A Dawn Of A New Overland Vehicle

Posted byPatrick WhitcombPosted inUncategorized

On the One Year mark of me getting my 2021 Toyota 4 Runner I said goodbye.

Why so soon? I wanted an Alu-Cab camper. In order to get one I needed a truck to put it on.

So I gave the 4 runner the “It’s not you it’s me speech”. But we both knew it was her. But to be honest she was a great vehicle. If it wasn’t for the fact that Alu-Cab had just released it’s Alu-Cabin for full sized trucks I would still be driving the 4 runner with my smittybuilt rooftop tent

So, let me introduce my new overland vehicle. A 2022 Toyota TRD Off Road Tundra with the new Alu-Cabin camper.

Alu-Cab has been making campers in South Africa for over 40 years. These campers were always built for mid size trucks. They were used on safari and around the world. The Alu-Cabin is an all aluminum sturdy built stealth camper. It has a rooftop tent built in.

The camper has a setup time of 15 seconds and tear down of 30 seconds. You enter the tent from inside the camper. When you enter the bed of truck and camper through the large rear door that replaces the tailgate. You simply push the bed up that has gas shocks. With the bed up you can stand inside the camper with an eight foot ceiling. When it’s time for bed pull down bed and climb up. It has enough space to leave all your bedding and pillows all set up.

When it’s time to breakdown camp you pull on the thick strap to close rooftop and latch two heavy duty strength latches and close back door. Done!

I will be detailing the buildout of the inside of camper. First thing is flooring. Cover bed of truck with 5/8 plywood. Next install barn wood planking on top of plywood

Next cabinets will be constructed on both sides of bed for everything from clothes to cooking gear and tools. The middle of camper floor will be left to stand in. The tops of cabinets will be covered with cushions for seating . Along with cabinets a large 110 quart cooler will be installed against the front of bed. The cooler will also have a cushion for seating. The cooler will have a drain plumbed out the bottom of truck bed. This way as ice melts it runs out.

My diesel heater has already been put to use. Up in Montana as an April snow has recovered the green grass of last week.

Stay tuned in for the YouTube video of the new overland vehicle along with ongoing upgrades.

8 thoughts on “A Dawn Of A New Overland Vehicle”

  2. “Very Nice”!! Personally, I would recommend using an inch of foam board insulation (the pink or blue stuff) on the floor, it’ll be easy to cut out around the wheel wells and with even 1/4″ if plywood on top it’ll be tough enough to stand on (3/8″ or 1/2″ OSB might be better). The added insulation will pay dividends, even more so if you insulated around the remaining 3 sides of the truck bed.

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  3. Can’t wait to see this thing. After looking them up they appear to be totally customizable. This looks great for your adventures.

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  4. Great rig Pat, almost ready to rip and roll, and presumably will be honed out by the end of spring and early summer. Ready now to drive to Dawson City, Yukon, and then up the Dempster Hwy (dirt shingle road) through Tombstone Provincial Park, and onward up to Eagle Plains and down into NWT to the MacKenzie River delta and onward to Inuvik, and finally to the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk. The best! Then back down to DC, ferry across the great Yukon River, then drive the Top of the World Highway, another dirt and shingle road for about 90 miles, plus or minus, along a series of mountain ridges, caribou (the famous Porcupine herd) country, thru the farthest north and highest elevation-wise border crossing at Border between Canada and Alaska, then down to Chicken AK, and then down the Taylor Hwy (paved but bad frost heaves) back to the Alcan, and to the west on it to Tok, and then onward to Delta Jct and Fairbanks, or to Glen Ellen and Anchorage, etc. The best. Then if you are really adventurous, head south from there to Tierra del Fuego. Might as well retire early, except for the kids, Grandkids and Jan! Cheers amigo and congrats! Looks like a great one, especially for one with as much energy, adventurous spirit and drive as you have! Just do it…Robby

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