Bringing AC to the Bed +/- Trailer?

Love your suggestion, and I am definitely going to try it first. The front of my shell doesn't fold in, but it is still going to be pretty darn straightforward. I'm thinking I could add a mini home-made swamp cooler to the bed too if it's necessary. That way the little 100v outlet doesn't trash something expensive.

 

If you have lots of room, the cheapest and simplest option is probably a few hundred pounds of ice. I don't know how long it will last, but it's a thought. You can get more along the way at gas stations and hotels.

 

I found the 29" tube at Walmart. My shell slider is on the outside so I didn't center the tube. It's offset to the driverside so I could open and close the shell slider. You will get some squeeking noise from the rubber when your cab and bed move.

 

I tried leaving my truck rear slider open and camper shell slider open when on the road and I soon had two 4 legged passengers on top of all my soft stuff that was in my cab. Try puttin a grate up so u don't have visitors in the cab.

 

That's why you put an innertube in it seals it up. And nothing outside comes in.

 

He's talking the dogs coming into the cab, not other critters.

 

My bad! My mind flashed to this. The guy ended up with mouse turds in his cabin air filter.

 

Why not investigate how the older Toyota van rigged up a second A/C on the ceiling in the back above the back hatch? You would have to increase the about of R134 the system uses to fill the lines and have 12v fed back there for a seperate fan independant of the cab's...... seems like that would work.

Our old Chevy Suburban had one like that too...... and that Van I had had a little 6 pack frig in the console, too, I just remembered.... Man wish I still had that!

 

Not really practical for the Tacoma's.

There is a separate evaporator at the rear, and instead of a standard orifice valve, it has a self-regulating temperature controlled valve.
When the valve gets too cold, it closes to prevent the evaporator from freezing up.

Major cost plumbing that in, including custom hoses on both the supply and return side and an extra accumulator (I don't recall how the Suburban was plumbed without the 2nd accumulator).

And you would absolutely have to add an aux electric fan. The system would be worthless at idle with the stock clutch fan... and that's assuming the stock condensor could handle the added load. The stock system is great for an RC, but it's really marginal for a DC already. I don't think it could handle adding the bed area.

 

Oh.



.....darn it.... have been thinking about getting a Snugtop and I liked this idea.... till now.


*Sigh*

 

Is it really that bad with the side sliders open when the truck is in motion?
I know it gets up to over 100, and you don't want to leave the babies in a lot parked even with the sliders open, but with the roof to shield the sun and the windows open for airflow, it shouldn't be that bad unless your cap is black.

Maybe consider Derping the roof of the cap white? My bed is never too hot to work in even when it's 100 as long as a window is open.