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Old 01-02-2009, 06:52 PM   #53 (permalink)
mobilerik
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 108

rik's prerunner - '03 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner Double Cab TRD 4A
90 day: 29.68 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by extragoode View Post
Do you have any sort of templates or drawings or anything? How do you arrive at the shapes for this coroplast that bends into those great compound shapes? I love your cab kammback! Do you ever haul anything? I want to do something like your rear hump, but make it easily removable for when I haul my motorcycle in the bed. I wouldn't have a truck if I never carried anything back there.
Yeah, I do have photos of the cutouts that you could generate ideas from. I've been figuring I'll post lots of "instructables" once I get through the next few major mods, hopefully in the next few weeks.

The way I get the shapes is to play with simple paper mockups on my desk at work, cutting and bending until the bent shape looks the way I intended it. It's not hard -- it just requires some playing around with paper and scissors.

Then once I get the general shape I'm after, I'll try it for real on the truck with some poster board, tracing out a template, taping and cutting as I need. I make and correct many mistakes along the way, but it really doesn't take very long to get a good template.

I occasionally haul. My wife often needs fill dirt for the garden and has yard waste to dump, and I need construction materials for my projects in the garage. (Building a recording studio) This weekend I'll be doing the first dump run since my installs. The "hump" is just attached to a tonneau that I remove easily. Eventually I'd like it to be self supporting to regain some space in back.

The other reason for the Prerunner is to get some good off-roading capability. One of our hobbies is rockhounding -- We like to collect fossils and geodes. Since the sites are typically far away, it's great that it's now a good highway car as well!

Last edited by mobilerik; 01-04-2009 at 01:20 AM..
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