"Uno" the 2015 Tacoma

A tad late, but might I add the Alu-cab canopy as a point of consideration? It's similar to the RLD, but if you're concerned with weight it's 40 lbs. lighter. I like the aluminum cap route, and the oztents too. I just don't want to wrestle one on/off my cap. That's why we went with the kodiak tent packed in the back of the truck. You're a tad taller than me, so it might not be as big of an issue.
 
A tad late, but might I add the Alu-cab canopy as a point of consideration? It's similar to the RLD, but if you're concerned with weight it's 40 lbs. lighter. I like the aluminum cap route, and the oztents too. I just don't want to wrestle one on/off my cap. That's why we went with the kodiak tent packed in the back of the truck. You're a tad taller than me, so it might not be as big of an issue.

I looked at the Alucab and then never went back to it for some reason. Something to consider.

I've been looking at the Kodiak tents as well, but that quick setup time on the Oz is winning me over I think.
 
I like the look of the RLD, and the diy nature of the RSi Smartcap. However, if I were to get rid of my current cap it would be for weight saving and the Alu-Cab wins that for me. I'm not lining up to make that move any time soon. I think they're all solid choices.

The Kodiak is definitely much more involved, but I make the Mrs. help me. If I can't get my cussin' in by backing up a trailer, a tent is a good alternative.
 
When you posted the RLD cap I had to do a double take! That truck belongs to one of the mechanics that works for me. He really likes the RLD. He just ordered the Columbus Carbon Fiber model RTT.

As for the OZ tent, they make a fantastic base camp tent, taking it on and of the roof/rack on a regular basis SUCKS. We did 8 days in a row last summer moving 5 times, it got old real fast. So much so that I just ordered a basic Front Runner RTT so when Stacey comes with its easier than the OZ tent. The best thing about the Front Runner is that it only weighs in @ 94 lbs. Not much more than the OZ tent. I think I may get the weight down a bit more by replacing the mattress with a Exped Megamat Duo, hoping for the mid 80s for weight.
 
I have a Kodiak tent, I used before getting the teardrop. They are nice tents, and go up quick, and pack nice. The poles pack separate from the tent, so the long part is not too large to pack.

Two things to be aware of: the tent must be staked down. I camped in a few places out West where I had to look for a place that I could set up - the stakes don't go into rock. Also, the tent is a little heavy - at least, at the end of the day when all you want to do is nothing. ;)

Still, a good tent. I still have it, even though I have the teardrop.
 
Butt implants in progress.

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Update: the new bumper is heavy and I'm old...
 
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Not even going to show us a picture of the new bumper?

You need to something with the chrome emblems. Chrome is so 80's - don't you look at the 'gram? Plasti-dip is your friend! :p
 
Not even going to show us a picture of the new bumper?

You need to something with the chrome emblems. Chrome is so 80's - don't you look at the 'gram? Plasti-dip is your friend! :p

New bumper is still laying in the floor as I await backup. :D

You can come plastidip my emblems for me anytime you want. I won't stop you. It's on my to do list, but it's way down there...
 
New bumper is still laying in the floor as I await backup. :D

You can come plastidip my emblems for me anytime you want. I won't stop you. It's on my to do list, but it's way down there...


Best tool investment ever, Harbor Freight transmission jack! Especially if you have to trim plastic bumper covers. I have my rear bumper shipping soon and this jack will be super helpful! The 2"X8" is lag bolted to the jack base from underneath and the bumper lagged to the wood. Beauty of a tranny jack is it has pitch and roll adjustments, along with the height.

Cheaper than lunch and beers for the help, at least where I live.


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Teaser shot for the night. It's on, but not 100% right. As with any modification worth doing it's going to need some massaging and a trip to Fastenal.

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Some quick math:

Stock hitch and bumper weighed 85lbs.
New bumper and swing out came in at 125lbs for a gain of 40lbs or...one bucket of cat litter. Not too bad.
 
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Had time between conference calls today to lay in the rain and fiddle with the bumper a bit. Some better overall shots:

Ignore the wiring hanging down, still buttoning things up at this point.

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Bottom of the bumper sits at roughly the same height as the stock bumper, no real loss or gain there. The trailer hitch receiver is built in behind the license plate though so I picked up all that clearance by ditching the factory hitch that hung below the bumper.

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Overall the bumper seems very well made and fabricated. There's a few areas where the welds aren't pretty, but appear to have penetrated well enough that they're strong. The powder coating only had one small chip that I touched up with some spray on bed liner.

There were a few things that didn't work quite like they should. The first was the mounting cut outs for the license plate lights:

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Everything is in roughly the right spot, and to get everything to line up all I had to do was some trimming of the plastic tabs on the light housings. But the stock Tacoma light housings have a little bit of an angle at the front of them so they don't mount flat to the new bumper once you put the fastener in:

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Found a couple replacement option online that is flat and has LED lights and some auxiliary red indicators for a little more visibility. Should show up tomorrow and I'll get them mounted.

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The recovery points at the back are tied directly to the frame as the mounting points of the bumper which is nice vs just being welded onto the bumper itself:

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Welds around the receiver are...eh...but the receiver is tied into the rest of the bumper quite well. I would have liked to have seen the square tubing come through the bumper by a 1/2" or so and then be welded. Don't intend to tow anything crazy though and I'm sure this will work fine.

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The swing out is held closed by a spring loaded T handle and has a safety pin as backup to keep it from swinging open over rough terrain. Unfortunately when the safety pin is installed the t handle couldn't fully engage and things would bind up when trying to open the latch. Solved this by drilling out the hole for the T handle another 1/8". Closes solidly now with no binding and no rattles.

Before:

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After:

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After making sure everything worked I hit the now raw metal with bed liner.

Only other thing I see I'm going to tackle right away is some sort of material mounted around the hinge for the swingout. There's another T handle there that rides on the mount and then snaps down in place when the swingout is open 90 degrees to hold it in place. The pin from the T handle rides across that surface and it's going to wear off the powdercoating over time. I'm going to cut a semi-circle of HDPE and attach it with counter sunk screws so that the pin will ride on that instead to prevent the wear.

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Overall I'm pretty happy with the bumper. There's plenty of real estate on the swing out to mount heavy things up high and as far behind the rear axle as possible. The optimal positioning for additional weight. :p
 
What's that wire hanging down? J/K :p

Have you tried plugging into your 7-pin connector? I see you have it mounted behind the bumper. Make sure the cover can open fully - if not, you may not be able to get a connector in there.

How much does the swing out block your taillights?

My license plate lights did not fit my bumper either - except the opposite side of the light didn't sit flush in the bumper. Of course, since my tag is on a flip up mount, the lights actually shine behind the plate, so my tag is not really illuminated at night.
 
What's that wire hanging down? J/K :p

Have you tried plugging into your 7-pin connector? I see you have it mounted behind the bumper. Make sure the cover can open fully - if not, you may not be able to get a connector in there.

How much does the swing out block your taillights?

My license plate lights did not fit my bumper either - except the opposite side of the light didn't sit flush in the bumper. Of course, since my tag is on a flip up mount, the lights actually shine behind the plate, so my tag is not really illuminated at night.

Connector fully opens, the cut out for it has some extra space at the top to accommodate the cover opening.

Swingout blocks the lights just a bit. I have plans to add some auxiliary lights.
 
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