Build Thread: Another Black Taco

Okay, here is the build thread with some images. Started in March 2018 with a Tacoma TRD Pro, Black on Black. I 3 way traded in my 2000 4Runner, limited and acquired debt, and a brand spanking new truck. (18 miles on the ODO, 5 of which were my coworker who told me about it).

Goals:
The 4runner was great, there are still things I miss about it to this day, but many more things I like about my truck.

1. Get the monsters in the back.

I have 2 huskies. They shed A LOT. No you don't understand, there is a baseline of hair that lives in my life, and previously it was also in the cab of my car. When I rolled down the windows with company in the car, I would call it the hairicane. I frequently take them on hikes, the beach, camping and generally out and about. They can get stinky, and as the little shed factories that they are, transfer that stink to my vehicle. So, now they live in the truck bed.

 

You ain't kidding about the hair. Our husky is dropping so much hair right now, it's almost more than I can stand. If she wasn't such a cool dog we would have re-homed her a long time ago!

 

#1 Success,

I have a leash attached across the width of the bed with 2 carabiners attaching them to either the truck box attachments, or the factory rail tie down points. Now they have the wind in their fur, and I have a clean truck interior.

As it turns out, having a black truck, with a black plastic liner gets hot for them pooches. While it doesn't get too hot out here on the coast, these Nortic creatures prefer a little shade, and something cool on their paws.

 

#2 Shade for the pups, hide the crap I throw in the back, general life purpose.

The goal with my truck has always been to maintain flexibility, moving my life around, going on adventures, carrying me, my friends and my furry friends, traveling up and down the coast, hauling bikes, surf boards, skim boards, camping gear etc. My pops and a lot of my friends have fiberglass shells, some of them very nice, but I didn't like the idea of driving down the road and seeing a free sign on a couch, or chair or whatever life throws at you, and NOT being able to put it in my truck. This set me on the path for a Canvas Softopper/Soft shell

One of my coworkers also had a Bestop Bed topper on his tacoma, and I really, Really liked the look and flexibility. So I went down the rabbit hole, and looked at Softopper, Bestop and then... I discovered the Can-Back Canvas topper.

I don't exactly remember the dates ( I actually have them for the credit card dispute I had to make but I am too lazy to look them up again), but I purchased the Can-Back Canvas topper. Paid about $2500;
5ft bed, aluminum construction. The whole thing with canvas maybe weighs 50lbs.
Extra mesh panels for the 4 sides. (Extra airflow for the furry ones, easily swappable at will with zippers and snapdowns)

I ordered the roof rack option, which was a primary reason I went with Can-Back over softopper/Bestop. I didn't want to give up the ability to carry longboards, or throw stuff up on roof racks. At the time I wasn't interested in a roof top tent, but I did/do own a Thule Force XL rooftop cargo box which is a nice option since the dogs dominate the bed.

DISCLAIMER: I would not recommend doing business with Truck Candy/Can-Back. Communication was horrible, when I purchased it, I was led to believe the lead time to delivery would be 4-6 weeks, and that the product was more or less on the shelf minus the options. This was completely wrong. These systems are/were being made to order, and the the person managing these companies didn't do any of the work themselves. They outsourced everything to the lowest bidder and never could meet delivery times. If I had to do it all again, I would probably have gotten a fiberglass shell.

After about 6 months of waiting, I received the frame and the canvas (Well after the summer trips I had planned to use it on). For that I consider myself a little lucky. I read a lot of reviews of people never receiving their items. I never received the roof racks that work with the soft topper, (The WHOLE REASON I CHOSE THEM) I ended up filing a claim with my CC, for the difference which I received in about a week, (About $500).


Other than that fiasco, it is an amazing product. The cross bars for the frame are a little wonky, the welded threads in the aluminum bars had burrs which I sanded off, aren't totally in line with all of the holes in the uprights etc etc etc. Anyway, it all came together with some grit. It has a canvas base layer that stretches over the top, 6 removable panels: 4 on the sides, 1 in front (cab side) with a window, 1 in the back with window. All panels can be rolled up, and cinched in with sewn in nylon straps and tie downs. The Canvas is thick, and has held up well with ~1.5 years of sun exposure.

I can remove the whole thing in 15 minutes, or roll up the canvas in 2 minutes and it will all fit in the cab which allows me to find a mattress on the side of the road, break it down and pick it up.

 

Minor Update:

Thule Wingbar Evo 135s (I think?). Great for functionality, I can add my Thule Force XL cargo box up there, although it's a little big and I never liked how much it hung over the front. I can throw a surf board up there, bikes with additional mounts, snowboards, light lumber, a random dresser etc. Plus I really like how it breaks up the roof line so it's not one long tube.

The factory roof bars imo look like crap, they are plastic, and don't match other black parts of my vehicle. I went with these also because again, in a few minutes I can remove them and return the roof line to stock. They were fairly easy to install, maybe 30 minutes/1hr after trimming the rubber, assembling and aligning. Thule gives you great measurements on where to position them on your vehicle.

Minor negative: These did add a slight wind woooshing noise when driving around 60-70 mph. It drowns out with other road noise going any slower or faster, that may also depend on your tire noise and other factors. I am fairly particular about vehicle noises and it doesn't bother me much any more.

 

My truck largely stayed as it was for about a year until spring 2020. It worked great, super functional while camping and a somewhat daily driver. (I have other cars available to drive, plus I put a lot of miles of my ~20 mile daily commute on my bicycles and moped) I have put about 7500 miles per year on her, and a lot of that is trips up the pacific coast or into the Sierras.

When it was just me and the pups, I was perfectly fine throwing a sleeping bag in the back of the truck on day trips or long roadies when I just needed to pull off and sleep for the night. Even with the 5ft bed, and myself being 6'2 I was reasonably comfortable sandwiched diagonally between my 130lbs of fluff. Anything longer I usually found a cheap/free camp spot and brought a quick up Coleman tent. Also if it were more than just myself, definitely tent.

Meanwhile... I had still not given up on finding a rack solution for the Can-Back. I had some 3D models I pulled off the site while it was up as well as both iterations of what they were selling as rack mounts. Basically they just had some towers that would bolt with what looks like 3/8" bolts and then a top portion that would squeeze down a round/semi round bar with a set screw. I reached out to 9 local fabricators and mostly got the cold shoulder or limited interest in a single production. I also was told by 2 different contractors that it wouldn't be profitable for them despite me never giving them a price range. Maybe they were concerned with liability? Who knows, life went on and I kept searching.

4. The ultimate bedrack/softopper combo
Off the shelf or known good fabrication solutions were/are even harder around the Can-back because there aren't many out in the wild. Eventually I found @SOS CONCEPTS and the "Bestop Bed Rack". I looked at the install methods for both the Softopper and Bestop, and my shell and they were similar enough that I was confident it would fit or it could fit with some effort around my shell. I emailed their support back and forth a few times, each time the response was quick and detailed and they were fairly certain the rack would work with my shell. Having been burned before, I also went searching for reviews on forums and 95% of reviews were positive. Of the negative reviews, they mostly seemed like people who were not comfortable with custom/semi custom installations. I also inquired about lead times and options and they met the mark every step of the way.

This thing is a beast. I opted for steel, powder coated for strength and durability and price vs aluminum. While I'm confident that the aluminum would probably be sufficient for my use, the rack is quite tall, and I was slightly concerned with bending and flexing during off-roading. I am by no means an off-road expert, nor do I plan to be. I do a fair amount of gravel roads, slight climbing and some less traversed trails on private property which might just be loose river rock and sand. All of the included hardware was grade 8 nuts and bolts, mostly 3/8"s and a few 5/16"s with Nylock nuts.

The first picture I actually had the uprights in the wrong order, which I have since corrected with the help of @SOS CONCEPTS Thanks again!!! I have stood on the rack (190lbs) on each of the crossbars and support bars and nothing budged except the suspension on the truck. The bed of the Tacoma would likely rip in 2 before this rack failed.

I added some 2" sticky neoprene strips underneath the softopper rail, but on top of the bedrack uprights, as well as some behind the mounting points of the Molle panels on the outside. I haven't heard any rattling of any component since it's all been together.

It is within an inch of level with my Thule Wingbars, which looks clean and makes transporting long/large objects a breeze.

 

Shortly after installing the bed rack, I stumbled up some posts of "bed stiffeners" and cracking Tacoma/Tunder beds. The thought had never even crossed my mind although I had seen them on some trucks but I mostly thought they were just additional mounting points. I then went down the rabbit hole of people warning, with heavy racks or shells, bed flexing/cracking breaking etc..

A sad day but well worth the peace of mind and extra function, I took the drill to my precious rig and installed the @TOTAL CHAOS Bed stiffeners. As other reviews have mentioned, it's nice they incorporate the existing bolt locations on the truck, and run the entire height of the bed. The additional mounting points are definitely appreciated as well while transporting bikes/mopeds.

Install was super easy and the final product looks great and functions well (I hopefully will never have to test the real function )

 

Overkill on the hardware/my own OCD.

I used some of the hardware that originally held my softopper down, to mount my bed rack, and while it only called for 1 3/8" bolt per upright, mounted to the accessory rail in the tacoma.. I opted for buying additional T-slot nuts and bolts as well as some additional camper clamps to get everything really locked down. You can also spy my dog rig for the 2 huskies, as well as a cheapo cargo net I have mounted to some eyebolts where the Can-Back rack should have mounted. I also run the Toyota bed mat, because let's face it, the cargo and dogs would be sliding around otherwise.

 

I drilled out the center drain hole towards the cab and hooked up the factory D ring.

 

Here's the dogs, lookin goofy staring in the sun. The canvas/mesh shell is really nice to be able to drive with it rolled up, providing the dogs more airflow but still staying out of the direct sun.



Annnnnd then I bought a roof top tent. My pack has acquired another dog that came with my lady, so while 2 dogs and 1 human in 1 5ft bed was already pushing it... 3 dogs and 2 humans is just not possible. I did a lot of research and it came down to the iKamper X-cover/Skycamp Mini or the Tepui Kukenem 3 Ruggedized. I opted for the later for several reasons:
1. Tepui is a local to me company which is awesome should I need any service/support/parts. They also have been around a bit longer, and have been acquired by Thule. I suspect this will give them a leg up in long term support, future accessories and distribution.
2. I really prefer the looks, when open, of Tepui tents vs others. I'm not sure why other companies insist on mostly drab browns as their base canvas color... I guess they don't look as bad if they get dirty? I dunno...
3. The inner dimensions to weight ratio are really nice on the Tepui lineup, again I am 6'2, my lady is 5'7? something like that... and I don't want to feel squeezed into a mostly unnecessary luxury purchase. This also gives us a little room for expansion/maybe we let a dog up there... Maybe... hopefully not...

The only real pro I saw in other tents, were the aerodynamics while not deployed which while I understand if it's your daily driver and or you are racking up tons of miles but it just didn't outweigh the pros of the Tepui lineup, or the higher cost and weight.

 

What's on deck...

So I am fairly content with my setup thus far, I need some more mileage on my tent before I can give it the full review.

Potential next purchases:
Pelican cases for the side racks?/Custom aluminum folding tray/storage
Cargo basket on the roof rack? Prinsu? Thule Basket, Yakima etc
Swinging Bike hitch carrier OR homebrew Unistrut custom side bed rack

Current "Issue":

With the Aero bars, and the Roof top tent, it is diverting air down after my cab, straight into the canvas window which causes flapping at highway speeds. I'm thinking a fairing or.. maybe the basket would create a bubble so the air would flow over the tent.. Probably will start another thread for thoughts on this.

The canvas window also has magnets on the bottom, but the gen3 has a plastic lip that extends further than the depth the canvas hangs so it doesn't stick much. I have thought about clamping a bar around the front of the bed to give the magnets more stick, or tying it down somwhere under the bed with Paracord so it keeps it taught.

 

Deployed



Still looking into selling the Thule racks and XL force cargo box and switching to a Prinsu, @CaliRaisedLed , front runner, victory. I don't want to drill the roof. Not really looking for a front light bar but side lights could be an option in the future. I'm hoping the faring in the front of these will direct air over my cargo/over my tent.

 

Sold the Thule racks, decided to go with the Caliraised premium roof rack. They are all priced fairly similarly.. I like the look of the CaliRaised a a lot. Gives lots of options for future lighting without having things sticking up or out too much.

The adjustable fairing is actually really nice and so far I'm getting everything I hoped out of it. 1 minor grip @CaliRaisedLed , I only have the cheapo t slot nuts so I have to undo the extrusions to slip them in. It's hard to find roll in nuts for the 10 series extrusion. I doubt I'll be changing my setup up top very frequently but.. I also may dremmel a wider slot in the center or on the ends for dripping them in. TBD. There is NO wind noise or significantly less than the Thule wingbar aeros which I am very happy about and so far it has giving me back 1mpg that the RTT stole. Got a trip next week which will be the real test on some highway/back roads.

Added a Plano case up top for the storage, hawked the price on Amazon til it dropped to where I was willing to pull the trigger. May do it again for another.

The 42" fits perfect across 5 rails, the 52" would go right up to the faring so may cause some drag or noise .


Also added these Paracord handles in red..im not sure on them yet but they weren't expensive, they are useful and I think they tie in with the rest of the rig well. Thoughts?

 

Lights, Cameras, Action!

As I'm sure many of y'all have done over the COVID riddled 2020, I have taken this time to spend way too much money on my rig. I have been fortunate enough to be fully employed throughout the year, and well.. with very little else to do for fun, camping and working on the truck have gone full force.

If I was going to do lights, I was going to keep it minimal and do it right... or as right as I can do it. Looking back at it now, I probably should have paid for a more full purpose kit, because the trial and error, and the excess of cable and the time... oh the time that was sunk into this. I purchased 2 20w scene pods and a 32" single row slim amber bar from @CaliRaisedLed . Very happy with their price, product line, support and quality thus far.

The Plan:
Fuses and relays for 6 switched loads, and 6 additional fused loads for... well I'm not quite sure yet but at least always on 12v.

The stuff:

Lights and mounts
https://caliraisedled.com/collections/2016-2020-toyota-tacoma

Amber lenses for stock TRD Rigid Fogs

$17 RIGID INDUSTRIES SR-M Series Light Cover, Off Roading Light Cover, Durable Polycarbonate Plastic, Easy to Install, Snap On Light Cover, Light Protection, Off Roading Accessories (301933, Yellow)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074TXH5BM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wiring, mostly Amazon some home depot
Tons of loom

$13 TOMALL Deutsch DT DTP 2 pin Male Female Wiring Harness for Work Light Bar Retrofit Replacement Connectors

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DCMTGXQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
100amp breaker

$48 Bussmann (BP/CB185-100) 100 Amp Circuit Breaker

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PYK5JQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Relays

True Mods 10 Pack Bosch Style 5-Pin 12V Relay Switch [SPDT] [30/40 Amp] 12 Volt Automotive Relays for Auto Fan Cars

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KVZ2KEM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Relay/Fuse Holder

$22 True Mods 12V DC Auto Waterproof Fuse 5-Pin Relay Box Block [6 Bosch Style Relay Holder] [6 ATC/ATO Fusible Holder] Universal Relay Block Box for Automotive Vehicles Cars Marine Boat Light Equipment

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MR64XK1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Blue Sea 12 +/-

$41 Blue Sea Systems 5026 ST Blade Fuse Block 12 Circuit with Ground and Cover

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001P6FTHC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bought ~200ft 14awg variety of colors from home depot.

Blank aluminum tray from
@Mr.PowerTrays
Super nice to have something fit perfectly but give me the flexibility to mount things where I want.




The install

The nice thing about having a centralized place for the wiring, is most of it can be done from off of the truck. So I spent a semi attentive 2 nights, watching baseball games while crimping, soldering, heat shrinking, swearing, cutting, fitting through grommits, re-crimping and heatshrinking etc until it started coming together.






Eventually... everything came together... I also may have overkilled it a bit.. My lines now look like:

Battery+ > Bussman 100amp breaker > Blue Sea + > Fused + > Relay + In
Relay Output + > Fuse > Load (Lights)

Not sure if the fuse after the relay is really necessary but that's the way they are all in now so.. Yep.

This also made it so there are 6 shorty wires under the relay box that go from the relay to the fuse which makes the space under the box a bit tight.

 

Platforms and Tires and Leafsprings oh my!

I blame this forum almost exclusively
This first one wasn't too bad though just blood sweat and tears.

5ft Bed Platform
Since I have my 2-3 furry dominators in the back, the last few trips have still been pretty crammed with the RTT taking up valuable space above the cap. The backseats are stuffed to the brim and I didn't see much way we could fit anything that could last us more than 3-4 days on the road/camping. Also, as for sleeping arrangements, the last trip was incredibly hot so the dogs actually ended up being tied off to the truck outside. How can I get some extra space back while still providing a comfortable travel/sleeping quarters for the 4 legged beasts? A plan was born.

Goals
-Turn the bed of the truck into one large platform giving more depth and width to the dogs for space
-Keep the top of the platform as low as possible giving the dogs the most vertical space for standing and airflow, and keeping their weight as low as possible. (With all 3 were talking about 175lbs+ of dog here!)
-Add options for thin storage of Skimboards/Camp gear/Tools
-Build on the cheap to test at first. If all works well I may look into the more expensive options, Truck vault/Goose Gear/Decked

Materials:
1 Sheet 3/4 ply 4'x8'

3 "Common Boards"
1"x8"x6ft
2"x6"x6ft

1 Roll 6ft x 8ft Carpet Padding
1 Roll 6ft x 8ft RV Carpet in Smoke Color

1 2x8

1 Can 3M spray glue 90 strength
~5/16s staples in T50

Tools:
Circular saw
Sawzaw (Reciprocating saw)
Dremel (Sanding and fine cuts, not necessary but helpful for sure)
T50 staple gun
Measuring tape (Flexible roll was super helpful vs retracting tape)
Measuring T



Got the wood from home depot, got them to cut everything to 60", saved me some time/effort trying to make 4ft long straight cuts with a circular saw. When I got it home I realized how unwieldy a 6' piece of 3/4 ply is so that changed my plans a bit.

I decided to make 3 sections,(inches)
36x48 Back Left
24x48 Front Left
9x60 Along the whole right side

This makes it so the center of each piece of ply, rests over the cross supports, it all comes out pretty easily and I can stack it between the wheel wells if I need to break it down for whatever reason.



Next came these funny cuts... I basically took a measurement from the spot where the bed vertical wall starts to narrow and went straight out far enough to clear the Total Chaos bed stiffeners. I then held that measurement (about 3" and measured every inch or so and made a mark of how much I was losing from the 3". I drew a straight line through those marks and that took care of the slanty bit. For the stiffeners themselves I did something similar, measuring out to clear them then back in an inch to sit flush with the end of the bed wall. It definitely didn't come out perfect the first time, but only required minor trimming on one side to get it to sit pretty darn flush. You may not want/need to do this but I didn't want any paws dropping down and getting stuck between the tailgate and the platform so it was important for my build.





It all fit together pretty nicely by some miracle.. I hopped up on there (190lbs) and it's relatively stable... there is a little wobble between the two large sections so I knew I needed some middle support. Most people opt to throw a piece in the middle but this would hinder one of my goals, and also why most of those nice systems weren't perfect for my needs. I want one LARGE section, even just one whole section would probably be better for me than 2 skinny ones. So.




I slid in the 2x8, dropped the cross "common boards" back down and traced where they fell. I then tried to notch the 2x8 where they would cross.. fairly unsuccessfully. This was the most difficult part by far, took several trips back and forth from the truck to the cutting station, to get it rightish... It's still not pretty and would have been 1000x easier with a jig saw. Anyway eventually the cross members fell into place snugly and flat enough .




Mmmk, coming along nicely but not quite nice.. Now my first stab at carpeting anything. I unfortunately don't have a lot of pictures of the process, but as you can imagine, mostly just laying down the plywood, adding 3" or so boarder and snipping away. My oldest dog is getting up there in age, (8-10) and he's a big 80lb boy so I wanted to make it nice on his bones. So back to home depot I went for the carpet padding, $26 for the roll, so not too bad.

Cut the carpet pad, glued the pad down with the 3M spray to the plywood, then the carpet to the pad and rolled the edges over. Stapled about every 6inches along the back and 3 in each corner (Much easier with help from my lady holding it tight)



Voila! Pretty proud of how it turned out. About 6 hours and 6 beers of measuring cutting gluing, waiting, gluing stapling measuring. After all that I earned myself a nice headache from huffing the glue and finishing it off with some spray upholstery protector.






Kid tested, mother approved. I did shave down the edges of the 2x8 a bit on the end so it sits snugly in the tacoma bedliner slot, might do the same on the bottom although it could then sit 1/4" lower in the slot. Drove around town with the rear window rolled up and it didn't budge so I'm holding off on screwing anything together just yet.

 

Nice work OP!

 

Hell yeah man, functional setup and it’s comfy for the dogs. Missing my 5th gen 4Runner a ton as well but the Tacoma has been next level.

 

Really nice set up!!! I was looking at the Caliraised roof rack, but am concerned that the front will rub on the roof above the windshield and wear the paint away. Is there any contact with the roof above the windshield?

 

It comes with the rubber trim strip which contacts the roof. Any rubbing should be highly mitigated by that strip

 

So while functional, the simple platform left little to be desired in looks, weight and breakdown.

Platform 1.1
I discovered some dunnage racks at work, and after giving them a kick I was astonishing at their weight (or lack there of).



Managed to pick some up from webstaraunt store In prefabbed size (36"x20x8) which got them to my door in 3 days.



This is definitely overkill as far as weight support goes (they hold 1200-1600lbs each depending on dimensions) and they just so happen to sit almost exactly at 8.5" with the bed mat which is where the cross bars come across.

Its definitely lighter than the 2x8 and should be more weather/damage proof. Plus dunnage racks are pretty useful even if I removed them from the truck.