Kimbo Camper BS and Mods

I follow Foresty Forest and he's so good with fabricating and has just a ton of good skills. He's done complete build-outs on at least two vans. He's really interesting and has mad skills, but what I love is his lack of bravado and the kind of hyper, loud, macho personality that is so prevalent on youtube.

 

It being mounted to an aluminum structure, it's pretty hard to insulate the sound of the fuel pump. I tried with some pipe foam but there is still some residual sound inside. Had thought about using some dedicated sound insulation. Having a mount position away from the vehicle, which would require you to have disconnects or something, would probably be the only way to shield the inside from the clicking. Interested in any other solutions, but I easily got used to it, part of the Kimbo space environment. The heater fan hides a good portion of it too when it cranks on.

 

I might have missed this somewhere but can you point me to pics of your mounting setup?

 

No worries. I have a few other posts about the heater on the bottom of the first page, along with some mods from others here.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kimbo-camper-bs-and-mods.651104/page-12#post-25166380

 

awesome ! Great write up. Thanks for the link

 

Cool! Thanks for this. I'm still looking for the perfect steps--how do these perform when downstepping in a forward facing position? That always seems to be the issue for me with a stepladder type--they work great stepping up an in, not so great stepping out and down unless you turn around and face the camper.

 

SMAD fridge issues...

So I bought my Kimbo second hand--Kimbo #108--which the original owner took possession of last July. According to him, the SMAD fridge worked great last summer and fall, but apparently something happened during winter storage. Fridge still works fine on shore power. But the igniter will not function so can't get it to fire up on propane. I was able to get it lit and working by removing the exterior panel and lighting the pilot light with a long bbq lighter while my wife held down the priming button on the fridge. This is obviously not an ideal solution. The igniter will not click or offer any spark. Have changed the battery, so that's not the issue. Anyone else had the SMAD igniter go bad? Anyone know what the warranty on these things is? I emailed Kimbo with the issue, but do not have a reply yet a week later.

Another question--tried plugging it into the GoalZero battery when I was away from shore power and had strong solar input. The battery showed a strong pull coming from the fridge, but it did not seem to be actually cooling effectively. Any thoughts or advice? THANX!

 

I've been on the road 10 days since I grabbed #208, making my way back to Florida. I snapped this photo shortly after picking it up. The bed is very comfortable, surprisingly so. Will share more pictures of the inside setup once I get home. Cheers to everyone waiting; I feel ya.

 

Could someone photograph the space between the Kimbo and the inside of a Tacoma bed wall? Can tools be mounted there like shovels and hilift jacks?

 

It's a pretty tight fit but you might be able to mount something in there. The Kimbo almost touches the wheel wells on both sides so it would have to stick out no further than that.

 

Thank you for taking these shots. I'm wondering if it's possible to both mount tools on the inside of the bed on a Molle rack and also be able to get them out with the Kimbo on.

 

first thing I noticed after two weeks with my Kimbo, how the door is eating away at that cable that holds the left side of the tailgate. Is that electrical tape you put on there? I'm also curious to know how others have handled that issue.

 

Good eye! I used some gorilla tape to keep it from cutting through the covering of the cable. I've thought about other solutions but haven't tried anything else yet.

 

For anyone with the AC option on a Tacoma, how on earth do you plan on accessing the AC vent panel that requires removal to run the AC? As you can see from the photos, this kimbo is touching both the tailgate and the front of the bed with zero room to spare. There’s no way to access the bottom bolts that hold the panel in place (not even through the rear window) in this current configuration. The only way I see this being remedied is either leaving my tailgate down (really don’t want to remove it), or lifting the kimbo on a pallet.

 

Well for those that are interested, I answered my own question….upon some more deliberation, there’s only one screw that you can’t physically reach if you have normal human sized wrists. Maybe a small child could reach that bottom right screw... I just lifted the kimbo about 4 inches to where I could squeeze my hand in there and removed that screw. The cover should be just fine missing one screw IMO.

 

I just leave the bottom two fasteners off before loading the Kimbo in the truck. Still seems to seal adequately against water getting in and I'm able to get the rest loose through the rear window of the Tacoma and reaching in through the gap on the driver's side.

 

Duct tape solves everything, right? I bought some electrical heat-shrink wrap, sliced it, and duct-taped it to the affected area of the tailgate cable. The scissors that I used were also effective in, for lack of a better word, "shaving" down the sharpness of the door that was eating the tailgate cable. I rounded off that sharp edge. We'll see how long this solution lasts, but I think I'm in good shape for preventing further deterioration of that cable, at least for awhile. Cheers.

 

Using Gorilla Tape too. I also have a little door hook to stop the swinging if left open. I just loop it around the inside handle.

 

Some pics from the last outing. Was stoked to use the wood stove in June. Heading back out this Sunday and looks like it will be cool enough up high again.

 

Sorry you're having those issues. I would keep reaching out to Kimbo. Sometimes it takes them awhile unfortunately. I don't have the fridge but maybe someone else will chime in with some ideas.