Broverlanding Tacoma build and adventures

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VanGoOutdoors

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St. Augustine, Fl
Ive had a couple people message and ask about details of the truck, so i figured id do a post here for you?

First post is just gonna be the documentation of the pickup, then ill go into all the supporting mods

We left on Weds the 19th of July to head up to PA.
We stayed in Easton PA at a small ass hotel that was super janky in anticipation of the next day. We woke up bright and early to a continental breakfast and headed out. We were about 20 minutes form OK4wd. Went and saw Rin and company over there to pick up a few things before heading down to West Chester PA To go to Mainline overland.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Made the two hour trip to Mainline Overland through some pretty awesome roads where we got the Fleet Slide In camper installed!
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

From there we made our way to Philly, with the pretty much exclusive reason to get a cheese steak at Dalessandro’s. Realized just how ridiculously awesome the truck looks parked on the streets.
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

After that we hopped back in the truck and drove a bit, then camped in a walmart parking lot for the first night.
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Wife super duper approves of the camper, which makes it all that much better

The next morning we headed into DC and had some fun.
But first we stopped by Baltimore for some coffee and foods
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
 
The Zoo first, then the air and space museum, then a bus ride tour of the city!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
From there we hit our camp spot for the night just outside of DC
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
So we left off with camping just outside of D.C.
We both really enjoyed the day in Washington, as we have been meaning to go for a while. very worthwhile trip indeed.

From there, we wanted to hit the blue ridge parkway. The wife was originally supposed to go to expo east with me, but she can't due to work. In that light, let's roll!

It was about 3 hours out of the way, but then we also got to stop by and see our friends Matt from Blue ridge overland gear, and Jason from Mountain State Overland. Well worth the drive

Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
We were tipped off about a killer camp spot on the side of the blue ridge parkway, up some offroad trails off FS152 i believe. Turned out an outback had occupied the spot, so we were denied :/

Decided to descend into Bedford VA from there, and stay at Matts farm!
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

He was an awesome host and came out and chilled with us for a while. Jason stopped by after some white water canoeing and hung out for a couple hours. It was cool talking about the upcoming releases of MSO. I love those guys. I can always respect a hustler.

Shitty picture, but we also found mini horses on the way out
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Last stop was a quick tour of the Blue Ridge Overland gear shop. These guys are an amazing company. Quality products all made in house with awesome people. Reaffirms why I love their stuff, and use a ton of it.
Broverlanding_Tacoma by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

anyways. Thats about the end of the trip. Just 10 hours of driving back. Hell of a weekend!
Screen Shot 2017-07-29 at 8.02.15 AM by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
 
Nice looking outfit. You will enjoy it. We are a couple of those birds that come down.We stay in Venice. Mitch
 
This weekend decided to go Beach camping (yeah, its a recurring theme around here)
We started the day out in Historic Fernandina Beach downtown area and grabbed some lunch and walked around. Cool little place we havent been before.
Wife had a Lobster Corn Dog. Said it was Heavenly.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Gratuitous beach pictures from here on out
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

The newly adapted Renogy solar suitcase, mounted with some aluminum angle to the tracks

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Storm started rolling in unfortunately
Amelia Island by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Amelia Island by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Amelia Island by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

The rain was off and on through the afternoon, but we couldn't just turn back with the awesome mid 70s weather.

Made some dinner on the trail kitchen setup
Amelia Island by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

And some propane campfire time in as well with peoples
Night time camp by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Bedtime met with the dog testing out his brand new sleeping space
Wife and pup by Grant Wilson, on Flickr


The storm got much much worse over the night. 40+mph sustained winds based on the local airport 1.5 miles away inland. Lots of rain.
Other than the sound of the rain on the rooftop, you would have never known. No wind noise, no real issues through the night other than some rain through the fans. Gotta find some covers or something else to do with it.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
this was everything that rolled through from west to east. this shows it just passing.

this video was about 9 am
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

and then the dog figured out he could jump to our bed
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

overall a win win. We will head out to ocala to do some wheeling and camping next weekend
 
As always, lots of stuff going on. We did some camping obviously, then did some more.

Wife wanted an AC unit, so i gave her an AC unit
Climate right 2500 is what i used in my teardrop, so i got another one for this.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
I built a plexi window insert that fastens via velcro to the inside of the window frame. Brought it down to 72 degrees in a 90 degree day, and removed all the humidity. Win!

Went to disney campground for the last weekend of our season passes
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
But first, at the intersection of I95 and i4, i saw this lil guy off across the ditch, and could have sworn i saw someone in there. Turned around in the grass and checked it out. College aged gent that couldn't get a tow truck to help. So i figured i would.
He hooked a strap to his wheel and i janked him out off the other bank, through the ditch and back up to the main grass.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
He was able to pull the fender liner out and continue on his way. I assume with little to no issue. Got him out of the rain and back on his way. Happy days

THEN we got to the campground
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

after that, pulled the camper off for some work to both.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
pretty darn simple process IMO.

All my solar stuff came in, so it was time to throw it on the camper.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Ordered:
Renogy 100 watt solar panel x3: http://amzn.to/2vQJAkH
Victron BV-702 : http://amzn.to/2fWIkqw
Victron 100/30 MPPT: http://amzn.to/2vQGzkr

Installed the panels on the roof using 3/4 x 3/4 aluminum angle, with some brackets to keep it all stiff on the front and rear that had to be run underneath. Pretty quick situation.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Last thing is to pull the bed off for the flatbed fabriction. Should be at least decked this week
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
 
Grant, your project is coming along fast and looking great. Can't wait to get my hands on my fleet. I'm going with the same Victron gear that you chose, but am still weighing the options for solar panels -- flexible vs. solid, a couple 100s, vs. a fixed 180 between the two vents.

With three of the Renogy panels and mounting gear you probably added about 50 pounds to the roof. Any problems lifting the top? Are you still using the original roof struts?
 
EnviroProf said:
Grant, your project is coming along fast and looking great. Can't wait to get my hands on my fleet. I'm going with the same Victron gear that you chose, but am still weighing the options for solar panels -- flexible vs. solid, a couple 100s, vs. a fixed 180 between the two vents.

With three of the Renogy panels and mounting gear you probably added about 50 pounds to the roof. Any problems lifting the top? Are you still using the original roof struts?
Click to expand...
Should be right at 50 lbs for sure. I have 30lb struts on there currently. Will be upgrading to 40s, but it is still very manageable. I got a great deal on the renogy panels as i work with them, so I can't complain. I could have just done a single 180 i think it was, but i wanted the max amount of power honestly for cloudy days. The fans and fridge are power hungry. With only two panels, i was putting out enough power in sunlight to power the fridge, one fan on high, and all the lights in the camper (except rear floods) without overrunning the solar. With 3, its unlimited power.
 
Nice Rig...Its great to be young. We did 1,018 miles in 4 days and I'm still recovering a week later.

What company did you use to replace your rear bumper?
 
Any updates? I have been thinking of doing the same thing and this morning my wife showed me a post of your project on Facebook.
Cheers
 
The Plot Thickens.

We took a bet to see if a sheet of 1/4 aluminum would work without any additional bracing for a flatbed and the FWC. I wasn't very convinced it would, coworker said it would.
Spoiler, it doesnt.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
countersunk the hardware for the air tank so it stays smooth
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Threw the camper on and it works.
I don't like how the mounts are there, so I will put in some stainless eye bolts to clamp the camper down and save about 4 inches of storage space
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Set up at our campsite for the weekend near the Withacoochie river (i think its actually withlacoocihe or something). We went to see the mermaids at Weeki Wachee and grabbed some food as well

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

I have already pulled the camper again, and working on the substructure of the flatbed. Side boxes and rear plates with tail lights should be mostly done by the end of the weekend.
 
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