New to the Forum - New Tacoma - ATC Bobcat Ordered!

[shoestring]

Just picked up my 2014 Silver Sky Metallic Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed Truck.

Placed an order for a Bobcat Shell a couple of weeks ago with the following options: second vent with fantastic fan, small rear window, jacks, auxiliary battery, 12 volt plug, heater and cabinet, LED upgrade, some custom benches and a custom lower couch/bed/table. Will likely add rack tracks too.

Super fired up for the new set-up and wanted to thank everyone on this forum for all of the helpful posts, etc.

My trusty 2005 Element has been sold (I had built a sweet set-up for camping in it, but as a camping rig, it only had two seats and with our new son, it just wasn't going to work). A failed attempt with a Eurovan finally led us to where we probably should have been a few years ago...

I look forward to sharing my experiences with the new rig, which should be all ready to go early August.

 

[ski3pin]

Welcome to WTW and we share your excitement. We'll need pictures!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Sounds like you will have a great setup and great time. Welcome, and as Mr. 3pin says... Pictures!

 

[N'kwala]

Welcome, and enjoy! Good choice.

 

[billharr]

Welcome to WTW. You will find lots of good information here. Please share pictures and trip reports.

Bill

 

[takesiteasy]

Sounds good! ATC is a good choice. Looking forward to pics of the new rig and of course some trip reports.

 

[Missing Link]

Welcome Shoestring! Perhaps I am biased, but I think you are really going to enjoy your new rig.

 

[shoestring]

Thanks for all of the welcomes...I think that the camper is going to be more interesting than a basic Taco, but here it is right after I picked it up.



I'll be driving our Subaru Imprezza as my DD - my commute is kinda long. My wife will be using the truck mid-week.

Anyway, I'll post more when I have something interesting to post.

If anyone has any thoughts on the add-ons to the camper, let me know...

 

[Taku]

I still miss our old 05 Tacoma - but sure like the room in the 05 Tundra. Should be a good setup

 

[Argonaut20]

Good choice of camper from a great company. Enjoy!

 

[Kodachrome]

Nice!

Now, if you go with Firestone airbags which is what I have used without fault with my Tacoma / Bobcat for about 100K miles, get these Daystar air bag cradles to regain lost rear suspension travel that the bags otherwise impose on your rear droop. Rear droop might be more important than upward travel with a camper on the back to keep those wheels in contact with uneven terrain, rocks and other camper jostling. I recently re-did my suspension as I had my 2.5" coil overs in the front re-built, heavier spring rate installed and got brand new 2" rear resis for the back with custom valving for the permanent weight of the camper added. I also upped the height by 2", still handles like a dream on the highway but greases lots of rough off road terrain.

Other great mods are a set of slotted rotors in the front with high performance pads, they make a **HUGE** difference in fast reaction breaking situations, seriously...

Another great thing to have handy is a way to re-inflate your tires after dropping air out of them for off road work or to add pressure to your air bags to level the camper. I re-wired the 100/400W plug in the bed of the truck to go into the camper so I can permanently charge up the Lith-Ion batteries that power this handy Sears cordless inflator. It works great for everything that needs air including our Kayak, I got the inflator plus the two battery and charger kit for about $125 shipped. It will not be as fast as an off road dedicated air compressor but it certainly does the trick and all I have to do is use it, put the battery back on the charger, hit the road and turn on the truck's onboard inverter to top it off.

One more suggestion, on occasions of rougher roads don't just check your turnbuckles after each 500 mile outing, loosen and re-set them as they may actually be too tight from shifting and you simply will not know if you just hand check them for tightness.

Have fun and be prepared to mod, a lot of the fun is making that "improvement" list after each adventure!

 

[shoestring]

thanks for the beta Kodachrome - still not exactly sure what mods I'm going to do, but I'm sure that it will come with time. Pretty sure that airbags will be one of the first mods though...

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Congrads on the Bobcat.
We have enjoyed ours fro over 4 years now and Marty and co. are great.
Enjoy.
Frank

 

[shoestring]

Marty sent me a few photos...camper is being delivered at the end of the week!





Hopefully I'll get a few more showing the progress...