2003 tacoma owner in NC ordered an ATC Bobcat

I

Icutitup

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
21
Location
NC
Hello,

I have been lurking on this site and expedition portal on and off for several years now. We have dreamed of getting a some type of camper for the last 15 years. We are back packers/tent campers who would like to get off the ground and be able to stand up in a dry comfortable space. We thought about a VW vanagon, inquired about shipping a T5 vanagon from Europe, the sportsmobile, the sprinter van, then we transition to a trailer the tear drop, A liner, and finally the fiberglass egg. Through it all, we kept coming back to the truck camper for its simplicity and ease of mobility. Our biggest hurdle was access to a light weight well made camper. All the truck campers made on the east coast are too heavy for our 1st generation tacoma and come fully outfitted.

This year was the year that we decided to just go for it. I want to thank Monte and Julie, Linda, BobD, Buckland, Bseek, and Ken for helping us make our decision. Your response to my private emails made all the difference in our decision.

We are very excited to report that we have ordered a Bobcat shell from Marty and Jeff. We plan on picking the camper up in May in Moab Ut. Can anyone say "road trip"

We have some truck suspension modifications to get done between now and May. I have read several threads about suspension upgrades here and over on Tacoma world. I may need additional advice as we learn what kinda shape our current leafs are in.

If anyone knows of a good suspension shop near Chapel Hill NC let please let me know.

I'll attach pictures of our truck when I figure out how to make them less than 500k.

Thanks to so much.

April
 
Hi April! Congrats on the camper purchase. I also run a Tacoma and Bobcat (but not the shell). My truck is a 2012. As you likely know or have heard the suspension upgrades are truly important!

The type of driving you will be doing will help determine your needs. The Tacoma's drastically lacking in load capacity and suspension, esp. in the rear. I ended up having my local suspension shop add an Old Man Emu Dakar leaf pack right when I got the truck. These add a slight lift but help with the Tacoma rear end sag tremendously. Just this past week I installed new rear shocks and bump stops. I end up driving thousands of miles each year of backcountry dirt roads in the Mojave desert for work. So I designed my upgrades to fit this need.

I purchased my parts from Wheelers Off-Road in Ashland, OR. I put on ICON rears shocks. Spendy, but rebuildable and highly recommended by many folks. Also added front and rear Superbumps. They are signifigantly less in cost than Timbrens and they were easy enough to install. Not sure if they have them for your gen of Tacoma though?

http://wheelersoffroad.com/product-category/toyota/tacoma/1995-5-2004-tacoma-4x4-and-prerunner/suspension-steering-and-chassis/

Also don't be afraid to call ATC, I've talked to Marty & Jeff many, many times over the past year. And, even though I didn't buy my camper from them directly as I got it used, they been super helpful with answering my questions and helping me trouble shoot some upgrades and fixes.

Good luck!!!
 
Congrats on your new camper decision. We also have an ATC camper on a Tacoma (2nd Gen) and are very happy with our choice.
 
April,good choice.
We have an 09 Bobcat on 1st gen Tundra,and have enjoyed it for over 6 years. Great camper.Very simple/functional.well made good price/value. IMO

Hope you don't have to wait very long. Marty and Jeff and crew are great to work with,and make a great product with great service.
Frank
 
Adamdrummer,
thanks for the infor about the suspension. Our mechanics think the Firestone airbags are the way to go. I have some feelers out to 4x4 truck folks in my area to see about upgraded/adding to our current suspension and doing the airbags.
We don't plan on taking the camper off the truck and at the same time if something happens to the air bags we want to be able to drive safely until we can get them fixed.
I'm thinking about going to our garden center loading up the bed with bags of stuff totally 700 lbs and seeing how much the truck sags. The tacoma is new to us so we have no idea how much off road or hauling the previous owner did.
We don't plan on doing any real off roading. The occasional forest service road and on to the beach. Most will be highway driving.

April
 
April,we first had the Bobcat on a Ford Ranger,nice truck but had smaller V6 so was under powered.
On that install I used Supersprings worked great.
Now the Bobcat is on a 02 Tundra and I went with the Firestone air bags.I like them better,as you can adjust them side to side.
My Bobcat lowered the truck (both) about 3". The air bags have enough inflation to level the truck.
The springs on the Ranger lowered with the camper to a near level position.
IMO I don't think you can go wrong with the air bags.
Oh my camper in on all the time.
Frank
 
I have airbags on my Tacoma and Bobcat combination. I didn't think I really needed them, but when they went out I sure noticed the difference. We were bouncing along and the kids in the back seat were having trouble talking, but enjoying the sound effects. Turns out someone gave me bad advice about how much to fill the airbags with the camper on, and that caused them to fail. Now that I have them properly adjusted at 50 PSI they work like a charm.

Hint: if you get the auto inflating kind. If you hear them inflating pretty consistantly (not just at start up) then you should get them checked. I was 600 miles from home where the installers were. Not a safety hazard, just inconvenient.
 
Excited for y'all. See if they will take pictures for you, especially at the framing stage so you know where everything is!!
Linda
 
Thanks again Linda for showing us your Grandby shell. We so appreciate you answering all our questions and giving us some advice.

I will ask Marty and Jeff if they can send us some pictures during the build.

Can you recommend a good suspension shop in Raleigh to take a look at our truck?

April
 
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