Tundra Camper Shells

[freedivr2]

I'm not making this a handy hint because campers are a matter of taste and personal choice. I didn't see a thread for camper shells for Tundras, so I thought I'd start one. So here goes...

Two weeks ago I picked up a camper shell for my '02 Tundra limited. I decided on a Snugtop super sport because it is the only shell I found that looks almost seamless to the bed. It sits on top of and flares over the bedcap rails, so they are hidden from view. There were other shells with cool features (sliding side windows was one thing I wanted originally), but none of them hide the bedcap rails. I saw one Tundra with another brand shell installed over the bedcap rails and that 1/2" of gray bedcap between the shell and the bed looked wierd to me. And sure, you can remove the rails before installing another brand shell, but you end up with something on the order of 240 holes in the top of the bed AND if you need to remove the shell (as I have to do next month) to help someone move, then you have to remove the foam tape and reinstall the caps to protect the bed rails. With the snugtop, I remove 6 bolts and disconnect the connectors for the rear brake light and interior shell light and BAM! right back to stock configuration, no fuss, no muss.

The other thing I added to the bed was a bedliner called the BedRug. It's made out of marine carpeting and has a foam backing that is waterproof and fills in the bed channels so you have a completely flat and rugged bed. Great if you plan to use a shell for camping. And the marine carpeting is also waterproof and mildew proof. It's also great if you have a dog and want to put it in the bed......the rug gives the dog something to grip on going around curves (vs. mangled paws from a sprayon liner or slip and slide on a plastic liner). And it looks GREAT. I think it beats the snot out of those plastic or sprayon liners. It's installed to the bed via adhesive backed velcro. And it has a lifetime guarantee. Tough to beat.

I haven't done this yet, but plan to wire the interior light in the camper shell to both a switch in the shell and the cargo light in the cab (since the shell covers up the cab cargo light). There's two methods on how to do this, and one guy actually installed a halogen light (to take advantage of the low amperage, high candlepower) without having to get too technically involved with relays and stuff like that. I'll try doing that next month and will post that as a thread when I do.

By the way, I'm happy as a clam about the Snugtop with only one negative; the tinted back window combined with the slightly tinted Tundra slider window makes it REAL dark to see behind you at night. Good news, though.......no more headlights blasting you in your rear view mirror. I think that tint thing is jus something I just need to get used to.

[dogzpaws]

I went with the Leer 100 for my shell. I wanted the large sliders (for my dogs) and I was happy with the framed rear window (instead of all glass). I've been quite happy with it. I do have the problem with the lip, however, as I have the over-the-rail bedliner which shows between the shell and the truck body. My dilemna was this: The over the rail bedliner will scatch the paint on the body of the truck right at the lip. (I bought the truck used with the bedliner already installed, otherwise I would have gone with something else) If I remove the bedliner, the scratches will show and be quite apparent under the lip of the shell. Guess I found that the black lip of the bedliner under the shell was more attractive that the underlying scratches. I'd sure be open to suggestions here.

[DragonLady]

You would have to spend $$$. Remove the shell and bedliner. Get one of those spray-in liners and have them spray it over the rail and then put the shell back on.

I just signed up on that other site, TS.com, and I read that somebody did that with line-x I think or maybe it was rhino. They had pictures and it looked real nice. They've got a lot of stuff over there. You guys should check it out. You can get answers to almost any question about your Tundra.

Maia
:angel:

[freedivr2]

Hi Maia.......thanks for the suggeston. I have visited TS almost daily now for the past month and have posted a few items there. There are a lot of really good members and supporters there with a lot of good information, no queston. That said, I am also a strong believer that everything needs some competition for it to stay healthy and strong, as history shows that monopolies always seem to become self-serving. Call it the American way or whatever you want. Variety is also the spice of life, and I was thinking that just maybe this site has a set of members, and that we could get some interesting new ideas or twists here that might have been locked in the technical (paid) libraries of TS, OR, just plain new ideas and thoughts from different members here. I also have another reason I came over to this site (vs. staying with the "big one"), but it would be very inappropriate for me to air that in a forum, as I do have tons of respect for TS members and hope to continue contributing to that website also as I stub my toes learning about my Tundra. I also won't air it in an email because I've been compromised by that (someone posting quotes from an email I sent in confidence....and not you....you sound pretty cool). Anyway, knowledge is a good thing to spread around and I own what's in my head and I'm spreading it and hoping that other folks will do the same. If others don't chip in then this won't work and the monopoly scenario will likely prevail.

And whatever you do, don't bother to tell me I'm a idealist. I know, I know. Something I can't get rid of........

[TinMan]

Hi DrangonLady!

Good to see you online again, I got that thing that pops up with the note you wrote me.

I do not know how to use that PM thing

I have AOL can I put you on my buddy list?

I get pretty lonely at night...you know with old age you don't need that many hours of

I am :jump: to have met you.

Do you by chance remember the movie Wizzard of Oz?

That is one of my all time favorite movies, that is where I got this name and is my AOL name and address.

Maybe you can :help: me use that PM thing.

Thank you!:toothless

[TinMan]

I forgot. Sorry everyone.

DragonLady I reread you posting where are you talking about that you signed up at?

My appologies all, new to all this stuff here.

Thanks Again!

[freedivr2]

Hey Tinman.....do you own a Tundra? I don't see a lot of folks doing a lot of talking about their Tundras in this Tundra forum, so I thought I'd ask you if you have one or if you're thinking about getting one or if not, or if not, what's your interest in spending time in a Tundra forum......

[DragonLady]

Originally posted by TinMan
I forgot. Sorry everyone.

DragonLady I reread you posting where are you talking about that you signed up at?

My appologies all, new to all this stuff here.

Thanks Again!

No problem TinMan. I'll send you a PM and explain how to reply to and send messages. We'll get your profile set up too so everyone here will know about your Tundra.

Maia
:angel:

[TinMan]

I am sorry if I am posting in the wrong place. I tried on the making new friends but it would not do anything. I need some help from Rev. Cowboy or DragonLady.

Please forgive me all, I do not know how these button work yet. My granddaughter set this site up for me and made that little Tin Man for me and told me all I had to do was go to favorites to get here.

Rev. Cowboy or DragonLady can you make a place where new people like me can go on the Tundra page?

I do not want to mess up.

I am sorry if I did this wrong again.

Respectfully,
Sam

OOPS...I just saw someone asked me a question about my Tundra. Yes Freedriver I have a 2001 V6 Tundra, it is Silver. I am retired and this is my first brand new vehicle I have bought. I always had used trucks as I was putting my son and daughter through college and never had the extra money. Now retired and with their help I was able to buy me a new Tundra about 6 months ago. I like it very well. I am getting pretty good gas mileage compared to the old trucks I had before. Thank you for including me in your talk here. I hope my granddaughter will be back to visit so she can fix that information about my Tundra. Sorry again, Sam




Well I see I made another mistake by not saying your ID right freedivr2. Yes I am new to computers, I worked with sheet metal for many years in Kansas where I live. I sure do appreciate you helping me out. I still am not sure where to post correctly, so I do not want to mess up this posting so I just will add my replies here. I keep getting that box, but I do not know how to use it. All those years working I never did get to use computers. I was laid up with a bad back for several months and my granddaughter got me this little laptop to use, you plug it in to a phone jack and it dials up from my phone . She had it set up to play cards with other people when I was bedridden. but I lost the address. Never could find it, so she was over visiting and she asked since I liked my new truck to get that laptop back out because there were places to talk about them. I have not yet done my first oil change in it, the manual said 1300 miles, I do not have that yet. I am thinking about staying with dino oil that is what I always used before. I got my Tundra at 0 interest too, so it help with the payment every month, as I am on a budget and Social Security was not as high as I thought I would get. I sure hope it out lives me. This is like getting a new toy, I spend a lot of time waxing it. I really do not travel so much anymore due to my health problems. But like you said about those skates, I guess I will fall down a lot before I get the hang of this.
Thank you so being so kind-Respectfully,Sam





Hi DragonLady, well I do not have a camper shell on it, but I tried to post on that Making New Friends put I clicked on the button and it said locked. So I just went to the top of the page and this was there and it let me write. Thank you for your kind words, you sound a lot like my granddaugter. She calls me Tin Man because that was all I ever did in my life and I do really like that old movie Wizard of Oz, did you know that was made in the 1930's I remember watching it at the picture show when I was young, seeing something in living color was a big thing back then. This world goes a lot faster than i do and I just can't seem to keep up with it. - Respectfully,Sam




Hello dogzpaws, yes I was talking about the movie of Wizard of OZ made close to 1940. But it was rwleased in 1939, I could not believe how fancy things have gotten in the years I have been on this earth. Maybe some of you are too young to remember this but not that many years back it was a big deal to have a touch tone phone. And now look at all those fancy celluar phones we have today. I do not know what the password is on here. My granddaughter set it to where at the bottom I click on the sign in box and it has Tin Man and then ******, she made it to let me get in that way. I know she was playing on it with those faces and made a posting using them I watched her do it put I cannot remember how to do it now. I get a little nervous making a mess so I do not get anyone mad at me. Can I aske a question maybe someone can answer. I get Performance Products catalog and this Saturday I was looking at some of the items they sell. What kind of filter do any of you use. I always use to buy Frame but I was reading about these filters I think called K and R. Does anyone use them and so they work good? And how much would they cost? Are they better than the Frame? I hope I am spelling that right. Thanks all of you for veing so nice. It is good to see nice people that are so smart and kind here. I am some again if it I messed up. Respectfully,Sam


I am sorry again dogzpaws I had to read your post again. You said to check my password. How word I go about doing that? I am afraid to really mess with anything that was set up on this laptop, as I had met a lot of nice people that were friends when I was down with my back. I lost the address to get there. I think when this laptop sat in the closet for so long it got messed up. The card place was on the favorites thing but then when my grandaughter was fixing it to use agin a write page came us with a error note. She looked for it but we never found it. But I like this place real well. I do a lot of reading here on the Tundra page and find a lot of the things talked about interesting as this is my fiest Toyota vechicle. Once again sorry dogzpaws I do not hope you are mad at me. I am really trying hard. Respectfully,Sam





Hello DragonLady, my goodness you sure any fancy with those faces. I got your box thing again and I will try to see if I can make one of them faces like you said. No it did not work it made a but I did not get a face. Maybe it does not work on a laptop. This is just a little thing it is not one of those big computers like they advertise on TV. You must be very smart. I see your dragon now has fire coming out of his mouth. Yes you are right about the Wizard of Oz. I did not even know Hardy made one. Must have been a real long time ago if it was a Silent Movie. Thank you so being so kind. I did try to write you back in that PM thing but it just showed what you wrote on the page when I went to the Reply button like you said. Your Friend, Sam



Please help me DragonLady, Now I am really confused when I wrote that and it said it made a face, but I do not see not right now on my page. I sorry again everyone, I really would like to may friends here and learn about my Tundra. If any one is getting mad at me just tell me. I am really trying hard not to mess up and I would like to find out how some of you feel about those K and N filers and if anyone has tried one. Respectfully, Sam





Thank you for that information freedivr2. I went to my local automotive shop and they said those K and N filters were like a special order item. Now knowing how much they cost I could not afford one. I try to do some reading up on this place and I am learning a lot on how to take care of my truck. It is kind of hard to get some of those fancy things on a fixed income I guess it will not hurt it to keep using the store brand filters. Never heard of those Peuolater Filters, where do they sell them? It some like it would be very good. I tried to buy me a Chillton Repair book for a 2001 Toyota Tundra but they did not have one. They told me I would probably have to get it from Toyota. That is what I always used for refrence on my trucks. I guess they don't may them because they are imports. My owners manual says that I am suppose to run 87 octane gas, I have been doing that. Would running a premium gas like one tank hurt it, I use to do this with my old trucks to to clean them out once in a while. I sure do thank you for helping me out here and putting up with me. I get a little nervous when I write because some people think I do not belong on here because I am slow at learning this stuff. But when you get old everything slows down a lot. I do get lonely as my children live out of state and my wife passed away a little over 2 years ago. And all my old work friends either moved away or have passed on. I will still try to get this figured out and I want to thank you and DragonLady and dogpawz for being so nice. It is good to have friends. Respectfully, Sam

[freedivr2]

Hi Sam. Listen, don't be sorry about anything. If you're new to computers and/or the internt, well, so were we all at one time not so long ago, so I think most folks understand that and appreciate your learning curve. The only true mistake you can make is not trying something new, so you're off to a good start. Kinda like ice skating. Nobody starts off their first time like a pro, we all fall down, even after we get the hang of it.

This is MY first new truck myself, and I'm actually trying to do it with one of my two kids just starting at a UC this past year. Makes the home budget tight, but I couldn't pass up the 0% financing, and I was hooked the minute I test drove a Tundra. Besides, I got the OK from the wife so I HAD to get one then (those OKs for new trucks don't come aroud often at my house. Like I said, it's my first new one,too). Unfortunately, the V-8s are not so easy on the gas (at least in the city) as your V-6 is, but it's a small price to pay for such a great set of wheels and to have that power when I'll need it. I do go hunting in some remote areas, so the 4WD and LSD (positraction) should come in handy during those trips.

Keep plugging away at the computer, you'll do just fine with a little practice. And please share with everyone your experiences, both good and bad (hopefully none bad, but mechanical devices are funny sometimes) with your Tundra...

Take care and hope to converse again soon.

[DragonLady]

TinMan Sam...

I wondered why you chose that user name. A sheet metal worker... Being from Kansas you must be a Wizard of Oz fan. I hope your granddaughter gets your profile set up soon. Your avatar is so adorable...just like you.

Since this thread is about camper shells, do you have one on your Tundra? I'm thinking about one for mine.

I can't get used to people talking about the Tundra LSD. Makes me think it is on drugs.

Maia
:angel:

[dogzpaws]

Tinman, perhaps you are confused. Wizard of Oz is a black and white film and was never shown in color. Perhaps your mention of seeing it "in living color" was ironical. Did you manage to watch the film in the 30's? It must have been ahead of its time back then.

I feel I must also inform you that you might want to check your account - someone else may be logging on as you. Previous posts from your username had some pretty extravagant 'smilies' which would appear to be far beyond your computer level of experience. Perhaps one of your granddaughters are using your account?

Eitherway, welcome to AF.

[DragonLady]

Originally posted by dogzpaws
Tinman, perhaps you are confused. Wizard of Oz is a black and white film and was never shown in color.
(snip)
Previous posts from your username had some pretty extravagant 'smilies' which would appear to be far beyond your computer level of experience.
(snip)

I'm sure TinMan was referring to the popular 1939 version of the film. It was not a black and white film. The scenes in Kansas were shot in sepia tone with 3-strip Technicolor being used for the fantasy scenes in the journey to Oz (which was the majority of the film). Maybe you were referring to the original black and white version from 1925 which was a silent film with Oliver Hardy (of Laurel & Hardy) portraying the TinMan.

I wouldn't consider using smilies too extravagant for a beginning computer user. All you have to do is click on them to put them in your message. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

:o :alien: :alien2: :bandit: :finger: :frog: :grey: :licker: :smoka: :silly2: :smoker: :smoker2: :sun: :flash: :bonghitte :flamer: :rocket: :cry: :cyclops: :eshooter: :angel: :hehe: :hehehe: :apuke: :right: :coolguy: :apoke: :help: :argue: :aug2: :badass: :buck :cwn27: :huh: :evillaugh :greenchai :jump: :bathroom: :monkeypis :stormzap: :what: :xelicon: :zx11pisse :shocked: :toothless :ylsuper :finger4:

[freedivr2]

Tinman..............if you're talking about air filters, I think you mean K & N filters. I'm a fan of those filters, having put two different systems they have on two different cars we own. I put a K & N filter & air induction system (I think that whole shebang cost about $220) on my 1991 4x4 Toyota extracab truck, and it was a BIG help at the top end. I could go up grades a little easier with it. I also put a K & N filter (without the induction system) in my wife's PT crusier. Can't see that it made much of a difference in that car's performance, but if it did, it's not noticeable. That filter was a drop in replacement and I believe cost about $25. The beauty of K & N filters is that they do allow more air into the motor and you can clean them and re-use them. They have a million mile warranty, so in the long run it's also cheaper to buy one, then clean it/re-oil it every 8-10K and re-install it.

As far as oil filters go, I too used the Fram filters exclusively on all my cars since as far back as I can remember (I've been driving and changing my own oil for the past almost 35 years). However, on my Tundra, I switched to a Purolator one oil filter, because I read some filter comparison tests on the internet and the purolator one appeared to be a much superior filter over Fram. In fact, Fram wasn't rated very well at all. Anyway, that's my 3 1/2 cents on filters.
Take care and keep plugging away at the computer!