The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Love all your camping adventures and pictures. My daughters were about the age of your oldest (9yo now - twins) when my wife said she didn't want to tent camp anymore! . So WE found a nice Jayco popup trailer and I have to say I love it too. You can get some that are made for backcountry. Ours isn't but it can take it a little off-roading, but we set it up in a campground with flush toilets and showers preferably. It has a outdoor heated shower that is nice. My wife does the interior mods on it - she recently added reflectex panels to all the windows and it helped a lot on our new years camping trip. I've added LED lighting, 12v ports and solar panels and other misc stuff. All the comforts of home and easy to tow. Set up is not too bad either. Just sayin incase that happens to you.

 

I watched the videos and checked out the two models. I'll comment on the overlander model. At first glance, I like it. It can probably go a lot of places that a Tacoma can go. It has a curb weight of 460lbs. (very light), payload capacity of 2K lbs! (great!), 29" tires, 20" ground clearance...

It's not that expensive.

If I was considering this for purchase, I would want to fully understand the relationship between the tent and the trailer. Can the tent easily separate for repair? Can it be repaired easily? Is is proprietary? Would it be possible to upgrade and mount a canvas RTT on the top? What does the inside look like, etc.

Thanks for posting. I had not seen that before.

You're welcome! Those things paid for themselves twice over now.

TW is really bad for the wallet. I've stopped going in certain threads, and it's helped.

I've been very happy with those deflators. I remove valve cap, attach deflator and move to the next one and repeat, about two minutes later, I'll check pressure on the first, which you can do with them still attached.

Appreciated. Great to hear this. That's cool she does the inside mods. I'm sure a trailer would greatly accelerate setup / breakdown time. The reason we base camp is because, it's next to impossible to move the tent each night. It's just too much work. I've have been trying for a few years now to figure out a way to move camp each night (for some trips), but I've been unsuccessful in finding a solution. It seems it's always a vehicle mounted roof top tent, or trailer. I think that one day we'll probably wind up with a trailer....

Thank you.

 

@Crom do you have a link to the speed bleeders? I remember reading about them in here once but cant seem to find them now.

 

Yessir! https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-43#post-11370535

 

Crom, just read about the backseat removal for the car seats. Great idea. May have to look into that.
Is the page in this thread?
Thanks.

 

Have you considered building a sleeping platform in your short bed for the kids and mounting a rooftop tent on the ARE or Bajarack for you and the wife?

 

[/QUOTE] I'm sure a trailer would greatly accelerate setup / breakdown time. The reason we base camp is because, it's next to impossible to move the tent each night. It's just too much work. I've have been trying for a few years now to figure out a way to move camp each night (for some trips), but I've been unsuccessful in finding a solution. It seems it's always a vehicle mounted roof top tent, or trailer. I think that one day we'll probably wind up with a trailer....
Thank you.[/QUOTE]

Honestly the setup and breakdown time is about the same once you add the Awning, BBQ, interior shelving (a must), and getting everything on. You'll add a lot to the setup just like you do tent camping. 6 of one - half dozen of the other. Again I love it.

 

Not in here. It was back in 2012 in this thread here: How I got +4" of extra room with a rear facing infant car seat!
It was a great mod and I would do it again, but beware of the Child Passenger Safety Technician's who will try to come after you with pitchforks and fire.

I like the thought. Something like that might work in the future when my youngest is a little older. She is 3.3 now. Maybe when she is 5.

Logistically, it would would be somewhat cumbersome, because of the amount of gear that would need to be stowed for each trip, and the tacoma with shortbed is so tight already. Said another way, we would be moving everything out of the back for sleeping and loading it upon departure. There is also the fridge in the back to contend with.

How about a roof top tent above the cab, and another one on the shell! Just kidding. I think I'll spring for a off-road trailer a few years in the future...

 

Read the posts after. Whoa!

 

Dude! I wouldn't have bumped the thread. The Nazis are gonna come back! That thread needs some thread locker.



I asked the mods to lock it.

 

Two days ago, I emptied my oil catch can. That's 5-months worth of oil, minus the condensed moisture that would otherwise be put into the intake.

How incredibly disgusting.

 

@Crom the tent is in a bag and you pull it out and mount it on the trailer. It is a proprietary tent to them.

 

http://youtu.be/YDZfaKQgXJQ

 

At first glance I thought that was a ham.

 

Thanks for bringing these up again. I'm using an ARB E-Z tire deflator right now which I quite like but given how inexpensive the Teraflex are I think I'll give them a try too. The Stauns seemed fussy to setup and wouldn't account for hot vs. cold filling. I like to see the pressure while I deflate.

 

Ah yes, the fridge. You might be able to squeeze that between your two girls in the center backseat of the cab. That wouldn't really be ideal though. You joke about the 2 tents, but I'm sure its been done. I personally wouldn't want to put that much weight on the roof of my truck. They do make 4 man rooftop tents, but I don't think one would work with you're setup. You would need a cab height shell because they are so long that it would have to be mounted above the shell and the cab. I'm also not sure how that would work with the Tacomas cab/box flex. They are probably best suited to be mounted on an offroad trailer or a large SUV.

 

The OZtent is up in 30 seconds I believe. This is the tent I'm looking into.

Also waiting to see what's at the Expo this year.

 

The funny part about that thread is most of the people replying to it probably grew up riding around on their parent's laps in the front seat, with no seat belt.

 

Got it. I watched some of the video.

If you like it, I would say get it! I would love to own it, but it wouldn't fit exactly into my needs and I would end up modding it.

Here is my take... The novelty it would seem is camping in a tent while off the ground. It would appear that there is no substantial time savings vs. setting up a tent on the ground or on that trailer.

If I was going to do a trailer, I think I would look to the ones where you can mount a roof top tent for ease of setup / breakdown and the heavier canvas.

I own about six different tents. From 1-man backpacking tents to the big 10x10 Kodiak Canvas tent. The Kodiak is my favorite. I've grown to love the protection it provides for the family. It is spacious and luxurious. Three main pole construction. I put it up and take it down by myself. The downside is it's heavy and must be staked out at least at the corners.

If it's just me camping, I'll sport my 1-man backpacking tent and I'm quite happy with that.

Here is a horrible picture of my truck with the 1-man Eureka deployed next to it.



Here is the 2-person dome tent my wife and I used before kids.

I feel the same way... I think I saw two RTT's on a full size truck on ExPo. I certainly wouldn't want to do it on a Tacoma.

Don't believe the marketing hype. Do some readin over on ExPo, plenty of owners reports in there.

Probably true!

 

Sorry. I didn't realize it was separate until after I posted. My bad.