- Thread starter
- #21
It's the same 8' one from the standard Hawk but the angle makes it look smaller.
Builds Tiny House Tundra (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter OverLand Cruisers
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It's the same 8' one from the standard Hawk but the angle makes it look smaller.
- Thread starter
- #22
Got the ladder put together yesterday, I started with an 8' aluminum ladder then cut it to size and fit some hooks.
It hooks onto the bed in such a way that it can't fall off, or be inadvertently removed, thus preventing a 52" header in the middle of the night. However removing it is easy if you know the correct sequence.
It fits perfectly on the floor of the camper making it really easy to recover or stow.
At some point I'll TIG some really cool aluminum hooks onto the ladder replacing the plastic end caps and steel hooks. The functionality will be the same but it will be more aesthetically pleasing.
It hooks onto the bed in such a way that it can't fall off, or be inadvertently removed, thus preventing a 52" header in the middle of the night. However removing it is easy if you know the correct sequence.
It fits perfectly on the floor of the camper making it really easy to recover or stow.
At some point I'll TIG some really cool aluminum hooks onto the ladder replacing the plastic end caps and steel hooks. The functionality will be the same but it will be more aesthetically pleasing.
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- Thread starter
- #23
Jack in the box!! The Safe-Jack is a big improvement over the OE jack. However I'll leave the OE jack in place as it can't hurt to have an extra.
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- #24
Badges? We don't need no stinking badges
fireball
SILVER Star
Could the Norweld flatbed have been installed any "lower"? The truck and setup looks great, but a good bit of space b/w roof and bottom of cabover. Maybe a mount for a table? Fairing with light bar?
Did the underside of the camper cabover come painted black or did you do that? The underside on my slide-in Hawk and I think others I've seen are all white.
Did the underside of the camper cabover come painted black or did you do that? The underside on my slide-in Hawk and I think others I've seen are all white.
Don’t need those badges! Everybody knows it’s a Nissan.
Awesome build. I am in the hunt for a Tundra now, waiting for gas prices to scare people into selling.
Awesome build. I am in the hunt for a Tundra now, waiting for gas prices to scare people into selling.
Are those custom made storage boxes or purchased? Great looking build.
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- #28
The Tiny House Tundra had it's maiden voyage this weekend...to the Overland Expo!! Great times!
The truck did brilliantly, it was flat through corners and rode great on both pavement and dirt.
Although it was pretty windy on the trip from Sonoita to Flagstaff the truck was super stable. A bit of a relief as I wasn't sure how it would do in full value cross winds.
I weighed the rig before the trip and with 38.5 gallons of fuel it tipped the scales at 7840 pounds. Add 40 gallons of water, two occupants, camp chairs and table, chow and beverages, tools etc.. and it should have put us right around 8700 pounds.
We averaged 65 mph and 10.5 mpg. There were a few spots where the wind died and the truck was quite happy in 6th at just over 80mph. When the wind picked up I needed to slow down to 65-70 mph to keep it in 6th. The best recorded mileage was 11.7 mpg and the worst 10.4, not bad considering how tall it is.
You are correct the flatbed should be have been installed lower. I'm pretty sure it's the first Norweld Tundra bed install and it has been a bit of a science project.
The bed can come down 1.75" as it sits, if I switch to a shallower rear drawer or lower the spare tire winch I should be able to drop it around 4".
Another minor mistake that I'm going to rectify is the bed brackets were welded to the bed, whereas according to Norweld they should have been bolted to the bed. Bolting the bed together allows for a bit more frame flex, when welded the frame can really only flex immediately behind the cab.
I'm not really looking forward to pulling everything apart and grinding the welds off but the end result will be well worth it. Any reduction in height will make ingress and egress in the camper easier and more importantly it will lower the COG and improve the aerodynamics. After grinding all the welds off and determining how low the bed can go the reassembly should be pretty painless.
If I still have room after lowering the bed/camper I may steal your idea and mount a table on the roof. An aluminum rack secured by nutserts holding a lightweight table would be a great use of space.
The underside off the camper came from 4WC painted black.
More soon!
The truck did brilliantly, it was flat through corners and rode great on both pavement and dirt.
Although it was pretty windy on the trip from Sonoita to Flagstaff the truck was super stable. A bit of a relief as I wasn't sure how it would do in full value cross winds.
I weighed the rig before the trip and with 38.5 gallons of fuel it tipped the scales at 7840 pounds. Add 40 gallons of water, two occupants, camp chairs and table, chow and beverages, tools etc.. and it should have put us right around 8700 pounds.
We averaged 65 mph and 10.5 mpg. There were a few spots where the wind died and the truck was quite happy in 6th at just over 80mph. When the wind picked up I needed to slow down to 65-70 mph to keep it in 6th. The best recorded mileage was 11.7 mpg and the worst 10.4, not bad considering how tall it is.
You are correct the flatbed should be have been installed lower. I'm pretty sure it's the first Norweld Tundra bed install and it has been a bit of a science project.
The bed can come down 1.75" as it sits, if I switch to a shallower rear drawer or lower the spare tire winch I should be able to drop it around 4".
Another minor mistake that I'm going to rectify is the bed brackets were welded to the bed, whereas according to Norweld they should have been bolted to the bed. Bolting the bed together allows for a bit more frame flex, when welded the frame can really only flex immediately behind the cab.
I'm not really looking forward to pulling everything apart and grinding the welds off but the end result will be well worth it. Any reduction in height will make ingress and egress in the camper easier and more importantly it will lower the COG and improve the aerodynamics. After grinding all the welds off and determining how low the bed can go the reassembly should be pretty painless.
If I still have room after lowering the bed/camper I may steal your idea and mount a table on the roof. An aluminum rack secured by nutserts holding a lightweight table would be a great use of space.
The underside off the camper came from 4WC painted black.
More soon!
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fireball
SILVER Star
Thanks for sharing the info, always a few learning points being one of the first to tackle something!
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
Like the build & also those RW wheels. That trim ring makes them look better.
I wish my buddy who owned my RW Tundra woulda left them on what is now my Tundra.
But nooooooo, he had to put some bro-truck 20’s on it.
Even worse, he left stockers at Les Schwab. Didn’t want ‘em!
Hopefully they’re on a 200 running around on the forums here
I wish my buddy who owned my RW Tundra woulda left them on what is now my Tundra.
But nooooooo, he had to put some bro-truck 20’s on it.
Even worse, he left stockers at Les Schwab. Didn’t want ‘em!
Hopefully they’re on a 200 running around on the forums here
- Thread starter
- #32
Like the build & also those RW wheels. That trim ring makes them look better.
I wish my buddy who owned my RW Tundra woulda left them on what is now my Tundra.
But nooooooo, he had to put some bro-truck 20’s on it.
Even worse, he left stockers at Les Schwab. Didn’t want ‘em!
Hopefully they’re on a 200 running around on the forums here
WHAT!!!??
Man, abandoning a set of RWs! What the deuce
- Thread starter
- #33
Northbound to a buddy's shop that is better equipped than ours. Time to take the flat bed off and investigate how much we can lower the bed.
- Thread starter
- #34
Yum
- Thread starter
- #35
On the road. Found 100 miles of washboard to test the Alcan/Bilstein combo. 
They work great! I was planning on installing BP-51s (now that they're available) but I'm quite happy with the Bilsteins.
"Custom" jack extensions...
They work great! I was planning on installing BP-51s (now that they're available) but I'm quite happy with the Bilsteins.
"Custom" jack extensions...
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- Thread starter
- #36
The bed came up 3" after removing the loaded 4WC. Rides kind of like a '72 F250 Highboy
Boxes and one of the water tanks coming off.
Boxes and one of the water tanks coming off.
- Thread starter
- #37
It'll be nice to get the wiring properly squared away once the bed is back on.
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- Thread starter
- #38
Without the boxes the mounting brackets we'll be modifying are more visible.
The horizontal aluminum angle can be notched to clear the rear drawer better and the vertical angle will be shortened commensurately. We'll be using bolts as opposed to welding to enable the frame to flex a bit better.
The horizontal aluminum angle can be notched to clear the rear drawer better and the vertical angle will be shortened commensurately. We'll be using bolts as opposed to welding to enable the frame to flex a bit better.
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- Thread starter
- #39
Whoa!!
"Never get off the boat... "
"Never get off the boat... "
- Thread starter
- #40
The dirty welds are the ones that will be replaced by bolts.
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