Tacoma Long Bed Overland Build

Thought we'd share with you all what we've been up to at the shop with the 3rd-gen Tacoma. We are working on a complete "bolt-on" dual battery kit, with full instructions, pre-cut and lugged cables, and option to run power to bed. More details on that to follow.

Here's one customers truck we recently had in the shop.

Part 1: Electrical, Storage, and Camp

We recently had the pleasure of spending some quality time with a new 2017 Toyota Tacoma Long-bed. The goal? Prep this truck for a full year of overland travel, circumnavigating the entire continent of North America. The customer, a recently retired professional photographer, had four main requests: comfort, secure storage, ease of us, and power to charge his gear. Mission: Accomplished.

We started with a James Baroud Explorer rooftop tent and James Baroud rear awning, giving an quick and easy sleeping area, and protection from the elements while accessing all of the gear stored in the bed. The new James Baroud awnings are streamlined and more compact than any other awning out there, and are matched to their line of tents. More info to come.



James Baroud Explorer Evolution rooftop tent and James Baroud rear awning mounted to low profile, custom-fit Rhino-Rack Pioneer Platform roof rack.



We then fit two ARB Outback Solutions drawers in the rear of the Tacoma. The Longest drawers available are the 1355, which leaves about a foot and a half of room behind the drawer for extra storage, when installed at the rear of the long bed Tacoma. In the short bed these would be a near-exact fit. In this install we mated one RD1355 to one RDRF1355, providing a slide-out worktop on the driver’s side.



We then moved on to the electrical upgrades, including a REDARC SBI12D dual battery controller and power to the bed for a high-end Magnum Dimensions 1,000w pure sine inverter-charger. This unit is unique in that when installed with a shore power plug on the exterior of the vehicle the inverter switches to a 50-amp 3-phase battery charger. A true two-in-one system. We also added quick-charge USBs to the rear of the vehicle installed with a fuse block so the customer can easily add additional electrical components in the back in the future.



110v waterproof shore power socket fit to exterior of canopy at rear driver’s side.



Magnum Energy inverter-charger tucked along driver’s side of drawer system. Wiring protected by routing under drawers to main rear fuse block on opposite side of truck.



Quick-charge USB sockets and main rear fuse block on passenger side of drawer system.



We then moved on to something a little more interesting: we removed the passenger side rear seat and fabbed a bracket out of 12-gauge stainless to accept an ARB fridge slide in place of the seat. We ran power from the auxiliary battery under the hood into the cab, to a dedicated fridge socket below the new slide and bracket. This set up allows quick and easy fridge access from the rear passenger side door.





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More to come in Part II…

 

Nice Overlanding setup

 

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What a great build. It would be great to have a walk around video at the end of the build. Good luck with the rest.

 

If we had someone a the shop who didn't completely suck at making videos we definitely would! hahaha

 

Pretty dope!

 

Nice truck and subbed.

 

What are the dimensions of the Rhino Rack Pioneer platform? It fits the long bed topper perfect.

 

That is the 42103 platform. Dimensions are 76x54.

 

Super sweet setup. I fell in love with everything except where the fridge is mounted. Personally, I'm not interested in giving up cab space. I'd rather have a slide mounted to one of the boxes in the back that mounts fridge and cooking stove. But for some, giving up some cab space isn't a big deal.

 

We've done both, but the rear slide is definitely more common.

 

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I wish they made that truck cap for the short bed.

 

I thought about fabbing something like this up as well. I don't have a cap nor plan on getting one, so this would be a good option for a fridge for me. As well as allowing the spousal unit to fetch me a Coke while we are on the road.

 

We could definitely make another one for you if you're interested.

 

Subbed!

 

Any update on the pre built bolt on dual battery setup?

 

We are very close! The battery trays should be in shortly and we will have pricing and everything done by the end of the week.

 

This is my dream setup! good job

 

Awesome build, subbed