Tacoma + chinook

codybutz

Observer
I'm not sure if this is a crazy idea or just not worth the money and time, or if anybody has ever tried it, but would it be possible to take a 2wd chinook/ sunrader camper shell and put it on a 1st gen tacoma platform? I see a lot of the 2wd campers for sale or sitting and going to waste. And I'm sure we are all aware of how rare the 4wd versions are. After dreaming over the 4wd toyota campers for a while now I was just wondering what anybodies thoughts or opinions were on the matter.
 

java

Expedition Leader
i believe one was grafted onto a tundra a little while ago, and sold bfore it was finished, but it tured out looking good. it was on here.
 

wheresmikeys

Observer
Throw enough time and $ at it and it will work. I have thought about that often. It would be pretty awesome. I have also wondered if maybe just turning a chinook carcass into a slide in for the Tacoma, might be the way to go. If you do it, you have to post pics of your build
 

codybutz

Observer
I guess there would be extreme advantage, if at all any. I do see a lot of the 2wd rv's selling for next to nothing tho. The rv's you can pass through the truck cab and camper shell. and since its a hard side rv, arent you allowed to have passengers in there also? I don't totally dislike pop up campers just dealing with canvas issues and having to set up and take down in nasty weather is less then fun. More or less I was just thinking out loud here I suppose. Does anybody have the link for that tundra build mentioned above?
 

NothingClever

Explorer
The rv's you can pass through the truck cab and camper shell. and since its a hard side rv, arent you allowed to have passengers in there also?

You're right....I forgot about that obvious advantage. I'm not sure why I forgot since that's a handy feature my wife reminds me that she misses from our Westfalia days (we have a pop-up on a pick-up now). That'll be especially handy for you in Illinois where the fall/winter/spring weather can be pretty brutal. Best of luck with your project.
 

4xdog

Explorer
The Tundra conversion was being done by Irbis Offroad in Aurora, Colorado. There are a few images still on their website.

http://www.irbisoffroad.com/about-us-2/
DSC07596.jpg
 

Toyotero

Explorer
Last edited:

codybutz

Observer
Toyotero, You just enlightened me to a new creature. If I could find one of those I'd be sold! I actually am use to solid axles up front as I have a strictly jeep back ground and I just recently purchased my first Yota. But a Hilux Chinook you say...... Me Likely.
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
The frame-on campers do have the advantage of extra space because they don't need to fit inside a truck bed. They can use the full width of the body all the way to the floor.

You could also build your own camper body on a Tacoma frame, along the lines of the Supercamper:

camperdriver.JPG


http://www.thesupercamper.blogspot.com/

I don't think attempting to contact Bonanza will get you anywhere helpful. I don't believe they exist in any capacity these days.

I love looking at the custom projects but I went with a slide-in pop up and really like it. The retracting top is very nice for aerodynamics on the road and for squeezing under trees on the trail. The pop up is also more acceptable for parking in a neighborhood.
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Any modification is possible if you point the money cannon at the vehicle and squeeze the trigger.

I would ask, though, other than the 'cool' factor, what is the objective? The advantage of a slide-in like a 4 wheel or a pop-up tent shell like a Wildernest or a Flip-Pac is that they don't require a dedicated vehicle - slide the camper out or take the topper off and you are back to having a pickup.

The dedicated camper-vehicle is great as a camper but pretty crappy for anything else. Also, even with 4wd, you aren't going to go very far off-road in a vehicle that narrow and top-heavy.

To put it a different way, that weight and height of that camper is going to impose limits on your travels that 4wd and low range can't remove.

I guess if you live in the snowbelt and want a year-round camper, it could be a good thing, but there's a reason you don't see a lot of 4wd motor homes - no matter how many times the concept has been tried (and it has, many times), there really isn't that much of a demand for them because a 4wd motor home can't go that many places that a 2wd motor home of equal size and configuration can't go.

Seems to me if you really need the comforts of a motor home and the capability of 4wd,something like a Sportsmobile 4x4 van would get you further into the back country with fewer compromises (think, for a minute, about the point where the fiberglass body of the camper and the metal body of the truck come together, and then imagine the body flexing and twisting on a rough 4wd road. You can see the problems that would be very likely to occurr.)
 

Matto

Observer
Very disappointed in this thread.

Reading the title had me thinking that someone was going to try to combine a Taco with one of these:

ch47_chinook.jpg


</offtopic>

Martinjmpr has hit my concern on the head - depending on how you mount the body (and I've never seen one, so go easy on me if it's obvious) to the chassis, I would expect that it would flex against the cab in an offroad situation.

You could get around it by either separating the two with a flexible "conduit" between cab and body, or potentially by fixing them together as one entire unit. That, however, would probably tie you to using only 3 body mounts for the entire cab+body, which probably wouldn't support the entire arrangement. The former, though, might impact your legalities of having passengers back there, if it's not the same structure as the cab (which seems to be one of the main reasons you're looking to do it).

As mentioned, 2WD vehicles don't really have this problem - well, not enough to actually worry about it anyway.

Good luck though - "never let those who say you can't, distract you while you actually do".

Thanks!
Matto :)
 

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