Wedge Life

Don’t do it.

 

No improvement? Or can you elaborate on why?

 

Several people have mentioned increased/new noises. Not limited to Sherpa. Reports that it did not increase MPG either.

With those and the fact that you can’t really put anything up there for storage, it’s pretty pointless other than looks.

 

Okay, thanks for the info. I was skeptical whether it would actually make a difference but the noise is pretty brutal so was hoping this might be a solution. I guess I'll continue living with it then, definitely not spending that kind of money just for looks.

 

I'd say it helped with noises and the look. Definitely no mpgs. Could attached rotopax.

 

Interesting. You’re a report opposite to the several that I have heard that it didn’t help much and added new noises.

I also wonder how much difference the larger cab gap with having a 3rd gen changes things. Us 2nd gens have the Vagabond pretty close to our cabs.

 

When I had my FWC I got a Yakima wind fairing and it helped a lot with noise and mileage and buffeting. Much cheaper option.

I kept using it with my current shell and had similar results.

 

I have a 2015 Tacoma with a Sherpa and an SP. couldn’t tell any noise reduction nor mileage improvement (it’s not good anyway loaded!) But my neighbor also has a 2015 with a GFC and Sherpa. He says it really improved the noise.
Whatever! It does add a bit of roof top storage at a bit of a high cost.

 

I think for the money, you’re better off dropping the headliner and installing some sound deadening material. But if you need some storage or a light bar then it’s a good solution.

Somewhere on TW someone did some computational fluids analysis of the aerodynamics of different camper shell configurations and theoretically a fairing did nothing on the over can campers. Lots of assumptions were baked into that, but it was interesting to see what the model predicted at least.

 

This is 100% accurate. None of these racks are worth your money unless you need them for some extra storage or like the way they look.

While it provides some storage I definitely need & use, I put a rack on mine b/c it cosmetically fills the gap between the camper & roof and looks better to me. That being said, I originally had a full length SSO rack. It looked great, and was well built, but it was noisy as hell and I never thought it was noisy at all before I put the rack up there. I then switched to one of the Sherpa racks and it was 100% quieter, if not the same as when I had no rack at all, in my opinion. Their design is far quieter. Once you alter the stock profile of the truck, regardless of the camper above it, I find you will get more noise. That just comes with any roof rack, bars etc. Simple bars on my wife's 4Runner... more noise. A bed rack that sticks up slightly above the cab on my Tundra... more noise. It's unavoidable.

I don't think anything short of a huge fairing will ever improve the mpg though.

 

Photo from last weekend.

 

TLDR; Long post for diesel heater enthusiasts so bare with me.

After 2 winters of 0 degree sleeping bags and dealing with condensation every morning, it’s time for an upgrade. I’ve seen lots of similar ideas and which inspired my design, but I haven’t come across something exactly like this.

Background: I wanted the heater inside the truck and all the connections (including fuel storage) outside the bed. I don’t have a HC bumper which could of made mounting a fuel tank way easier, so for now this is the solution. Looked at portable heater setups but decided against them since the point of getting the wedge was to make setup/breakdown easy. I mean you don’t want to spend more time setting up a heater than it does to pop the wedge amirite?! Lol…anyways with winter camping for resort skiing it usually involves a little driving to/from each day (besides a handful of locations), so that was a big factor for me. I’ve listed some details of what I used below.

Heater: Espar as3 d2l
Tank: Flambeau Fluids 2.5gal CARB/EPA

Decided to go with a more expensive heater for a number of reasons. Hopefully those pan out long term. Besides the heater, tank, and exhaust wrap I purchased the rest of the supplies at the local hardware store so nothing fancy used. The tank tray is made from aluminum and I used some rivnuts to secure the tank straps, brackets, fuel pump, and exhaust to the tray. Oh btw I discovered you don’t need the actual rivnut tool to set those, the diy method works great!

I’m able to fill directly from the pump through the access door, and it allows me to monitor the connections and adjust the fuel pump angle if need be. I also put the heater on a hinge for easy servicing and used fiberglass gasket for wood stove doors around the heater for a better air seal. The only issue I’ve identified so far is tightening the fuel tank cap is a frickin’ bitch due to the tight clearances, but it will have to suffice for now. The future plan once I decide to build some cabinets is to run a filler hose from the tank through the panel and have a flush mount filler neck facing the tailgate for easier refueling. I am by no means an expert fabricator and I’m also pretty lazy so please excuse the roughness of the overall design. Access to some better tools could definitely have this look more polished, but overall I’m happy with how it turned out. The tray is solid as a rock and I shake the whole truck when I try to move it lol. Heater fired up first try without throwing a single error code which was a relief, and the only noise I can detect is the roar of the exhaust (i.e. no fuel pump clicking noise). The real test will be later tonight though!

Happy to answer any questions people have.

 

What about the gas version? Then you wouldn’t need a separate tank to fill. I think about a diesel one when winter arrives and then I realize that I don’t want to deal with the smell of kerosene or diesel everywhere.

https://www.titandiykits.com/products/webasto-evo-40-gasoline-furnace

 

I thought about that, but I haven’t seen enough people tap into their main fuel tanks to decide if that was worth the effort and/or caused issues. If I get a long range tank I’ll for sure go that route and tap directly into that. For now all I can do is hope the smell doesn’t leak in and I have a steady hand at the pump lol. I’ll report back after some use.

 

It’s very common in the van world for these. It is what I would install even without a long range tank.

 

Sounds like a great way to get evap codes. I think diesel is the choice for a reason on TW (gas powered trucks)

 

I’m not sure about that. I think it’s because diesel heaters are everywhere and you can buy a decent one for $100.

My folks have a gas heater in their van and they have had no issues with it. Sure would be nice to not have to manage another fuel type. But it’s quite a price difference.

We’ve got a portable all in one diesel unit that I just duct it into the tent zipper. It’s certainly not as convenient as a built in system but it’s fine. Run it a couple hours at night and an hour or so in morning.

 

This is pretty slick! I like the idea of having the fuel tank mounted under the bed I just haven’t been able to figure out a good way to fill it up. Is your cap vented? Any issues with fumes? I’ve switched to running kerosene in our heater because the smell is much less offensive to me. Our heater has a vented cap and when it “breathes” it stinks. If it weren’t in a sealed carrying case then our whole bed would be super fumey.

 

Yea the cap is vented - they have a few different styles (vented/non-vented). Haven’t noticed any leaking with the off roading and winding roads I did over the weekend. That’s been one of my concerns, but so far everything seems good. I figure if it does leak at least it’s outside the bed so it wouldn’t be as noticeable, and it shouldn’t get on anything I’d be concerned about. I think there’s a pretty good air seal too with the panel I built to mount the heater and the composite bedside with having the bed rug sandwiched between them.

There maybe a little hint of diesel, but I think it’s from the exhaust when it first kicks on and I have the tailgate window open. Once it’s ramped up to full power and the back is closed up - no smell and little to no smoke from the exhaust pipe.

I’ve used it everyday since installing and have about 45-50 hours on the heater already. Still have roughly a 1/4 tank of fuel left. Trying to find the optimum temp to run it at, but for now it’s set at 66 degrees and I’ve run it anywhere from 45min to 6hrs. Takes about 5min to warm up inside and then I can hang out in my t-shirt, underwear, and no socks lol. Definitely one of my favorite camper mods now.

 

Yes definitely love the diesel heater!!

I originally had an all in one unit, but have since pieced it out and upgraded to a bigger 10L tank. Since I store the tank inside the camper I used a standpipe to ensure no leaks and a breather to vent it outside (the plastic tank will expand and constrict with elevation changes).

The 10L tank will last me four nights on the lowest setting for ~12 hours each night.