Thads Cement Grey Long Bed Build

9/26/22:

Assembly and install of the RSI SmartCap EVOa!

First off I would like to say that I have been a royal PITA about getting my topper on social media, via phone, and email. At one point i was pretty concerned that it was never going to arrive. It was slated to arrive in July but apparently spend 2 months sitting idle on a boat in the Bahamas. I finally got tracking info from a distribution center in Kansas in mid September and it was then slated for arrival on 9/20. The freighter was incredibly unreliable and unresponsive and it ended up showing up, fairly unannounced on 9/24.



I had to run home from work after lunchish and receive the shipment. I will say it was packaged fairly well.

Anyway, after work on friday I started assembly.




The instructions are very thorough and assembly is tedious but straight forward starting with the side panels then the front and back panels, tightening everything, then installing the weather stripping around the perimeter.





It is a pretty cumbersome unit to move around at almost 200# it took 3 people to flip it over so I could install the cross bars for my Ikamper



Man, getting those load bars all mounted and secured was such a pain in the ass. The bolts are all positioned super close together which makes it basically impossible to put a wrench to them.

Next, we took the Ikamper and load bars off the truck. Pretty self explanatory. Took 25 min to do both bars. They were kinda wedged in the track.



It took 4 people, 2 neighbors, to pick up the cap and get it in to position. Honestly, not the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Its just awkward to carry something so big.







Im super impressed with this topper so far! The packaging was really good. It was secure coming across the pond. Material, finish quality, hardware, etc was all super high quality. Most fiberglass toppers come in at about the same price point-and this thing is built like a truck-not a boat. If the wait wasn't so long and I didn't get jerked around by RSI then I would definitely recommend the product. I was VERY close to canceling and ordering a GFC topper.

Next, putting the Ikamper on top: Wow what a struggle. That shit is dense and heavy and getting it all the way up there was tough especially with one of us being vertically challenged. The two of us did it on our own. We put a towel down on the smart cap and got it into position them we kind of shimmy'd it around and got it up on the bars with no dings or scratches on the topper! It was super stressful having to lift a 120#, $4000 tent above your head and get it all into position. Clearly, dropping or scratching anything, topper, tent, or truck was not an option and we got super close to dropping it once. It was one of those get in an awkward position and scream at each other for a few min. Communication was key. We survived and we got it all installed. We still need to center it and adjust it a bit, but its on. We didnt worry about really finishing it on Saturday- Had shit to do. I still havent wired the 3rd brake light. Ill take care of that at some point this week. Same with centering the tent. But here is how the truck sits!



We are gonna try and camp a night or two this weekend so Ill do a full review and rig update after the trip. Im super stoked to see how everything works out!

 

9/27/22:

I would like to address some of my trip notes from almost 6 months ago to review what has been addressed and not.

1. I have RXTs in the rear now set on option 2. With no topper, just the tent, there was a bit of rake and it held weight well. Truck rode great as well and was not tippy.
Now with the topper and tent, the truck is pretty much perfectly level, I need to get it on a flat surface and take measurements. But I do notice how much more tippy it is. probably to do with the tent being so high up. the springs are definately getting more of a work out and are squeaking a bit. might need some grease but I have also heard that cutting up a bike tube and slipping sheets in between the leafs also helps alleviate the squeak.

2. I've done nothing about this

3. Now that I have a topper and tons more bed space I'm not sure I need to build a platform. Might be nice, the dog might also hate it. I utilize my under seat storage very frequently so having a deck back there might impede access too much for my liking

4. Shes on and installed!

5. I've done nothing about this as well

 

9/27/22:

Got the topper all wired up on Tuesday afternoon, after work! Easy enough, follow the directions and its pretty much plug n play. I did snap a bolt when I was putting the tail light assembly back together so that was fuckin sick. I had to take plyers and spin the threaded portion out of the nut as the cap just snapper right off. busted up my knuckles pretty good doing that. of course the dealership was closed by the time I was "done" so I had to grab the bolt next day and to finish it all up

 

10/02/22:

Truck was a workhorse this weekend. We close on our new house on Friday, 10/07/22, so we ran up to Sadies parents house in Seattle to grab furniture and run to Ikea on the way. We left after work Friday night and sorted through everything in her Dad's garage on Saturday morning. We took 2 truck loads of shit to Goodwill, then took the dog for a hike Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning was a fiasco with UHaul like it always is. We called the day before to confirm that our trailer was available-the local store said it was. Well BIG FUCKING SURPRISE!! we arrived to grab the trailer Sunday morning and it wasn't available. We had to run about for 2 hours before we finally had a trailer to tow south. Definitely not how we wanted Sunday to go. We missed the dogs grooming appointment. What a bummer.

I also rolled 25k miles on Friday night on our way up there!







Despite being underpowered, the truck tows great. It works hard and bounces between 4th and 5th gear frequently but its super stable and composed. New leaf springs made a world on difference towing. Same with tuning. Those were honestly the two best mods I have done. I have a hunch gears would also be a huge improvement if I ever decide to sack up and spend the money. lol

 

Man you are doing all the MODs that I have goals for.

SUB’ed

 

Hahah thanks man, its a work in progress! Ill throw a set of sliders on it at some point in the not too distant future. Maybe some other odds and ends. But I'm generally done for a little while.
I just bought a house. I gotta start focusing on getting back into a financial position where I have the option to pay the truck pay off. Time to rebuild the savings account!

 

Great build, love the adventures! Question, from the cap to your roof rack what is the difference? I'm looking at load bars for my smart cap and future wedge rtt so I need to be taller then the cab rack but still keep it low.
Thanks Thad

 

The front runner load bars end up a touch higher than the prinsu cab rack

 

Just wondering if you did any caulking on the cap during assembly? I am considering getting one and I wonder how water tight it is.

 

I did not. but so far its been water tight... I think. it hasn't rained much in central Oregon in the last few months and I park in my garage every night.

The cap came with a pretty heavy duty weather stripping for the perimeter and all the pre bolted connections come pre weather stripped.

 

Oh, its also not a Prinsu. Its a Martin OR. It looks the same-if not better-is cheaper, and has more tie down points. All the prinsu accessories are compatible with it

 

Works even better as that's the roof rack I have showing up Monday.

 

Nice! honestly it was one of the first real "mods" I did. It showed up in february

It went into tint the day after I bought it with 19 miles on the odo, got the bumper caps painted 2 weeks later with 250 miles on the odo and bed rack/tent installed 3 weeks later at mile 300.

 

10/07/22:

Buenos Dias!! We closed on our place and moved in that weekend! I dont really have any photos, but we still had that trailer pictured above filled with stuff. Uhaul called a few times asking where the trailer was... I guess we forgot to tell them we were keeping it for a few extra days. Whatever. They've fucked us so many times that it was time we fuck them. We hired some guys to move our shit in and boy was that the best decision and $500 I've ever spent. I have never seen someone pick up a couch, throw it over their shoulder, and run. Super impressed with the movers.

10/14/22:

The truck fits! I agreed to this specific house because I knew my truck would fit in the garage. Both the Taco and Tundra would fit in my parents garage, but I have never had my own place(rental) that I could fit in. The door was either too short or the space itself was not long enough. NOT ANYMORE!

It was a disaster for a week when we moved in. Sadie got lucky and somehow she was the one that ended up parking in there for the week. The original owners went crazy with putting things up on their walls so we filled about 100 holes and thought about painting, but its a garage. I'll buy some good shop lights eventually to make the space a bit better. Parking inside is such a game changer!

 

Congrats on your home! Nothing better then having a garage but I enjoy mine more for projects more then parking. lol Truck looks at home in there

 

Thanks we’re pretty stoked!

 

11/17/2022:

probably 6-8 months ago now I noticed a few bubbles in my hood. The paint was blistering under the clear coat. I was pretty pissed. But living in such a remote place with the nearest Toyota dealer 1.5 hours away made it hard to diagnose/confirm a warranty claim, or even find a good detailer that I actually trusted to correct the bubbles-if that was a possibility. I was also so busy with other shit that I just didnt have the time or energy to care much. To be completely honest-I forgot about it pretty much all summer.

I went to the carwash a few weeks ago, came home and pulled the truck in the garage to dry, wax, etc and I immediately noticed the bubbles again.





I called a few detail shops in town, sent em some photos and pretty much all of them said that it looks like a factory re-spray truck Thankfully we have have moved like I mentioned earlier and the Toyota dealer is close to the house-on the opposite side of the parkway from my neighborhood. We submitted the warranty claim to Toyota on 11/14 and heard back on 11/17 that it was approved! So my hood gets a third paint job courtesy of Toyota. They are going to strip and spray in February. That was the earliest I could get in. I inquired about buying a factory pro hood and having the body shop spray that one instead but I guess thats not how warranty claims work. Bummer. Ill update how this warranty process goes and hopefully the body shop does a good job and I dont have any issues with it in the future!

 

If I were to guess, they're not gonna strip it to bare metal. Just sand down to a good profile and then base and clear on top.

 

I believe you are probably correct. however the quote was about $1050 and they are not planning to blend the fenders.. So it actually seems like they are gonna strip the hood down to primer at a minimum.

Regardless, if the color is a shade different when I pick it up I wont sign off and bring it home

 

11/20/2022:

Having black "Tacoma" badges was never the long term intent. I had been on the fence about pulling them off since day 1 but didn't want to commit until I saw some photos. A while back I finally spent the time to pull my "TRD OFFROAD" stickers off my bedsides and that definitely cleaned the truck up a lot. In hindsight, I wish I did it and my TRD OR stickers and Tacoma badges week 1 of ownership, when I got rid of the V6 badge. It would have been a hell of a lot easier.. besides, I couldn't find my eraser wheel so pulling the glue off my doors after almost 2 years of heat cycles with my thumbs hurt a ton and actually gave me a nicely sized blister.

Anyway, the truck looks way fuckin better and I'll try and take some better photos this weekend. if you want your truck to be clean, get rid of your badges, stickers, etc people!