Living In A Toyota Tacoma Truck Camper - Full-Time Digital Nomad - Slide In Pop Up Truck Camper
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- Опубликовано: 4 апр 2020
- This is a tour of my 2002 Toyota Tacoma with a 1989 Sun-Lite Slide-In Pop-Up Truck Camper. I spent the winter of 2017-2018 outfitting the Tacoma and the winter of 2018-2019 renovating the camper and then drove the adventure rig up the Alaska Highway and the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean at Deadhorse, Alaska and jumped in the Arctic Ocean in Prudhoe Bay.
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Read the full blog post, with descriptions and photos of the Toyota Tacoma and Truck Camper here: christarzanclemens.com/2020/0...
Read the blog post about the remodel here:
christarzanclemens.com/2019/0...
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Finally, someone who speaks of his stepdad with actual affection.
Thanks! I've been lucky to have a lot of people willing to help with my crazy ideas, including my dad, step-dad, mom, uncles, siblings, friends... I definitely don't complain! Cheers!
I married my son's mother when he was six. And I knew I was marrying a package deal and even though we were kids ourselves, we did the best we could. He and I shared some great times when he was growing up and we still do today. He's now 47 and a great dad himself. We live in different cities now but we still get together and it's different because he's grown up and a dad himself so our conversations are usually much more real. Real life stuff and feelings that he wasn't comfortable sharing when he was younger and I find them much more meaningful and kind of fulfilling. I listen to him and think that I must have done something right. I adopted him because he never knew his real dad and he needed one. That's one thing I've never regretted. I still call him a kid too and he used to hate that but somewhere along the line he stopped letting that bother him. Sorry. I didn't mean to go on about that. But yeah, there are some damn good step dads out there and I know quite a few.
Dad and stepdads were all shit. My mother has horrible taste
Tony Ferguson and Eddie Bravo both have great relationships with their step fathers; so much so, they took their step dad's last name.
my stepdads great. loves me and my mom and always puts us first
Sounds like your stepdad is real dad
I've been pretty lucky in life to be surrounded by a lot of great role models, he's one of them and I'm very thankful for that!
A real man
It’s like he loves him or something lol
Sounds like he IS your dad.
Yes, I love the way you reference your family. You sound like you've been loved.
Thank you! Yup, I think I've had a great support system of family, I'm pretty blessed!
This randomly showed up in my recommendations, but this was awesome thanks for sharing
Thank you! Cheers!
Chris Tarzan Clemens could you explain how you did the hot water heater? I’m about to do this to a shed with a water hose
Hi from Australia
I just read your comment and thought you might like to look at my set up, Australian locations and camp cook ups.
Cheers
Out There Touring
All of that customization... this is a work of art.
Ha, yeah, it was definitely way too much HGTV time before I started this project, ha!
@@ChrisTarzanClemens what about toilet ?
@@Alex-xp7mz I've found that I don't need one. I spend most of my days in town working from wifi hotspots or driving from place to place and have access to public restrooms. If I need one bad enough when I'm out camping I have a shovel with me.
Finally a lite camper that actual looks livable! Thank you!!
Cheers, thank you!
Great video Chris! Love the truck setup! Thanks for sharing and safe travels!
Thank you! It was a process, but it's an awesome home on wheels now!!!
Watching your videos makes me proud to be a vanlifer. You're both great additions to the community. Cheers!
Thank you! I've met a lot of incredible people since setting out and living on the road years ago. Cheers!
Thank goodness for a great stepdad and brother. I love your renovations, I got hooked when you said "I watch way too much HGTV!" Stay safe in your travels, thanks for sharing.
Yeah!!! Thank you! It was a big project, but with great help, and a lot of time and work, I think it turned out great! Cheers!!
Congrats on making this a way of life. This is something I’ve often thought about doing, and I find your video inspiring and encouraging. I’m in Ohio and do mostly canoe camping, but I love your setup. Best wishes to you both on your adventures out there!
Thank you! Yeah, I've found that with a home on wheels, no matter which I've lived in, the freedom to drive and camp and explore is really something great! Cheers!
Love your “sanctuary” Chris, nice set up. You and Lisa look like a pretty chill couple. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you! Cheers!!!
Watching videos like these make a free spirit like me very happy. Pls countinue these cool videos and very cool truck indeed
Thank you! Cheers!!!!!
Great job Lisa, for taking care of my other brother on the move! He sounds great! Stay love!
Thank you, cheers!!!
Love these kinds of builds. Custom made with your own needs in mind and not something outrageously expensive and unrealistic for most people.
Thank you! Yeah, I think having lived in vehicles for several years helped me narrow down my wants and needs in a home on wheels. This one took some work, but I'm really happy with the results. Cheers!
Nice build, very homey. A lot of love goin on there. Nice to have a step-dad who acts like a real dad.
Thanks! I'm incredibly lucky to have several father figures in my life, I feel very blessed for that!
Heartwarming,loving,simple,genuine video.loved you guys.keep it up !
Thank you! Cheers!!!
Just “Dad & Brother” will do. They are the real deal. No Pre-fix needed. ❤️😊 Awesome video. Happy Trails!
Thank you! Yes they are, and I also have an awesome Dad and Brother by blood, I think I've been blessed by incredible family members all around. Thank you!!!
I love this so much! My boyfriend and I spent our savings on a 1999 Jayco Eagle and live in it full time now in Colorado and we are transitioned into a minimal nomadic lifestyle. You are an inspiration. :)
Yeah!!! That's awesome!! I love spending time in Colorado, enjoy and have a great adventure!!!
I was really impressed. Then it got to the hot water heater & my mind was blown! This is honestly such an inspiration. Trying to get myself a Tacoma right now too.
Thank you! I think a few years living in an old VW van really helped me come up with an ideal truck camper setup. It was a lot of work, but turned out really nice! Cheers!
What a lovely video. I’m considering living full time in a similar truck one day soon. Thank you 🙏🏼 for making this.
Thank you! Yup, I love living on 4 wheels. It can have challenges, but it's a pretty good life! Cheers!
I have always dreamed of doing something just like this congrats on living your dreams!
Thank you! Cheers!
You and your companion are living my dream safe travels
Thanks! Cheers!
Dude. I so love how you brought that camper back to life and kudos to your step father too! Your rig has so much character. Congrats on finding a lady who is willing to live on the road!
Thank you! Yeah, renovating the camper was a ton of work, but I'm really happy with the result and love the lifestyle now. Cheers!
I like your curtains & matching pillows! Cute cute cute!
Thank you! My mom definitely helped with that part!
You are living my dream brother!!
good for you!!
cheers up!!
Thank you! Cheers!!!
This is an incredible setup thank you for sharing!
Thank you! Cheers!
Wow! Awesome job you guys did on the truck and the camper. I'm a big fan of the Tacoma. Found a one owner 2002 Tacoma up here in the Yukon. Love it. Happy travels!
Yeah, the Tacoma's are solid! I was worried after I dropped all the extra weight on it, but it carries it well! Cheers!
I build pop up truck campers for a living it's so much fun. They are totally custom so every one of them is a little bit different. Love the home build and complete set up of this rig 👍
That's awesome! Thanks man, ha, not going to lie, during the remodel I was thinking "hmmm, maybe I could turn this into a career" but by the end of it I was like, "ummm, naaahhhhhh...." ha! I definitely learned a lot from the project, thanks for the message! Cheers!
Chris, I have the 1988 Skyhawk model. I really like what you have done with it. Good job!!!
Thank you! The Sun-Lites are good little campers!
Awesome. I would love to get an older camper and do something like that.
Thanks! I'm super happy with the finished product, but the project was much more involved than I first anticipated, ha! But, totally worth it!
You two are living your best life, nice video and great setup 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Love the Tides Tavern hat! Take my boat out there every summer. Great video!
Yeah!!! Ha, that's awesome, such a beautiful part of the world!!!
Very cool build. Looks like a blast traveling in it! Would love to see more about the solar setup. I have a similar truck camper that i wanna do solar on
Thanks! I'm working on a more detailed blog as well as a before & after video talking about some of the specifics. I have two 160 watt panels that came with the camper, I remounted them and added an inverter, over the summer they worked well!
Nice rig! Great job! Cute couple!!
Thanks!
I have the ‘88 Viking version, almost identical. Was like walking into a time machine. Everything was flawless. The Reno was really fun, and next adding solar. Thanks for the video!
Nice! Yeah, I'm really happy with how the camper turned out, good luck with the solar setup!!
Love your content, keep the fire burning and thank you for being part of our community.
Thank you! Cheers!!!
Watching with my sons,,, This is great stuff. Thx!!
Thank you!!!
Great video! Looking to do a similar set-up soon. Would like to see a video of "What not to do" or what you would do differently now if you were starting out.
Thank you! I'll work on that soon, currently I'm "locked-down" on a small island in Thailand, was taking a break in Southeast Asia for the winter and ended up here longer than expected. I'm daydreaming of getting back to the rig soon! Shoot me a message at www.ChrisTarzanClemens.com if you have any specific questions!
Great content, 1 of the better Taco truck camper vids on RUclips, love the older Taco too, you're actually living the taco camper life vs some of these other content creators showing their Shiney just scraped off the price sticker new camper and acting like they been living the lifestyle for year's. Best of luck on your future adventures.
Thank you! Yup, it took a long time to build out but I'm definitely glad I did it! Cheers!
I thought I wanted a flatbed popup, but after seeing yours and its relaxing effect on me, I know now what I was running to.
Nice! Yeah, I've been daydreaming of a flatbed setup, I like the side door vs. the rear door, but this one works pretty well for me!
Dude this video was great!!!!
Thank you! Cheers!
This video made me smile. 🥰
Thank you! Cheers!
Awesome, best part is you met that special someone to live that dream with. I can only hope. 😢😢. Nice set up you guys have going, safe travels.
Ha, thank you! Full disclosure, I already lost her, turns out that nomadic travel is attractive, but over the past 5 years I've found it hard to keep a relationship going on the road. Maybe someday! Cheers!
Chris Tarzan Clemens I’m sorry to hear that. :(
You can only live that 'dream' for so long, then reality hits.
Great video! Love the setup, and that you did it with your family!
Thank you! It was a great experience!
I've never been a fan of slide-in truck campers because they're not as stealth, but I absolutely admire all the hard (and creative!) work you and your stepdad put into this rig! My first thought was "How can that little Tacoma support a camper?" knowing the cargo specs for that vehicle, so I enjoyed seeing the custom suspension work you had to do. Curious if you needed airbags.
Agreed on the stealth part. I started out living in a Honda Element my step-dad and I converted into a full time living vehicle. At the time I was still working fulltime in the city and camped on the streets every night, the Element was stealth. Then I went to a VW Westy campervan and started traveling. I could still be somewhat stealth, sleeping on the bottom bed in town, but I started boondocking more. Now I hardly ever need to stealth camp, so going to the pop up truck camper wasn't an issue for me. I have slept in it a few times in town though, and it's not my favorite! If I'd put the custom rear suspension (leaf packs) on first, I probably wouldn't have added the airbags. I still have them, but I don't use them at all, unless I really need them to help level the rig at camp. Cheers!
This is so cool! We want a set up like this for when we’re not sailing. Thanks for the inspiration!
Nice! Ha, and I dream about living on a sailboat! So much to do, only one life! Cheers!
Awesome video, have a off-road 2009 Toyota Tacoma, been all over the beaten path, with it and 185,000, miles still run like a champ, gets me to work everyday. Got to get me a camper, looks like a lot of fun!
Yeah, that's awesome! Toyotas are definitely the way to go! Cheers!
Great truck/camper combo. Also a good video tour.
Thank you! Cheers!
Love it! Living the dream!
Thank you! I've got no complaints about life! :)
Greetings from Brazil ! We are watching your camper, and we are building ours too. Soon an adventure departing from Florianópolis-SC, heading to Argantina, Chile and Peru. Thank you for the informations.
That is awesome! I'm still hoping to head there as well, maybe get to Argentina in a year or two, but that's all dependent on the international borders after COVID. Cheers!
Opa, estou desenhando um viagem de jipe pela América do Sul. Vamos trocar umas figurinhas. Abx
Ayeee love seeing fellow hoosiers out here living this way 😁 cant wait until I get myself a camper
Yeah!!!! That's awesome! Ha, I still enjoy coming home to Indiana to visit, but there's also so much of the world to see. Cheers!!!
Way rad man! What a testimony of the mighty Toyota! 💪🏽 I’m looking into going with Slide in camper myself, really wanted to go with FWC camper but man are they proud of their campers! 💰💵💵. Looking at a sun lite myself, love what you did with yours! Hope y’all doing great!
That's awesome! Yeah, I also was into the FWCs, still am really. My Sunlite ended up so heavy that the Tacoma feels a bit slow on the uphills and I don't do quite as much reall offroad driving. But to be fair, even with a FWC it'd probably still be a heavy setup to live in, so I like my home on wheels! Cheers!
As someone from Gig Harbor, I dig the hat. Totally caught me off guard.
Ha, I love Gig Harbor! Such a beautiful place!
Mhm?
This is an AWESOME RIG. I'm soon getting my Tacoma. Yep and I'm gonna grab a camper like that....Such BaddA$$...🤙
Nice! I love the Tacoma, if I could do it over again with a camper I probably would have started with a bigger pickup truck, but so far the Tacoma has done really well!
Thanks for the sharing mate. You inspired me to enjoy camping with my family.
Awesome!!! I think my happy place is anywhere out in the wilderness in the camper! Cheers!
Right on looks cozy to me looks like alot of good times guys family is everything 🤗
Yeah! Thank you so much! Cheers!!!!
It's nice to see someone else who appreciates a manual transmission.
Ha, yes, I agree! I haven't had an automatic in 15+ years!
Great vid my Brother.. live life to the full, no regrets.. GodBless..
Thank you!!
Great video. So much room in there. Happy travels!
Thank you! Cheers!
I’m 17, and my dream is to get a truck camper pretty much exactly like this one. Having this video to watch really helps me get a better idea of what I’ll need to do to make it work, and how it’ll be living in a truck camper. Thanks for this, I’ll definitely be coming back to this in the future to reference when I get my truck.
That's great! Good luck and have awesome adventures!!!
what would be a nice luxury item, gas struts to hold the bed up when you access the cargo hold.
Agreed!
I was smiling while watching the whole video
Thank you! Cheers!
Nice videos, I like the setup. I have a Skamper for my sons Tundra and I fit it on my Ram 3500 too when towing my boat. Pop ups are great. Thanks for sharing your setup.
Thank you! Cheers!!
Hey guys
Great video, thanks for the tour and the details.
I'm looking for a rig precisely like this and they're definitely hard to find like you said. Thanks again for the helpful details.
Thank you, and good luck with the search!
Cheers...Thanks for posting 👍🏻
Thank you!!!
Good stuff man!
Thanks! Cheers!
TOTALLY COOL BRO !!!! Man I envy you younger guys n gals who just do it !! Living raw simple !!! Raw !!! I never have, I'm a slave to the machine for another cple yrs. I utterly enjoy watching these vids. I live it thru you. 🙂👍
Thank you! Yeah, trying to fit as much into life as I can, ha, cheers!
great build out, and use of space is wonderful. not to mention tides tavern! 👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you! Gig Harbor is an awesome part of the world, cheers!!!
If your ever bombing down or up I5 in Salem, Oregon and need a driveway, hit me up. My wife and I would love to enjoy a cup of tea with you!
Thank you, I definitely love Oregon!!!
@@ChrisTarzanClemens Also western south dakota, wife and i have a small private campground. and she is from alaska!
@@fognnorway6471 Awesome!!! Thank you!
@@ChrisTarzanClemens Hell yea, 30 miles from Mnt Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and some of the best mnt biking and hiking around.
Nice setup! 👍
Thank you! Cheers!!!
Very cool. And congrats on meeting your travel companion.!
Thank you! Cheers!
I was thinking of going with a Tundra but now seeing you with your Tacoma and by the look of it, you guys have plenty room to move about.
I might just go the Tacoma route . Safe travel.
Yup, I like the Tacoma setup, it works well, but if I could do it all over again I'd probably go with a Tundra, I had to totally redo the rear suspension on the Tacoma, and would probably need to do the same with a Tundra too (my camper is HEAVY), but the V8 of a Tundra vs. the V6 of the Tacoma would make a big difference for power on the highway!
That’s a sweet set up. Dreamed about it when we first got married but bought a house instead. Good lord those campers are expensive.!!
Thanks! Ha, yup, even starting with a cheap used camper and putting in most of the work myself, the end result still got expensive! Ha!
Cool video. I've had enough of the rat race and am planning the nomad lifestyle now. This is great inspiration!
Yeah! There are definitely positives and negatives of the nomad lifestyle, but for me at least, the good stuff outweighs the bad. Good luck and always have fun!!!
Chris, thank you for sharing this. You, your dad & brother were an immense help. I have a Jayco Sport 7 that i need to get working on. Now I feel well enough to start on my work.
Great job!
PS: I am going to try and use mine in the winter. I'm a northerner, I like cold weather.😁😁😁
Nice! Yeah, it was quite a project, but I'm super happy with it now and have definitely enjoyed exploring from Alaska down to Baja. There are always small projects that keep me busy, but I love the freedom of a home on wheels! Cheers!
Nice renovation, enjoy your travels and stay safe.
Thank you! Cheers!
Simple life is the best life❤
Yes! So true! I've found that the less I have, the less I have to worry about!
Truly Inspiring.
Thank you!!! :)
Surprisingly spacious inside! I like it.
Thank you! Cheers!
More than beautiful. Awesome work. Aloha
Thank you!!!! Cheers and Aloha!!!
A real dream,,, simple wonderful
Thank you! Cheers!
I didn’t know they had those extendable campers. I’m thinking a travel trailer on my ranger next year, until I can save for a Tacoma and do this.
Nice! Yeah, it was a bit of a challenge to find a small slide in pop up camper that fits a pickup truck (Ranger or Tacoma), but, it's a pretty good setup once I got it all put together! Cheers!
Looks good guys! Enjoy it.
Thank you!!!
This is awesome! So wholesome.
Thank you! Cheers!
Finally someone who actually uses they’re truck to its full potential. Well done!
Thank you! Cheers!
Nice pop up
Thank you! Cheers!
That is so awesome, I'd add an additional 4 anchors on each corner of the camper to take alittle bit of the load off of the tires, struts an shocks, also to keep from rocking left an right as much. It would be anchored to the ground and be easier to just drive from underneath it if it had to be removed for some reason.
Thank you! Great ideas, luckily I rarely take the camper off, but it makes total sense! Cheers!
Nice work, great design!! Btw like your jewelry style too👍🏼🍻
Thanks! Cheers!!!
Nice rig, if the weight, balance over landing gets too heavy, I’d find a 1 generation Tundra, it has a lot more power, the 4.7-liter V8 engine with 245 horsepower, and 315 pound-feet of torque engines were built like all Toyota trucks, bulletproof. Safe happy travels. 🍻🤙
Thanks! I agree...ha, I totally wish I'd started with a Tundra or T100, but my first year living in the truck I put a lot of work into the Tacoma, then I got the camper, put a ton of work fitting the camper onto the Tacoma, realized I'd be better off with a bigger truck, but was nearly 2 years in, so, I'm rolling on a bit under powered for now! Cheers!
I hated my BFG's too hard, went with Cooper never looked back.
Nice! I've heard people raving about the Coopers, I've had really good luck so far with the BFG's, so far so good!
Beautiful home, happy camping and stay safe.
Thank you!! Cheers!
Great stuff and simple. Thanks! I am designing my build right now and will be full-time in my vehicle this time next year!!
Yeah! That's awesome! Good luck and have fun!!!
@@ChrisTarzanClemens Thanks. I am glad I found your channel. I may have questions 😊
@@justindudek5324 Sounds great!
Thanks for the vid! Hard to beat a tacoma poptop to balance livability with offroad ability. If you dont mind...does having the tailgate down have a significant effect on departure angle?
For the tailgate, not really. I have a steel step attached to the hitch, so that's really my exit angle issue (which can be removed easily), though, with so much weight on the truck, and being my full-time home, I'm not really looking to test the rig in extreme situations. I've actually considered ditching the tailgate more to reduce weight hanging off the back of the truck, as the camper is supported in the bed, not on the tailgate.
Great video, always love seeing other people’s setups.
I’ve got a suspension question for you. I see that you added heavier duty leaf springs to the rear, paired with airbags. How much capacity did you add to the springs?
I have a GMC Canyon and am deciding between beefing up the rear with a new leaf pack and then pairing it with Timbrens or air bags...or just cutting my losses and buying a bigger truck. My options a for the springs are anywhere between +600 to +1,200lbs capacity.
Thanks!
Thanks! First, if it’s an option to go with a bigger truck, I’d do that. I would have, but I already spent a year building out my Tacoma with the bumpers, winch, and lots of off road mods which made changing trucks a bigger investment. Since I wanted to stick with my Tacoma, I had custom leaf packs arched and installed. I’m not sure the capacity, the camper was on the truck and fully loaded and the shop arched packs, installed them, and then took the driver’s side pack off, arched it more and added 1 more leaf to level the camper (much of the camper’s weight is on the driver’s side). I actually don’t use the airbags anymore except for leveling the rig at camp now and then. If your losses aren’t too big, I’d suggest going with a bigger truck! That being said, with my camper build and everything I own, I would still be pushing the weight limits on even a Toyota Tundra! Good luck!
@@ChrisTarzanClemens Chris, I wanted to thank you for the sound advice! I'd spent countless hours trying to figure out how to get my mid-sized GMC Canyon to accommodate a camper very similar to yours. After weighing it on a truck scale and calculating the free payload, I found out that I only had about 500lbs of free payload. I could have gone over the GVWR, but I calculated how much it would cost for tow mirrors, new leafpacks, shocks and airbags, and found out that you were right.
I'm now the proud owner of a GMC 3500, and don't have to ever worry about how much beer I pack in there! I also figured that the truck would make it easy to upgrade from my remodeled '97 Shadow Cruiser if I were ever able to score another model with a bathroom.
Thanks again! You really saved me a lot of worrying down the road.
Thanks for sharing guys! Awesome build!
Thank you!
Love everything about this build! One note: the bars running over the solar panel will impact your energy generation.
Thanks! Yeah, I've been outside the US waiting out the pandemic, but once I get back to the camper that's something I want to fix. Cheers!
Nice👍🏽
Thank you!
You are my and my Tacoma’s inspiration! Do you have Instagram or Facebook we can follow you on?
Thank you! I should be pretty easy to find, Chris Tarzan Clemens or on Instagram it is Tarzan.Camps.With.Terk. I'm currently waiting out the pandemic in Thailand, so not many camper posts, but I hope to get back to the truck camper soon!
Shout out to Ball State! Muncie, IN is my hometown. Awesome truck and have fun on your adventures.
Thank you! I spent a winter renovating the camper at home about an hour north of Muncie, Chirp Chirp!
This popped up on my news wall and now I'm a new subscriber.😎👍
Thank you! Unfortunately, or fortunately, I parked the camper in storage a year ago to take a few months in Southeast Asia, then, well, haha, I'm still there. So, my upcoming videos are going to be less about truck camping, and more about my current bicycle tour around Thailand. Cheers!
@@ChrisTarzanClemens Cool. I used to live in Korea and Hongkong when I was a kid not by choice my father was in the Military. I have family in Korea and Japan and Singapore. Best of luck on your endeavor and adventures in Thailand.