29 replies to this topic

[Overland Hadley]

Its a rigid foam board with some painted plywood veener on the bottom with the edges wrapped in aluminum trim with some silicon sealant. The trim is fastened to the edge under the cabover.

Perfect. Thanks.

[Norman1974]

Thanks for the reply. For now I have to keep my 97 Tacoma with the 2.4 four and automatic. Most of the time the shell would be empty and the truck is used as a daily driver. My main concern is how the truck would handle the empty shell. I can see a full camper being to much for a smaller truck but I was hoping a basic shell would be manageable. From reading the posts it seems even the shell campers are too much for the smaller trucks. I guess a small towable popup camper is the way to go.

I put a Bobcat Shell model on a 2008 2.7 liter 4 cyl, 5 speed manual, toyota tacoma access cab, thats the one with the reverse rear doors. I had the toyota dealer add the 4 leaf TSB spring pack to the rear axle. Then I drove around the western United States, Canada, and Alaska for one year. I liked the way the truck handled when the camper was on the "light" side, but when I added more weight i would definently notice a difference. It was slow going through mountain passes about 35 to 45mph depending on the grade. It was slow going against a headwind. It was difficult to start the truck moving in first gear especially when starting on a hill. Getting on the freeway on-ramps and getting the truck up to freeway speed was also a challenge that would make me nervous, especially in California.

I think that my average highway speed was 45 to 50 MPH. I could get it to do 60 or 65 MPH but I could tell that the engine was working hard for it and my gas mileage would drop. It was better to keep it around 50 to 55MPH. i think i was getting around 20 to 21MPG at these speeds.


Driving around town in this setup was no problem.It goes good in 2nd and 3rd gear, its a small pickup with a great turning radius. Probably the biggest issue was starting out in first gear on a steep hill.
Overall I think that the 2.7 liter was just slightly underpowered for the Bobcat in most situations, of course there were times when I had a strong tailwind and was loving it. It seemed like the engine was working too hard most of the time.

I have switched to a Toyota Tacoma with the 4.0 liter V6 with the same Bobcat Camper and love the extra power, I dont have any of the previously mentioned issues now. I also upgraded the suspension front and rear and it handles great, I like the size of the tacoma and i think its a good match to the Bobcat. I can always turn around and find a parking space no matter how small.

[frigid north]

Thanks for the reply. For now I have to keep my 97 Tacoma with the 2.4 four and automatic. Most of the time the shell would be empty and the truck is used as a daily driver. My main concern is how the truck would handle the empty shell. I can see a full camper being to much for a smaller truck but I was hoping a basic shell would be manageable. From reading the posts it seems even the shell campers are too much for the smaller trucks. I guess a small towable popup camper is the way to go.

Im glad I could post the info. I think if you had the smallest shell model, I think its the Ocelet, with nothing in it and an empty truck, no passenger, half a tank of gas, then a 2.7 4 cyl is just enough. Once you start adding weight to the camper like I did then you end up wanting/needing more power. I have the propane furnace, yakima box, bike rack, 2 stoves, lots of gear, lots of xtra food and water, xtra propane tank. the list goes on. The V6 handles all the xtra weight well. One things I remember about my 4cyl tacoma with an empty Bobcat shell was that it felt lighter since the engine does not weigh as much.

[tnscoots]

Its a rigid foam board with some painted plywood veener on the bottom with the edges wrapped in aluminum trim with some silicon sealant. The trim is fastened to the edge under the cabover.

[tnscoots]

Hi - I'd love to see more pictures of your air dampener so I can think about building one too.
Cheers,
tnscoots

[durangatan]

Figured I would revive this thread a little with my experiences:

I have a 2002 tacoma 4x4 regular cab, 4 cyclinder 5 speed, and added an ATC Bobcat shell about 5k ago.

To get the truck ready I rebuilt the suspension with the 2" Old Man Emu Kit (with Dakar rear leafs), I purchased the D6XL add-a-leaf that is recommend if you are carrying greater than 200 lbs constant load.
- The D6XL add-a-leaf DOES NOT FIT in the Dakar leaf pack as shipped. The center pin hole is too small for the pin in the leaf pack. OME knows this and I was instructed to just "drill it out." I was unsuccessful and the price quote to get it done at a local shop was more than what I paid for the add-a-leaf. I find this to be just plain stupid on the company's part, they intentionally sale you stuff that is not compatible.
- Even without the add-a-leaf the truck does not sag unless the camper is fully loaded with 2 peoples stuff and two bikes hanging off the Thule hitch rack.
- Because of the above, I plan on adding air bags.

To the argument about the 4 cylinder being enough:
Yeah, it is. Is it great? No. I cruise loaded (2 people and stuff/bikes) at 65 mph even though my tires are an inch taller than stock. I live in SW colorado and frequently drive over the high passes. On a really steep grade the 4 banger would only pull 3rd without the camper, it still pulls third with it. Is it slow? Yes, but I still pass VW buses.

I get 20-21 mpg on road trips, and figure the trade is fair for driving slow. If you really just have to drive fast then this set up would make you crazy. If you don't care then the set-up actually has it's benefits. The payload capacity of the regular cab 4 cylinder is the highest of the 4x4 Tacomas by about 18% over the typical V6 trd model, and you get the added benefits of a shorter wheel base.

I plan on building out the interior in a fairly spartan style to save weight, when I do this the air bags and a return to stock tire height are also going to happen, will let everyone know how it pans out.

[generubin]

My friend Phil, has an ATC shell model on his 4 cylinder, manual trans Tacoma. We do a lot of trips together and he always gets to wherever I am going. Yes, I do have to slow down for him at times, but he gets there. Phil has Deaver springs on the back, other than that it is basically stock. There are some nice things with the 4 cylinder such as no rubber timing belt that he'd have with a V6 (I'm not sure if the V6 is an "interference"design, hopefully not).

One issue Phil has is that since Tacoma gearing in both 1st and transfer case ratio is not very impressive he does do some clutch burning in the more difficult terrain. This was a problem even before his ATC. Since you have an automatic, this is not an issue. The non-floating rear axle makes me cringe but with these lighter campers, it doesn't seem to present a problem. My mom had a Tacoma with a Davlin camper that was around 1100 pounds empty. I had to replace the axle bearings at 20k or so.

When we fuel up, Phil and I seem to use the same amount of gallons, sometimes he uses a tad more. I know Phil is chompin' at the bit for a smaller diesel truck. Hopefully the coming Nissan Titan with the 4 cylinder Cummins will have a manual trans option! When someone releases a compact truck with a diesel, the entire marketplace will change. Weird that it doesn't look like it will be Toyota. Seems it'll be Nissan Titan, the new Chevy/GMC Colorado and the someday Jeep Comanche that will be the first diesels.

[RC Pilot Jim]

I had a 2012 - 900 pound (dry) FWC Eagle shell on a 99 Tacoma X-cab, 4WD, 4 cyl, 5-speed. Truck weight  without the camper and tailgate - 3600 pounds. Performance on the flat to 65mph OK though most of driving is in 4th gear. Uphill I was in third at 50 mph (witrh my emergency flashers on) to avoid getting run over.

 

In January I sold it and moved into a 2013 Tacoma 4WD V6 Access cab. The empty weight of the truck without camper and with tailgate, half tank of fuel, no driver - 4200 pounds - 600 pounds heavier than the '99.

 

Both trucks had a rear suspension upgrade (new springs to support 1500 pounds ) - the '99 to 5 leafs and the 2013 to 4. Both sit level loaded for a week of camping in the desert outback (see pics). Loaded Weight : '99  -5500 pounds (300 over max GVWR) , 2013 - 5700 pounds (200 over max GVWR), Both trucks have/had  "E" rated tires. 

 

Before I bought the FWC I had a "Flip-Pac" on the '99. It weighed 425 pounds. The 4 cyl had no problem keeping up with traffic unless I had a 25 mph headwind. Then I would be at 50mph.

 

Conclusion:

Both these trucks are 4WD so they both weigh about 600 pounds more that 2WD (transfer case, front axel). I had/have the "shell" bolted down permanently to both trucks.

 

So If you are going to store your Bobcat off the truck most of the time you could "live" with the limited performance.  If you are leaving it on full time buy a V6. The V^ milege is better than the 4 cyl by 3mpg.

-Jim

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[takesiteasy]

We've got a modified Bobcat shell on our 2011 Tacoma. Plenty of power and braking capacity. When we are loaded, the truck is at the GVWR. The suspension leaves a bit to be desired although we travel around without problems. I am considering a new spring pack and better shocks.

[izzy1554]

what about regearing the 4 banger? along with the other mods. 

Edited by izzy1554, 25 May 2017 - 06:05 AM.