Accrete's FireRed 07 TACO project

[Accrete]

This is our build thread discussing our mods on a 2007 Tacoma TRD 4x4....

Please keep a few things in mind as you read through this build thread:

1) I'm just a regular guy...my day job has nothing to do with RV repair or maintenance so anything you see or read in this build thread posted by myself is from a non-professional POV.

2) Please always follow common sense and manufacturer's suggestions.

3) Please leave comments and suggestions!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our TACO has been SOLD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is a picture of our current adventure rig:
A 2010 Chevy AWD 1500 Express Van Conversion and 2013 Parkliner 15 foot fiberglass trailer:

The rest of this OP has to do with the TACO build...

Greetings fellow expeditionaries : )

===October 2009 latest project: putting on Bridgstone Dueler Revo 2 in P245 75 R17 on the stock TRD Sport 17" rims. Will report back sometime in late October 2009 after we have a few miles on them===

Thanks to many of your wonderful threads and posts my wife and i took the plunge and purchased a 2007 TACO TRD 4x4 Access Cab in July of this year for her daily driver and our escape rig.
Though we are just beginning the project and adventures in our home state of Oregon, we quickly got the rig ready for truck+tent camping. I have details at my domain at this page (where i've also mentioned this forum and linked to for visitor's reference).

I will update this thread as i add items that i feel might be of interest to the gang here. Basicaly what i've done so far is outfitted the inside of the A.R.E. shell with a carpeted sleeping platform with storage under. There is also info on the nice "ActionPacker" containers we found and use that fit perfectly behind the front seats of the access cab.

Again, many, many thanks to the TACO owners in this forum that have shared many great ideas that gave me inspiration for the project. Planned for this Fall/Winter builds are the addition of a 2m HAM, LaptopPC/GPS combo and there will also be some addtional info on our truck+vestibule+showerTent+changingTent setup.

Here are a handful of images to get things started in the next couple of posts.
(POST SCRIPT EDIT: I've noticed that every once in a while when linking images from my server they will not load. But give it a few hours and WaLa, back again. sorry for any inconvenience.)

Happy Trails.

 

[Accrete]

Some exterior shots of Accrete's rig showing the A.R.E. color matched shell with combo SUV-hatch and Single-Rear-Door:

: ) Thom

 

[Accrete]

Here are some interior shots of the shell with the sleeping platform...it is just a quick 5 minutes to transform it back to an empty shell for hauling "stuff".

The other item of interest is shown in this interior shot of the access cab.
Shown are two Rubbermaid "ActionPacker" storage totes that fit perfectly accross the rear area behind the front seats.

Cheers,
Thom

 

[SOAZ]

Love the rear set up. The door is key.
The sleeping platform is simple clean and easy. great stuff!:arabia:

 

[Accrete]

Hi Tim, thx for the kudos. Hey i checked out your site and blog...Very Nice! Some fun stuff over there.

I took the TACO off road yesterday with my son and gave the shell interior it's first taste of action. I had the windows between cab and shell open only to listen for any "noise" back there, i.e. things moving around.
Everything stayed put nicely even though there are just bungies honding the two side boxes to the bed and a side-to-side ratchet-tiedown and of course the pressure fit center platform. It actually takes all my strength to pressure slide the plywood platform from rear to front of shell, it is seriously in place. But still wanted to know what it would all do off road in the wild stuff here on our Oregon trail : )

Cheers,
Thom

 

[Scott Brady]

Truck looks great. How is the rear door for sealing out dust? It certainly has a lot of functional advantage.

 

[kcowyo]

Nice set-up Thom. Gotta love that hood scoop!

I'm glad you posted up and linked to your personal site, very interesting stuff. I'm sure Oregon will provide you with plenty of opportunities to get off the beaten path.

Welcome to the forum -

 

[Willman]

Welcome to the ExPo!

What type 2m are you going with?

Love the color too!!!!

 

[Accrete]

Hi gang, thx for the visit and Qs : )

Scott, i put the shell through the dustiest drive i could find around here (Spruce Run near the Nehalem River, about 55 miles on a very dusty trail/road) the other week and there was dust kickin' up like crazy. I did this purposely as i wanted to see how the seal was. The rear SUV style hatch did real well as my wife found some auto-door-seal strip and we added quite a bit back there. It did the job quite well. The central door is dust tight.

There was a bit of dust for sure, but not more than maybe a couple or so tablespoons**[POST SCRIPT: my wife read this post and asked me where i learned to cook. ROTFLOL. She was there helping me clean the back when we came home and she has told me there was more like two TEAspoons if that!] when i swept it up (i took out all the interior goodies as i wanted to see just how much i could clean up after the trip). Now the funny thing was the biggest culprit was that side-pocket that is over the rear wheels. I asked my wife what it was for and she said it was a place to put her chap stick at nite. grin. Anyway there was a very fine dusting ontop of the wheel well from the lower edge of the "pocket". I'm thinking of sealing it with silicone or something.

Hi KC, yea that hood scoop looks cool. But as you might know it is non-functional. I don't know what would take place if it was made functional, i'll have to ask around. There seems to be lots of trails around us, though we will have to make sure that if going out in wet weather (or after a shower) we have proper recovery grear. I'm thinking of getting a couple pairs of the bridging ramps to start. I'm still undecided on a winch. Thank you for the kind words on the site, i've put lots of stuff up there since it's beginnings back in 1997.

Oh, another note on that hood scoop. As cool as it is, it also blocks your forward veiw a bit. Because of that i installed a forward view camera mounted next to the license plate in the lower grill area. The monitor is mounted up near the rear view mirror. The camera gets its power from the fog lights (they help with the camera's picture quality and that way the camera is not always on.) The monitor gets its power from the fuse box behind the eyeglass pocted to the left of the steering wheel. I'll get some pix up on that.

Nic, W7TGL here : ) I'm not sure. I'm leaning toward a Kenwood as i could tie in the PC and GPS and have some real fun as navigator. I should have my general ticket by year's end as i passed the written once, but the code was like learning Klingon for me. But now that they've dropped the code req. i'm all over it. I think my wife will get her Tech soon also. We ususally don't stray to far from one another (after all these years i think we're attached at the hip or something) so her getting the license would be more for emergencies rather than talking to eachother.

I see tonight that the images from my domain are not loading. grrrr. sometimes the server gets bogged down for unknown reason, and then it's up again in the morning. go figure.

Happy Trails.
Thom

 

[p1michaud]

Sleeping platform

Welcome to ExPo, nice clean rig!

That is a neat approach with the SUV-hatch and Single-Rear-Door. Definately makes access easier.

Cheers :beer:,
P

 

[Accrete]

Welcome to ExPo, nice clean rig!

That is a neat approach with the SUV-hatch and Single-Rear-Door. Definately makes access easier.
P

Yes i believe your observation is spot on. Hatch to load/unload, and door to get in/out at nite as needed.

We are taking the rig out camping for the first time in mid September. We are on an acre of land near a river and have set up "camp" over several test runs. The basic idea is to have a tarp set up (we use those cool tarp-clamp thingies available at outdoor stores) to make a tunnel from the shell to the shower/toilet/changing room tent. . . one of my wife's prerequisits for camping. Then we have a nice three room tent with screen room for hanging out when not down at the stream panning for gold. So far the setup is working in our trial runs, the fun will come when we can pull it off at an unfamiliar site with all the neighbors trying not to laugh at us to obviously. grin.

Cheers,
Thom

 

[7wt]

I really like the removable sleeping area thing you got going on there. When (if) I ever get a camper shell I may have to go that route. Looks very good!

 

[Accrete]

What would Jed do?

Oh dude that is waaaaay to funny! And they've even got T-shirts !! Who'da thunk ol' Jed would become so famous.

grin.
Thom

 

[Accrete]

My wife was looking at the SUV hatch feature and a light bulb went on. . . she is off to the "Big City" today to do some shopping and doodling on the truck while i'm at work [we are about 100 miles from anywhere with real shopping stores]. Hummm, i wonder what she is dreaming up... I'll report back when she shows me her creation. I never really know with her as she could be classified as a McGirlVer just like our USAF-JetMechanicDaughter. Leonardo move over. grin.

: ) Thom

 

[Accrete]

McGirlVer dreams up a doodle...

Alrighty, my wife is back from the big city shopping adventure and here is what she came up with. . .a nice idea for a quick privacy shelter utilizing the Hatch-Back. Shown below is a simple 3 minute setup streatching a bungie cord with window curtains around the back of the open hatch. This will be useful when setting up a temporary day site. . . some uses might include changing room, shower, restroom. Things a girl might like during a day on the trail : )

Happy Trails,
Thom