Thoughts on the Truckhouse Tacoma expedition camper...

tacollie

Glamper
I didn't notice they put in a 33 gal tank! Good for range bad for payload.....using @calicamper calcs of 6-9, lets assume 8, looks like we are still at ~250 miles range. I bet a full size gas rig is better than that....I know my Ram 2500 hemi gets better MPG than my 2019 Ranger towing our 20' trailer in hilly terrain....I'd expect a full size gas rig to get 9-10.
I assume they get 11-12. That's what my heavy Tacoma's would get and that's what I get with my 6.2L F250 with 35s and a FWC. If I keep it under 65 I can do better. I have huge axles, brakes, and fit 35s stock. The FWC isn't really heavy enough for the camper overloads on my stock springs?
 

nickw

Adventurer
I assume they get 11-12. That's what my heavy Tacoma's would get and that's what I get with my 6.2L F250 with 35s and a FWC. If I keep it under 65 I can do better. I have huge axles, brakes, and fit 35s stock. The FWC isn't really heavy enough for the camper overloads on my stock springs?
Does your heavy Tacoma have tall camper / shell on the back too? I brought home a fridge for some friends that stuck a good 3' above the cab on my Ranger, mileage went from 21-23 on a flat hwy to 17 over 200 miles....
 
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RJ Howell

Active member
Just saw this. Gorgeous but really on a Tacoma? I own a Taco and love, yet know the limitations! My F150 is dong the deed and believe a better platform then the Taco is in my future.

I'm in search of pre '85 that isn't trashed.. 3/4 to 1 ton..

This on a Taco? Hmm.. Not from what I see in mine! Not what I would want to do to mine to make it capable.

JMHO on the matter.
 

ABBB

Well-known member
Just saw this. Gorgeous but really on a Tacoma? I own a Taco and love, yet know the limitations! My F150 is dong the deed and believe a better platform then the Taco is in my future.

I'm in search of pre '85 that isn't trashed.. 3/4 to 1 ton..

This on a Taco? Hmm.. Not from what I see in mine! Not what I would want to do to mine to make it capable.

JMHO on the matter.

I wonder if they considered a Ford and I wonder if they thought that they’d get considerably less interest in their product if they went that route vs Tacoma?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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calicamper

Expedition Leader
I wonder if they considered a Ford and I wonder if they considered that they’d get considerably less interesting their product if they went that route vs Tacoma.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think they had the Taco and wanted to build their dream camper / desert racer and what better way to pay for the build with deposits from dreamers. I bet they never build more than 2?
 

Steve_382

Active member
I think they had the Taco and wanted to build their dream camper / desert racer and what better way to pay for the build with deposits from dreamers. I bet they never build more than 2?
I think they might. Here is a link to their IG page with a video of two units going down the road.

 

roving1

Well-known member
The build quality on that video really does look amazing. There is so much Tacoma bro in that video it makes me want to hurl though. So confused lol.

A sleeps 2 version of this on a reg cab and a little smaller shell would make so much more sense as a small but super nimble thing with some hope of being in the ball park of GVWR. Be a modern day Maltec alternative for domestic consumption. Scale up for Tundra and Ram for the bigger sleeps 4 stuff.
 

RAM5500 CAMPERTHING

OG Portal Member #183
Just saw this. Gorgeous but really on a Tacoma? I own a Taco and love, yet know the limitations! My F150 is dong the deed and believe a better platform then the Taco is in my future.

I'm in search of pre '85 that isn't trashed.. 3/4 to 1 ton..

This on a Taco? Hmm.. Not from what I see in mine! Not what I would want to do to mine to make it capable.

JMHO on the matter.

There is a ginormous cult of Taco Fan Boys that will throw $$$ at anything with the word Taco in it all day every day.

I'll never in a million years understand the hype of a tiny 4 door truck with a tiny little bed that cant even fit a dirtbike, but yet its the hottest selling truck in the US.

Fun fact, it also outnumbers the other trucks in the classifieds section 4:1 and almost all ads say something along the lines of going bigger...

I think the IG fame coolness factor wears off pretty quick once 2 people realize they are sardines in their "Dream Build" that was fueled by hype.

I always chuckle when they say "Your rig wont go on the trails i go" hahahaha, watch me.

NOTE: I have an almost new 2020 Tacoma Ex Cab 4x4 as a work truck i take home. I can't even express how much i dislike literally EVERYTHING about it.
 
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Victorian

Approved Vendor : Total Composites
This thing looks amazing! But I can’t get over the Tacoma …. Took my friends taco out the other day and was blown away how gutless it was. Our 2021 ranger feels like a super nimble rocket in comparison.
 

DzlToy

Explorer
Toyota vehicles are world-renowned for their durability and reliability. Both of these are functions of proven, simple, logical, un-$(#*RCked around with design/technology. Example: the "gutless" engines that Toyota is criticized for are some of the most reliable on the planet, e.g. 22RE, 1HZ, 1HD-FE, 2F, 5VZ-FE, 1UZ, etc.

By not changing the touch screen 17 times in 5 years or hell, not even offering a touch screen, Toyota has maintained high reliability and longevity. Talk to anyone who owns a shiny/flashy new car and ask what breaks. The answer is gadgets, "new" stuff and hardware that is pushed, e.g. 320 HP from a 2.0L turbo motor, vs 200 HP from a 3.5L NA V6. The latter will run for 300k miles, the former will be dead, or require serious repair in under 100k.

Mountains of evidence exist to prove these points, as a good friend of mine works for an extended warranty company. They cover new (add to your 3/36k warranty) or used (2018 car with 50k on it, extended to 100k). I cannot count the number of completely absurd case files he has shared with me over the last few months. Here are a few off the top of my head.

A brand spanking new Ram TRX that won't shift out of 4WD. It is two months old and only has a few thousand miles on it. The dealer could not find the problem, so the transfer case was replaced. Three weeks later, the truck is back at the dealer with the same problem. The techs and FCA corporate are baffled.

Edit: Turbos for a 2017 Audi RS6 are $16,000/pair installed. Failure occurred with less than 40k miles on them.

A headlight assembly for a 2015 Audi A7 costs $3255.71 EACH.

An Audi A5 with 50k on the clock needed a new motor (blow by and turbo failure) at a cost of more than 25 grand installed. Show me a 2021 Toyota LandCruiser or LX570 that won't shift out of 4WD or one with 50k on it that needs a new engine. I bet you there isn't one on the whole planet.

TFLTruck bought a new 2021 Defender and for MOST of the first three months they owned the vehicle, it was broken or at the dealer being repaired. This is supposed to be a brand-new, cutting edge, state of the art, ground up, best of everything, do it all truck. We aren't talking econo-boxes here. These things are 50k - 80k.

A good friend's father replaced an automatic transmission in a 2012 Ram 2500 with less than 100k miles on it. The cost installed was more than 6 grand. Show me a LandCruiser with a 100k on it that has puked its transmission out. How can Dodge not figure out how to build a slush-box? This has been an issue for decades now.

I will take 170 HP four-cylinder engines (3RZ-FE), manual transmissions (R-151) and transfer cases (RF1A), and simple HVAC and radios, and you can have your lane departure warnings, 360* cameras, air conditioning controlled by your phone and 47 way adjustable power seats. I will also take a $100 bet that when I get ready to sell my Toyota, it will be worth a lot more than your Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Kia, Chevy or whatever other pile of crap you bought instead of a Toyota, with a fraction of the repair bills accumulated. I am not a "fan boy" - I understand quality and time value of money. If Kia built the most reliable trucks and cars on the planet, I would buy them instead. They don't. I am brand agnostic. Buy shiny/flashy/new or buy logical, proven design, e.g. fifth gen 4Runners have not changed much over their life span. Built in Japan using proven tech, they are as reliable as rain in Florida in the summer.

So, circling back around, you may now see why everyone from Colorado Overlander (camper rentals), to NGO, humanitarian and peacekeeping organisations (Red-Cross / United Nations), as well as their war-mongering counterparts choose to travel in 70 Series and 200 Series Land Cruisers, not Ford Explorers, Chevy Equinox or Hyundai Santa Fe. Even the jihadis understand reliability. Have you ever seen a picture of a militia group in the bed of a Mercedes X-Class or a VW Amarok? Possible, but not likely, they too are fond of 70 Series pickups, as they are disinclined to dump their hard earned dollars into $16k turbos or $3200 headlights.

You can have proven, reliable and durable vehicles to truly go over-land, or you can have three sunroofs, 172 apps on your 12" touch screen and nine air-conditioned seats to take all of your friends to the mall with you. The two are mutually exclusive in my book. For these reasons and others, the designer(s) of the TruckHouse chose a Tacoma, not a Canyon/Colorado or a Ram, which are some of the most unreliable trucks you can buy according to J.D. Power, Consumer Reports and friends who have owned all three.
 
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RAM5500 CAMPERTHING

OG Portal Member #183
Toyota vehicles are world-renowned for their durability and reliability. Both of these are functions of proven, simple, logical, un-$(#*RCked around with design/technology. Example: the "gutless" engines that Toyota is criticized for are some of the most reliable on the planet, e.g. 22RE, 1HZ, 1HD-FE, 2F, 5VZ-FE, 1UZ, etc.

By not changing the touch screen 17 times in 5 years or hell, not even offering a touch screen, Toyota has maintained high reliability and longevity. Talk to anyone who owns a shiny/flashy new car and ask what breaks. The answer is gadgets, "new" stuff and hardware that is pushed, e.g. 320 HP from a 2.0L turbo motor, vs 200 HP from a 3.5L NA V6. The latter will run for 300k miles, the former will be dead, or require serious repair in under 100k.

Mountains of evidence exist to prove these points, as a good friend of mine works for an extended warranty company. They cover new (add to your 3/36k warranty) or used (2018 car with 50k on it, extended to 100k). I cannot count the number of completely absurd case files he has shared with me over the last few months. Here are a few off the top of my head.

A brand spanking new Ram TRX that won't shift out of 4WD. It is two months old and only has a few thousand miles on it. The dealer could not find the problem, so the transfer case was replaced. Three weeks later, the truck is back at the dealer with the same problem. The techs and FCA corporate are baffled.

Turbos for a 2017 Audi R8 are $16,000 EACH. Both failed with less than 40k miles on them.

A headlight assembly for a 2015 Audi A7 costs $3255.71 EACH.

An Audi A5 with 50k on the clock needed a new motor (blow by and turbo failure) at a cost of more than 25 grand installed.

Show me a 2021 Toyota LandCruiser or LX570 that won't shift out of 4WD or one with 50k on it that needs a new engine. I bet you there isn't one on the whole planet.

TFLTruck bought a new 2021 Defender and for MOST of the first three months they owned the vehicle, it was broken or at the dealer being repaired. This is supposed to be a brand-new, cutting edge, state of the art, ground up, best of everything, do it all truck. We aren't talking econo-boxes here. These things are 50k - 80k.

A good friend's father replaced an automatic transmission in a 2012 Ram 2500 with less than 100k miles on it. The cost installed was more than 6 grand. Show me a LandCruiser with a 100k on it that has puked its transmission out. How can Dodge not figure out how to build a slush-box? This has been an issue for decades now.

I will take 170 HP four-cylinder engines (3RZ-FE), manual transmissions (R-151) and transfer cases (RF1A), and simple HVAC and radios, and you can have your lane departure warnings, 360* cameras, air conditioning controlled by your phone and 47 way adjustable power seats. I will also take a $100 bet that when I get ready to sell my Toyota, it will be worth a lot more than your Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Kia, Chevy or whatever other pile of crap you bought instead of a Toyota, with a fraction of the repair bills accumulated. I am not a "fan boy" - I understand quality and time value of money. If Kia built the most reliable trucks and cars on the planet, I would buy them instead. They don't. I am brand agnostic. Buy shiny/flashy/new or buy logical, proven design, e.g. fifth gen 4Runners have not changed much over their life span. Built in Japan using proven tech, they are as reliable as rain in Florida in the summer.

So, circling back around, you may now see why everyone from Colorado Overlander (camper rentals), to NGO, humanitarian and peacekeeping organisations (Red-Cross / United Nations), as well as their war-mongering counterparts choose to travel in 70 Series and 200 Series Land Cruisers, not Ford Explorers, Chevy Equinox or Hyundai Santa Fe. Even the jihadis understand reliability. Have you ever seen a picture of a militia group in the bed of a Mercedes X-Class or a VW Amarok? Possible, but not likely, they too are fond of 70 Series pickups, as they are disinclined to dump their hard earned dollars into $16k turbos or $3200 headlights.

You can have proven, reliable and durable vehicles to truly go over-land, or you can have three sunroofs, 172 apps on your 12" touch screen and nine air-conditioned seats to take all of your friends to the mall with you. The two are mutually exclusive in my book. For these reasons and others, the designer(s) of the TruckHouse chose a Tacoma, not a Canyon/Colorado or a Ram, which are some of the most unreliable trucks you can buy according to J.D. Power, Consumer Reports and friends who have owned all three.

I’ve been a Toyota guy my entire life, I’ve owned one of almost every single US Based model except for the 55 and 200 series Land Cruisers, I built and raced an FZJ80 in the Baja 1000 in 2007 and was a tech editor for Toyota Trails mag from 2006-2009.

Your post regarding reliability is accurate with the **caveat of the vehicles in stock, or close to stock form**. Toyota’s are hands down the most reliable platform on the plant in STOCK FORM. But they don’t handle much additional weight well. Never have…

When overloaded both the Tacoma and Tundras show wear exponentially

On my 2014 Tundra with a 1200lbs FWC, I went though 3 sets of rotors, 3 sets of control arm bushings, 2 rear wheel bearings, and a set of steering rack bushings, all within the first 125k

So yeah…. Take a deep breath man…
 

rruff

Explorer
This thing looks amazing! But I can’t get over the Tacoma …. Took my friends taco out the other day and was blown away how gutless it was. Our 2021 ranger feels like a super nimble rocket in comparison.

I've never driven one... but based on what I've read about the Tacoma and the way my Tundra behaves, I'd guess that it *isn't* the engine at fault... it's tall gearing, and computer controlled throttle and shift points, that optimize MPG at the expense of responsiveness and acceleration. There is way less bitching about the Tundra vs the Tacoma in this respect, but I'm not that pleased with how the Tundra behaves. Granted I'm usually not that eager to see how fast I can get to the next stoplight, so the AI has probably decided I'm an old grandma and adjusted itself appropriately... but the first 3/4 or so of the pedal only uses ~1/4 of the engine. If I really want to *move* I have to push it to the floor... where it promptly lights up the tires for about a second or so... until the traction control kicks in and slows it down again! :devilish::poop: Clicking on the "Tow/Haul" mode helps quite a bit, but I'm thinking about getting a Pedal Commander that will let me customize the pedal-throttle relationship.

At any rate, it is possible to make the Tacoma more fun to drive, and I'd guess that with the supercharger+regear and whatever else they've done, it won't be a slouch in this respect.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
Toyota vehicles are world-renowned for their durability and reliability. Both of these are functions of proven, simple, logical, un-$(#*RCked around with design/technology. Example: the "gutless" engines that Toyota is criticized for are some of the most reliable on the planet, e.g. 22RE, 1HZ, 1HD-FE, 2F, 5VZ-FE, 1UZ, etc.

By not changing the touch screen 17 times in 5 years or hell, not even offering a touch screen, Toyota has maintained high reliability and longevity. Talk to anyone who owns a shiny/flashy new car and ask what breaks. The answer is gadgets, "new" stuff and hardware that is pushed, e.g. 320 HP from a 2.0L turbo motor, vs 200 HP from a 3.5L NA V6. The latter will run for 300k miles, the former will be dead, or require serious repair in under 100k.

Mountains of evidence exist to prove these points, as a good friend of mine works for an extended warranty company. They cover new (add to your 3/36k warranty) or used (2018 car with 50k on it, extended to 100k). I cannot count the number of completely absurd case files he has shared with me over the last few months. Here are a few off the top of my head.

A brand spanking new Ram TRX that won't shift out of 4WD. It is two months old and only has a few thousand miles on it. The dealer could not find the problem, so the transfer case was replaced. Three weeks later, the truck is back at the dealer with the same problem. The techs and FCA corporate are baffled.

Edit: Turbos for a 2017 Audi RS6 are $16,000/pair installed. Failure occurred with less than 40k miles on them.

A headlight assembly for a 2015 Audi A7 costs $3255.71 EACH.

An Audi A5 with 50k on the clock needed a new motor (blow by and turbo failure) at a cost of more than 25 grand installed. Show me a 2021 Toyota LandCruiser or LX570 that won't shift out of 4WD or one with 50k on it that needs a new engine. I bet you there isn't one on the whole planet.

TFLTruck bought a new 2021 Defender and for MOST of the first three months they owned the vehicle, it was broken or at the dealer being repaired. This is supposed to be a brand-new, cutting edge, state of the art, ground up, best of everything, do it all truck. We aren't talking econo-boxes here. These things are 50k - 80k.

A good friend's father replaced an automatic transmission in a 2012 Ram 2500 with less than 100k miles on it. The cost installed was more than 6 grand. Show me a LandCruiser with a 100k on it that has puked its transmission out. How can Dodge not figure out how to build a slush-box? This has been an issue for decades now.

I will take 170 HP four-cylinder engines (3RZ-FE), manual transmissions (R-151) and transfer cases (RF1A), and simple HVAC and radios, and you can have your lane departure warnings, 360* cameras, air conditioning controlled by your phone and 47 way adjustable power seats. I will also take a $100 bet that when I get ready to sell my Toyota, it will be worth a lot more than your Land Rover, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Kia, Chevy or whatever other pile of crap you bought instead of a Toyota, with a fraction of the repair bills accumulated. I am not a "fan boy" - I understand quality and time value of money. If Kia built the most reliable trucks and cars on the planet, I would buy them instead. They don't. I am brand agnostic. Buy shiny/flashy/new or buy logical, proven design, e.g. fifth gen 4Runners have not changed much over their life span. Built in Japan using proven tech, they are as reliable as rain in Florida in the summer.

So, circling back around, you may now see why everyone from Colorado Overlander (camper rentals), to NGO, humanitarian and peacekeeping organisations (Red-Cross / United Nations), as well as their war-mongering counterparts choose to travel in 70 Series and 200 Series Land Cruisers, not Ford Explorers, Chevy Equinox or Hyundai Santa Fe. Even the jihadis understand reliability. Have you ever seen a picture of a militia group in the bed of a Mercedes X-Class or a VW Amarok? Possible, but not likely, they too are fond of 70 Series pickups, as they are disinclined to dump their hard earned dollars into $16k turbos or $3200 headlights.

You can have proven, reliable and durable vehicles to truly go over-land, or you can have three sunroofs, 172 apps on your 12" touch screen and nine air-conditioned seats to take all of your friends to the mall with you. The two are mutually exclusive in my book. For these reasons and others, the designer(s) of the TruckHouse chose a Tacoma, not a Canyon/Colorado or a Ram, which are some of the most unreliable trucks you can buy according to J.D. Power, Consumer Reports and friends who have owned all three.
As a long time Toyota owner I love how you zero in on vehicles that aren’t even anywhere close to a Toyota in its Market. Oh and the Audi owners I know put 200k on their turbos and spent $7000 on replacements. I’m sure some one out there dropped way more!! I was getting a recall on my Sequoia done when the guy in front of me wrote a $9000 check for his Landcruiser. Cracked exhaust manifold replacement, failed ABS unit, and rear axle seals. My J80 I had to run all new ABS sensor wiring harness wasn’t cheap nor were my Toyota’s special low cost magical vehicles for reliability.
Have Fords, GMs, Subarus, Toyota’s, Teslas, Merc’s in my family. The Toyotas were not especially cheap to maintain nor abnormally more reliable than the others. Currently first time in 27 yrs I’m a non Toyota house and absolutely never going Toyota again unless they magically make up 2 decades of lacking development and produce something competitive again.
 

DzlToy

Explorer
Cali, the point was not to make a direct comparison, e.g. RS4 to Tacoma, but to share insight from someone in the industry. He sees hundreds of claims per week and the vast majority are from customers who own European cars. Are Toyotas perfect? Absolutely not. Do they build the most reliable vehicles on the planet, per the market and third parties? Yessir. It is likely for those reasons and the popularity of the Tacoma here, that TruckHouse chose a Tacoma on which to build its camper.

Toyota will never make up two decades of development, IMO. It is the Japanese culture to be conservative, efficient, practical and reserved. As a company, Toyota is not interested in having the latest tech or the highest HP V8 in their fleet. That is not now, nor has it ever been, their niche.

If TruckHouse sees a demand for a camper on a Ram or an F150, maybe they will offer that. In the mean time, there are millions of happy Toyota owners the world over. In Australia, the HiLux is the best selling vehicle, of any kind, in the entire country. I don't imagine that came to be by accident. Many of these trucks are used for going out in the bush, have trays or racks on the back of them and are actually used for something other than going to the mall. Maybe one day, Toyota will bring the HiLux here, but for now, we get Tacomas with low payload capacities. Travel light.
 

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