New tundra any year for free, what would you buy?

No, but I hate the flares on 4wd fenders.

 

But they’re black and will make your truck faster!

 

X2!

 

I have this feeling we’ll be let down by the new Tundra Gen if it ever comes out.

 

Bro it's easier to remove flares than convert to 4x4!!!

 

No way man, I don't do body work.
I've studied the rarely documented 4wd swap, its plug and play. I'll do it on my 03 in a few years.

 

I do have that to a point.I bought it used with 73,000 miles and it's a SR5.I would have liked to have a sunroof, navigation,and leather interior.If I keep it long term then it will have these things!

 

Love that style of camper shell with the rear doors! What kind is it?
I too would buy my current truck. The only possible exception would be a 2nd gen RCLB 5.7L 4wd.

 

Blue 2004 DC 4wd with supercharger and LSD

 

Yes. All day.

 

It is a Swiss Top!
I lucked into it over 10 years ago when I got my '01 V6 which I had before the red one in the pic.
Funny story too,the place that I found it had just changed ownership and I drove up looking for something for a RCLB '01 and they pretty much laughed at me about having one in stock.
I walked around the place anyway and this one was sitting behind a Garage and I asked about it and they didn't know they even had it but it was ordered in error by the former owners and not even on the books but was brand new for my exact truck!

Fast Forward to this afternoon a week after buying the new truck which is a '15 RCLB and I figure it would be crazy to not at least look at the old place again and the guy was still there and remembered the whole deal like it was Yesterday!

Anyway I paid under 1K for this one back then and have run it on 2 trucks that the paint didn't match but now I have a new truck the same color as the shell but that will not fit it and it will run me close to 3K to get one like it for the new truck?
Not sure what I will do yet but once you are used to those french doors it is not so easy to go back to a Tailgate and flip up window.

 

Might be easier to swap beds and fenders than convert to 4wd or just remove the flares and fill the holes and paint

 

Dark green? Do we need to have an intervention?

 

I would love a 500HP supercharged 2nd gen

 

I'll only drive it at night and never know the difference

No sense of adventure in the easy route buddy. The conversion honestly isn't bad, besides imagine how hard it would be to find a brand new bed and fenders off an SR5 in that rare color.

 

Thanks for the info. And the great backstory! I want the doors because it'd be so much easier climbing in n out when camping. I'd buy it off you(if it were for sale)but you're probably nowhere near me!

 

When I ordered my new ARE cap for the '02 RCLB I specified the twin rear doors like ezdog has, but I changed my order to include a full size hatch because I wanted shade & protection from rain. The hatch door does cast a large shadow when open.

 

I am somewhat torn over the whole thing really.
The beauty of losing the tailgate for my kind of work is being that much closer to where the tools are once I open the doors.
I do have long monkey arms and can reach across the bed in my 1st gen from almost anywhere and the french doors combined with the windoors let me reach almost everywhere I want at any time.

Now with the huge newer gen I can barely get my arm into the bed much less anywhere near the middle from almost anywhere around the truck!

That Sucks!

So I imagine I am going to have to add a slide of some sort to regain function of the entire bed. The bed height alone is so much higher it is hard to use on mine.

So I am not sure where that really leaves me other than simply trying to decide on Fiberglass or Aluminum and French Doors or Tailgate whichever material I get.

The only thing I know for sure is that it is better to buy once and cry once over the price than to regret getting exactly what I think I need from the start.

 

Actually after thinking about this for a minute,this is exactly why I would get another Gen 1!

Just works better for me.

 

I love these caps with built in doors -- this one and the one @ezdog has. But have to admit, I'd miss my tailgate. It's my go-to work bench even if I'm just working in the driveway.

 

You are correct butt UGLY!

 

I have Orangutan arms that enable me to reach over and open the passenger door, or reach behind and open & close the sliding rear window while driving my 2002... I can't reach the passenger door in my 2007 without sliding into the middle of the split bench, and even if I had a sliding rear window in the RCSB it would be out of reach.

Reaching into the bed of a 1st gen is as easy as you said, but not so much on the 2nd gen even after lowering the bed 3.25".

1st gen RCLB are the Goldilocks of Tundra trucks, they are just right.

 

I just ran my first service call without a tail / lift gate, and it took some getting used to. Muscle memory is a bitch... I kept trying to place gear on an invisible gate.

 

Nice!
How high did you go on the shell? Looks like you went with the transitional style. Have you attached anything to the interior frame?

Edit: Sorry for all the questions Kevin. I'm definitely getting one of these in the near future so I tend to go overboard on the info research! my main concern is how it'll stand up to 'wheeling and touring the desert...

 

It's the tallest version of the wedge design that they make, I will take some measurements once I have it back on the truck with it's new Line-X hard shell coating. I have not attached anything inside yet, but they offer all sorts of options & the brochure / online 'build your own site' will give you plenty of ideas.

I chose the simplest light gauge offering, they do offer two heavier gauge versions.

 

I don’t understand how people like the look of a step side. That design is hideous to me but then again they sell em so some people must like em

 

Same with the new Bronco.

 

I spotted one of these locally just last week! The rear lights really threw me off for minute.

 

I have a broom stick with a lag hook screwed into the end that lives in the bed of my truck. It allows me to reach all the way to the front, even with the tailgate down.

 

Most are sold to the blind community.