83 Fleet Rebuild on a 2010 Tundra

[Sleddog]

The second section is a piece of 3/4" plywood with a 2x4 base attached underneath for support. This piece turns into a side table when removed. The base design is temporary and will change after I complete the wrap around couch.

 

[Sleddog]

With the new lowered floor pack, the space under the bed is tall enough for the rubbermaid totes we like to use, for portable water jugs, and for the coolers. We usually travel during the winter months and rarely when it is hot out, so we decided to ditch the fridge and stick with our cooler setup. We don't bother with a water system that can freeze up and prefer two portable 5 gallon water jugs and one 5 gallon insulated water cooler because they are easier to carry to a faucet and fill as opposed to having to carry a hose and find a faucet to hook it to.

 

[Sleddog]

The early versions of these campers used a three layer liner system for the pop up, they eventually abandoned this style with good reason. The inner liner and foam insulation hold moisture and it can be difficult to get them completely dry while traveling. After 30 plus years, both pieces were fairly filthy and disgusting. Even though it wasn't on my list, I went ahead and used a sharp new razor blade to carefully cut out the inner liner and the foam insulation leaving just the vinyl portion of the pop up. Cleaning and some 303 protectant came next. This really improved the appearance inside.

 

[Sleddog]

Pretty obvious where I stopped cleaning.

 

[Sleddog]

You can see where the moisture was trapped in the corner.

 

[Sleddog]

Got an early Christmas present, wanted to get these mounted before we leave on our upcoming two month adventure. More than once during our travels last winter we had to backtrack instead of driving through because we were low on gas. I didn't want to repeat that scenario this year.

 

[Sleddog]

We decided on the Fuel Pax because of the size options. I'm finding that the smaller cans are easier to use the older we get and I wanted something that would sit on either side of the camper. Jerry cans won't fit between the camper and the tailgate supports, and I'm not willing to get rid of my back porch.

 

[Dobba84]

One thing on my tundra is access to the spare tire winch isn’t possible with the tailgate on

 

[Sleddog]

Accessing the spare with the tailgate down has crossed my mind. I'm thinking it can be done from under the truck, may need to fabricate a shorter tool to do so. I'm planning to look into that this week before we leave and am open to suggestions if anyone has any.

 

[Sleddog]

Went ahead and addressed the spare tire access today. Ended up removing the license plate, drilling a hole in the plastic part of the bumper, and enlarging the existing access hole in the metal. It is now a two person job getting the spare out, with one person under the truck aligning everything while the other person pushes and turns the tool, but it is doable and will suffice for now. Wish I would have addressed this before putting the camper on, but I'm a little more at ease knowing I can at least get it done if necessary.

 

[Sleddog]

We've been on the road with the camper since December 28, the new bed and kitchen is working out great. There will be minor modifications, but otherwise all of the updates have worked out as planned.

So far we've worked our way from Idaho to New Mexico over about a week, then spent a couple of weeks at primitive backcountry sites in Big Bend National Park, then over to the Chiricahua Mountains for a couple of weeks, a couple of days soaking in the mineral pools at Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and now over to the Dragoon Mountains and Cochise Stronghold.

The best photo of the trip is from the Chiricahua Mountains near Cave Creek where we ran into a Rainbow Gathering. We were on Forest road 42b, clearly marked 4x4 on the forest maps, and came across these guys trying to do it with a school bus towing an SUV. They did fine until the second creek crossing. The guy at the Cave Creek visitor center said the nearest tow truck was a $2000 minimum.

 

[AWG_Pics]

Thanks for the very interesting trip report. That school bus may still be there when we go through the Chiricahua's in three weeks or so.

 

[Sleddog]

It took a pandemic, but I finally got enough time off work to paint the camper.

 

[Sleddog]

Lots of masking.

 

[Sleddog]

I'm happy with it.

 

[Sleddog]

Had to take it on a test run.