2002 Tacoma build for extended stay in the desert

Nice! What‘s the length of your sleeping platform? Exactly 6ft?

 

I built the box right at 70" to make sure it would fit in there the way I wanted it. My foam mattress was 72". I cut it back to 70" as it was tight against the back door frame. Now there is enough slack to lift it and put on sheet and close the door and operate the lock without any issue. I put the bed on that side trying to keep everything balanced out weight wise. My 185lbs is on drivers side. The bed and whatever I store under it plus weight of the wood on passenger side. When I put the fridge in I should be pretty well balanced left to right. I also considered the awning and road shower up top as part of my balance. All the wood components are bolted in and fit snug. Undo a couple of bolts and all the wood can be removed pretty quick.

 

Love the build! Have never come across this shell. Will for sure learn more about it. Made in Canada is it?

 

@tslick awesome, appreciate the detailed respond.

 

The final step of my build. Install the solar power. So after countless hours looking at solar set-ups and how to videos I settled on a all in one setup. Everything is in the box and saves a bunch of wiring and calculating. So bought an MPP all in one 1000W system, 175W panel, fuse block and various wires, connectors etc. I haven't purchased the battery yet but will be purchasing a Battle Born 100AMP hour Lithium. The MPP all in one was purchased from MPP USA. They are made in Taiwan not China. I have heard the ones on Ebay etc. are China knockoffs. So the unit has a 1000W inverter, all the fusing and overload circuits are built in.

So I built a little station to house it all. Has 1000W inverter. 3 12V cigarette outlets, 2 USB outlets, a voltage meter and off/on switch. This will power my fridge, computer and charging accessories.

 

Did you end up buying a tufport? Would be curious to hear how it turned out for you. I'm in Vancouver as well and am considering purchasing one of these. How often do they come up on the used market?

 

Not yet... I ended up building a new house on Vancouver Island and have been finishing it every weekend and holiday for the past 2 years! I just passed final inspection and am now back on getting the truck sorted. Just installed new suspension, camper build will be next. I have yet to see a Tufport come up again on the used market. didn't purchase the used one i saw because the windows the PO had installed were nice, but too big. I will probably just end up going new. I still think they are the sweetspot between canopy and camper. The only other thing I have been contemplating is building something custom, and mounting it to the frame after removing the stock box. Sometimes my ideas are pretty grandiose, though...

 

I reached out to them and got put on a list for when pre-owned units came up for sale; they got back to me when one came up but it was practically the same price as new. Keep the stock box! Once you go that route there is no going back. At least you can remove the camper when its not in use if you go the tufport route.

 

I'll keep the stock box, but I removed it this summer and realized that it weighs about 300 lbs with the tailgate. It's not that hard to remove, and is essentially useless when a camper is in it. If I could mount a 700lb unit on the frame, it would only be a net increase of 400lbs. I saw this unit waiting in line for a ferry recently.