1 Bored Clerk's Garage Built Camper

Les Stroud from Survivorman gets dropped alone in the middle of no where and his videos and pics are amazing, no more excuses

 

That's a whole other set of equipment, skills, and patience that I don't have. Sometimes cameras just get in the way of the experience. But maybe a little more work on my part wouldn't be wasted.

 

Starting this project. It's not specifically camper related (but the camper makes it necessary) so i posted it in my general truck thread and decided to cross post it here.



Camper, gear, armor...stock taco brakes are not cutting it on long/winding descents. The braking power is fine enough but I need more thermal capacity. So, 5th gen 4runner front brakes. Which means 17" rims. So, 5th gen 4 runner spare rims. I'm not happy about this as there are no 17" rims that match the width and offset of the factory 16's. The 17" Tacoma sport rims match the offset and are only .5" wider but they are, IMO ugly and a last resort. These 4runner rims are the right width but the offset is off by 15mm. So, I'm sure I'll have all kinds of rubbing now. If it's awful, I can get a set of 17" sport rims but I wanted to try these first since they look better to me. Going to take them to my powdercoater for some color therapy. Stay tuned!

 

Good upgrade but I think to really bring it all together, the tundra/sequina booster is needed. That’s on my list....have to get the truck driving again though before worrying about that.

 

Well, we'll see. There's only so many issues I'm willing to chase with this platform. And if these brakes and wheels cause too many issues without solving the main issue quite well, I'll sell them, and go back to what I have now and call it a somewhat expensive experiment.

If I were to do all of this over, I would have started with a full size. They are just more suited for carrying weight on the regular. My camper and gear is pretty lightweight and it's still right at the limit of this truck. I like the mid size but they are too lightweight in capacity.

But this has been really good already. I'm learning a lot about what I want/don't want, need/don't need, like/don't like. I'm really looking forward to the next several years learning from this setup.

 

Already planning the next one?

 

Formulating thoughts...but not really planning at this point. I'll have the Tacoma for at least three more years unless some massive shift happens in my life. Maybe I'll have it until it's a worn out heap, who knows.

 

You’ll definitely see a difference. Just an FYI is all! Hope you enjoy them and hopefully the rim issue isn’t too much of a pain

 

Thanks! Did you find your brakes to be mushy or too firm with the standard Tacoma booster?

 

The feeling was the same (mushy) but the truck stopped sooner. Apparently the booster brings it all together. My truck is a heavy pig (probably heavier then yours with the camper) so the stock brakes don’t owe me anything.

 

Well, if it's the same mushy but stops sooner and has more thermal capacity then I'm good! More mushy or you have to stand on them to get them to do anything is a problem. But standard Tacoma mushy works.

 

So, real question: do I get new TPMS sensors for the steel wheels (the 16" aluminum wheel sensors don't work on larger 17" steel wheels)? Or do I have my current TPMS sensors removed from my existing wheels and put them in a pressurized tube and store them somewhere on the truck? I've read this works and keeps your TPMS light from coming on. I include my spare tire in my rotation scheme as I like to wear them all out at the same time. I'm a nerd that way. And, the spare does not have a sensor anyway so I'm not really getting the full benefit of the sensors except once every 5 rotations. I don't like the idea of messing with the pressurized tube of sensors but I also don't want to spend money on new sensors. Thoughts?

 

long time lurker, first time poster. you can transfer tpms from alloy to steel, but not vice versa (well you can, but you have to flip it, and the sensor wont sit against the middle of the rim, but will be kinda sticking out and can get damaged when putting the tire on). Also, if you go the pressurized tube route, couldnt you only pressurize it very low (~5psi) then reset the monitor?

 

Thanks for chiming in! My info is old so it may be of no use. I just thought it wouldn't work. As far as the pressurized tube goes, I'm not sure how the tpms reset works...never messed with it. I imagine it has a lower limit programmed that can't be changed for safety. But a PVC tube with 20psi in it is no big deal, really...I guess. I'm heading to the tire shop shortly to get my tires on order so I'm glad I have your info to help in the conversation!

 

Why do the TPMS Disable mod?

I don't mess with sensors, did the mod, and never looked back!

 

TPMS disable mod. Explain yourself. I'm not up on this topic.

Edit: I just looked it up. That seems like too much work.

 

You spend too much time working on your truck, and not enough time reading TW!

It's actually not that much work. Cheaper than buying new sensors every so often, tool.

 

Truth! Actually reading TW is occasional at best. I don't love modding factory wiring harnesses in any way. Hmmm...I'll have to think on this.

 

You can always unmod it if you need to. Just think about your cuts before you cut the wires.