9 replies to this topic

[Mike M]

Hello,
I am in the market for a new/used Tacoma because my 99 extended frame is rusting out of control. I want to put a used four wheel or All Terrain on the truck. What year and type of Tacoma is easiest to match with a camper. For example, are the 2004 or before models easiest to match because there are a lot eagles out there or are the newer models with four doors and 5 foot beds easiest to match with? I am wondering because I shopped for a camper a couple years ago and couldn't find an affordable option for my 99 with 6 foot bed. However, the market has probably changed and I was hoping to get some advice from the people that are up to date with the used camper trends. Thank you very much for your time

Mike
Boulder, Colorado

[DirtyDog]

The used market for four wheel campers is very competitive. The Tacoma sized campers are probably the hardest to find in general but I would bet that the regular 6 foot bed versions are going to be much easier to find than the 5 footers. Also you should consider - even if you found a 5 foot camper do you really want a camper that small?

[Stan@FourWheel]

You will probably get some different opinions, but finding a used FWC for an Extended Cab, Standard 6' Bed Tacoma would probably be easiest (if there is such a thing as easily finding a used FWC).

The Toyota Tacoma (older body style) 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, etc, etc. are the most versatile fit for putting a used FWC on the Tacomas.

The newer Tacoma truck (2005 - newer) have a deeper truck bed and slightly different tie down locations. Older FWC's on Newer Tacoma will require some slight modifications.

Hope this helps.

Happy Camping !



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[Mike M]

Thank you for your quick response. It seems the 2004 and older Tacoma with a 6 foot bed has more options. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Eagle and Ranger, any others? What are the models that fit the new Tacoma body style?

[ski3pin]

Mike, from my memory for a Tacoma you would be looking for a FWC eagle model or possibly their older ranger II model - if you find one in good shape like the one recently for sale with a posting here on WTW. The ATC camper model would be the Bobcat. Good luck with your search.

[riz]

The Ranger wil fit, but it's for a long bed. It will stick out about 4" past the end of your tailgate.

[ski3pin]

The Ranger wil fit, but it's for a long bed. It will stick out about 4" past the end of your tailgate.

Yup, the Ranger is the long bed version, the Ranger II is for the 6 foot bed.

[Kodachrome]

One thing to consider is that the 2005+ 4.0 V6 is a much better motor than the older 3.4 in terms horsepower and torque and even edges out the 3.4 by a couple miles to the gallon. Mine has over 130,000 on it now and has been great, 60,000 with the camper on full time.

I love the off road footprint of the older styles Tacomas but the newer ones are flat out awesome in terms of handling a camper, power and crash test rating, I could never go back.

[gandhii]

I recently bought a used '83 fleet model and mounted it to a 2007 standard cab/bed tacoma. It was quite a bit of work to make it happen but it went smoother than I expected. Meaning I actually pulled it off. First.. the 2nd gen tacomas have a composite "plastic" bed. Meaning you can't drill a hole into it wherever you like, so you have to either buy these special brackets from FWC or make your own. There are threads here that explain them and the guys at FWC will help as well, as they did me.

Basically it is a flat bar of steel with holes that match up with the bolts that hold the truck bed on.. and then they bend up at the ends where other holes are drilled. It is those holes where you connect the turnbuckles to. You can also mount them by using those external type of turnbuckles that mount to your frame, but I think they're ugly and they definitely are way more expensive than what I paid to make my own brackets. Which was $40 for enough steel to make 4 of them and taking advantage of my father's time and awesome collection of tools. Since I only needed two brackets, if you're ever in NC, I'll sell you (or anyone) the other two pieces for $20. The really hard part was getting the bed bolts loose. It took a vice grip and a friend's help to make that happen. Basically we attached the vice grip and he stood on it to hold it down while I pulled. Also when screwing them back they are suppose to be at 60lbs torque. My arms were sore for a few days. Basically you pull out the bolts and screw the brackets back in with them. Add spacers between the grooves of the bed and the bracket. I didn't and the brackets bent up in the middle. Still works, but doesn't look as pretty.

So the old school fwc's didn't mount by turnbuckles. They mounted by screwing bolts directly through their floors and into the truck bed. Obviously you can't do that when your truck bed is made of plastic. Hence the brackets and turnbuckles. So I arrive to pick up the camper. It did have some mounting points (eyebolts) that a previous owner had added, but they were on the outside ends to be used with external turnbuckles. Of no use to me except for tying my dog's leash to. So I needed to add my own. I eventually decided to attach eyebolts to the piece of plywood that ran above the wheel wells. I added an extra piece of wood (3"x5") to beef up those areas. Then standard turnbuckles to the brackets I made. I actually only mounted it at three points since I couldn't get to the back left corner behind the water tank. It is probably important to point out that my truck is a 4 banger 2wd standard everything but the auto transmission. I'm not going 4-wheeling so I can afford to take some shortcuts.

In short (too late) my point is that the "Fleet" model is also worth looking at. The older version is narrower and easy to see around with standard side view mirrors. And I wanted to point some of the issues in mounting a truck camper to the modern day tacomas.

[robbie]

We have a 2008 Tacoma. Bought a 1981 Fleet in Seattle. Had it shipped to Alaska sight unseen. Drove 8 hours over to Skagway to pick it up. Put 3- 2 x 4s across the composite bed to raise the camper over the bed rails, and drived home 450 miles.
I built a base for our which is 2 1/4 inches high and we tie the camper down via the rings supplied by toyota in the composite box. We do mostly 4 x 4 camping and never had a problem. The camper is just as long as the tailgate down.

No mods required..

robbie