Sully: The Blurple Beast - Super Pacific Build

Better pic of the canopy and new window in the sun

 

Nice. Any reason you went for this over and AluCabin or GFC? Have fun and keep posting

 

For the minor price increase over a GFC you get a significant quality upgrade. Everything about this camper is nicer than the GoFast. More comfortable bed, more interior cargo volume, 4 season tent material instead of thinner 3 season, wiring chases throughout the interior, better venting, and single handle entry on all the doors. I spoke to a ton of people who owned GFCs, SPs, AluCabs, and a few others before deciding. Super Pacifics by far had the best reviews. Most everyone I spoke to who had GFCs told me they wish they had bought a Super Pacific. The reason I heard from almost all of them was condensation. The Super Pacific's venting reduces interior condensation considerably.

Alucabs are cool, but I don't believe they made them for 3rd Gen double cabs yet and I'm not a fan of losing the tailgate or not having a rear window. I'd lose the backup camera and hitch camera as well if I removed the tailgate.

 

AluCab do make an AluCabin for 3G Tundra's and I believe there are relocation kits for the cameras.

Looking forward to your build.

 

I guess the other important factors I forgot to mention are that SP is a local PNW company and the product is 100% US made, the split side doors prevent adding a sliding window of any decent size to allow dogs to stick their heads out, and it wont work with my bed slide plans. They are definitely cool don't get me wrong, just not exactly suited to my style/needs/desires.

 

Been close to 2 months with the SP now so I thought I'd post an update on my impression so far.

Overall I like the camper a lot, though I have yet to sleep in it. I've used the Xped mattress on the floor of a few friends houses though and it is SUPER comfortable. I really like that I can dial in the firmness to my liking by adjusting how much air is in it.

I am living in Utah at the moment and spending a lot of time up at the ski resorts. That means I am getting absolutely nuked in salt very regularly. The aluminum construction gives me a lot of peace of mind, but I can see some little bits here and there in the locking mechanisms or pivot joints that are showing signs of surface rust.

It gets run through a touchless car wash somewhat regularly to cleanse the salt off and it leaks pretty bad with all the pressurized water. Most of the water runs down under my bed slide so it's not a huge deal, but my fiberglass snugtop was considerably more water tight. If I was storing cardboard or something directly on the bed it would be a bigger issue.

Water runoff is a huge issue with this camper and fortunately there is a fix, though not a cheap one. The problem is that all the rain water/snow melt on top of the giant flat roof has to go somewhere. When the truck is parked on any slope where the cab is on the low side, the water runs off the front, generally off one front corner or the other, in a steady stream pouring onto the side of the cab, just above the door opening. Once the rear door is open, the water literally just pours onto the floor in the back seat, soaking the carpet almost immediately. I called SP about this and they told me it's "working as designed" and recommended a $140 aftermarket gutter system to fix the issue. Since I use the camper in wet conditions often, I just bit the bullet and bought them. Haven't had a chance to see them at work yet, but I'll post up about it once I do. The gutters redirect the runoff water farther in on the roof so the water runs down through the molded channels instead of down the side and into the door.


I also installed a Frontrunner faring to see if I could improve my MPG at all. It dropped from 17 to 14mpg after installing the camper. My first installation wasn't right and didn't help MPG at all. I set it up a little better this time and am hoping to see better results. The rubber likes to squeak on the roof though and it's a bit obnoxious, so unless I seem some gains soon I may just ditch it. If it does help, I might try and wrap the roof in some black vinyl to match the hood decal I've got on there already. Maybe that will reduce the squeaking.....

 

Do your tires come with white letters? Nice truck.

 

Thanks man!

I don't remember for sure, but I believe the tires come with either white or black letters.

 

Just got back from a week long ski trip out to CA. A day at June Mountain, a day at Mammoth, and a day at Palisades in Tahoe. Slept in the Super Pacific each night. It was around 5° at night and I was using a -20° Cabellas bag along with a cheap Chinese Amazon diesel heater I picked up. Worked great!!

Highway to June Mtn


View from June


View from top of Mammoth


Top of Mammoth


Lake Tahoe beach


My copilot, Mando, enjoying the Tahoe beach (He's a 14 week old Aussie Shepherd)


View of Lake Tahoe from top of Palisades


The only pic I snapped of the truck the whole trip. Whoops!

 

Doing some boarding up at Jackson Hole for a couple days before heading up to Big Sky to meet a friend and shred there a bit. -16°F tonight!!!! Diesel heater ftmfw









20k miles

 

Man, I want a Supetr Pacific. Nice rig!

 

If you are around this Sunday April 2nd we have an Overland Bound meet up in Coeur d’Alene. I’ve got a number of Spokane guys who come as it doesn’t really matter what you drive as long as it’s capable. We do about a trip a month. I’m going to be doing a hands on course for winching. Come if you can, you’re invited!
April 2nd 1-3pm
Pizza Factory off 95 and Appleway

From our March trip, it’d be great to have another 3rd gen Tundra there

 

@Troa Absolutely beautiful, I have been eyeing the SP for years now and will most likely purchase. Your information/experience has been very insightful. Specifically, with wind buffeting and water run-off. I never considered the water run-off into the cabin when the doors or windows are open. Likewise, I was curious how loud the wind noise would be. I've considered a lot of the other campers, but I always keep coming back to the SP. I'm curious what SP has in the planning stages for an X2, which will be released immediately after I purchase an X1 most likely. Thank you for posting your Super Pacific build!!

 

Sorry I missed this! Ive been in Thailand for the past few months. I came home briefly i. Late May/June and already took back off for SE Asia again. Thanks for the invite! Really appreciate it.

Thanks man! I ended up ditching the fairing for a few reasons. 1) It squeaked too much with the rubber against the roof 2) It would constantly loosen and need to be retightened 3) It eventually fell off all the brackets except one (after nothing but normal use) so it came off and never went back on.

Overall the SP is great, but has had a few other hiccups since I've owned it, including getting holes in the tent within 2 months of getting it due to poor strut design. They changed the design, but their warranty "fix" was to offer me a clear adhesive patch. I refuse and they instead sewed a large black piece of vinyl over the damage instead, as well as replacing the struts to some that wont cause further damage, and siliconing the roof seams for me. Not super happy with having a huge black patch, but its better than nothing I guess.

 

Absolutely amazing build, and quite the adventure!! Damn!!!

 

Love the set up so far!! I just got a SP myself, and am working on getting it built out. Can I ask how you set up the diesel heater? Looks like you just had the hot air going into one of the windows, but did you connect the heater itself straight to the battery? I'm not very well versed in this kind of thing, but trying to learn! Thanks man.

 

Nice build! I do miss the PNW! Spent most of my life in Washington and Oregon!

 

Can you tell me where you got the gutters you have here? I did some searching around, but no one has a link to them that I can find. I greatly appreciate it.

Water runoff is a huge issue with this camper and fortunately there is a fix, though not a cheap one. The problem is that all the rain water/snow melt on top of the giant flat roof has to go somewhere. When the truck is parked on any slope where the cab is on the low side, the water runs off the front, generally off one front corner or the other, in a steady stream pouring onto the side of the cab, just above the door opening. Once the rear door is open, the water literally just pours onto the floor in the back seat, soaking the carpet almost immediately. I called SP about this and they told me it's "working as designed" and recommended a $140 aftermarket gutter system to fix the issue. Since I use the camper in wet conditions often, I just bit the bullet and bought them. Haven't had a chance to see them at work yet, but I'll post up about it once I do. The gutters redirect the runoff water farther in on the roof so the water runs down through the molded channels instead of down the side and into the door.

 

Good morning and happy Wednesday fellow SP'ers!!

I was admiring and contemplating installing a window on the hatch of my SP similar to what @Troa has. I also noticed how the waterfall that the SP provides affects the Tundra folks as well. I'm the owner/operator of ASG Offroad and my main focus is providing innovative solutions for our campers. A couple of very popular items are; The Original SP X1 Rain Drain, and the Camper Leash.

Below are a couple of pictures to pique your interest...have a gander and let me know if any additional information would be helpful from my end.

www.ASGOffroad.com

 

Yes, I leave the harness wired to the battery and the wire coiled under the hood. When I need to use it I just pop the hood, plug it into the heater, and let her rip. Never had an issue with battery drain, even at -16F. Always starts strong the next morning. Maybe could cause a problem if you ran it for several days without running the truck, but I'm not sure.

JE Fabrication. He normally makes them for GFCs, but does occassional runs of SP specific ones. Otherwise guys have modified them to fit their X1. (https://community.superpacificusa.com/c/super-pacific-diy-sharespace/modified-driprail-for-x1) They are solid and do a great job. Losing the tie down points isn't great though. I like the style/idea of the one posted above, but am concerned it would leak water where the cutout is.

 

Thank you for your feedback and that was also a concern of mine I factored in when designing these. That said there is a channel under the tie down that captures runoff from the forward most part of said tie down.

I couldn't embed a video I took of the Rain Drain in action on this thread but in the photos section of the product page there is a video showing the Rain Drain in action, channeling the run off away from the interior of the truck and off my back! hahaha. Link to Rain Drain.

I think either option you go with is better than nothing… that said, losing the tie down was a hard no go for the wife and my son so they can still use their hammocks, hang towels/crocs...etc.