Let's see those Alu-cab setups

Big tent envy here.

That looks business and you guys look pro.

Bravo!

 

Love the setup. Should be running the same thing soon. I wanted windows on the canopy which had to be special ordered so hopefully soon.

 

Very nice - do you have a rough weight of the canopy, tent & awning? I'm encouraged by the minimal difference between your empty mileage and mileage with canopy & tent. I'm waiting on a canopy camper and am hoping not to have a huge mileage hit with it mounted semi-permanently.

 

Hey got my alucab canopy with no paperwork, wondering if you could pm/scan me some pics of the install process/manual. Hopeing to get it done this weekend.

 

What is your hot water heater setup?

 

Just got the Canopy Camper on

 

Gen 3 tent and Shadow awning. Tent bedliner color matched to the truck (original indigo ink pearl pigments but with extra pearl added).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp0orqboMbk



I added bubble levels to the side and rear of the tent that tells me how many inches I need to raise a side/corner with the orange leveling blocks. Worked great on the first try. Park where I want, check the levels and their readings, add blocks (1 per inch of needed raising) and drive up. Level the first time without any guesswork.


LED strip lights installed to the bottom of the Shadow awning housing. Plenty of light to see what you're doing on that side. Will likely add more to all of the awning arms for more light coverage, as long as they stow away with the tent and don't get in the way.


Lighter sockets in rear passenger cubby so I can easily plug in the Anderson to it to power the lights/USBs inside the tent



High rise load bars up top for the kayak, Maxtrax, etc. I have the low rise mounts too, but the high rise ones work better for stabilizing the kayak actually


40" LED light bar is going on the front of the tent below the hinges next.


Coming soon:

Dual battery setup so I can run solar on top of the tent (done)
Kayak v shaped mounts for tent load bars (no longer needed)
New bed rack being built that will be stronger for this heavier setup. I'll use my old rack in the meanwhile. New one will be twice as strong and have jerry can holders, propane tank mount, etc but still be cab height so I can access gear in my truck bed under the tent without having to remove anything (done)
More LED strips under the tent after it's moved over to the new bed rack so I can have full bed and tailgate area cheap lighting that's USB powered from the cubby sockets (upgraded to hard wired touch lights)
More LEDs higher up in the tent that switch on or plug into the USB ports. The lower stalk lights are ok but don't give as useful light as higher lights provide (done, touch light)
I don't like my shoe bags in the tent with me over my head, so I'm going to rig up some bags that hang outside by the ladder like others have. Something easy to remove but won't blow down in wind (done)

 

A Khaya is on our dream list around 15-20 years from now when we'll need more creature comforts. That said, all the Alucab stuff I've seen looks sick, and incredibly well built. Super jelly of those of you who are kitting out with them!

 

Got a beefier rack built by Avid Off Road to support the heavier weight of the Alu-Cab setup. Super heavy duty and I had 2 more tabs installed so I can mount the tent on 3 load bars instead of just 2. Added jerry can and propane mounts to the rack as well to keep those items up out of the bed. Also installed some waterproof surface mount pods under the tent to light up the tailgate area. Hard wired them to the tent hard wiring and added a waterproof latching switch with LED ring for easy on-off when the tent is plugged in to the truck. I also removed my old 2" closed cell foam mattress topper and put this 1/5" cooling memory foam topper and it's way better. I can also close the lid much easier with this topper and that includes having the ladder up there, 2 queen pillows, a sheet over the topper and mattress, and a queen size Pendleton wool blanket up there all the time. Last thing was to run 2 15' USB extension cables to the hinge end of the tent (where I prefer to have my head) so I don't have to fumble around with the USB/LED pod block when I want to plug in my phone and other things.











The hose included with my Partner Steel stove just reaches the propane tank while still mounted. No need to take the tank off to run the stove on my tailgate at least.

 

That black on mgm utility style looks good! I’m guess this is the explorer model? How much for just the shell

 

Looking good, keep these setups coming.

 

This thread has me regretting my current plan of Diamondback bed cover, Max Modular rack, iKamper Skycamp Mini. The black Alu Cab canopy with tread pattern setup looks niiice with the 3rd gen tent on top.

 

Recent upgrades:

180W Sunflare solar panel and a Victron MPPT controller to keep the dual batteries healthy





Small upgrade but a favorite - National Luna touch light hard wired to the tent power. Finally a fixed overhead light in the tent that's worth it. Good light fill even on the lowest amber mode. 2 more of them are already mounted under the tent for bed lighting and I love them.







Also replaced the fixed length ladder with a telescoping one. Lots more tent entry options, and it stows away much easier in the tent

 

Excuse me while I clone this. Cheers!

 

Beautiful canopy!, that's exactly what we want for our Tacoma !

 

Install paperwork? LOL I wish

 

Hey there. I just came across this thread and wanted to add my experience plus some photos. I've been camping in the desert for the last few weeks and just got the truck sort of cleaned up, so I figured now was a good time to snap a few pics. Full disclosure, I live on a dirt road so it's not really all that clean.

I bought the canopy and tent from OK4WD last spring (edit: I want to add that they were great to deal with). So, I have been living with the setup, and camping for at least 3 to 4 weekends a month last summer. Plus a couple of week long, and a couple of month long trips between then and now. For the most part, I'd say my camping 'style' is pretty minimal. I have a couple of totes for food and kitchen items, a 5 gallon can or two for water, and a 2 burner stove fueled by a 1 gallon propane tank. Other than that, I toss in a duffel bag with clothes and toiletries and I'm good to go. No 12v fridge, or fancy drawer system... at least not yet. The one exception to said minimalism is probably this tent.

I admit, 4k seems like a ridiculous amount of money for a bed that you mount on your vehicle's roof and don't even sleep in 7 nights a week. That said, I do use this thing a lot, and when I do, I'm usually setting up camp each night after dark, and breaking down camp before sunrise the next morning. Biggest plus, you can keep all of your bedding and the ladder inside the tent. No packing/unpacking. All I have to do is lift the lid and I'm ready for bed. In the past, I've had a soft shell rooftop tent, mounted at different times to both my roof, and to an expedition style trailer. I've also had an off-road teardrop style trailer. Each of these setups, including the current one, have their own strengths and weaknesses. The trailers are awesome if you are carrying gear for multiple people and/or you will have a base camp that you return to every day. But, on the way there and back, you'll be dragging a trailer behind you. At least with the teardrop, you're bed is ready to go whenever you pull over and you have a place to get out of the weather when it's crap out. Before all that, I camped on a sleeping pad in a ground tent for years. A lot of years. I definitely need the mattress these days.

If I had purchased a long bed (slight buyer's remorse), I would have probably just gone with the canopy and added drawers or a platform, plus a Paco Pad on top of that, and been very content. At north of 6', there's no way I'm sleeping comfortably in the back of this tiny little truck. Also, storing a comfortable sleeping pad, sleeping bag, blankets, and pillows, takes up space in the bed or cab, and setting up/breaking down all of that twice a day isn't very fun and takes way more time than I have patience for. ADD. What was I saying? O yeah, so the canopy seemed like a no-brainer though. I couldn't find a used one, and new, I'd have paid about the same for something that weighed twice as much. Yeah, it's not carpeted and there aren't a bunch of fancy windows that tilt, lift, or slide, but to me at least, that was even more of a selling point.

If I could have afforded the canopy camper from them, I probably would have gone that route. All of the other wedge and topper style campers are pretty nice and I'm sure I'd be stoked to have any of them, but Alu-Cab's design has two things going for it that many of the others don't. The bed platform, along with all of your bedding, can be lifted via struts to stand up in the camper. Aka no panels to rearrange. Also, the rear man-door that replaces the tailgate looks much more logical. I could be wrong, but climbing over the tailgate, then having to pull both it and the lift glass shut from the inside, seems inconvenient, to say the least. Back to my setup though. One of the other reasons I went with the combination camper, is b/c it gets really cold and snows a f**k ton here. With the separate tent, I can remove it and store it in the garage for the winter months, hopefully making it last longer. Mostly, I'm thinking about that 270 degree rubber gasket. It's probably easily replaceable, but I'd rather not have to mess with that.

So after a year, I feel pretty confident giving both of these components a very positive review. There are a couple of very minor things that I'll cover later.

On to the photos. Here's a walk around showing everything buttoned up:



I'm kind of torn on the Hitch Swing though. On one hand, I really like being able to move the bikes away from the tailgate without unloading them. And, it does lift the farthest end of the bike rack up giving you a little more clearance there, as well as extending the rack out far enough to clear the tailgate when lowered. On the other hand, you lose a lot of departure with this thing attached even without the bikes and folded up, as pictured. I've lightly tapped it on the ground a couple of times already. That said, I'm not doing any serious off-roading with bikes on the back and am usually just driving forest roads and two-tracks to get to that singletrack. The adapter and rack could easily be left at home if I was just recreational driving.

Break for now. I'll be back after dinner with some detail pics...

 

Here's a walk around with the canopy all opened up. I opted for two cabinets, both mounted on one side, so that I could keep tools or whatever locked up while leaving the other sides open. I sometimes leave the dog in the truck bed while I'm on a ride or inside a store.




One of those minor issues I mentioned above can be seen in these pics if you look very closely. That is, their paint hasn't held up awesome. I mean, it's not falling off or anything, but it's definitely chipped in a few places like on some corners and edges and from nothing more than normal use. The load bars are a little worse. Just taking the plastic end caps on and off will inevitably shed some paint. The tent looks perfect still though.

Lastly, and to be fair, I received the two cabinets at different times (about a month apart), but the finish is slightly different between them. The one closest to the cab has more of a gloss while the other matches the canopy and tent. Again, NBD. The cabinets are hidden and even if all the paint comes off the entire package, it's aluminum so it won't rust. It might even look awesome raw?

I added some dollar store, rubber shelf liner to the bottom of the cabinets to keep stuff from sliding around.

Then, I ran a feed from a breaker off the battery to a small panel, which I mounted in the upper right corner of the rear cabinet. Ignore the fact that there are fuses with no wires and wires with no fuses. I'm still in the middle of an electrical project but I ordered a bunch of parts weeks ago and everything is taking foreverrrrr to ship. Basically, the rear hatch light will end up on a 2 amp fuse; I'm adding a weatherproof LED strip tucked into the bottom channel of each of the side doors. It should fit perfect in there and be pretty discreet. Those will have dimmers and be on a 5 amp fuse. The tent, which has an outlet and light, will end up on a 10 amp fuse (more on that later), I have a 10 gauge ran to the passenger side bed cubby where I'll be installing an outlet panel right in the cubby door. That panel will have a battery meter, dual USB, 12v lighter socket, and power pole outlet for a fridge down the road. 20 amp fuse goes here for now. I ran a 14 gauge to the driver's side cubby. Plans for this space are most likely a switched 12v water pump with quick connects for input/output hoses. I got that idea from this . I've been looking into the upright tanks like the ones made by Front Runner, mounted to the front of the bed for a water supply. It looks like these guys have basically reproduced the entire Front Runner product line and are selling them for considerably less. A couple of Rotopax mounted up there would work too. Or, that water port on the wheel well posted on the last page would be pretty slick. Either way, water faucet! I've obviously had way too much time off work.





Here are a couple shots showing how the canopy and cabinets mount to the bed rails:





Break for air.

 

Nice post! I was originally going to go with a Alu canopy camper but because there is no easy way to mount and dismount them I decided to go with the setup you went with plus the Alu drawer system. Ended up getting the drawers and there was a bunch of problems with them so I sent them back. Was a little concerned with the quality of Alu after that so decided to get a RLD canopy and a Bush Alpha tent instead. Trying to decide what water system I want to go with now.

Just ordered a 1up bike rack and trying to decide what kind of swing out I want to get if any. Have you had any problems with yours? Does it rattle or make any noises?

 

Don't know how I stumbled onto this thread but here I am. First - there's no perfect setup. I've got a DCLB with platform and a canopy and think I should have gotten a DCSB with a wedge camper. There are always compromises!

On the bike rack thing - I just upgraded to a Wilco and a 1Up. Here's some more info on it: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hitch-mounted-bicycle-racks.444016/page-6#post-23173229

The Wilco, IMO, is the superior swing out setup. It's bomber. No wobble or rattle at all. The anti-rattle mechanism is seriously impressive.

Yes you do sacrifice departure angle, but unless you are doing some serious crawling with your bikes on back, you'll be fine. If you're taking bikes AND doing some serious off-roading, just bring the 1-up and leave the swing out at home. That's the beauty of the modular system!