Would the wife notice the Bowen Crawler setup?

I've executed that with my former propensity of getting a new vehicle every 3 years. It works, but the problem is there is a price to pay afterwards. If you're willing to put up with the shit you get for weeks after the purchase, go for it

 

Naw just tell her tacomas are known to evolve in time

 

^ That's the end goal

 

The problem was not ordering the Tacoma with a seat warmer on the passenger side that thinks it's so cool she's wondering if you'd notice if she bought it herself....

 

Fab mistake 101 from your post, you don't have to bend anything to build a bed like that. All those edges can be welded. Will it take more time? Yup. Will it function just the same? Yup. Will it be several grand cheaper? Yup. Will it be as pretty? Nah. Will you have way more pride in it? Yup.

Heck, you could take a multiple month night class designed for someone starting out as a welder getting into the trade (though that would be overkill) for $5-7k. Buy the materials, and still be well under the cost of that bed. And why worry about mistakes and wasted materials? That's how you learn and gain scraps you'll need for future projects. It's only a stretch if you have a defeatist attitude. Welding isn't rocket surgery

Everybody is so scared to try something new. That's why these companies make a killing. Sad part is they do it while taking your money up front, then make you wait forever. It's a racket.

 

Taking the time to learn is great if you want to do this for fun, or for a living. But again, 99.99 percent of people aren't in that boat. And if everyone did as you say, a lot of people around this country would be out of a job. I'd be happy to pay Bowen and the like's for a quality product built here in the US supporting their fabricators and such. I'm not saying you are wrong in your reasoning, but it all comes down to the individual and how they value their time, money, etc. My time with family, friends, etc is worth far more to me than the labor cost charged by Bowen to build something for me (if and when I'm actually in the market).

 

I swapped out my stock OR rims, tires and suspension and my wife never noticed. Only reason she noticed my cap was I had to wait 6 weeks for it and she had heard me talking about it.

She probably would this though.

 

Personally, the best advice so far is to wait for Joe Methman to tweek out and hit the bed with his 02 Corolla. Ya know the one with 3 hub caps and a big fart can with expired plates and a hail damaged hood…and a flat brimmed Monster hat that says “hoonigan” with his ears tucked up in it….but the trick is…his Mom would have to have made the latest insurance payment. See, this is where it gets complicated….

 

I swear I read re-wife the first time I read this. Coincidence?

 

That's a Ram 3500. Doesn't have a lick of trouble with the Scout.

...That'd be a better question for my truck...

 

To the guys saying build it at home, you’re assuming everyone has a garage to hold all of the tools, supplies and half built project until completion. Or, knows of someone who wouldn’t mind someone else’s project in their way.

 

The truck on their site is DirtLifestyle, and if you follow him on YouTube, you can see it required him to chop I think about a foot off the back of his frame as it is shorter than the stock bed

 

Yeah I know soon as I seen this on dirt lifestyle I wanted one till I seen the price damnnnnnn