Chase Lights:
The goal was to make this install as clean as possible and it came at a cost of taking way too long! Big thanks to (@Buhlockaye) for the idea and photos. These lights are definitely a “want” not “need” item and to be honest, I just like the look of them.
Priorities were to make them as low profile as possible and to hide the wiring. The install included removing the side and rear extrusions, drilling a few holes, and wiring the lights through the inside of the extrusion then down into the truck bed.
Overall, I’m super happy with how they turned out. Thanks to John at GFC support for answering a quick question, then talking over possible ways to do the install. A few takeaways:
Guiding the wiring around the 90 degree turn was a pain
The 1/4-20 GFC track nuts do stick out of the intrusion (~1/8”), but the 10-32 ones sit flush. I’d recommend attaching with two 10-32 t-nuts versus one 1/4-20 t-nut.
Wiring takes 2x longer than expected, but take the time to do it right…not twice
Glad to see it all worked out for ya! Definitely a PIA routing the wire around the corner and drilling that hole but man-o-man does it make everything so much cleaner! Looks great!
Beautiful work. I haven’t yet had the courage to disassemble for wiring purposes. I think my build will always be more “Doc Brown DeLorean” than Clean Coastal Machine.
The newer model GFC V2s don’t come with the locks anymore. They come with a hole that goes through the side billeted piece and the lever used to open the tent. This way people can choose how they want to lock their tent up. For more info on the tent lock issue/timeline checkout this thread - V2 Tent Lock Failure.
@timwentoutside There is a pretty thick rubber wire coating that comes with the S2s and the wiring doesn’t have much play to cause a back and forth motion, so I am not too worried at this point. I will definitely be keeping an eye on it and will likely add some silicone for another layer of protection.
@Vice_Chief The disassembly part actually wasn’t that bad, it was the wiring part that was the biggest pain. Well worth it IMO.
Quick question…once you make the 90 into the side extrusions, did you need to drill another hole to get the wire into the interior of the camper or something else?
@Tailhook.Actual Correct. Once it’s routed from the rear into the side extrusion you’ll need to drill a hole on the interior side. There might be another way but that’s the way I did mine
@Tailhook.Actual check out This thread. I added some photos but if you need more, shoot me a dm and I’d be happy to discuss further! Goes for anyone who sees this hahaha.
@Tailhook.Actual Yes, the wiring then enters into your camper and you can connect to power however you would like from there. @Buhlockaye sent me some photos before I installed my lights that were super helpful. I however, forgot to take photos of where it enters into the camper
Overnighter:
No real build updates, very happy with the set-up as is. I did try out adding an old Thermarest inflatable sleeping pad underneath the cushions and seemed to sleep much better. Will likely be using it from now on.
Interior Lighting (Update):
The LED connectors eventually failed due to the repeated movement from opening and closing the back GFC panel. This created a bend/stress point for the wiring/connector/LED strip. To solve this I cut the back panel LED strip off and attached a new strip to the top circular bar of the camper. This way the LEDs don’t move when opening or closing any part of the camper. For good measure I soldered them and added a good amount of VHB tape. Seems much more solid now!
Recent Adds:
Took the truck in for the 60k mileage service at a Toyota dealership and also had the spark plugs and differential/transfer case oil replaced. When I picked up the truck I noticed it felt loose and had a bad shake at highway speeds so I took it back in to find out that they forgot to torque down one of the wheels. The dealership ended up owning their mistake and offered a few things to right the wrong. I wasn’t planning to upgrade my wheels anytime soon, but now have a fresh set of Method wheels on the truck. Lesson learned to always check other peoples work…
I later added in the OEM Tailgate Lock and its a world of a difference. Now the truck fully locks up keeping the truck bed contents safe and I don’t have to manually lock the tailgate when getting in the tent to camp. Very straight forward install as well!
Truck Bed Shelf:
Very small but useful addition to the truck bed. Made with scrap wood and designed to fit in the existing Tacoma wheel well slots. The shelf is easy to remove when needing to haul larger items in the bed as well. The concept was to keep the full bed length accessible for surfboards, but allow for elevated storage (i.e. duffle bags) to maximize space and ease of access. This also allows you to store gear on the shelf and utilize the truck bed for changing/hanging/going in and out of the tent. Overall works great, very simple, and essentially no-cost.
