big enough for my wife and I most times. I wouldn’t even consider it for a family of three, plus three dogs.

Would you consider an off-road-ish trailer/ camper? Than put a cap on the truck keep dogs back there baby in the back seat, and just tow a trailer? To be honest you’re asking an awful lot of a very small truck. You can get a trailer with everything you want and an enormous RTT for the same money or less. I just don’t know where you think you’ll be able to fit everything in a Taco with a little camper on it...

Better yet, maybe a Toyota 4Runner? Everyone can stay inside climate controlled and tow a trailer behind that? Better engine for towing much more room for the baby.

What kind of dogs are we talking about anyway? Your liable to look like the Beverly Hillbilly’s driving down the road before long?

 

I don't want to sound like a dick but you are talking about an FWC Fleet on a Tacoma. I hope you have pocket sized dogs in shoe box sized kennels and a very small baby seat.

 

A family of three and three dogs....in an itty-bitty Tacoma grossly overweight and under powered. With drum brakes and Camry engine....In the Sierra Mountains....What could possibly go wrong? Go for it!!

 

OP, you can make your size Tacoma/FWC work easily. With dedication & stoke, you'll figure out a way for your fam + dogs.

My wife, 2 dogs & I traveled for 1.5 years on the road in our rig, which is much smaller than yours.

I firmly disagree with everyone discouraging you.

We have 1 big, 1 small dog & a extra cab 1st gen + Eagle model & a (safe) trip of a lifetime. You're doing week/weekend trips, you'll be just fine, hell you could live out of if if you want to.

 

That is amazing and an inspiration!

 

I second what @Trowbocop says, a properly modified taco can handle this safely as long as you drive it like an adult. My wife and I are heading out with our highly modified taco next May on a 3 year, 150,000 mile adventure driving around the world. Ours weighs 7,000 lbs which is well over GVWR. Your challenge will be balancing a comfortable ride with the camper off versus Safely carrying the weight of the camper. I would recommend appropriately sized Dobinson springs, beefed shocks, as well as airbags. Definitely change the tires to at least a load range C or even E. Other people will have a better opinion about which brand airbags. I would bring a infant (forward facing) car seat and test fit it. Three dogs next to the baby will be tight. I’d definitely build a flat, carpeted platform for them.

 

I did road trips for years, with a family of 5, in an actual Camry, through the Rockies, with a rooftop cargo box. It was no problem. 4Cylinder too.

People’s expectations these days have become so bloated, and the people themselves so soft. This whole “if you got kids, you need a tundra” mantra is retarded.

When I was driving the Dempster Highway this summer I had to laugh. Some fucking entitled idiots go by in their 6X6 Earth Roamer, getting .2MPG, meanwhile the actual hard-ass people who live in the Arctic are making the same journey in a Pontiac Sunbird.

I felt like a twat sometimes in my oversized Taco.

 

Tundra, at minimum.

People forget being over GVWR is a liability. If you cause an accident and the person coming after you knows what to do, you're screwed. Although the odds are slim, it's just something you should be aware of.

Don't stick to a Tacoma and put yourself over GVWR, as well as others at risk. For this reason only I went with a Vagabond over a 4WC on the mid-size truck platform.

 

Your truck is going to smell sooo bad inside with the dogs on trips, plus no room, overweight, etc.
I would get a shell and put the dogs back there and buy a tow behind camper which you can unhitch when not needed or off exploring.
Others are correct on too much weight for a Tacoma safety wise and rear end will self destruct as some point - mine did simply towing a heavy trailer.
If you do the popup camper then full suspension upgrade and look at ECGS for beefier rearend parts plus a brake upgrade too.
Also do you realize your mileage will drop down to about 10mpg at best with cross winds pushing you around too.
Off road it will be more unstable also.
Then with the weight maybe a regear to lower ratio which includes the front to match.
The stock Tacoma is not designed for the use you have planned.
Read about GVWR before you buy anything and this site has masses of info on it. Anything you want to buy camper/trailer insist on weighing it at a truck scale to see the real weight first - you will be amazed and start adding water, propane, equipment, clothes, dogs, people, and weight soars.
Yes people have done what you are thinking of and survived.
Your advanced planning is very smart.
Good Luck.

 

I thought I was pretty bad ass when I rode up to Eagle Plains ...on a freaking half-ton Honda Goldwing....until I saw dudes on ....bicycles (!) doing the same run from Dawson City.

 

Exactly my point. You win.

 

The dry weight of that thing in the base model 1045 lbs. My truck has 1200 lbs payload. I weigh 220, my wife 140. I'd be 200 lbs overweight before I added anything to the camper or my truck. No way I'd even think about driving with that on the back of my truck. Making modifications might help give a little better hauling or towing experience when approaching the max GVWR, but does not allow you to go over the limits set at the factory.

 

7,000...I have 7,000....do I hear 7,500?
Going once, going twice...7,500 last call...7,500...

 

OP, i understand staying with the taco, but I think you should strongly consider a trailer. As others have said, you will wind up with much more room and approximate, if not lower, cost. You need to put significant money into the Taco to safely handle either of these situations; full suspension and gears at a minimum. With a trailer your truck still has to move and stop that weight, but it carries very little of it. A lot of these trailers in the 1200-1500lb range have a tongue weight around 120 lbs. You can also easily unhook it during the week. Spend your money how you want, just something to think about.

 

Wow....everyone thanks for all the insight and opinions. Thats why I came here for advice...everyone has a ton of knowledge and differing ideas so I know I am hearing all options.

We definitely don't want a trailer. I hate towing things, And...what happens when we are down a trail and its washed out or a massive tree is down over the trail. Ive had it happen to us many times in our current Tacoma and our Subaru. Many times it was difficult to turn around because of the narrowness of the trail. If we had a trailer, it would be next to impossible.

We are now going back and forth about a Tacoma or Tundra. I think we could make a Tacoma work...but I now worry about the unnecessary
stress on the truck...the frame, the brakes, the transmission. Also people comments about safety definitely resonate. With an infant we definitely want to minimize risk. Also think it wouldn't be bad (size wise) with one child...but if a second one comes, then its going to be tight. Our dogs are well trained. Two are medium size that will just lay on the floor. The 3rd is tiny and just goes under the passenger seat and sleeps. As far as smell and what not. We currently spend most of our summer in an ultralight tent in the backcountry with the 3 dogs and without showering for days. I can't imagine it could get much worse than that.

I am starting to lean towards a Tundra. It looks like the SR5 4x4 isn't THAT much more expensive than a Tacoma TRD Off Road. Our big concern with a Tundra is going down tight trails and getting pin striping on a brand new truck.

I also realize that a Tundra pay load, although higher than a Tacoma will still probably be under our weight with the fully loaded camper, people and dogs. What are your thoughts on needed suspension modifications for a Tundra? I don't think it would have to be as extreme as for a Tacoma. Hoping that if we pay more for a bigger vehicle, than maybe we would be able to spend less on suspension modifications.

THANKS again! you all rock!