Kimbo Camper BS and Mods

I use a floor pump (bike pump). Easy to throw in the truck to keep on hand.

 

Hey all, on the fence on placing a deposit.. any Kimbo owners in the Portland Metro area that would exchange a six pack for me to check out their Kimbo in person before pulling the trigger?

 

I'm expecting to pick up my Kimbo 30 SEP and start making my way down to San Diego through Portland but I don't have an exact date of when that'd be.

 

Hey gang. I spent a great summer traveling out west, mostly Colorado, and now I'm back in South Florida. I've had my Kimbo for two years now and I am getting ready to sell it. Does anyone have any recommendations for a place to list it for sale, RVTrader, Craigslist, etc.? I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. Thank you.

 

@Kevtron Yeah you are probably right I will just keep using that for now!

 

Anyone with a Kimbo have any pictures of the fridge vent? I am installing a cooler on the other side of the Kimbo and I am just curious how they constructed it from the factory. Also may just reach out to Kimbo to see if they will sell/make at least the outside cover for me so it matches the texture the rest of the camper has.

 

Hey, not making a ton of progress on projects this summer but I finally finished up with the air dam. Surprisingly close to the concept. Had a short test drive to verify at freeway speeds, it’s solid. I’ll let you know what kind of mileage improvement (if any) as we put some miles on it.

 

Thanks Kevtron for this in depth review. I think I am going to spring for this suspension kit before getting a Kimbo later this year.
Wondering if you have any additional thoughts after a couple more months with the MT64s. They are relatively new, so there is limited info on them on the internet when compared to other kits.

 

@TacoTimeNW Yeah, I think I have a few more thoughts now. I haven't had too many chances to get out since my first post on the topic, but a few things stick out. I'm really impressed with the rebound dampening. Hitting dips, bumps, railroad crossings, cattle guards, etc pre-new-suspension would bounce the rear axle and launch everything out of my storage baskets. It is SO much nicer now. It just eats those up now and I'm not picking things up off the floor as often when I arrive at the camp site. In general, the ride is just nicer on all surfaces. I still have airbags installed, but they are nearly at minimum pressure to achieve a level ride. I think it could be possible to go without them, but I plan on keeping them on for now to assist with leveling at camp sites. If I did not already have the airbags, I'd maybe just consider going with some progressive bump stops.

The one area in which I'm a little ambivalent is the topic of Kimbo on versus Kimbo off. With the Kimbo loaded, the ride is great. So much nicer ride than the Kimbo with stock suspension. Off though...the ride is still better than stock by quite a bit, but the ride hight is affected enough that I experience some drive shaft vibration at certain speeds. I could probably experiment with things — try to find that Goldilocks zone where there's no vibration in either configuration. But right now I'm just prioritizing the ride for the Kimbo, since I typically just keep it on the truck. I could maybe just throw some sandbags in back when the Kimbo is off...I'm not sure. Or perhaps I could increase the ride height in the front a little so that there's less racking when unloaded. We'll see. But for now, I'm just happy keeping the Kimbo on.

I'm planning on heading out to CO from AZ next weekend. I'll let you know if I have any new thoughts after that.

 

Looking good, @Profloundering
What kind of clearance do you have between the wind dam and the windshield? Do you have some weatherstripping or something between the metal and glass? And yeah, keep us informed on MPG and if you notice any noise reduction. I spent a good chunk of time this summer with improving the incredibly lack luster noise dampening / sound proofing of the stock Tacoma. It's a made a sizable impact on my sanity, and I definitely identified some major culprits of cabin noise. Though, I can still imagine doing something like what you're doing here in the future — especially if you're getting good results.

 

I will keep you updated - the lip of the dam sits almost on the windshield, I had some leftover j-channel from adding the gutters, so I just added a length of that and it just barely runs the windshield. Optimally I wanted to mount the dam to the roof rack of the truck but mine didn’t come with one installed and I’m not ready to open any holes in the roof. The Kimbo moves around a bit so I didn’t add any reinforcement to the lower part of the air dam lip and it flexes as the Kimbo moves around. Since the rubber is on the glass, it shouldn’t have to much wear and I’m not terribly concerned with it hitting/damaging the windshield, actually needs to be replaced anyway, so it’s a good time to test. I’ve been running the center section without the wings for a few thousand miles at this point and the wind noise dropped significantly. The mileage improvement was around a mile per gallon…so averaging 12-13mpg freeway. I’ve done a couple hundred miles with the ‘wings’ added and surprisingly it’s up to 15mpg on the freeway. I’m excited to see what it’ll do going over the passes and along the Columbia with some headwind.here are a couple pix of the supporting structure…you can see the long lip down to the window that allows for a significant amount of deflection.

 

Very cool, @Profloundering
It looks like the entire assembly slides into the existing structural channels on the Kimbo, yeah? That seems like a nice way to do and what I had in mind as well.

 

Yep - right into the support structure, using solid aluminum rod that is a snug fit...I was going to put a set screw in it to keep it secure but it's plenty secure with the length of the rod and the snug fit.

 

For your reading pleasure:

https://www.nextjumpoutfitters.com/products/mid-size-flatbed-long-bed

 

Currently working through selling a AT overland topper and getting in line for a Kimbo to live in 6 months out of the year for ski guiding (I.e. winter and snow)

What features have you all chosen that you would 100% do again?

Which features would you skip?

Currently I am planning to ask them to factory install 300w of solar, fridge, maxxair fan, shower module and their standard electric wiring/system without the Goal Zero (will take care of the battery/charge system myself).

I plan to build the kitchen and gear storage myself. Looking at options for a fan down low and pass through hatches so I can reach into the wheel wells while in the camper (any idea if Kimbo would do them for the factory?)

Have built and lived in a low roofed van before, so lots of mistakes made and learned from there.

 

My factory build only included the Dickensen furnace and the 100w solar with goal zero 500x.

Hatches sound like an interesting idea, depends on the room you have in your truck and how you place them on the inside and how it works with your build. Then there is insulating, sealing out the weather, hinges...I actually considered adding a cassette toilet but wasn't a good fit.

Things 100% do again
Inside the Kimbo:

1. Top pick for winter camping is the Dickensen furnace and this fan (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kimbo-camper-bs-and-mods.651104/page-55). Keep the air moving and the heat on - especially at night.
2. Pull the vinyl flooring and insulation to replace with LVP flooring and thicker insulation.
3. Have them split the main area and upper sleeping area LED lighting, should be standard by now.
4. Relocate the multiple outlet (used for shore power) to a more convenient location.
5. Small dedicated shelf/basket of some type with usb charger to hold phone at night in the upper sleeping area.
6. Conformal fluid for the circuit board on the fan (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/kimbo-camper-bs-and-mods.651104/page-37 post 738).

Outside the Kimbo:

1. Get some good stairs that will clear the snow and not get super icy.
2. Treat the locks ahead of winter so they don't freeze.
3. Low temp cut off batteries so they don't attempt to charge while frozen on those bluebird days.
4. Wireless backup camera - if you carry bikes on the back.

Skip:
- I wouldn't have had mine built any other way - it was the perfect starting point for the mods I planned on doing.

 

The aerogel paint never panned out but I've run across spray on cork paint that looks very promising. I'll keep you updated on what I can find out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXXzXpD3_ng

Skip to 13:55 to see condensation contrast.

 

Right on, I dig the small details you added with this. Thank you.

 

Since I’ll be using the kimbo primarily in winter, very interested in what others have done to successfully manage the condensation issues reported on the wall anchors

 

1. So sounds like keep the propane heater they install and don't try something different like wood/diesel? I was planning on propane to decrease neading additional fuels, but wanted to see if there are any conflicting opinions out there.
2/3. Smart
4. Where works well? Back by the propane tank? right by the driver's side "closet" area
5. After rolling around in a few different campers, planning to use a mix of baskets and bungee nets.
6. Good to know

Did your flatbed make the camper sit higher than a standard bed does? I'd like to do a flatbed eventually with custom ski/climbing gear storage on the sides.