Atl-atl's TRD Off Road Access Cab documentation thread

Sewed up a mattress cover for my sleeping platform last night. The fabric is mold/mildew/UV resistant outdoor furniture fabric. Camping season is upon us. Just need to seal up the bed/topper as best I can and Im ready to go.

 

Bought one of those $15 LED light kits off Amazon. When you cut off the 120v plug it runs on 12v. It has a wireless remote and comes with 4 separate one foot sections. I wired up one for light inside the topper when I camp and routed the wires so I can still fold the topper completely open. I put velcro on the controller and in a couple places around the top edge of the inner bedsides so I can stash it in multiple places. I tied the power wire into the loom from my previous tailgate lock wiring and then soldered it to a constant 12v power source that was in the same block in the footwell where the tailgate lock plugs in. I wired it to be 100% removable, soldered all connections and used shrink tubing everywhere so it should last for a long time.

Looks blue in the picture but its white in real life. Its multi color and dimmable which will be great at night.

 

Spent the weekend camping and hangin at Overland Expo West. Had a blast, here is a small recap. Met fellow TWers @MR E30 @StillNoPickles and @Tsinajinii for the first time. Got rained and hailed on and it was super windy but generally we missed the bad weather and it was a blast. Thanks to @Tsinajinii for not only saving the camp spot for us but meeting up with us and letting us park at his house to ride into the show!








Whiskey Taco Foxtrot




My girlfriend in the Sherp




The Rivian is actually quite amazing.




Slightly different way of looking at overland in an electric car.




Some random favorite vehicles.






$170,000 ground up NEW!!! IH Scout. Not a resto, completely new every nut and bolt.




My second favorite vehicle from the show.



My favorite.

 

Well Im WAY behind on updates.

Finally got around to installing my front and rear anytime cameras from anytimebackupcameras.com. Ive had the full kit waiting since last fall and only installed it a couple weeks ago. Install was pretty easy with the help of @Papadave418 's writeup using a dual throw switch here...https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/anytimebackupcamera-com-install-front-and-rear-cameras.567192/ Only change I would like to make is get a dual throw switch that "parks" in each position instead of springing back to center. Id like to leave the front camera on when Im crawling. Also, literally the day I installed the kit I came across the new kit that uses the factory steering wheel buttons. The camera I bought was $13 on Amazon.

Front/Side/Rear View Camera,Chuanganzhuo Universal Normal Image Car Reverse Front/Side/Rear View Bakcup Camera for All Car,Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RD05MOO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the switch I bought was $15 on Amazon but the link is dead. Its a DPDT (dual pole dual throw) that has the image of a camera and front/rear camera options. Looks exactly like the one available on aironboard.com.


Its nice to be able to look back at my bikes in the rack while driving for those times when I cant remember if I strapped them down completely ha!


It took a few minutes to figure out which direction to mount the camera and which wires to snip to get the picture pointed correctly. After using it quite a bit this past weekend Im going to snip the wire to get rid of the lines on the image.


Minimal drilling and dremel-ing was required to mount the camera on the TRD Offroad grille.


Minimal dremel-ing was also necessary to fit the switch in the lower left switch panel.
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Not all of the hookups on the back of the switch are used.


For now I simply wired up and inline blade fuse to protect the camera. I have a dual battery setup that Im slowly putting together which will use a bus block so this is temporary. I grounded the camera to the same spot as the factory ground for the battery. I taped all the RCA connections with electrical tape to keep them dust/water free as much as possible for a temporary setup. Eventually I will shrink wrap them all.


Its not as scary as it looks.


Pretty clean install. The dummy switch this replaced was larger than the other switches, no cutting was required of the larger panel, only the small insert. The only other "damage" to the vehicle was poking a new hole in the large rubber grommet for the wiring harness to get the RCAs through the firewall.

 

Nice install.

After crawling around Broken Arrow a couple of weekends ago I realized the need for a front facing anytime camera.

 

Looks awesome! Hope to do something similar soon!

 

Drove out to Denver for work for a week so I brought the MTB and camped my way back to Arizona with some friends afterwards. All of these pics are from somewhere near Buena Vista Colorado. The good pictures were taken by a friend of mine who is not a Taco owner. The shitty ones were taken by me.




















My buddies U-Joint solid axle swapped Ford Econoline that is full camper. Built the entire thing himself. Its so sick.



My crappy pics

 

Long overdue update. Did some work to make my 315 spare fit in the stock location. I was hoping to get away with simply relocating the lift mechanism and keeping the tire deflated but that was not enough to make it fit. I wound up having to heat and bend some of the stock "guides" as well as chop off the rear most exhaust hanger and the exhaust tip plus a about 2 feet of pipe. I kept the exhaust long enough that it clears the tire but doesn't point directly at it. I was concerned Id have to get a new tip put on but it works great. Since its only a spare and the tread on the tire I have is pretty low no tire shop would touch it. So I mounted it myself onto a 17" steelie. Nothing a couple pry bars and some soapy water couldn't handle. Bead seated just fine with only a 10 gallon air compressor.



New holes. This mod is simple, if you have 285s and this is all you need to do it only takes about 15 minutes.


The undercarriage is not just paint, this stuff did not like getting heated up, its definitely a tougher coating of some sort.


"Guide" bent up. I could probably get the tire up another 1/2" or so if I cut this completely off but it wasnt worth the effort.





Chopped exhaust.







Clearance at diff.



Clearance at factory hitch.



Clearance at passenger side shackle hanger. I dont know if you could fit 37s. Even a full tread depth 35" mud terrain would need some extra massaging and still it might not squeeze between the shackle hangers. I havent ever scoped aftermarket hangers to see if they add room but at that point Id be getting a tire carrier rear bumper.



Clearance at driver side shackle hanger.



It hangs down noticeably lower but its not bad. Ive wheel it a couple times and it does not rub on the diff or catch when descending ledges. Keeping the tire at only a few psi should keep it relatively safe from getting a puncture unless I really come down hard on something sharp.

 

Love a good Access Cab build. Truck looks awesome. Very interested in mattress you made for your sleeping platform. What foam material did you use? Smart to add the zipper. always good to take it off and wash it after a long trip or two.

 

I used 3" thick commercial upholstery foam. Its too firm hahaha. I wanted it to be firm because I thought it would break in quickly since Im always crawling around on hands and knees but I went too firm. Ive been contemplating swapping the foam for a slightly softer but still "mid" density one. I bought a sheet from a local upholstery supply house and trimmed it to fit, then sewed the mattress around it. As for the fabric, its meant indoor/outdoor furniture so its mold/mildew/stain resistant. I got it for free from my girlfriend who is a desginer!

Side note, the last mattress I made for my Four Wheel Camper I used duck cloth(think Carhartt pants) and that was a mistake. Raw duck cloth is super tough, not comfortable and gives you rug burns instantly. I do not recommend duck cloth.

 

Lucky duck! Gotta love free stuff. Speaking of duck, thanks for the tip on the duck cloth. I like Carhartt and probably would've considered it. I don't know what the material is called, but the Magellan pants from Academy I wear to work (khaki dress type pants) are the water repelling kind. Liquids, stains and wrinkles hardly ever affect them. I'd love to use that material.

 

Well Ive been super busy with work travel and remodeling my master bathroom so I haven't done much to the truck lately but I did spend the last two weeks in Utah for a work event. My girlfriend flew into SLC last Thursday, which was her birthday, and all she wanted to do was go on a road trip...oh how lucky I am!!! So we stayed in Snowbird two nights and camped our way back to Phoenix. We are really starting to get the camp setup dialed.

Terrible hotel room view, complete with entire wall of glass that slides open.



Roof top view


Roof top pool


Tram view


Top of the tram




Mountain biking


Bottom of the tram. #evilbuilding



Toquerville Falls, didnt get any shots of the truck here...but we camped on a Saturday and it was empty except for a few other guys in Toyotas from Vegas. Very cool spot. You drive right over the falls, you can jump off into the pool below, there are tons of river crossings that are technical and fun and then camp sites all over the place. Cant wait to go back.



Alstrom Point, overlooking Lake Powell. Possibly the best view from a camp site Ive ever had. What an unbelievable place.











Horseshoe bend of course. You have to pay $10 to park now.


Schnebly Hill Road, beautiful views, Sedona in the background, horribly hilly road, even aired down.

 

I really love this softtopper, by far the best mod Ive done. This weekend while camping I was able to keep all my stuff covered so it didn't get dusty offroad and then open it up to sleep under the stars. It also allows the truck to keep doing truck things without completely removing it or finding another way/vehicle to do the job.

 

Subbbbb’d.

 

Rubbadubsub. Nice build and adventures mang.

 

Well since the two parts of this site that I frequent are in shambles(3rd gen and Arizona BS) I might as well strike while the iron is hot. I havent updated this thread in forever because I bought a motorcycle and completely forgot about my truck. I did sell the softtopper and get a Leer 100XR with carpeted headliner and a 1UP USA single bike rack which is the coolest piece of kit Ive bought in my life.






Got a bolt in my tire. Discount Tire fixed it for free. Genuinely can't believe they still do that.




I went through a river and over some woods to my cabin in CO for Christmas. Including blasting a 4 foot snow bank to get into the driveway at 1am which was more reasonable than shoveling.






315s still rub like a mofo. Got my cab mount relocation from Alpine Designs, havent installed it yet though.




Previously mentioned new motorcycle, with guest appearance by a random NSX parked on the side of the road in Arizona with nobody around...seriously.

 

Random butt shot at the end of my bike ride today.

 

1up bicycle rack for the WIN!!!! - https://www.1up-usa.com/products/
Zero plastic to get brittle and crack off like the rest of the market... perfect for AZ

Arizona Sunsets are the best!

 

Goddamn I love Access Cabs

 

Love the random-ness of your build thread OP. I've never looked at an access cab the way I look at yours.....Is that weird to say? Erm....anyhow.....Cool truck homie!