2006 Tundra Double Cab camper build

I'm starting a build thread for my 2006 Tundra Limited Double Cab 4WD so that I can share the build process and my adventures along the way. I picked it up a few months ago from a Chevy dealer in Nevada with 83k miles on it. I wasn't necessarily looking for a FGT and really wanted a full size 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton truck but with the way the current market is I decided against it. I expanded my search and was able to find this well sorted FGT. I paid way too much for it but who isn't in this current market. The truck was semi-local, in great condition and a reasonable price given that it was what I was looking for. Its previously a three owner vehicle that has been well cared for and not driven much at all. The condition inside and out is fantastic and it almost seems new. The truck has spent most of its life in the Tahoe area.

I'm more of a Land Cruiser enthusiast at heart but I've always thought a well sorted clean first gen Tundra Double Cab is the perfect adventure truck. It's the perfect combination of size and power with the venerable 2UZ-FE. It's not my daily driver and I'm trying to keep the miles on it as minimal as possible. I've been mostly driving to baseline it and keep it up to date while doing maintenance items. So far I'm really enjoying the drive and take it out for a drive once or twice a week for fun. There's something visceral about the driving experience with the first gen Tundra that really makes you feel connected to the truck. The low end torque combined with its simplicity give it a rugged character. My other rigs are a TRD supercharged 2011 Tacoma and 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser. Each has its own feel and unique driving characteristic. The Tacoma with the s/c has a lot of pep and is fun to zip around while the Tundra with it's 4.7L V8 feels very workman like and durable. The 2013 LC with it's 5.7L V8 is, well, the pinnacle of driving experience and is unmatched by any other vehicle as far as I'm concerned. I'm a Toyota guy at heart and can appreciate a purpose built vehicle and the FGT will definitely have a purpose in my fleet.

I picked up this vehicle as our primary camping and outdoor rec vehicle. Mainly for camping, fishing, ski touring and chasing powder. Over the next year it's going to get a flatbed tray along with a composite hard shell camper for true 4 season capability. To handle the camper it'll get a suspension overhaul with OME or Dobinsons, airbags, hellwig sway bar, a regear among other things. In the short term I'll make sure it continues to get baselined, address any FGT issues, and get the timing belt done. Also will need to modernize it a bit with lighting upgrades, get an Android Auto or Apple Car Play headunit and perhaps some katzkin leather and seat heaters

I hope to keep this updated frequently with so many projects going on, still need to build up my Land Cruiser to be a stealth wheeler, but I hope to at least have the flatbed and camper ready for next winter.

Here she is when we picked her up.

 

A few pictures when we finally got the truck home and a picture of the squeaky clean engine bay

 

That looks great! I have a year older 2WD, but it's cool to see one so clean. Great job.

 

My first set of upgrades to any vehicle I buy is a set of all weather floor mats and a cover craft sunshade. I live in Idaho and we get plenty of winter here, or at least I try to chase as much of it as possible. So floor mats are must. I prefer Husky to Weather Techs but Husky does not have any specific FGT mats so I went with Weather Tech. Gotta say they are thinner, more flimsy, slide around much more, and don't provide nearly as much coverage as Husky's in my other vehicles. They're inferior for sure and its too bad Husky doesn't make a set for our FGTs.

The covercraft sunshade will come in handy during our hot summer months to keep the heat out but full surround Xpel ceramic tint will be needed before summer.

 

The first week after getting my FGT I took it to my local Toyota specialist for a full baseline. It passed with flying colors with a few maintenance items that needed to be updated. I had them change the diff, t-case, and transmission fluid. Coolant, brake, and PS flushes. A few items that needed to be updated are the battery and tires which were very low on remaining tread life. My one concern was that there was no timing belt sticker on the truck when I bought it and I'm not exactly sure when it was last changed. The shop said the belt still looked good and fresh without any cracks so I think I'll wait a bit before doing that. It's not my DD and I won't drive it much at all until it's ready for the camper so I'll plan to change the TB and WP pre-emptively in spring or summer. They also mentioned the ball joints were fine but I figure that will be a pre-emptive maintenance item as well.

So I needed a new set of tires but didn't want to buy a brand new set until I'm ready for my lift. I'm likely going with Toyo Open Country AT-III's in 255/80/17 LRE. I'm not sure on which wheels I want yet but I'm considering SCS, Method, Evo Corse, and AEV. Until then a set of take off 4Runner wheels and tires for cheap off marketplace will do. I gotta say the 4Runner wheels look really good with phantom grey...

 

Fun little project for the day was to restore the headlights. They were foggy but not too bad or too yellow. I went with Adam's Polishes Graphene Ceramic Pro headlight restoration kit. It was dead simple and the results are great!!!

https://adamspolishes.com/products/...fCRgxaKoDwkObo06YGrubyZtZco84WHQaAsijEALw_wcB

 

How it sits today. Is it just me or does a first gen double cab with a camper top look like the perfect adventure truck?

 

It absolutely is. So much so that I almost just want to keep it stock lol

 

I guess it depends what you expect and how you use and clean them. Weather tech wins for me hands down on 05 tundra and 06 4R. Can't speak to later gen toyotas, but I'm ready to throw away the Huskys in the 16 Tahoe.

 

Truck looks great with the 4Runner take offs, is that stock height in the front?

 

Yep, all preference. If I were to compare the two, the Husky is more of a thick hard plastic floor mat and WT is thinner, softer and more rubbery. Both provide great weather protection and absolutely snow, rain and mud.

Stock height. Tires are 265/70/17 Bridgestone Duelers. I probably took the picture at a bit of an upward angle but everything is bone stock.

 

I think you just helped me on my decision on wheels for mine…I have seen post for those at a very affordable price…

 

I got the wheels and tires with less than 1k mi on them for $400

 

Nice truck! Subscribed.

 

Welcome neighbor. Good looking truck. I'm interested to see what you do with it.

 

2000 mile trip report. So lately I haven't done much to the truck other than maintenance and driving it once a week. I've been planning to do the TB/WP and also replace the lower ball joints but just haven't gotten around to it. I knew I wanted to do that prior to any major trips but my local mechanic said those things were still in good shape so I decided to hold off on them until April or May when I had more time. I had 6 days off of work and initially planned a trip to Moab and tour around southern Utah in the Land Cruiser. However after cruising around ih8mud there was a great deal for some sliders and bumpers for the Land Cruiser. The only issue was that it was located in Denver and I would need the truck bed to haul all that stuff. So I decided to take the Tundra knowing that at least the TB and LBJ looked good on last inspection. I'm happy to report that the Tundra did the 2000 mile round trip just absolutely fine and when I returned home dropped it off at the shop to get the TB changed lol.

I changed my initial camping trip itinerary a bit and spent a few nights in Moab and then headed on over to Denver. The truck has the venerable 2UZ-FE 4.7L V8 and handled the winds of I-84 west/central Idaho well and was able to slog it's way up Vail Pass slowly but surely. It's no 3UR-FE that's for sure. I kept the camping simple and slept out of the truck bed. The temperatures in Moab are perfect this time of year, around 70-80's in the day and 30-40's at night. I camped north of Moab around Bartlett Wash and Hidden Canyon. It's great to get away from the city of Moab and nearby campsites since the town is super busy right now. The first night I got in pretty late and it was dark by the time I arrived so I took any spot I could get. My camp spot on Day 2 was nearly perfect and no other campsites within hundreds of yards from me. In fact I found the spot at around 10am and just stayed there the rest of the day since I knew I wasn't going to find a better more secluded spot. Most of the times I don't settle into a camp spot until sometime after 8pm so this was quite unusual for me lol. I didn't do any hard trails since the Tundra has some 4Runner take-offs with Dun(flops) on them but it was nice to put it into 4-lo in some sections. I can tell that with a small lift, larger and proper AT's that the Tundra with it's LSD would be able to tackle a lot of the trails in Moab.

 

After a few nights in Moab I headed straight to Denver. First order of business was to head over to Bowen Customs so they could measure the Tundra for a flatbed tray. They're doing good work out there with some unique camper and flatbed systems and Brent Bowen has been great to deal with.

www.bowencustoms.com

After that I stopped by Slee Off-Road (Disneyland for LC enthusiasts) to pick up some skid plates for the 200 series LC. However the funny thing I noted was that in their parking lot the vehicles of choice were the 200 series LC's and first gen Tundras. It just goes to show you that these trucks just work. As you can see this was already getting to be an expensive trip but at least I saved some money by not staying in a hotel the first few nights lol. Later that evening I was able to pick up the remaining Land Cruiser sliders and bumper from a member off ih8mud. The bumper was actually quite larger than I thought but fit in diagonally like a glove in the Tundra's 6'2" bed. The sliders and the rest of my camping gear I was able to play a little tetris with and fit into the truck and bed cap. Now all I needed was to convince people I did not have $5k worth of land cruiser parts and camping gear in the back of my truck. The next two days were spent slowly driving all the way back to Boise. Stopped by Leadville, CO to pick up a few items from Melanzana (IYKYK) but make sure you make an appointment before hand!!!

Overall it was a successful trip and I think Tundra handled not only the long distances well but the wind, 80mph limits, and extra weight just fine. The one issue I have is the seat comfort on long drives. I honestly couldn't get into a comfortable position the entire time and even installed some seat jackers prior to the trip. I'll have to play with seat positioning more. The other thing is I hate cloth seats, especially older style cloth seats that just kind of grab your clothes like the Tundra has. I think I'll get some Katzkin leather seat covers next as that should allow me to shift around in my seat a bit easier and hopefully it's a nice soft material. If not some Scheel Mann seats may be in order...

 

Welcome to Colorado!

I drive by Slee all the time and try not to stop in. haha.

Interesting note about the uncomfortable seats, I've never experienced that... maybe because I have leather?

 

Seriously, Land Cruiser parts are expensive AF!!! You definitely pay the LC on them. Anything Land Cruiser is 2-3x more than comparable Tundra, Tacoma or 4R parts.

I’m not sure why I fidget around so much in the Tundra seats. I have a smaller frame and don’t think there is enough side bolstering in the seats to hold my thighs in. My previous 4R and current LC were much more comfortable for me. I do think the cloth seats are a little soft for my liking and I sink in more than I’d like. I have a set of Katzkin leather seat covers in the garage that I’m going to install so hopefully they’ll firm up the seats a bit and be more comfortable. If not I may have to look into a set of Scheel-Manns…

 

@sn_85 I can relate a bit on the seats. I loved the seats in my 3rd gen 4runner. I upgraded to Katzkin leather in my tundra, but it didn't completely solve the problem. I would add a little foam on the side bolsters while you have them apart. I've been debating doing that in mine, but don't want to take them apart again.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into adding some additional foam to the seats. I'm thinking the wings on the back and side bolsters on the buttom are the areas I'd want to add some foam to.

 

Installed the Solo Motorsports LCA's and paired them with new OEM LBJ's over the last week. My OEM LCA bushings were starting to tear so I was going to need new LCA's anyways. I decided to just go ahead and get the Solo LCA's and put on new OEM LBJ's as well. I didn't want to drive the truck much more on the previous LBJ's since I didn't know much about their history and I feel like I've been pushing my luck with it so I thought both were kind of a needed upgrade.

A few hiccups a long the way of the install like needing to loosen the steering rack and having to sawzall both passenger side cam bolts but other than that a straight forward install. Finding the correct torque spec for everything was another challenge. Seems like there different torque specs for suspension components for early vs later years, AC vs DC. Hopefully I got them right. Still paired with oem shocks for now but I'll be getting a full suspension makeover next month. Just figured the LBJ issue was more of a safety thing at this point if I want to continue to drive it. Also spot the Durobump front bump stop as well.

 

Very cool build and progress. You looking to do something like this with the flatbed? https://www.instagram.com/p/CEnzMCbgmcE/ I've been looking to do a pop up on my double cab but never thought about the flatbed route. Will definitely be following ur build

 

That build was one of my inspirations. Essentially I'll be going with a flatbed that has a stock heigh load floor with some side boxes. Most flatbed raise the floor by 6-8" or so. That raises the cabover quite high above the roof line. Then I'll put a slide-in hardside camper on that. It's still a work in progress but things are in motion!!!

 

If it is stock height, will it be flat? Seems like you will still need wheel wells.