Hodakaguy's Overland Tacoma Builds - FWC Combo
My father has an upcoming trip planned with his brother so it's time to get his truck set up for the Camper.
First item up is to install the wiring to connect the camper to the trucks Aux battery.
Four Wheel Camper uses an Attwood 3 prong trolling motor connector for the truck to camper power interface. Here I'm getting set up to splice the plug onto the Ancor marine wire.
On all my projects I like to use Ancor Pre-Tinned marine wire, each strand is tinned before it's made into the actual wire. Tinning helps keep the wire corrosion resistant in marine and non-marine environments and keeps the wire reliable for years to come.
Connected
Hole drilled in the corner of the bed for the power plug.
This is a de-burring tool and is sooooo handy. You use it to eliminate the sharp edges around the hole to prevent stress cracks from developing down the road. Because of the shape of the tip you can de-burr the inner and outer edges easily.
Plug installed
Terminating the wire on the fuse box next to the SwitchPro.
Getting ready to swap over the camper to my fathers rig. Before Shot.
Attaching the jacks.
We fabricated some stand off brackets from some plate steel so the front jacks will clear the fenders of the truck when we drop the camper and pull forward.
Continued Below....
First item up is to install the wiring to connect the camper to the trucks Aux battery.
Four Wheel Camper uses an Attwood 3 prong trolling motor connector for the truck to camper power interface. Here I'm getting set up to splice the plug onto the Ancor marine wire.
On all my projects I like to use Ancor Pre-Tinned marine wire, each strand is tinned before it's made into the actual wire. Tinning helps keep the wire corrosion resistant in marine and non-marine environments and keeps the wire reliable for years to come.
Connected
Hole drilled in the corner of the bed for the power plug.
This is a de-burring tool and is sooooo handy. You use it to eliminate the sharp edges around the hole to prevent stress cracks from developing down the road. Because of the shape of the tip you can de-burr the inner and outer edges easily.
Plug installed
Terminating the wire on the fuse box next to the SwitchPro.
Getting ready to swap over the camper to my fathers rig. Before Shot.
Attaching the jacks.
We fabricated some stand off brackets from some plate steel so the front jacks will clear the fenders of the truck when we drop the camper and pull forward.
Continued Below....
Continued from above....
The passenger side rear jack mount needed a quick mod to allow the jack to function, when we added the stainless mount to the OEM bracket to support the Shadow awning it caused a slight interference issue when mounting the jack. We fabbed up a quick stand off plate to allow the jack to bolt on with the awning brace in place (Short a couple bolts in these pics).
This adapter allows you to use a drill to run the jacks up and down instead of having to use the hand cranks. Very handy!
Jacks going down, turn buckles removed and camper coming off the truck.
These are the bed bars and camper attach points for the 5' Tacoma trucks, the bars attach to the bed using the factory bed hold down bolts. Tip: To make install easy use a snap tie to attach the front turn buckets to the mounting bar before you install the camper, once the camper is on the truck you can lift up the turn buckle and attach it to the camper without having to fish for the lower tie point. Turn buckles are quick and easy with this method.
Camper installed on my fathers truck, tire pressures set and air bags inflated...here we are watching some aviation videos and my father and uncle are swapping flying stories
And back outside. We swapped my fathers canopy over to my truck.
Bammmm....they look totally different now lol.
Hodakaguy
The passenger side rear jack mount needed a quick mod to allow the jack to function, when we added the stainless mount to the OEM bracket to support the Shadow awning it caused a slight interference issue when mounting the jack. We fabbed up a quick stand off plate to allow the jack to bolt on with the awning brace in place (Short a couple bolts in these pics).
This adapter allows you to use a drill to run the jacks up and down instead of having to use the hand cranks. Very handy!
Jacks going down, turn buckles removed and camper coming off the truck.
These are the bed bars and camper attach points for the 5' Tacoma trucks, the bars attach to the bed using the factory bed hold down bolts. Tip: To make install easy use a snap tie to attach the front turn buckets to the mounting bar before you install the camper, once the camper is on the truck you can lift up the turn buckle and attach it to the camper without having to fish for the lower tie point. Turn buckles are quick and easy with this method.
Camper installed on my fathers truck, tire pressures set and air bags inflated...here we are watching some aviation videos and my father and uncle are swapping flying stories
And back outside. We swapped my fathers canopy over to my truck.
Bammmm....they look totally different now lol.
Hodakaguy
Advmoto18
Senior Member
Tom...
What did your dad and uncle fly? Your dad must have been a fighter pilot since he is using two hands to describe the flying event. I'm an old retired Marine fighter aviator.
Mike at Master Repair in Stuart, FL (boat rigger) turned me onto PowerWinch plugs and socket for a very robust electrical connection to my trolling motor on my flats boats decades ago. I use the same plug and socket on my Hawk camper. Not unusual to get 20 years of service from this plug/socket in saltwater conditions. Making them a likely lifelong component on our campers.
Plug
Socket
Bill
What did your dad and uncle fly? Your dad must have been a fighter pilot since he is using two hands to describe the flying event. I'm an old retired Marine fighter aviator.
Mike at Master Repair in Stuart, FL (boat rigger) turned me onto PowerWinch plugs and socket for a very robust electrical connection to my trolling motor on my flats boats decades ago. I use the same plug and socket on my Hawk camper. Not unusual to get 20 years of service from this plug/socket in saltwater conditions. Making them a likely lifelong component on our campers.
Plug
Socket
Bill
Hi Bill, we are all three Private Pilots, my father has been into vintage and antique aircraft most of his life.Advmoto18 said:
That electrical connection looks great, make sure and put some dielectric grease or some type of corrosion guard on the exposed connections of the plug since it will be back up under the fender.
Here's a picture of my father in his 1929 Pitcairn Mail Wing that he restored back in the day, it was used as a night air mail plane.
And our last plane, a 1938 Piper J3 with the original 38 50hp up stack Continental Engine.
Hodakaguy
Advmoto18
Senior Member
Very nice airplanes! Thanks for sharing!
Good tip and yes, I use dialectic grease on those connections and refresh same every year on my boat. I refresh the grease on the camper connections when I think about it.
You guys are beyond masters in fabrication and metalsmithing. A&Ps as well?
How far east of Bingen are you located. Looks kind of arid out there. We camped on the Alvrod last summer and really enjoyed the beauty of the OR desert.
Inquired about renting an airplane at Dallesport to do some aerial exploring but the rates were a bit too steep for the budget.
Good tip and yes, I use dialectic grease on those connections and refresh same every year on my boat. I refresh the grease on the camper connections when I think about it.
You guys are beyond masters in fabrication and metalsmithing. A&Ps as well?
How far east of Bingen are you located. Looks kind of arid out there. We camped on the Alvrod last summer and really enjoyed the beauty of the OR desert.
Inquired about renting an airplane at Dallesport to do some aerial exploring but the rates were a bit too steep for the budget.
Advmoto18
Senior Member
Tom..
Just saw you have your Tacoma/FWC up for sale on Expedition Portal. Some one is going to score a phenomenal rig!
What's the next project?
Bill
Just saw you have your Tacoma/FWC up for sale on Expedition Portal. Some one is going to score a phenomenal rig!
What's the next project?
Bill
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