Toyota Tundra Camper With Pop Up Top Is The Ultimate Off Road Rig!

One of the best things about living the van life, truck life, or trailer life, is being able to meet people who are doing the same thing as you. It might be that they are on the same journey, or perhaps just looking for a way to break free from the norm and express their creativity in different. And the best place to meet like-minded vandwellers is at a large-scale event like Overland Expo West! We’re here with our Sponsors, Four Wheel Campers, checking out some of the greatest campervan conversions and off road trucks that the world has ever seen, and one Toyota Tundra Camper, in particular, caught our eye…

This article is sponsored by Four Wheel Campers. They were kind enough to invite us to Overland Expo which gave us the chance to produce this article for the Van Clan community. Check them out if you’re interested in the best pop up truck campers around.

You might recognise this Toyota Tundra Camper from your Van Life Instagram feed because it’s owners have been documenting their travels across America on their full time van life journey for the past couple of years. It belongs to Mak and Owen from @bound.for.nowhere, and we were lucky enough to be invited to take a look around their Four Wheel Campers rig and film a tour of their tiny home!

Meet The Toyota Tundra Camper That’s Bound For Nowhere!

Before we kick into looking at Mak and Owen’s FWC Truck Camper, let me give you a few stats about the truck itself. Like the Toyota Tacoma Camper, the Toyota Tundra is used as a base vehicle for truck campers around the world, but there are some differences that set the two apart.

The Toyota Tundra Camper is a full-size truck compared to the mid-size Tacoma, a little more like the Dodge Ram pop up truck camper that Brandon drove on our first trip to California. As such, the Tundra has better towing capabilities and makes you feel like your driving a van more than a truck due to its increased height. The engine size and horsepower of the Toyota Tundra Camper also outrank the Tacoma, but it’s really a case of which truck suits you best. They’re both great vehicles, but if you live your life by the motto ‘bigger is better’, then a Tundra might well be the perfect truck for you.

Thanks For The Boring Intro. Now Show Us The Truck!

Right you are! Some of you might remember the Hawk FWC model that we took on the road with us on our ten-day trip around California in 2018. Mak and Owen have taken that initial design and completely made it their own, working with the FWC team to create a custom-made tiny house that meets all of the demands of their digital nomad lifestyle. But they’ve also carried out a lot of modifications to the truck itself!

This Toyota Tundra Camper is now the proud owner of some of the most gnarly off-grid accessories in all of America, and the names are just as impressive. Down the front, we’ve got what could possibly be the coolest bumper in existence – the Addictive Desert Designs Stealth Fighter Bumper. Just let that soak in a minute before you carry on reading; I want to be able to tell everyone that I’m travelling in a van with a stealth fighter bumper too! The ADD bumper also has a built Baja designs light bar for lighting up those shadowy forest paths, and a winch just below to help pull your friends back out of the sand when they get too cocky.

Mak and Owen have also upgraded the suspension and added 37″ tyres to their Toyota Tundra Camper too, making it an off road truck that few could content with! There’s also a Safari Snorkel as their van life travel plans sometimes take them through streams and along dusty desert trails. A clean and dry engine is usually a happy engine!

What’s Around The Back?

The Bound For Nowhere team have kitted out their Toyota Tundra Camper for extreme off grid living. The truck bed itself, painted black to match the Hawk’s cool exterior, holds several storage compartments underneath to help keep your muddy van life essentials at bay. We actually got the chance to speak to the guys behind the flatbed, and all we have to say is “they know their stuff! The compartment at the back of the truck also features an air compressor for any dusting off of gear and pumping of tyres – Mak and Owen know how to stay self-sufficient on the road!

As with any Four Wheel Camper model, you can truly pimp it out with a lot of accessories. Primarily they partner with Aluminess who create some of the most reliable roof racks, tire racks and equipment around. On the back of the truck, they’ve added a 10-gallon gas tank in case they ever run out on the road and some all-important MaxTrax for getting out of sticky situations in sand or mud. Oh and we’re digging the Bound For Nowhere Instagram sticker too!

Inside The Toyota Tundra Four Wheel Camper Combo

Inside is where things get a little more laid back. We’ve seen how Four Wheel Camper design these things, we’ve walked around the factory, spent countless weeks with the team, which might I add are some of the funniest, smartest people I know. (One who I won’t name; *cough*Stan*cough* threw a firecracker at me while I was peeing in a bush, so yeah, they can have fun at times, even if it means scaring a British guy on a business trip). We can honestly say that their product is of a high standard and luckily firecracker free. The vast number of owners with FWC campers in the convoy that came with us to the Grand Canyon is testament to that (the build quality, not the firecrackers).

Mak and Owen are currently living in the Hawk, one of Four Wheel Camper’s largest camping modules, full time. They run a graphic design business on the road, using the internet from their phones to hook up to the web or the odd public library. They have created a comfortable space to live and work without it feeling cramped or untidy, and because the Toyota Tundra Camper has a larger flatbed than other trucks, there’s even more space to play with. You have space to work, space to sleep, space to cook, and even space for your adorable pet cat Luna!

Travelling with a cat is less problematic than some of you might think, and Mak & Owen have solved the problem by creating a mobile litter box for Luna to ‘do her thing’ in. They have used the space wisely and worked with the team at Four Wheel Campers to plan a build that has tonnes of storage. One of the best things about buying a Pop-Top camper from FWC is the customisation options that are available to you, and because they are built by hand to order and not churned off on a machine, you can be kept up to date on your build as it progresses through the different stages.

How Much Storage Does This Toyota Tundra Camper Have?

Mak and Owen have cupboards hidden everywhere. The spice rack sits in the worktop way up above the litter box, there’s a neat looking drawer under the fridge for the coffee pot, and the battery system is hidden away in a cupboard that also houses the inverter for 110V power. If you are planning on living off grid for a long amount of time like Bound For Nowhere, then you need a bad-ass battery system that will never let you down, and that’s just what they’ve gone for.

This Toyota Tundra Camper boasts 100aH of Lithium-Ion batteries, which last longer and work better in colder climates than your average lead-acid battery. The roof on the Hawk is plenty big enough to add solar panels into the mix, in this case 320-watts worth, which makes power a commodity that Mak and Owen never need to worry about. There’s even room for some surfboards up on the top of the camper too; this thing is like a tardis!

What’s This Toyota Tundra Camper Like To Sleep In?

Four Wheel Camper rigs have the best beds ever, and that is no exaggeration. Each camper comes with a pull out bed that starts off as a Queen-size mattress but can slide into what I like to call the Extreme-Super-King. It’s so big that you can’t even touch the sides once extended! Mak and Owen have taken this bed one step further by adding storage underneath for their clothes. A quick lift and, after appeasing a disgruntled cat, you have access to all of your t-shirts, jeans, socks and more!

If you’re ever camping in sub-zero temperatures, then the included furnace will definitely come in handy. The analogue controls are super easy to use, and it runs off one of the two propane tanks that store in a cupboard outside the Hawk. We used this a couple of times in Lake Tahoe and Death Valley and it kept us toasty all night long!

What Else Have They Got Hidden Away In Here?

A lot of campers choose to have their water storage outside of the van to make extra space inside, but if you’re heading to remote places with harsh climates like Bound For Nowhere do, the chances are it might freeze. They have their water storage within the insulated part of the camper to make sure that it’s always readily available. And in true FWC form, it also doubles up as a seat.

The Hawk comes with a neat little flip down cover on the sink and hob set-up, giving you a lot more food prep space when it comes to meal times. Going back to water, the Hawk can hold 20 gallons of fresh and 6 gallons of hot water at ay given time, and it comes with a nice little hose-bag to dispose of your water away from your camping spot.

Mak and Owen chose to go with the mid-sized fridge in their Toyota Tacoma Camper to create more space for storage, but it’s still plenty big enough for all of your fresh goods and campfire beverages. The camper itself uses an easy, lightweight pop up system that can be extended with one arm, so you don’t need to have muscles like the Hulk to get it up and running. This simple action extends the roof to 6″ 4 inches which gives you tonnes of headroom even when sitting up in bed.

Does This Thing Have A Shower?

Our favourite thing about this Toyota Tundra Camper (other than the bed that we’ve banged on about for so long), is the seating area at the back of the vehicle. This office area has a hidden purpose, and it’s not just for storing a basket of bread and liqueur!

As Mak explains in the video above, the seating area in their Toyota Tundra Camper can be turned into an extra bed/cat lounge, it’s an office, it has more under-seat storage, and it’s also a shower! The floor of the seating area has an inbuilt grate that soaks up the water, and a shower curtain can easily be erected to stop water from flying all over the place. They use this if it’s too cold to shower outside, and it’s a nice bonus feature to have for days when you don’t feel like cranking up the solar camper shower.

Final Thoughts…

Bound For Nowhere’s rig is special, it looks bad ass and is a step up from your typical van. A van can only get you so far, but with a Four Wheel Camper on top of a durable off road truck, it opens up a lot more roads, allowing you to go wherever you want and not have to worry about being top heavy or bursting your tires.

The Toyota Tundra Camper is a seriously great truck and, combined with Four Wheel Campers Hawk, makes for one very reliable off grid home that has the ability to take you anywhere your heart desires. The Hawk Off Grid rig starts at around $17’000 (about £13’000) and can be completely customised after a chat with the friendly firecracker throwing team over at FWC. They put their customers first, even if they put British journalists into a state of fear where they might never pee again.

A big thank you to Mak and Owen for inviting us around their home; they’re great, heartwarming people who I am sure would be happy to share any vanlife tips that they’ve picked up along the way. Give them a follow @bound.for.nowhere!

Thanks once again to our sponsors, Four Wheel Campers! Let us know what you think about this Toyota Tundra Camper by visiting us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Don’t forget to join our brand new Facebook Group and become a part of our ever-growing community of vandwellers!

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