Trying to turn my Tacoma into the perfect road-tripping machine...

Hey folks--

Anyone have any recommendations on camper shells, etc for a 2004 Tacoma??? Im buying a truck that has an extended can with a cab-high camper shell. Ive been eyeing the Vista 300 shell (its about 8 inches taller) but dont know if its worth the time or $$$ to swap out my shorter Leer. Elevated bed with shelves below it? Or keep the bed low (ie: keep my shell) an build shelves on the side??? Im an amateur but looking to make this incredible.

Any thoughts???? Thanks so much, Katie O in Tucson

keep your shell and spend the extra cash an gear .

Instead of swapping the Leer for the Vista 300 just swap the Tacoma for a Geo Metro, Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. Slap on a few rocket boxes and cover them with all sorts of cool climbing stickers (this tells people that you've bought a lot of stuff). Take the extra cash from the trade in and use it to buy a good tent and sleeping pad. Now, if you have any money left over you can afford to pull your new rig out of the driveway. Voila, the perfect road tripping machine!*

• filled with angst because I can't afford to drive my truck anywhere response.

Appreciate the tips, all. Thanks! As for the gas mileage, yup i can certainly appreciate a fuel-efficient car (as ive been driving a VW beetle for years and just sold it. easily. hmmm)...but i work in trauma and there is NO way after what ive seen in the past 2-3 years that im going back to a small car. Sad, but true.

So the truck stays (; Think I'll stay with the shell ive got and do some efficient shelving on the inside, etc.

any other ideas???

if you've got a sliding cab window and outlet jack buy a little boombox and hook it up so you can have some tunes for bed. (just remember to tug it out of your radio when your done)

also those stick on dome lights (if you don't have one) are really handy for late night rummaging.

My buddy used a few of those plastic drawer totes from the dollar store to organize the back of his truck, cheap and quick. just bungie them to the side.

magnetic curtain rods give you privacy and shade, just crazy glue little rectangles of metal on the fiberglass where you need them

have fun

Katie - right on. Excuse my earlier post but my truck is limited to a 50 mile radius right now. Fortunately I live in a beautiful place.

Lou Dawson had a good write-up about some Tacoma mods originally on wildsnow.com. Now it's listed here: code4x4.com/articles/tavs/t…. It doesn't talk specifically about tricking out the bed but it has some good ideas on other mods. Good luck.