Build 79-series Mongrel build

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killer unit 👍
 
So the Decked is for a 05-23’ Tacoma with the 5ft bed. It’s the closest we could find to a plug and play system. It did require some plastic carving between the wheel wells at the front of the bed to fit it.

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Here is how we have setup the mounting, no holes drilled in the bed to do this.

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The fridge is getting mounted to a drop down slide. The fridge is a National Luna 70L fridge/freezer combo. It was decided to not do anything with the side trim on the top of the Decked too. Such as get it to go all the way to the sides of the Cruiser bed. So we will be leaving the gaps on both sides of the Decked which in my opinion works well for stuffing gear along the sides such as muddy boots.

The owner is flying in September 12th, we will go over the Cruiser for a day and after that he is taking it (and his wife) on a fishing trip in Montana for a week! The Cruiser won’t be 100% done by then (our Smartcap is hitting USA port August 26th so won’t be installed by mid September) but it will be done enough for a week long fishing trip!

Cheers
You can order full-width "wings" from Decked and trim to fit your full bed width.
 
Hey, Love your build, fantastic work and a great inspiration for all of us here in the community, thanks for sharing. Any chance you can make another one of these aluminum skins for the tailgate? I have a 75 that I want to do the same to. Also, thanks for the info on the decked install. I’ve been looking at their products so I can turn my bed into a secure storage area, looks like I’ll have to discuss with them to see what options might fit the 75 bed.

On a separate topic, I see you opted for no flex coupling in your exhaust system. Are these not needed for diesel engines and/or newer vehicles with better engine mounting? On my 60 I have a flex coupling just past the header.
 
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Hey, Love your build, fantastic work and a great inspiration for all of us here in the community, thanks for sharing. Any chance you can make another one of these aluminum skins for the tailgate? I have a 75 that I want to do the same to. Also, thanks for the info on the decked install. I’ve been looking at their products so I can turn my bed into a secure storage area, looks like I’ll have to discuss with them to see what options might fit the 75 bed.

On a separate topic, I see you opted for no flex coupling in your exhaust system. Are these not needed for diesel engines and/or newer vehicles with better engine mounting? On my 60 I have a flex coupling just past the header.


The tailgate panel is stainless steel.

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Cheers
 
The Cruiser showed up this morning after a 1,700 mile road trip. They did 500 yesterday driving over a lot of mountains.

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No real issues to speak of, it passed the test with flying colors!

Cheers
 
this trucks so fuukcing cool, i want one, DC's have my full attention, and i think they are up for import here now....
 
Looks great! What’s your impression of the build quality?


Ya, good for sure. It’s stainless steel that is coated.

Cheers
 
Love that Design, doors opening on all sides, been running that type of shell for decades on my work trucks.
This company looks to take that design to the next level really NICE !!
 
It’s all bolted on for good now.

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Folding table up in the top of the Smartcap.

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Cheers
 
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It definitely changed the look of the Cruiser. I think it is a great addition and allows for way more use of the small bed.

Cheers
 
We had OME 860 rear coil springs in it but after the Smartcap it sagged a bit. So we installed some 864’s and it’s all good now.

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Cheers
 
We ordered a Smartcap roof rack (fixed version) for the canopy. Additional roof rack will go on the cab too for when you want to carry say a long canoe/kayak/paddle boards, ect. Probably doing load bars for the cab, we will see.

Interior lighting figured out for inside the Smartcap as well as for the gullwing side panels. We will do a bit of wiring in the canopy, provide gear tire down locations beyond what the Decked came with, mount fridge on drop down slide (MSA is our brand we are trying to get), mount & wire Ecoflow, design and build mounts for hammock poles/gear inside roof of canopy, roof rack lights (side/rear), mount up Maxtrax and I think maybe an awning. There has been mention of a roof top tent on top of the Smartcap but not so sure that is happening. Nothing to crazy "overland" wise and I think that will round out the build nicely without getting crazy on wiring and overland gear. The Ecoflow allows for both AC & DC power in the back of the Cruiser so I am thinking we will have a control panel near the tailgate for say a 12v plug or two, (Blender/charging/microwave/whatever 12v AC plug) perhaps a USB charge port, light switch and maybe one other item. The Ecoflow is meant to be a mobile unit though, it has ports too for USB, 12v AC & DC. We will set it up mounted to the Decked at the front of the bed, power the fridge off it and a few other things. The Ecoflow also allow "back jumping" to the starting battery on the Cruiser. For me, this style of system seems like the way forward when it comes to duel battery system and wiring setups in an overland type Cruiser. Self contained, mobile, powerful, simple, versatile makes it all hard to beat in my opinion. And this coming from a guy who has had multiple different duel battery systems in his trucks the last 16yrs.

Cheers
 
I think that Smart cap looks great on there. Any chance you know the weight of the SC ?
Beautiful build and exceptional work.!!
 
The last part of the build is going strong, this being the “overlanding” part!! 😝🤌

Got a nice mat for the top of the Decked. Locks installed in the Decked too.

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Crazy ICOM antenna.

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Roof rack on Smartcap.

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Third brake light with built in turn signals for the Smartcap!

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Cheers
 
I think that Smart cap looks great on there. Any chance you know the weight of the SC ?
Beautiful build and exceptional work.!!

It is 155lbs for the double cab short bed version. It is built from SS and painted it seems after vs powder coating. They sell it in three colors, white, black and sandy taupe.


It’s modular, they ship it world wide so you can’t really do that these days very economically with a solid built shell. As such it is assembled from pieces. I’m impressed with the engineering, their shape, construction and so forth allows for lighter weight materials yet not compromising strength.

Smartcap has a lot of the “overland” canopy market in the USA. I saw one the other day on a Gladiator. As far as I know though we have imported the first double cab short bed version. To me, it completely changed the truck, no difference really from a double cab short bed Tacoma, right?

Cheers
 
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