My Gen 1 5-Lug Camper (Build)

Bought my 2004 2WD auto transmission 5-lug back in 2007 at the ripe age of 21. I've done a pretty considerable amount of hauling and trailering over the last decade, and while wear and tear is definitely showing, at 214k miles this little pickup has a lot of life in her!



The last couple years, she's been a weekend driver only as I've got a company car for work now.

I've recently got a strong urge to get back into camping and do some light off-roading (fire roads, easy trails, etc.) so my son and I can share in some weekend adventures. After doing some research, I decided I could convert my truck into a mini camper.

I opted to do as much of the work as I could myself, not only to save money, but because I wanted to learn.

First things first, I needed new tires (like 5 years ago). I splurged and got a full set of 15 inch steel rims and BFG KO2s. While I was interested in upgrading to bigger tires, I hadn't figured out the details for the lift yet at that time. I'll potentially upgrade to bigger tires in 5-6 years if I haven't grown bored of my pickup adventures.



Next up was my suspension system, which was pretty well worn out from all the work I put the truck through.

I picked up a set of Bilstein 4600s and installed those myself (thanks YouTube tutorials). I now know the rear ones won't be compatible with a rear lift, but since bigger tires are way down the line, I'm on no hurry to replace those.



I also picked up a set of Old Man Emu Dakar leaf springs (before I learned that the Bilstein's wouldn't work with the lift) and because I got faulty info from the parts store, who thought they'd be compatible with the 5-lug (they aren't). I got most of the way through replacing the leaf springs before I realized it was a no-go, and put the OEM ones back on. Thankfully the parts store acknowledged their error and is giving me my money back on the purchase.

I still plan on replacing the leaf springs due to the weight of the shell and camping stuff I'll build in the back. Looking into stock height options, but reinforced for the weight. Open to advice if anyone has it!

I knew I'd want a sliding rear window for shell access and airflow, so I had that done professionally, because so many people on this forum insisted on leaving windows to the professionals to avoid leaks.



Once the window was on, I opted for a used shell and decided to refurbish it myself, which is still a work in progress, but saved me a couple thousand dollars.



This sucker is old. 2002, older than the truck itself, and it shows. The passenger side sliding window had a broken latch, the double bubble bottom seal was degraded, the bug screens had fist sized holes in them, some of the weatherstripping is just gone, but the fiberglass is in solid condition, as are the windows and windoor itself.

We learned during the install that the drop-in liner didn't play well with the shell, so we took that out. The bed of the truck was still in fantastic condition, and I took it in for a spray-in bedliner.



The first step in refurbishing the shell was to pull out the side windows and reseal the frames with foam weatherstripping. This was tedious, but easy enough. I also pulled out the old bug screens and replaced those.



During this process I learned that all of the sliding window rivets were broken, so the bug screen essentially holds itself in place. I do plan on drilling out the old rivets and replacing them this weekend, but I may have to redo the bug screens. We'll see how it goes!



Replacing the double bubble was easy enough, but it wasn't until after I did that I found a new problem. The previous owner had removed some of the fiberglass that would sit over the tailgate (probably because of that issue with the drop-in liner). This means the corners don't seal well at all. In the interest of keeping bugs out when camping, I'm going to fabricate some repairs here.

There were a couple leaky spots in the side windows where the rubber had degraded, which I think is now fixed with some black silicone. It passed the water bottle test, but we'll see if it passes the next car wash test.

While the shell was off, I insulated the top with some reflectix to aid in temperature control. Eventually this will all be covered with headliner carpet.



That's where we're at now, and there's a whole lot more to do! My plans for this weekend include installing the rubber tailgate seal, and possibly fixing up those damaged corners of the shell (not pictured). There was some other minor work done, like weatherstripping the xab windows, but I don't have photos of all that yet.

Got lots more planned, stay tuned!

 

Hells, yes!

 

Time for an update! Had a roadtrip up to Fort Bragg last weekend for a family reunion, which was a great way to test my reassembly of the suspension (nothing fell off, that's a win!) I've got a camping trip this weekend and have been focused on having the camper at least serviceable by then, so the last two weeks have been a busy crunch!

One important observation I made since my last post was that when I installed the rubber shell seal that rests on the bottom, cushioning the shell itself against the bed walls, I didn't align the front quite right and that caused the entire front of the shell to sit about 1/4" too low, affecting the seal of the boot around the rear window. This was a major issue for water, dust and bug intrusion, so the entire rubber seal needed to be redone. Thankfully those kits are just a pinch over $20.

I knew I wanted to take the shell off once more to finish the headliner insulation, and decided to wait until I could spend an evening at my buddies garage so it could be done all at once.

In the meantime, I ordered some Siless sound dampener to complete the insulation of the shell, thinking the double bubble would probably be superfluously thick for the shell walls. This stuff is simple enough to install even overhead, so I trimmed and rolled pieces into place out in my alley. I have enough leftover that I may add them to the cab too, if and when I have time for that.



I left some space around the windows to adhere the headliner carpet. I also made two honest to God attempts to install limo tint on the driver and passenger windows, but messed it up both times, accepted that I'm "not that guy" and got a quote from a local shop to do it for $100. So that's gonna happen later this week.

But aside from that hiccup, it was off to my buddies garage for a couple days for the real work!

We took the windows, boot and windoor off the shell and removed the shell itself, inverting it onto a couple of old rugs he had. I hadn't removed the windoor before and realized that both the rivets that helped secure it in place were broken, so made a note to fix those later. First things first, I ripped off and replaced the rubber seal, making sure to align it properly on all sides this time.

We stripped the old worn out foam seals off the boot and windoor just like I'd done with the windows using liberal amounts of goo-gone, 99% alcohol and lots of elbow grease to get them as clean as possible. Once that was done, they were primed and given fresh weather seals.

Between helping him with the seals, I'd spray adhesive onto the shell and headliner, and per his suggestion started flush at one side and rolled it out about a foot at a time, carefully stretching it over curves and pushing out creases. I used small bricks to hold it into the crevices, and while parts of it came out rougher than I would expect a professional to do it, I was honestly impressed with how clean it came out!



Bit by bit I'd stick the carpet down, smooth it out, trim the excess, and make an occasional dart with an exacto knife to deal with a crease. I focused on just doing the parts that needed to be done with the shell off, knowing I could patch the sides and bottom later on without the use of my friends garage.



With the windoor off, it was easy to trim out the slot for the brake light, although I had to drill out all the old rivets first.



Satisfied with progress on the carpet, I decided to get to work on the wood platform.

This was a tough one, because I'm indecisive and haven't yet worked out the layout. Even a 6 foot bed doesn't provide a lot of space in an old Taco, and I have lofty delusions about fitting more amenities in here than are probably reasonable. It doesn't help that I still don't have my power station, though it's small and should tuck in front of the wheel well without any drama. But I did order the mini fridge so I could play with its placement, even though it won't have any juice for a few more weeks (or months, pending budget.)

With all that in mind, and camping just a few days away, I bought a mattress as well, and decided to just build the wood floor for now so I can test out the layout in the field.

I went with birch plywood, because I wanted it to be a bit fancy, but also as reliable as I could make it. Ideally I build this thing, and never think about it again!



I scrapped some for making templates, and had help from my friend getting the final fitting. We settled on three pieces bracketed together without slats, as the bedliner provides ample room for water to run off under the wood. We cut them to shape, popped them in for a test fit, then slapped a few coats of water-based stain & poly on them to give them a robust color and seal them from the elements. Then it was easy to pop them in and bracket them together.



The brackets will be covered by furnishings in the final build, and they're really only there to stabilize the floor panels as one cohesive unit.

I gave it the night to finish drying, then threw the mattress and fridge in, plus a few tools I had on hand.



The 6 inch mattress is STUPID comfy, and while it's on the floor level at least I can still sit upright in the bed. Long term I'll almost certainly build a platform to put it over the driver's side wheel well and use the space underneath for storage of a rinsekit (shower) and toiletries, plus some cooking supplies.



The Alpicool 50 fits beautifully behind the passenger wheel well and can be almost entirely opened in that position (not enough to lock the lid open, but plenty enough for access). I threw my rubber wheel chocks behind it before strapping it into place because once I was driving it was scratching up against the shell clamp and damaged its finish, but what's a test drive without a few scars?



Ultimately I will build a small wood frame that secures the Apicool (I'm pretty happy with its placement here) so I can do away with the ratchet strap.



This week I'll just finish the headliner installation, build the shell privacy curtains (thanks for teaching me to sew, mom!) and get those cab windows tinted. Soon enough I'll have the power station and solar panel and then we'll really be cruising. In the meantime I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend and sleeping in the camper for the first time!



See you on the trails!

 

That's a nice touch with the wood plank on the bed floor. How does the shell hold up with heat? Have you sat in the back in the evenings?

 

Thanks! It hasn't got too hot yet where I'm at, but the double bubble seems to make a huge difference for heat reflection. Last week when I was in El Cajon it was probably around 80 degrees, but even inside the shell it was perfectly comfortable with the windows open for airflow. Last night I sat in it for about an hour doing work on the headliner with only a single side window open, and that was comfortable too.

 

I wish some company would make retrofit kits for shells which came with a rubber boot to convert to a removable front window. I prefer that design by a lot. It doesn’t seem so hard to fabricate a bracket to hold the frame in place and then some weatherproof rubber material to seal up the gaps.

 

Nice! It feels luxurious (to me) to sleep in the bed of my pickup while camping. These are not even my dogs. They like it too

 

Wow, it’s been awhile, and much has happened since my last update! In October 2023, I took my truck on a 10,000 mile roadtrip around much of the USA that I hadn’t yet seen - I’ve now driven in 37 states plus Washington D.C.

I shared time couch surfing with friends and family and camping in the truck, and it worked out great. But after the trip I had some issues with water intrusion while parked facing downhill for a few days and getting pounded by rain, which leaked in and soaked into the wood.

Since the wood was totally ruined and had to go, I’m down to a much more bare bones and modular setup (which probably saves me a hundred lbs or so of weight if I’m looking at silver linings.)



Ammo cans for storage (looks cool, even if it isn’t the most practical) and a fold up mattress that we can use as a bed or couch, or roll out of the way.



With that out of the way, I looked at the list of other things I want to do to the truck: bigger tires, the lift, new bumpers, a proper roof rack, a body repaint, and I decided that it made the most sense to tackle the lift first.

I decided to the front in its entirety first, and then lift the back accordingly since there’s more wiggle room with the back on these 5lugs. I wound up using a Torch Off Road front spacer, got some off road MOOG coils and the Fabtech 3” lift spindles. A few hours at my buddies garage and we knocked out the entire installation, and replaced the ball joints while we were in there. He’s been working on vehicles for decades and is an engineer by profession, and his experience came in clutch. If you’re going to do this install, I’d strongly recommend a second set of hands, plus the use of a spring compressor for the coils.

Since I did all components at once and didn’t want to put it back together to check the lift each time, I can’t speak as to how much the coils or spacers actually gave me, but overall got about 6 inches of lift in the front. And that gave her a nice Baja til until I was able to buckle down and do the backs.

Oof, the back. It was more of a headache than I expected.

For the back, I got the Fatbob AAL and 2” lift shackle from Fabtech. I spent the extra $ to get new U bolts for the AAL seeing as the existing ones are *just* long enough as is. But I ran into snags with both components.

First, the AAL is pretty easy to install, just use some C-clamps and hand tools and they come apart and go back together without much fuss. But the new u-bolts are a bit wide for the Taco axle and don’t sit as flush as I’d like them to. That may be a negligible issue but it didn’t sit right with me. Not only that but you have to put some ass into them to squeeze them together and fit into the base plate, which generally made putting them back on a pain.

My buddy pointed out that if I’m not hauling or taking jumps, there’s really no reason for me to keep the overload leaf on, and removing it allowed me to get the benefit of the AAL and stick with the stock u-bolts, so I wound up going that route.

Now those shackles. Those damn shackles. They’re BEEFY and I’m all about it, but the new bolts are considerably thicker than the stock ones, and no chance they’d fit through the OEM bushings, so first those had to come out. I don’t have the proper tools for that, so it was a lot of WD40, flathead screwdrivers, begging, pleading and cursing to get them out, but out they came… only to find out the new bushings supplied by Fabtech are too wide for the leaf springs.



Which is great.

After some phone calls, hoping to find an alternative option for bushings on a Sunday afternoon, I took a dremel to them and filed down the diameter by about 1mm, then lubed them up and hammered them into place. Being slightly compressed made the bolt hole too tight, so that had to be drilled out to fit, and on top of that, the bushing heads were a bit too wide for the shackles to fit, so more sanding had to be done.

I don’t know what they’re doing with these bushings as part of the shackle kit, but I wanted that lift, and we made it happen.



She’s looking good now! And with the lift installed I finally got to upgrade the rear shocks to Bilstein 5100s. She’s riding smooth as ever.

 

Looks good, cool seeing the changes over time. Mine was very similar.