The Overland Orca: 2003 Tacoma

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Trowbocop

Trowbocop

Rank III

Advocate II

588
Southern California
Hey there, thanks for stopping by!

We currently building up a 2003 Tacoma extra-cab SR5 3.4L V6 4x4 with Four Wheel Camper into our future full-time rig.

My fiancee and I are getting married in September 2016, and have plans to sell our big items, store the necessities (brewing equipment & keezer obviously), and hit the road for about a year.

We're currently in LA, California, and plan to be shoving off around November 2016. I'm from Ft. Collins, CO, and my Fiancee from Montreal, QC. Neither of us really see the City of Angels as a place we would like to settle down. So, join us, as we travel the U.S. & Canada in search of where will call home!

Current Build Progress:




Obligatory stock shot:
 
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Trowbocop

Trowbocop

Rank III

Advocate II

588
Southern California
Photographic history of upgrades & modifications:

Eliminated chrome:


Blasted the rocker panel wheeling:


Bedlined the rockers:






Built rock slider base:




New tires: Goodyear Duratrac 265/75/16 & Added onto the sliders for more protection:




Was rear-ended, which inspired the bumper build. I added protection to match the sliders and protect the bedsides against rocks:


















 
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Trowbocop

Trowbocop

Rank III

Advocate II

588
Southern California
Added OME Nitrocharger sports & 881 coils:








This was the camping setup for a while:


Added Dakars +aal:




Bedlined it in preparation for a shell:


Made plans:




Picked up a shell:
Before:


After:


Began customizing:








I loved this setup:




 
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murps

murps

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

2,309
Denver, CO, USA
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d
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m
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0711

This is awesome! My fiancee and I are kinda in your shoes too in that CA may not be somewhere we want to settle either. Currently down in SD. She's slowing becoming a fan of the outdoors and roughing it but someday would like to get to your guys point.

Will be following your threads for sure
 
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doobie_dave

doobie_dave

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate II

941
Awesome truck man. You do a good job building. Surprised how much room is in there, looks great

I built out a cap camper too for/with my brother last year in his tundra. We insulated it and lined it all and made it comfy and he moved out to colorado and lived in it. Working on the slopes in the winter and he just started raft guiding last week for the summer. I wish he was more into the internet or taking pictures or anything like this, Just not who he is though. Oh well. Hes out there doin it.

And you will be before you know it! Good luck
 
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DaveL

DaveL

Rank VI
Launch Member

Pathfinder II

3,545
Yorba Linda, CA
First Name
Dave
Last Name
Lowrance
Member #

0902

Nice! What a cool way to start your lives together. We raised our family on car/tent camping from the time they were babies (starting at 3 months!). It's one of the best things we did for our family. 39 years happily married and great sons. I wish the same for you! We got our FWC Jan '15, and our exploration horizons have really expanded. Tent camping had kind of tapered of the last few years, but this rig is fantastic. We keep it packed and ready to go and looking forward to the next trip. It is perfect for us. The best thing for us - we get to avoid campgrounds! Another year to retirement (partial), and even more and longer trips!

What year is your FWC? By the way, a suggestion - you might want to think about removing the jacks if you will be exploring off-road. I had them leave them off mine (they're in the shed). I thought I might be taking the camper on and off, but we travel so much with it, that I leave it on full-time. We've scraped against trees and canyon walls a couple of time - if the jacks were on, we would have done real damage. Just a thought.

Also - WandertheWest.com forums were a huge help as we were working through purchasing our FWC. Take a look if you haven't. There is a forum for FWC with some great, helpful people on it. I'm going to be encouraging them to take a look at Overland Bound. These are two great resources with good people.
 
Trowbocop

Trowbocop

Rank III

Advocate II

588
Southern California
Thanks everyone!

@Daniel Etter We figure, we better do it before we can't!

@CBerkenbile Indeed, I forget how much I've done to this rig until I pull up to a stock tacoma..

@dmurph1996 Hey man, gotta start somewhere. When I met my now Fiancee, she had no idea what offroading was, and was pretty scared of it. So I just took her out incrementally and built up her trust in my driving and the truck, and now she loves getting out. She is absolutely thrilled with the places we've been able to get and set up camp.

Thanks @doobie_dave I'll try to find/take some more interior shots of the camper to give some more reference. I bet it's a lot more comfortable in the Tundra, we're pretty short, and it felt cramped- we mainly didn't like that you basically only get to sleep in it, it's not too comfortable in the rain, or anything. Pretty much for us, just a place to lay our heads. Your truck is awesome, I love the rack with wood & attention to detail you've spent on that. Cheers!

@DaveL Thanks, we're stoked! Ours is usually stocked to bug out in too, making it extremely easy to take last minute camp trips anywhere. It's a 2007 Eagle model. The PO maybe used it 7 times, it's in great condition. You're right about the jacks, they are heavy. If you notice in the last few pictures, the legs have been removed. It would be nice if there was a secure way to drop it at a basecamp and go exploring for the day with the nimble truck, and get back to the camper whenever. But I've realized, there's not too much keeping that from running away if someone wanted to take it... Long story short...off the legs came! Yeah, WTW is great I'm a member there too, but I've only stalked builds and mods, I haven't contributed yet.
 
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Trowbocop

Trowbocop

Rank III

Advocate II

588
Southern California
Just got a solar panel! Doing research now on install & wiring. Pics in a few weeks when I get around to installing. May be a month or so, with the wedding in about two weeks!

But this weekend, the time has come for new tires, and I'm in a pickle. Do I get the same 265-75-16 duratracs (and make sure to rotate them more)? Or do I go a different route? I'm very happy with the performance they've given, and the life ~65k miles! They're quite loud, I'll have to admit.

Thinking about new rims - utilitarian style black steel, nothing fancy, just wider with better offset to fit 285-75-16s. Trying to see if I can justify that for offroad travel, or if keeping 1-3mpgs with current setup is more worth it. #1stworldproblems.

With all of the freeway driving, but also off-grid travel we'll be doing, this is a tough call. Any opinions?
 
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Trowbocop

Trowbocop

Rank III

Advocate II

588
Southern California
Pulled the trigger yesterday, and mounted new 265-75-16 Duratracs, but this time, load range E1 instead of C1. Ought to do a bit better with the camper full time.

Also had them install my best old tire on my spare rim. Feels good to have 5 matching tires!

Running 38psi in the front tires, and 41psi in the rears. I'll try to snap a pic sometime soon!
 
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