Esh's Tacoma Wedge camper

[esh]

Past due for continuation/update!

The entire point of the build and buying the Tacoma was to try a new mode of camp setup. I'd reserved a Vagabond Outdoors Drifter early in production in July and coordinated with Vagabond to pick it up in late December. I wasn't sure what options I might want so I left it as the basic "poverty pack." I probably should have gotten at least one side windoor for easy access to the fridge, but it can be added later.

As the wedge camper comparison article on this site attests, the Drifter is a fantastically designed and built topper. It is light, sturdy and has a hundred well-thought details by a team that is both obsessive and enthusiastic about camping and outdoors. The wedge gives a huge amount of standing room, and large windows give plenty of light and air flow. The side windows also have a clear vinyl zip layer if you want light in without a breeze. If you can get to the bay area or one of the many overland rally/gatherings in North America, check them out!

 

[esh]

After all that whirlwind of work getting some large pieces installed I decided winter camping in 80F on the Baja peninsula sounded better than freezing around the West. I hadn't been into Baja and so had a little adventure of discovery. The truck had no issues and camping was very comfortable and easy with the wedge top.

In fact Baja was so good I decided to return a couple months later to explore more and hopefully meet some whales up front and personal.

I pulled a pretty nice sound system from another truck intending to get it installed, so one freezing weekend before I wanted to leave for another two weeks in Baja I installed it. It is a Kenwood head unit with very nice component speakers, a big amp and a 10" sub. Mr Marv is someone that used to hang out on another forum and builds enclosures, so I tracked him down and he was able to build an enclosure, a component mount and installation baffles for my install. It used to be common thought to cover as much surface as possible with sound deadener but that seems to have moved on to 20-30% coverage and especially the outer door skin to bring down vibrations and noise. Since I didn't have a warm work space, I installed mat generously on the door skins and behind the subwoofer.

I had also run a large power cable from the main battery via a 50A breaker through the firewall and to the rear of the cab. Daystar makes a universal rubber boot that is nice for runs through the firewall and is setup to be cut down as you run more wire and need more space in the boot. I also added another 50A breaker and a fuse block on the component panel for future accessories and to run power to the bed.

To be honest, the stock (upgrade) JBL system sounds good, and after seeing the size of drivers it is pretty amazing for what it is. It just won't hold up with windows down driving volumes. The new system is impressive in that volume doesn't increase as much as the sound just becomes more present. It is clean, can get very loud, and I have some control over characteristics.

 

[esh]

Decided it was time for a tire change. I have run 255/80r16s on the Land Cruiser and like the size. The options out there are fairly limited and I found that the equivalent 17" 255/80r17 size tends to be cheaper overall. Wanting to keep tires from rubbing I found some OEM alloy wheels that almost are graphite and look ok to fit Falken Wildpeak AT3w tires I had been wanting to try. They match up pretty well to KO2s. I think the ride is better but they are noisier at highway speed over the KO2s. They are load rage E so I expect similar wall protection from punctures as the KO2. Time will tell.


This shot you can see how efficient a wedge is to an RTT. You get a lower closed profile, standing room (all without rearranging the bed), some better protection, and very fast setup all for a low low price... (not). That is my Hannibal RTT I'd used for years on the Land Cruiser that a friend was borrowing to see if he wanted to jump into the RTT game.

 

[esh]

We had a shorter day out of a few in SE Oregon. We stopped to camp at Fish Lake on Steens Mtn, so I wired up the winch controller I'd brought along (in case I found myself with time to spare). That rarely happens- I'd taken a box full of todo stuff to Baja and never touched it.

I had mounted the winch body previous to leaving. The opening for cable on the ARB is centered between mount holes, so using a mount hole for a synthetic rope fairlead wouldn't work. I measured and test fit a couple times to make sure I got locations right and proceeded to drill and cut threads for the fairlead centered on the cable opening in the bar. Kind of dumb to have to work around that but it came out well. There wasn't a good place to mount the controller from holes available and wire length so I used some large hose clamps to attach the controller to the winch body until I figure out a better approach.

Finished it off with a Factor55 shackle mount I'd picked up at NW Overland Rally (great event!).


I've got a bunch of electrical projects to do, so some of that will probably be in the next update.

 

[esh]

Here are some pics of the center console RAM mounts to hold the tablet. I usually only use the tablet for strategic routing and detail. It is a Surface Pro 3 running Nat Geo TOPO! State Series to get to 7.5' resolution on a decent display size. It is ancient Windows XP era software that runs on Windows 10. I also have all of the West discs and the interface is one of the best I've used over the years so I'm sticking with it for the resolution and historic information on the maps. For the majority of offline routing I use OsmAnd on an Android phone. It does great auto-routing offroad routes that include POIs, and map regions are sane- state and region level for countries. As well, the map data is continuously crowd-sourced so across the world it tends to be accurate.

I use a large X-grip and two arms to secure the tablet. It works very well and is stable on rough terrain.

 

[esh]

Nearly another year and another run down to Baja. I was lucky to get in before Covid-19 ramped up and had a debate whether to get myself stuck down there. (didn't)

 

[esh]

I did manage to do a few changes and upgrades:
- swapped to 4.56 gears from 3.73s (10/10 would do again). It now holds gears nicely on hills with 33s (255/80r17). 4.88s would have been too much
- finally installed rear speakers
- installed amateur radio vertically into the pocket next to the auto shifter. A guy from another forum had a run of brackets for the Kenwood TM-281A (which I like for station to station with the builtin speaker)
- added led strip lighting with a dimmer to the interior roof (10/10 would do again)
- some L-track and netting below the sleeping platform for light things and a place to put glasses/books/water/bedstuff while sleeping
- a Mountain Hatch tailgate surface, and a rubber seal along the tailgate bottom to keep dust away.

Favorite mod are still the front Icon coilovers. For control over rough terrain with some pace, a good coilover is unbeatable. The Vagabond camper is pretty good too. And water on a pump. But those are all also evolutionary changes from my Land Cruiser setup too.






Next up are different bumpers and I am looking hard at electric dirtbikes to bring along for scouting.

 

[chinomalo]

This is a great build and pics too!

Nicely done.

 

[esh]

Small update. Spent way too long welding up a 4x4Labs front bumper. It turned out pretty well and I'm now working on the rear which is also 4x4Labs with some new twists.

 

[thezentree]

Why the change from the ARB?

 

[esh]

I wanted to fit pod fog lights and couldn't find anything to work with the ARB without surgery. It is also a bit lower profile than the bullbar and the winch tucks further in and lower. Plus I got to build this one and do some things just how I liked.

Are you in need of a Silver Streak Mica ARB bumper?? I know may someone with one for sale...