bajadulce

Been a lot of fun watching this thread. Installation looks factory! You're quite creative and very thorough. Had looked into doing this swap myself at one point w/ my dying 3.0, but nothing I read seemed to suggest this much modification needed! So this has been a real eyeopener and commend you on tackling this project! I ended up taking the "easy way out" and bought a newer truck. I now do have a 3.4L Toyota RV and am anxious to test it out with the load of the camper. The 3.4 sure seems to have a lot of sensors (including the OBD2 terminal etc) and that must be pretty daunting sorting out? Did you end up using the wiring harness from the donor car and tie in your accessories? thnx for sharing.

I'm not familiar with these coaches, but they probably have a bit of skirting below the actual floor? I might suggest that if/when you do have a hitch built, that you might explore fabricating one that passes right through the bumper if possible rather than under it to help with clearance issues. I might be inclined to remove the bumper and all of its extension hardware, build the hitch as high as I could and then custom attach the bumper to the hitch. This may mean having to cut into your skirting a bit.

Lance, Interior's lookin great! @ Transferring a Chinook to Tacoma: The biggest obstacle will be the wheelbase. All of the Toyota campers were designed to fit on longbed frames (or even longer!). Somewhere around the late 80's, ppl stopped wanting work trucks for whatever reason and Toyota responded with extra cabs and short beds. Finding a single cab on a longbed frame is damn near impossible after 1988 (not even sure if there exists a single cab on a long wheelbase Tacoma?). I suspect that your single cab is a shortbed frame and so the Chinook's wheel wells won't line up with your rear axle if that's the case. This will mean you'll probably have to: 1: Extend your frame between axles 2: or Modify the shell to fit your wheelbase 3: or do both Determining your wheel base is step 1. You should measure from rear of cab to center of rear axle. There was a thread somewhere of a Chinook being placed on an older Tundra. Tundra/T100 actually have slightly longer cab to axle measurement than the older Toyota pickups. A single cab longbed Tundra is pretty rare too. Once again the market is now saturated with extra cabs and short beds with Toyota's full size "work truck". All of this is of course meaningless if you have the ability/confidence to extend your frame or hack your shell to fit. The Chinook's mobility might even benefit from being a tad shorter.

Soenke's rig is pretty amazing and admired by many. If you wanted a rig that could get you way out in the sticks, this would be it. One picture that really stands out is the rig on an extreme side hill. An overhead camper like my own might not be able to handle a situation like that very easily. Hard to find a fault with his rig as it seems near perfect.... Maybe the shell portable/removable?

I recently bought a 1966 F250 with a camper shell.... A HUGE camper shell at that. I bought it just because the truck was used as an "RV" most of its life and thus had extremely low miles on it (155K ish miles for a 50 year old truck). It has the original paint, original upholstery, and almost zero rust around the windshield area (notorious rot zones) because the camper's overhead bunk had been protecting it. The camper shell was so-so and pretty tired as would be expected. And so I tore it down (right on my street in one day I might add!), recycled all the aluminum, and donated the appliances to others. Needless to say, several passerbyer's expressed how "wrong" it was to tear apart a perfectly good camper. Little did they know how 50% of the the interior wall structure was water damaged beyond repair. This was a slide-in camper on a classic unmolested truck tho not an integrated RV such as what you're looking to scrap. I imagine 79 toyota trucks with low miles aren't as easy to come by, but as Linda pointed out, the truck component of a Chinook isn't so much the valuable half (especially ones without the rear half of the cab). The shell is what is worth keeping in this instance and the truck if anything junked. Lots of ppl have done some really amazing things with Chinooks. Check out the front page of this site for just a few examples. So even the most thrashed shell can be salvaged by someone looking for one.

Those Tonke flatbeds are nice. They seem really low to the frame and wonder how they manage to pull that off? Can't seem to find any closeup pictures of the flat bed and am curious how much wheel clearance they actually have. Hard to tell from just pictures, but those wheels almost look like they are rubbing with the thing parked on level ground? Still in the dark as to how much wheel well clearance one really needs? Got around to building a similar flatbed on the new truck. This design has no wheel wells and is a whopping 6'6" wide or the full width of the Sunrader floor, but still only slightly wider than the cab itself. Maybe 3" on both sides with the pickets. The flatbed on the 94 pickup was a mere 5'3". There is just slightly more than 8" wheel travel clearance (will see if this is indeed sufficient for the intended application). The cab however is a bit taller than the 94 in relation to the frame rails and so the deck is ~2" higher off the ground, but hopefully the much wider truck will compensate for this added height. Will need a new mounting system now that the flatbed is the same width as the camper's floor. WME had suggested a few pages ago that the camper be secured via the exterior walls. This seems like a good idea now that the 2 components are of the same width. Will try to post a closeup picture of camper on flatbed and see if any ideas pop up. Ordered 2 more compartment doors on Ebay. A 27"x15" and a 15x15". Now that wheel wells won't be needed in camper, might as well take advantage of these soon to be voids. So the 3rd generation of the camper is getting that much closer.... lots of dust collecting on the interior that's for sure. thnx for the continued support/feedback.

Been meaning to respond to your topic for quite awhile. Cabinets look fantastic. Redwood doors have a nice contrast with the perforated cane. Nice construction choice. You're quite the craftsman. Countertops look great too. Fiddles make sense if you have passengers (kids especially) and need to have a counter/table while traveling.

Good plan not to drill any holes and glass your racks in place. Agree with John on having to get past the gel coat to the actual fiberglass to fasten whatever it is you're looking to attach. John suggests "gently sanding", tho I'd grab a disc sander and GRIND! The 5200 stuff John referenced sounds like something worthwhile to investigate into. So is that a material used like glue? I've only welded fiberglass with more fiberglass (cloth or chopped etc). Sounds like a solid bonding agent without as much work and will have to check out. For carrying stuff on roof like kayaks: the tubing prob doesn't have to be as heavy duty as we tend to think, but the attachment points definitely need to be a worry free super bond. We've glassed some ABS pipe atop a few campers in the past to tote around a stack of surfboards with success. The ABS pipe was an extremely solid bond with fiberglass cloth as would be expected with similar materials. petroleum products seem to want to adhere to similar products quite well. ABS pipe has somehow crept into a lot of things on the camper: bike racks, mirror posts, gutter above door, interior studs, surf racks...and more. Planing on rebuilding the overhead bunk hatch this summer as the metal hinges are rusting. ABS & PVC will probably be used instead of the metal hinges and wood framing. Cheap too btw... Just shooting out some ideas. Will be fun to check out what you come up with. You seem to be very fond of wood. There are a lot of really nice wooden surf racks in Hawaii. Don't ever see anything like that here tho.

Sign me up for Dec-Feb. Thnx. I don't see many places to camp overnight anymore especially on Maui? Maybe there are some remote spots still on the south side, but all I see are "no camping" signs everywhere which is a real bummer.

@ more on homebuilt camper materials: Composite construction is extremely strong. Even ribbed cardboard sandwiched between the right materials can hold up to almost anything a camper could ever need. Most modern camper construction is some sort of composite foam core construction (nidacore etc), but unfortunately kinda pricey materials for whatever reason. But still the material of choice. Aluminum siding is definitely light, but requires framing + it can't be reshaped very easily when it gets damaged. 1970's Shot fiberglass construction (Chinook & Sunrader e.g) is very heavy, but a pretty indestructible base to work with. Plywood construction is without doubt the cheapest and heaviest, but I've seen some really nice rigs made of light 1/2" plywood. Extremely easy to work with + with routine painting can last for a very long time. I wish I had the opportunity to build a small camper from ABS pipe, frp panels, and rigid foam. So many fun ideas spinning in the head. Water storage for example lol! And the endless fitting options available for framing...

Now that's one shot door! And that trailer hitch ball is a drunken-night-of-partyin story waiting to happen. << Make the interior simple, try not to spend a bunch of $$, and just enjoy it while you own it. fun fun fun.

That looks like a good place to mount your panel. Easy to clean, out of the wind, and will still pick up sun even if campers not pointed in the right direction. That control panel has a mariner look to it. Very nice. 32#'s of unused electrical gear is almost 4 more gallons of your favorite beverage! Your average consumption is pretty close to your regain but that's where storage comes into play. Some days you use less others more. Have you had to dip into your storage much? How long do you camp for? How much storage? Agree on the fixed mount. I played around with adjustable panels myself. The gain is definitely worth it compared to a fixed flat mount (especially in the winter months) but wasn't worth the stress of potentially breaking a panel I agree. Mine (2x75w panels with room for 1 more) are mounted flat atop the roof. The redesigned/rebuilt roof is the exact size of the panels (Maybe by design and planning or just dumb luck). One thing that is nice about roof mounted panels is they shade the roof and reflect sunlight. I chopped the panels' control boxes so they sit a lot closer to the roof, but hopefully there's enough room for some air circulation to keep them cooler. Tho doubt this matters much. I imagine they get pretty hot regardless. @Terry: Wow that's a big panel. Expensive? Wind might put quite a bit of flex on that so might want to secure it in a few more places than a smaller one. 6 mounts maybe? How many batteries are 200AH? Adding 200W to your existing system or using the old panels elsewhere? If adding 200W, what's your total? That's a lot of juice! Totem: 45 watt frame? So your 3 panels add up to 45watts? And so you store them on your bed or elsewhere when you're traveling? Sounds like a good system. Portable has its advantages to be sure. This frame is adjustable? And do you have to clean the roof where the suction cups attach? 45 mph winds are pretty strong. You deal with a lot of 45's!

K, is your tundra the v8 or earlier 3.4L? Popups are great if you're constantly on the go I suppose. Me, I like to park it if I can. Hey the photochop concept of the rig looks good. If real world fabrication was only that easy! I like the rig a lot now that it has a side door. I forgot those shells had that neat space-age door. Wonder how much frame you'll have to extend to get that wheelbase? Nice window too. There's a company called bimobil you might check out for some interesting ideas. Derek and I were discussing how they seem to deal exclusively with mini truck extra cabs.

I'd definitely check/replace the fuel filter first on the list based on your descriptions. Clik and Clak would be a good call too! Think I read where somewhere that those guys were MIT grads? Ha ha. I'm the same way tho I wouldn't dare tell anyone as they will jump down your throat and lecture you. Tho I tend to drive extremely slow and tail a big rig by a couple hundred feet or so in the open cattle country to the next Pemex as well. I especially like to drive through the big cities in the wee hours of the night tho. Agree, so much easier. gluck w/ your trouble shooting.

That's a really nice sketch and a fun looking truck. Are you a professional artist? Those Newporters look like great shells too. I'd probably close up that back hatch tho and do a side slinger door for more floor plan options. Rear doors seem to limit the interior configuration a bit? Sorry to see Kevin give up on his project. Looks like he's looking to build a full size diesel truck with a hardsided slide-in camper instead from what I've read @ another forum? Sounds like a fun project. Tho, this will be a second mini camper? If you're looking for a bigger rig for entertaining/traveling with a crowd you might invest your energy into something a little bigger. Or they (the rest of the party) can caravan in their own rig - or maybe even your other one. Tho 7 days might be bearable lol. I'd definitely try to make this camper different than your Chinook in every way. If you took both rigs camping, one could have a support vehicle (cooking - plumbing - toilet etc) and the second vehicle could be more of a party rig for hanging out in as a group + a place for the other party to sleep. Jig-saw-puzzle-bedding-arrangements for 4 in a small rig means ppl have to do a jig and a dance every time someone has to pee. Your friends will probably rather sleep in a tent outside with their own space. @ water: As Terry mentioned and yourself being an outdoorsman, you know it really depends more on the environment and what you will be doing. I don't think a rig that small designed for 4 ppl however should even bother with plumbing (4 ppl + gear etc is a lot of weight already (tho Derek makes a valid point about one tank always "empty".. sorta. If you have a black/grey water tank, that means you're using valuable drinking water other than drinking OR you're refilling a separate water storage with on site creek water etc)). I can't ever recall anybody having a sink or toilet in all the years of camping @ the surf spots. Maybe that's just a different subculture bred from the hostile desert surf camping only... dunno. Aren't you gonna want comfy seating, spacious counters, and some easy to assemble sleeping arrangements rather than sewage amenities? If you're camping with access to water (even ocean water), then drinking water + a little water for cooking would seem the only concern. All cleaning can be done with what's on site. K lol, sorry to come off sounding so opinionated. Just shooting some thoughts.

Great picture of the kid behind bars! Looks pretty safe and worry free too. Gjob on that one. Agree, the camper looks great as it is. Fun to personalize your own space and add your own touches tho. Word of caution ... refrain from allowing yourself to go remodeling crazy and end up with a gutted camper. Gluck w/ your projects and happy camping.

Cool.. another hippie joins the forum! That's such a fun ride. Imagine the stories behind that camper. @ the subject of breaking down: Back in my early VW baja days, we've had engines explode, engines fall out, and one camper stolen with us out in the water a mere 50 yards away. Funny thing to see a camper driven like it was stolen! It was found in a ditch on its side about 5 miles down the road. I've seen campers get washed out to sea in flash floods, burn to the ground, and the game ending roll over. Mostly tho, I just see campers "fall apart" because the owners just drive too fast. I've pulled motors in the middle of nowhere to fix them right on the spot as towing was not an option... more than once... ouch! This one particular surf spot is a 15 mile hike to the highway then about another 10 miles to town. I've hoofed it to the highway at least a dozen times over the years and twice all the way to town lol! So yea, always pack some good walking shoes. There's an old saying from the salt dog veterans, "Never bring a vehicle (or camping gear for that matter) you aren't willing to sell cheap or just walk away from." Those days are long gone, but I've "sold" a few camp items just to extend the vacation back in the day.. or make it back home. @ axles breaking, frame reinforcing and other suspension worries: Solution = slow down to a crawl. Seriously it's as simple as that. Breakdowns really suck when they are happening that's for sure, but the experience and memories years later are priceless! My fondest traveling experiences almost always involved some kind of serious breakdown or tribulation of sorts! It really is what you make of it. Obviously any sort of breakdown that involves physical harm such as an accident is NOT something you'd want to ever experience. Material property tho is just that... In the end, it's all expendable. @ building a camper from scratch on the cheap + Derek's XP & Supercamper links/projects: The Supercamper pricetag is about 30K when you add everything up. The XP camper is a fantastic rig built by a SFrancisco local, but is a commercial venture geared towards yuppies with big wallets. If I had to build a lightweight home made camper from scratch without spending a lot of money and without having to have a lot of tools or a shop, I would frame it with plastic ABS pipe, construction glue Fiberglass FRP shower panels to the frame, fiberglass tape the seams, add some rigid insulation for interior walls and call it done. 100% water and rot proof. Light and probably less than $500 bucks and good for as long as you want to keep it. Back in the day, there were a lot of home built campers on the road. I just don't see many of them these days which is a shame. Gluck with your ventures and welcome to the forums.

I have a T100. The track width (and body) is full size pickup width. Other than that, not much difference compared to the standard pickups of the same years. Same GVWR's, motors, trans as in regular pickup. ~1995 the motor however changed to the 3.4L I believe. I think 1995 T100 had option of a 4 banger 2.7L as well. Dunno if the T100 before 1995 had a 22re option. Those probably only came with the 3.0 I'm guessing. You looking to buy one?

progress is lookin good. Nice workspace too. Your Chinook is lookin toasty enough for a trek to the South Pole packing only t-shirts & board shorts. That shower link is cute. If I had use for a sink, it would be a big one like that. Seems useful at least.

Looks great. Paint job and colors are really clean. You did a nice professional job covering up those windows too. For sale?

I like your screen name Does the DMV need some #'s from the coach portion or just another "JT.." chassis #? As Derek mentions, there are a few various locations where "additional" #'s may be (not necessarily identical in the case of different hood, doors, fenders, etc with newer years (white bar codes etc)). However, the # you are interested in, as well as the DMV, is stamped in the frame in the front wheel well area. In most cases, the FRAME # takes precedence over any other # on your vehicle as far as the DMV goes. You may have to move some of the splash guards out of the way. That # on the frame should match the number on your dash. "Serial Number" for coach may be on some plaque on the coach. I think there's a standard black oval emblem that RV manufacturer's use. Might look for that. Winnie the Winnebago Goes To Mexico Here's an entertaining incident from a fun travel book/site called the "Peoples Guide to Mexico". This particular excerpt involved multiple Vins in a Winnebago and crossing the border! I guess vins can be a big deal in some instances.

Job well done John. Looks clean. I figured you guys had aluminum siding not fiberglass panels and hence the need for "sticks". Wonder if eliminating the framing altogether and sandwiching some rigid insulation between the exterior fiberglass panel and your interior panel would be adequate. This would make for a nice composite construction and would be both strong and light. You won't be able to bond the panels like a commercial product (nidacore etc), but a good adhesive would probably provide a decent bond. Holey plywood? I've seen a few boats with interiors made of cabinets that had huge holes cut into them to reduce weight. Sounds like a good idea too.

John, I approve of the upside down bowl! And wow that is one BIG clock on your wall. TV looks like a well thought out spot for all around use. How much draw on your new TV and good idea of the kill switch for those phantom loads. Tho as much driving as you do, I don't imagine your batteries ever feel tired. Solar regain is only for wimps that park it! Crazy how today's home has so many phantom loads. Everything has some sort of LED or converter etc. Even our toaster has a light (wife bought it.. I don't say anything). I bet if we unplugged all the little gizmos in our house, we'd easily match the draw of a 2nd fridge if not a 3rd! Conserving "juice" in our campers sure wakes you up to how much energy we consume in our daily lives.

I merged "You will get a virus from this site" thread with this one as we might be scaring away some members. Yes, we had a HUGE problem a few days ago when some bots managed to conquer Greg's arithmetic challenge question. My guess is that a lot of forums use that same type of question. The bots were made aware of this and brute forced numbers in the "challenge" field until one worked. The site had something like 50 new members join those 2 days when the normal is about 1 to 2. If registration wasn't halted, we'd of been quickly overwhelmed. Things appear to be back to normal now with the new alphabetic challenge question (Humans wishing to join the site hopefully are capable of searching out the name of the U.S. President.) All the members that joined those 2 days were almost all bots, were banned, and their threads removed. So while the site is spambot free for the moment, the enemy is still out there always looking for new ways to infiltrate our security. So avoid clicking links in suspicious threads. ... Onwards with the SEX discussion! Oh, and Macs are for Catholic Democrats too!