Casper's "I did a bad thing" micro off road camper build

Rak'em up!

Mod 2 for the day! I had obtained a cab basket from @TacoFMS a while back to repurpose and mount to my bed bars. I quickly realized since I still use the truck as a truck it was impractical for me and the basket and bars came back off. They were sitting in the rafters of my garage so I pulled the basket back down and reinstalled the air dam onto it. I ounted it to the thule bars on the roof and whala extra cargo space!

 

Did your Tacoma have the tow option? Or did you originally wire in a 4-pin connector?

I have a base reg cab with no tow wiring at all. Wondering how hard it is to install 7-pin wiring and connector to be able to handle a camper like yours? I already installed a hitch, just no trailer wiring.

 

Hasika awning:

These campers have ARB awnings as an option. They offer the 1250 to come straight off the rear and cover the cooking area but they're not very wide and for the price didn't cover as much area as I'd have iked. No disputing the quality just wanted a little more coverage but to span across the rear having a wider ARB up there would probably have been ripped off on the trails.
With about a weeks worth of looking all over the internet at awnings I discovered the Hasika on Amazon (I'll provide a link) I was impressed with what I read in the reviews about the quality and ease of use. Ay half the cost of the ARB I rolled the dice and pulled the trigger. This awning is designed to attach over the rear of a vehicle or even the sides, extend outward, and is supported by 2 poles. The poles ar in 4 sections each so you can adjust the height of the awnining or even remove them and set the end on the ground. It's wider and longer and offers much better coverage. If you had soebody come to visit it's even designed to be pinned to the ground and make an auxillary tent. It's light made out of tent material, one person setup, and mounts very sturdy once in place. I need to fiddle with how I attach it to this camper but it did fine like I had it. Tear down and stowage took about 10 minutes.

Here are pics of it in different stages:

On ground as a tent


All the way up on all 4 pole sections per side;


With 3 pole sections per side which we thought was about perfect




No poles and the outer end on the ground which still allows plenty of room for cooking and great coverage in rain


Link

$117 Versatility Camping Tent for Truck Bed,SUV RVing, Van,Trailer and Overlanding Portable Teardrop Awning Canopy Tear Resistant Tarp with 2 Sandbag

https://www.amazon.com/Hasika-Trail...230&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=hasika+awning&psc=1

 

Mine had nothing when I got it so I installed the reciever and a 4 way for my utillity trailer so I could haul the 4wlr. The 4 way was easy as pie you just pull out your tail lights and it hooks inline with the harness for them then you just tidy up the wires and mount the coupler to the truck at the rear. The 7 pin I got (I think its a Haskins?) was easy also it came with a 4way on the back that I just plugged into the connector I had. Attach the ground wire to the frame, and run a hot wire from the battery back to the black terminal abd it was prewired so all i had to do was splice it to the black wire. You can see more in the trucks build page it's on the last page or so

 

Can you give a link to the Haskins 7-pin adapter that you used? Thanks for the info on the wiring!

 

I got it fro a local trailer shop I'll see if i can find a model or anything for it

 

Awesome little camper, I love these funky/functional ones. Subd!

 

I went out and dug through the trash can in the garage but couldn't find it. It's a Hopkins connector I was incorrect. Appears to be a quality product and comes with the mounting bracket. On the camper I used a Trailer Star connector # TC2007P you don't go by thewiring sequence o that connector but instead I looked up the one for the connector on the truck

 

I guess when I see discussions on 7-pin wiring, they seem complicated because they usually contain wiring for a brake controller. Didn't realize you could still use 7-pin for lights and power without involving additional wiring for brake controllers. That is nice!

 

Yep it came prewired for a brake controller and for a trailers back up lights I just bundled them together and zip tied them up out f the way. If you looked at how I did it in the build you see I did install a 30a breaker in the hot wire just in case. The hot wie was also encased in a rubber hose before I ran it through the frame for protection

 

Kind of confused on this. Didn't the trailer already come with a 7-pin connector?

What is the TC2007P used for?

 

subbing, great looking little camper!

 

No. The one we got was a leftover 2016 and they were wired with a 4way flat but I converted it to the 7 pin so I could add the wire to charge the battery

 

Very nice! Sub'd!

 

It'll be busy here for a little bit until we get stuff sorted out and ready then the adventures begin. We're going to have to start in campgrounds as I have to sleep on a CPAP unit but once I get the power demands figured out and get the correct solar panel, pottie, and shower we hope to beable to go off the grid for several days. I'd like to beable to get by with out a generator

 

I can't wait to see how everything turns out and the adventures it takes you on. How bad is the apnea? Will you need to build in a backup power of some sort...depending on how far "off grid" you go?

 

I've been on a CPAP for over 20 years and at the time they said it was the worst case they'd seen by far. I may end up adding a second battery If so it ay be 2 6volts as they offer longer life than 2 12's. I'm learning about this stuff and obviously have much more to learn. I know it can be done they offer battery packs for the CPAP problem is they're $300-$500 and they replace the CPAP about every 4 years I'd hate to spend that and then have to get a new unit and buy another battery
Also glad to see you sold your tent

 

Yes sir...it found a good home with @BravesTaco95. I'm just glad I didn't get stuck with two tents for too long since I'd already bought the replacement beforehand.

 

I look forward to seeing the new one installed and operational. I don't participate with the Nova crew some of us are kinda down here in no man's land

 

Did the manufacturer put the battery inside? That is ok on a sealed type but that looks like a plain ol' SRM-24.
Do not put a wet cell inside the trailer unless in separate compartment vented to the outside. As batteries charge and discharge, hydrogen gas is vented off (if enough hydrogen accumulates, think Hindenberg) along with corrosive fumes. Mounting outside is a far better choice as long as you can access them and keep them watered.