'77 Chinook Camper on T100

[cjellmoney]

After considering a whole slough of upgrades for my tired '77 I decided that throwing the camper on a newer truck would be the easiest route. My goals are an increased load capacity with better braking, increased reliable power, and above all...retaining economy.

Without having the truck in front of me, a 1995 single cab longbed T100 appears to have a slightly longer cab to rear axle dimension from the communications i have with the current owner. He measures it around 51". Can anyone confirm this? how much longer is that than the chinook?

I measure 44" from the back of the cab to the center of the current wheel. Any problem with letting that rear wheel sit 7" aft? Maybe mod the wheel well to make it appear not so goofy?

Found these drawings floating around...The T100 in the drawing is not the longbed? Any help or issues you might see with the swap would be helpful.

[WME]

Must reading.... Its long but most questions should be answered.

http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=206&st=0

[zero]

After considering a whole slough of upgrades for my tired '77 I decided that throwing the camper on a newer truck would be the easiest route. My goals are an increased load capacity with better braking, increased reliable power, and above all...retaining economy.

Without having the truck in front of me, a 1995 single cab longbed T100 appears to have a slightly longer cab to rear axle dimension from the communications i have with the current owner. He measures it around 51". Can anyone confirm this? how much longer is that than the chinook?

I measure 44" from the back of the cab to the center of the current wheel. Any problem with letting that rear wheel sit 7" aft? Maybe mod the wheel well to make it appear not so goofy?

Found these drawings floating around...The T100 in the drawing is not the longbed? Any help or issues you might see with the swap would be helpful.

chinook camper dimensions.jpg trucks with camper dimensions.jpg

Modifiying a rear wheel well on a Chinook is not an easy thing to do. A main vertical steel support attaches just to the rear of each well. But . . you might find out the Chinook body needs a lot of work anyway. All that I've worked on have. Very weak underneath. Kind of like a bridge built out of tooth-picks. Once there's a little change or rot anywhere -the total integrity of the "foundation" is lost.

I did a major re-do on my 78 Chinook. In retrospect, I would of chosen a newer truck to sit it on if a non-rusty one had been available at a reasonable price. -Like an 80s Toyota. Maybe even an S10 or Dodge Dakota (with wider cab). But - I wanted a dually FF rear with wheels that matched the front. That's pretty hard to do except with a small Toyota pickup. So, I stuck with what I've got. I added new transverse aluminum c-channel supports in back. Also a dually FF rear with a stabilizer bar setup from an 87 Toyota box-truck. Only "modern" thing I lack is power steering.