Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

I think I have only seen it in pictures. No one showers when camping. That's dumb.

 

With respect to front bumpers, another important aspect to consider is that most off-road style bumpers severely reduce aerodynamics. At highway speeds wind is directed into the front wheels / fenders creating drag. This is probably exacerbated with glass fenders. It will reduce fuel efficiency, and increase total cost of ownership of the truck. I would guess that it may be as much as a -2 mpg hit for those that drive a lot of interstate.

Very good to know. I really had not thought of that before. I have dragged the shit out of my factory tow hitch on some trails... Your post has made me reconsider some ideas I had. Thanks.

 

Pelfreybuilt, And they are more cause of cost of material and a skilled welder to put it together right. for the price pelfry is asking for them is a great price.

 

A small price to pay for proper trail protection. Everyone's personal use of their trucks is different but stock bumpers would not survive on my trucks. I will gladly accept a miniscule drop in mpg for real protection and a place for winch and improved approach/departure angles and improved recovery points, not to mention a place for a winch.

 

I agree with your function over MPG mentality (isn't that why we drive pickups in the first place?) but "miniscule" is a bit of an understatement. My MPG is like 2/3 of what it was when my truck was in stock form and I'm not even done adding weight to it yet. Not all due to bumper of course.

 

I'm waiting to destroy my bumper. Then I'll replace it.

 

Be careful with that, you can very easily cause more damage than just the bumper.

 

^True, just sell your old bumper for some beer money. Then you can go hit a trail and end the day with a beer.

 

You may think of a re gear if yours has dropped that much with only weight. I get 16.9 average with 35s, 5.29s and a shit load of weight

 

The price paid will vary for each owner depending on a lot of factors which we don't need to go into here. But I think it's fair to say for most normal owners, gas is the single biggest expense of operating a vehicle. For some, a -2 Mpg hit would be real and measurable. Regular gas in my neck of the woods is over $3.95 Gal.

If I was doing the hard trails you do at Moab and such, I think I'd have no choice but to armor up the belly, front and rear. It's the right application for it.

And I do believe in armor, the very first thing I did to my truck when it was a few weeks old was weld sliders on. They have saved my sides plenty of times.

Regarding winches, I don't know about 1st gens, but I've seen some second gen owners mount a winch behind the stock bumper cover, so it is possible. Nice stealthy install too.

All that said, I also think that a lot of overland exploration can be had without heavy bumpers. Trained driver, careful wheel placement, good spotter, etc., go a long way, IMO.

It's like you said though it all comes down to how the owner utilizes the truck.

[emoji106]

 

Exactly!

 

Yeah, that's probably the prudent thing to do. Currently my truck is my daily driver. Im putting down 20,000+ miles a year. I'm thinking about getting something like a corolla or (gasp!) a prius as a daily driver. After that I can do whatever to the taco.

 

LOL DD has converted to metric!

 

L/100km is dumb

 

My needs / desires are exactly the same. Just slower build pace for me. Saving for aluminum items. I was still holding out hope for a UHMW / Alum hybrid skids.

 

Isn't smkntxn doing a group buy on UHMW skids right now?

 

It's pretty hard to beat the strength to weight ratio of tubing. (My truck weighs less than it did stock, even with the cage!) Have you considered something similar to the SDHQ raptor bumper?

 

Your right I was just browsing the group buy section and just remembered seeing something.

How much water do you guys pack for a weekend of camping? I just got my truck rigged up and am excited to get the family out

 

Is this cause I'm canadian

 

so quick question,
ordered some replacement CV's from autozone, one they had on stock the other they ordered.
Picked up the second one today, but didn't really look at it since i was in a rush.
was looking at them a minute ago and noticed they are different.

I know the CV axles for the manual locking hubs and auto locking hubs are different, and have different number of splines.

Both these CV's have 30 spline on the hub side.

Will these work for my truck or did auto zone screw up?
Mostly thrown off because they look different; not sure if different brands, or?
My truck is a 98 tacoma v6 with auto locking hubs.