84 Fleet - 09 Tacoma - Project

[Desheezy]

Ohh man, that is some sad stuff. That last photo hurts, upside down on the side of the highway, no one wants to be there.

I am not sure where I would go from where you are. I mean anything is fixable with enough time, but that would definetly a lot of time. It wouldn't be worth all that much to anyone either, unfortunately.

I am so sorry for you, this sucks. Keep me posted on what you decide to do. - Tim

So, I just kept getting inspired by your posts, and I started gutting the interior today. I'm gonna go all the way with this (well, mostly). I'm considering swapping the canvas lifts for the EMT lifts and struts you talked about. Got a friend who offered any metal work, so I'll have to come up with a list of things.

Did you ever add a fourth jack stand mount? I was looking for the same kind of tripod jack stand, but couldn't find anything like it. Can you recommend any sources?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Rieco still makes tripod jacks.

http://www.riecotitan.com/camperjacks/standardtripod.php

 

[Living The Dream]

So, I just kept getting inspired by your posts, and I started gutting the interior today. I'm gonna go all the way with this (well, mostly). I'm considering swapping the canvas lifts for the EMT lifts and struts you talked about. Got a friend who offered any metal work, so I'll have to come up with a list of things.

Did you ever add a fourth jack stand mount? I was looking for the same kind of tripod jack stand, but couldn't find anything like it. Can you recommend any sources?

Go buddy go! Make a build page of your own so we can all follow along. Should be an epic rebuild!

 

[Living The Dream]

Back at it talking about the mounting hardware for getting my old fleet on to my tundra. The process went really smoothly thanks to the right hardware.

 

[Living The Dream]

Someone recently wrote me about the canvas instal process and I wanted to include my response here for the benifit of all.

The instal of the canvas is not very tough at all. I trust you saw my video in my sewing project series (part 3) where I did the instal. If not, please go check it out.

A few caveats of my instal process.

I did not stick the entire canvas together until after I got it on the camper. This allowed me to fudge the total circumference and add some extra length to the canvas which I just cut off later. I did this both for the circumference as well as the height. Check the video and you will see what I mean. Having the extra height definitely made it easier to instal as I had the ability to grab and really pull the canvas tight when installing the hardware, but you could also glue on temporary tabs if need be.

Also, if installing a presewn canvas, I am sure you want to have the circumference dimensions nice and accurate to ensure you have a taught canvas. I am sure since everything is fitting just right, it will be slightly more challenging, but talk to your canvas maker and see what they suggest.



To all, go get after it a build that camper! Then go enjoy it!

 

[m.r.h.]

Thanks for a great video on the install of the hardware. I got the hardware a couple of weeks ago and finally have some time to do the install hopefully this weekend. It seemed all nice and straight forward. I just now have to decide where to cut rear access doors since that was skipped when the floor was redone.

Jacking the camper up and backing into it really gets my heart rate and nerves going as well. My camper has been on and off my truck several times in the few months of owning. I only have about 1-2 inches of clearance on both sides so it is really tight. I have found the higher I jack it up the easier it is to back into it. Get things a little above the bed rails and seem likes I have feet of extra clearance.

 

[Living The Dream]

Thanks for a great video on the install of the hardware. I got the hardware a couple of weeks ago and finally have some time to do the install hopefully this weekend. It seemed all nice and straight forward. I just now have to decide where to cut rear access doors since that was skipped when the floor was redone.

Jacking the camper up and backing into it really gets my heart rate and nerves going as well. My camper has been on and off my truck several times in the few months of owning. I only have about 1-2 inches of clearance on both sides so it is really tight. I have found the higher I jack it up the easier it is to back into it. Get things a little above the bed rails and seem likes I have feet of extra clearance.

Thanks for checking out the videos.

You can't really go wrong with the pass through location. I am sure you'll do something well.

Yes, the mounting process is always stressful. With the new truck we had the jacks absolutely topped out and it was still crazy close.

 

[Living The Dream]

Someone recently PM'd me about my water system, I shared a few thoughts with them that I wanted to disseminate to the rest of community.

If I was to do my water again I would actaully do something different. I would not install the big rv freshwater tank I have and just go with the two jerry can approach. There is a lot of convenience in just being able to carry a 7 gallon jerry can into your home or a gas station and fill up the water rather than finding a hose for the rv fill port I currently have. Plus it sounds like you don't want holes in your camper so it is a win win. Go with the manual hand pump too, less to break and will help you conserve water. The jerry can approach does hold less water than you might be use to and I am not sure how much you need for your family, but you can always bring extra water and swap the cans.

The two jerry can approach is a classic van life set up that works great, one tank for fresh, one tank for grey.

https://vanlifecusto...om/blog/diysink

Check my build links to see the simple hand pump I used, cheap and effective.
[SIZE=9pt]http://bit.ly/TGMorrisseyParts[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]https://amzn.to/366WivM[/SIZE]

One aspect I do love about my set up is the exterior water faucet, that actaully gets more use than the interior sink. With the two jerry jugs you lose that but I would just buy one extra can and mount it to the outside of the camper somehow.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Good advice! Another pump to consider is a foot pump like the Whale.

https://www.whalepumps.com/marine/product.aspx?Product_ID=10027

Someone recently PM'd me about my water system, I shared a few thoughts with them that I wanted to disseminate to the rest of community.

If I was to do my water again I would actaully do something different. I would not install the big rv freshwater tank I have and just go with the two jerry can approach. There is a lot of convenience in just being able to carry a 7 gallon jerry can into your home or a gas station and fill up the water rather than finding a hose for the rv fill port I currently have. Plus it sounds like you don't want holes in your camper so it is a win win. Go with the manual hand pump too, less to break and will help you conserve water. The jerry can approach does hold less water than you might be use to and I am not sure how much you need for your family, but you can always bring extra water and swap the cans.

The two jerry can approach is a classic van life set up that works great, one tank for fresh, one tank for grey.

https://vanlifecusto...om/blog/diysink

Check my build links to see the simple hand pump I used, cheap and effective.
[SIZE=9pt]http://bit.ly/TGMorrisseyParts[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]https://amzn.to/366WivM[/SIZE]

One aspect I do love about my set up is the exterior water faucet, that actaully gets more use than the interior sink. With the two jerry jugs you lose that but I would just buy one extra can and mount it to the outside of the camper somehow.

 

[Living The Dream]

ohh, the foot pump is certainly a nice touch. Maybe next time. Thanks for sharing the link

 

[Living The Dream]

I updated my website to include a bunch of information about my camper. It is essentially a fancy tool to navigate to different videos about the build. I also made a really cool map that shows all the different places I have camped and links to the videos.

Check it out here:
https://www.tgmorrissey.com/camper

 

[buckland]

That is a great website...lots of work but set up well. Newcomers will have a great resource in it.

 

[Living The Dream]

That is a great website...lots of work but set up well. Newcomers will have a great resource in it.

Thanks! I got asked a lot of the same questions online (which I am always happy to answer) but I figured more organized information would really help a lot fo the new folks. I really think the map feature is cool

 

[Living The Dream]

Recapping some of the original painting projects I did

 

[Living The Dream]

 

[Living The Dream]

2019 was a truly great year for me. Had a son, finished my PhD, got in plenty of skiing and camping, and spent a ton of quality time with my friends and family. Looking forward to keeping this up and piling on the memories in 2020. I hope you had an equally great year.
Go check out my year condensed into a fun 3 minutes:

 

[Living The Dream]

 

[Living The Dream]

Got out for some great winter camping! Check out some clips from the day here:

 

[Living The Dream]

Checking in on the Tundra these days. Shes been treating us great. But might need a bit of work in the near future.

 

[Living The Dream]

Ive got a few projects planned to get the camper really dialed in. I talk all about them here. Check it out.