2001 SLC Based Overland/Weekender/Nomad?

Hello All - Excited to finally be joining the Toyota and Tundra family! Close to a copy & paste from the "New Member" intro thread, but figured a build should start with the basics.

Picked up what I felt to be a solid platform for the price. Paid $6500 for the truck - pretty happy with where we came out (details below). Initially we'll use the truck for weekend trips to the mountains/desert but would really love to have this built into something we can camp out of for extended periods of time. Girlfriend and I both work remote in tech and have every intention of taking advantage of that. Desert trips and storm chasing in other states will likely be happening this winter.

* 2001 Tundra Access Cab
* TRD Package
* Tow Package
* 206,000 miles on odometer when purchased
* No accidents and services records for the last 10 years included
* Leer 100LE Camper Shell (Missing rear hinged glass door/window)
* Bilstein 5100s already installed

Historically I’ve had Jeep Cherokees (XJ) and spent a fair amount of time in Moab UT and the Wasatch camping and wheeling. Currently coming from a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek and excited to be back in something a bit more rugged that I can do more well equipped overland type trips with.

Here are a few pictures (post wash) from the day I bought it (10/29):



Promptly packed up the truck and made ~400 mile round trip drive from SLC to Dutch John (just outside of Flaming Gorge UT) for a quick weekend camp trip - truck handled 80+ mph like it was nothing. I was very impressed.

Mechanically she seems quite happy. I need to do a fluid flush on "everything" for my piece of mind and will plan to have the timing belt done soon (last done at 145k) but outside of that seems to have more power and runs smoother than my 2018 Crosstrek!

The first few things for the "build" thread are below. Purchased some parts already and planning for a few other things. As of now SLC received several inches of snow in the valley but I'm hoping to do a bit more desert camping before I throw in the towel for the season.

Plans for the next few weeks are as follows:

1. DIY rear camper shell window replacement (I'll try to post some details on this). - Parts Purchased
2. 80/20 based aluminum "Prinsu" style rack to replace the the crossbars over the camper shell (looking for something a bit more "functional" from an overlanding/camping perspective). - Parts Purchased
3. Would love to get a platform (and maybe drawers?) in the bed sometime in the next few weeks to use before camping season ends. Ultimately, would love to do something similar to this - but may do something simpler/quicker to use before the end of the warmer season.
4. Clean up underbody rust - While the truck runs well, it's spent it's entire life in the salted Winters of Utah. The underbody doesn't seem to have any "bad" spots, but definitely has some rust. Need to get under there with a grinder + wire brush wheel then recoate the frame with Rust-olium or POR-15. With Winter here already, this may end up waiting until next Spring.

Will post here on projects 1 & 2 as parts come in this week! Looking forward for a simple but meaningful transformation of this truck!