Hey all. Remember me?
From what, 4 years ago? FOUR years ago??!!
So sorry to suddenly split like that...
I stopped posting when my life took a sudden unexpected turn. During that last month of Feb '09 I was preparing to leave my marriage. Not only was it not an amicable split -- it was a rather bad situation that I had to silently escape from and *hide*.
I was planning that once I got re-situated into my tiny shared apartment situation that I'd continue working on the truck... but it never worked out that way. I not only ceased to have a workshop, but I actually DISMANTLED all the overly-conspicuous aero mods.
At that point it just got frustrating to be back to near "factory" fuel inefficiency, especially as my new apartment was located at the end of an annoying gas-consuming drive.
As for the mods, they'd begun to disintegrate. The cool plexi fairings had actually broken off the day I visited the new place and smashed to pieces on the road! The pizza pan wheel covers had started to rust. (You really need to paint those things.) As well as the steel parts of the front and rear wheel fairings. So by the time of my next relocation, I just wound up throwing it ALL into the dumpster!
Not a big deal really... It's easy to make it all again! I didn't spend more than $70 on all of it, and since I made this thread and photographed everything, I have complete instructions to replicate it.
But I probably won't.
I still have the '03 Tacoma Prerunner. But sometime over the next few months, I'm going to convert it into a small RV camper -- and move into it! And my requirements are so much different this time around, that I'm not even going to streamline it. At least not immediately.
Instead of extensive aero design, my eco-modding will be focused on turning the truck into a tiny self-sustaining off-the-grid micro-house on wheels without spending much -- hopefully less than $100 for the simple shell, and a few more to keep it powered. I'll be looking into creative ways to get and use solar power, cook with alternate fuels, store food with passive refrigeration... stuff like that. Of course, I'll be minimizing gas use -- but mostly by not driving it or depending on the engine/alternator or extra gas generator for power. So different fare from the usual -- a lot more "off-grid home" than auto-shop -- but definitely "Ecomodding" with some unique design challenges that don't come up in any other context.
So watch for my next thread or two on making a full-time RV-style truck camper. (Note that I'll likely be changing my username from Akashic to Mobile Rik, to match my handle on other sites.)
As far as this old thread goes, I'm hoping I can dig up photos of certain parts of the build I KNOW I took pictures of, but can't seem to find. They may be lost for good. Oh well. In any case, "I'm back" and happy to address any questions about how I did this or that, as well as say hello to any newcomers from the past (ahem) 4 years.
-"Akashic" (Soon to be known as "Mobile Rik")