Kimbo Camper BS and Mods

Yep, and test drive as much as you can. If you prepare, you can manage some of the risk such as carrying a good puncture kit, air compressor, a jack that matches your suspension/lift, high quality tires, and traction boards if you plan on getting rowdy, etc...

 

First...I'm not a Kimbo owner, just one (of many, I suspect) that is pretty obsessed with the concept and following this thread closely.

The designer of the Kimbo built it with his 2nd Gen AC cab in mind. I think that's worth noting when considering what might be optimal FOR THE KIMBO.

Tundras, like all full size pickups, are just freakin' huge, from my point of view.

Having said that...11-12 mpg is just brutal. I pulled a substantial trailer this weekend, (2013 AC V6 4x4) and that's exactly what I was getting over 3 tanks of fuel. 11.4, 11.9, 11.6. Really left me contemplating (further) what I want to do as far as a camping set up. I'm a camper. Tent. fire. hole in the ground camper. My GF, try as she may, doesn't like sharing bathrooms with strangers, (or spiderwebs or, or, or.....you get the idea)

These Kimbos are amazing, anyway you slice it. Hats off to you guys that are going 'there'

 

If you want a smaller footprint then you would most likely want a mid size truck. Myself and most everyone in my family has had problems with the big three American manufacturers, so I chose toyota for the reliability. Doesn't hurt that when you go to sell it or whatever that they hold their value also. We picked up our Kimbo last week, I asked what the lead time was and it's about 5 to 6 months out if you ordered one then, fwiw. On the tacomas, other than the locker on the trdor I think the power train is the same on whatever model V6 4wd you get, just more electronic stuff on the higher end, so we got the SR model and wanted the access cab long bed so the overall footprint is shorter than the DCLB. We have a mid size SUV for hauling people so didn't feel we needed the back seat, although I could see it being helpful when camping as the Kimbo although more spacious than you would think looking at the specs is not huge. As far as taking off the truck, same as Voltron less than a half hour. We had one person using the drill and one with the handcrank, plus it was our first time removing so we were cautious. Two experienced people with drills it would be less than 15 min.

 

Yeah for living or high milage traveling, a van or more economical truck may make more sense. The mpg is not kind but acceptable for me for how often we go or now plan to stay in one spot. At times we were hitting 13-14mpg at 60, flat hwy and minimal wind I'd imagine. Waking up way more refreshed than in a tent allows for more extended stays. Highly looking forward to Kimbo, Fire, Hole in the ground this Spring.

 

Stove delivered! Still waiting on the other parts but happy to have my hands on this to better prepare for the fit. Thinking either granite or slate hearth and will installing high temp insulation to replace the original behind it.

 

Well the table mount is in. It’s solid and with the HDPE backplate I cut working very well. This spot gets it close to the kitchen for some additional counter space. It will also double as a section to cover the gap and create an additional spot to lay down or put your feet up. In the process of finishing the table top with a few layers of tung oil and rewiring the cables behind the back wall and into the storage space. This will be where the solar components will live. Unfortunately mounting the solar on the roof will have to wait till warmer weather due to the adhesives/no drill method I’m using.

 

Twilight shot on the coast.

 

Today is the DAY!!! Taking delivery of our Kimbo this afternoon, super stoked - many mods will be in the works. Great to see this forum conversation started, not a lot of info out there yet. Ours is fitted with just solar and the propane furnace. Plan is to add port-a-potty (eventually a cassette toilet), extra solar/batteries, fridge, baskets, storage, light bar on the cabover, kitchen (sink/fresh and gray water tanks), and more. Having a SherpTek bed installed in March to add some much needed storage. Let's keep that info going - would love to see a Kimbo meetup at some point to share stories/mods in person.

 

Nice man! Looking forward to your build! In the process of designing the solar, kitchen, and wood stove. I would definitely look at a SOK battery to future proof the system. About half the price of the Battleborn and great quality. Waiting list for them now. Also, designing a kitchen with a 1gal water Rotopax mounted on the wall with a brass tap in the bottom. Will be posting more later as I get to it, but work is busy.

 

Kitchen table almost done. About 4 layers of Tung oil on birch plywood. Torched the edges too.

 

That table is going to be amazballz.

 

Your SherpTek is gonna be amazballz! Where are you located?

 

Congratulations! Got the same configuration as you are getting plus baskets. Good starting point to mod to your own taste/needs.

 

Finished re-routing the electrical to where will be installing the solar. This frees up some space for some storage later in the corner. Will probably go back in with a dremel and shave out some foam before I finish, a tad tight back there. The storage box seems like a good spot for all things solar. When the kitchen is built with its storage we shouldn’t miss the box that much. Used aluminum tape like Kimbo did, that stuff is great.



Before:

 

Absolutely blown away - can’t say enough about the quality of craftsmanship put into these things. When they say these were built for a Tacoma, they were not kidding. The only mods I have are airbags and E-rated tires - this thing handles amazingly, I was really concerned about being top heavy or squirrelly and found no such behaviors. I did try to heed the advise in an earlier post and mostly remembered to take the turns at the posted speeds, no swaying or any strange handling at all so it was tough to remember it was back there and reign things in a bit. Big lumps in the freeway through Seattle at freeway speed+ were no biggie at all. Testing in the snow today up on the mtn!

 

That reroute is a great idea to make some space!

 

Did they have to build a platform in the bed of your truck to raise up Kimbo?

 

@Tacomaroma: No platform required - dropped it in, scooted it into place and we were on the road!

 

I thought that would work for mine too, I see you have a 2020 and so do I. They were really concerned the camper would hit the sharkfin so made a 3 inch platform. Do you have the standard tacoma sharkfin, I can't see it in your pic. Cool pic for you standing on top , I wish I would of thought of that!