Leppz Overland Build and Trip Reports

I just priced out all the component pieces at work. Looks like about $150 would do it. I'm thinking about building it to be powered by my ARB compressor so I don't have to pump anything. I figure a regulator set at 20psi would do the trick. As for filling it, I though about using a 4" clean out tee for the top. That way I'd have a wide opening & not have to aim too much.
Also I'm 6'1" so reaching the roof is not too difficult.

 

I was thinking of doing it with a large ball valve (1-1/2 or 2") not a clean out. Might be easier to open and close compared to a clean out. But like you said, a clean out will allow a wider opening for refilling. Whatever you end up going with I would make sure you have the refill opening at the back of the truck so that you can stand on the tailgate to refill it.

That would be awesome if you can get it hooked up to your ARB compressor with a regulator.

 

Have you checked anything out like "rinse kit" or "the water port" for a portable truck shower?

 

My sliders have a kick out on the back - very easy to climb up on

 

Nice, my sliders have the kickout at the back as well. Glad I went with that option. It makes washing the roof and loading stuff onto my Yakima Bars easier.

 

Silver River, Harrison East FSR



It was one of my buddies Birthday last weekend and we decided try and get a large group of our friends together to go camping. We decided on a spot about 40KM up Harrison East FSR. I've explored this area lots and was actually riding my dirt bike exploring places to camp in this area the previous weekend. There's lots of place to camp from around the 20-40KM area on Harrison East FSR. There are lots of place you can park and walk down to the water at Cogburn Beach to camp and there are also a few places you can get trucks down to the water and camp right with your truck. Because not all of our friends have trucks we went a little further up the FSR and decided on a nice private spot along Silver River. Harrison East FSR starts to veer away from the lake at Silver River and heads up to the turn off to Clear Creek Hot Springs. If you stay on the main FSR it will turn into Shovel Creek/Kookipi FSR and you'll eventually make you way over to Nahatlatch Valley. I've done that route once before in September of 2015.



I went up Friday night and met up with my friend in the 4Runner who I regularly camp with. It was his birthday we were celebrating and he staked out a nice spot for us midday on Friday to ensure we got a spot. I met up with him after work on Friday night right as it was starting to get dark. It rained a little on us as we were setting up and got worse over night. The weather turned early in the morning and the rest of the weekend was beautiful.

Here's some shots I took along the way on Harrison Lake on Friday Evening.




And here's some of our camp Saturday morning with some better weather.




I threw my Solar Shower/Water/Fuel Carrier onto my truck. Because its built to fit a MWC (Military Water Can) it will also fit a MFC (Military Fuel Can). While I understand its not the greatest to transport a fuel can on its side these fuel cans simply do not leak and I am confident with it on the roof with it on its side. My rack also allows me to set up a change room. Because we sleep in the bed of the truck there really isn't anywhere private to get changed. I just zip tie a tarp to my slide out bar for my shower curtain and use it to change and also use it to hang wet towels or bathing suites off of. I also use the rack to setup my 30W Solar Panel for tracking. I only set up the solar panel for trips of more than one night. Otherwise my 105AH Deep Cycle battery and CTEK Dual D250's charging off my trucks alternator is enough to support my fridge, lighting and device charging for one overnight stay.




Around noon Saturday the rest of our friends started to trickle in. One of our friends owns his own Production Company and has a bunch of sound equipment. He brought out two speaker stands, a pair of CDJ's, 4 Channel mixer, 5000W generator, and 4 x Dual 18" subs. We had a few people mess around on the decks but for the most part is was the most elaborate Ipod dock ever and loud as F***!



A few more shots of our camp as more people trickled in.



We also built ourselves a steam room for later in the night. Just add some water to hot rocks from the fire!







Saturday night was pretty hectic as you can imagine. We hung out all Sunday and chilled to around 3:30PM before packing it up and heading home.

Heres a few more shots Sunday before packing up.


I also wanted to showcase how I pack up my truck fast for multiple day trips where I'm on the move. I wasn't necessarily heading out to another campsite but this is the quickest way to pack up my bedding and load the truck up. My bed consist of 3 x 1" self inflating camping mats and also a 2-3" memory foam topper. I usually roll up everything individually but the weekend had me pretty exhausted and I was just looking to get home at this point. This is a fast pack up and works great on trips where I jump from campsite to campsite. To save time on getting home or moving when I'm when I'm going to another site all I do is roll all the bedding up, flip up the second front hatch and strap it in. All the rest of my gear goes in after and when I get to my next location I unload whats in the back and unroll the bed and it's ready to go. Besides moving a few large items from the back like my BBQ, Table and Kitchen bag it is an extremely fast and efficient system. I'm willing to bet I could have my bed set up just as fast as someone with a roof top tent when its rolled up this way.

 

Another cool write up! Big crew! Have you ever thought of trying a rtt?

 

If I had a short bed and/or a cab high canopy I think I'd definitely consider a RTT. With my long bed and mid rise canopy the RTT would either have to go above my cab or high above my canopy on my Yakima Bars. I don't really like the idea of the weight up that high and my canopy is comfy enough and doesn't come with any of the downsides of a tent like wind noise and having to dry it out in wet weather.

The only thing that appeals to me about a RTT is the ease of setup. Wiith a lot of gear stored underneath the bed, the fridge on a slide in the cab and usually room in the back of the cab to store more gear there's not a lot that has to be moved out of the bed to sleep. I'd like to get a cab rack eventually to keep even more gear out of the bed. I think the only way I'll end up with a RTT on this truck is if I still have it if/when I have kids and need to sleep more than 2 people.

 

I finally did something about my kitchen bag/bin. Up until last week I was using an old picnic bag/cooler for organizing all of my kitchen items. It lasted me many years and was great for keeping everything organized. I used the large center "cooler" for pots, pans, plates, cutting boards, and any other oversized items. It had tons of pockets for other items and a seperated compartment with straps for holding cutlery. As great as it has been I've been meaning to replace it for a while now as none of the zippers work anymore and it's literally falling apart. I was considering buying another bag but ultimately decided against it as I wanted something a little bigger and more durable.

Inspired by @Crom I set out on the look for an appropriate toolbox to repurpose as a "kitchen chuck box".

After looking at a few different brands and models I ultimately decided on the Dewalt TSTAK's.

I ended up going with 4 different models.

Flat Top - DWST17807


Double Shallow Drawer - DWST17804

Single Deep Drawer - DWST17803

Deep Box - DWST17806


Here are some pictures of everything loaded and nicely organized.




Overall I'm very happy with this unit. I just got back from a 5 day, 4 night camping trip (more to come and that later) and it was a complete game changer for us. The drawers make grabbing small items super easy and the shallow drawers even come with removable dividers to keep everything organized and seperated. The deep drawer comes with a bunch of small plastic bins that can be used for a variety of purposes. I removed a few of these so I could store larger kitchen utensils but kept two for organizing large garbage bags and recycling bags. The deep box fits my pots, pans, kettle and some small bowls perfectly. The unit loads up nicely in my truck and when it's time to set it up at camp it sits securely on the ground next to my camp table and does not budge when digging around and opening the drawers, etc. Hopefully it should last for many camping trips to come.

 

Skookumchuck Hot Springs (St. Agnes Well), British Columbia, Canada



It was a long weekend in BC last weekend (Victoria Day) and we took full advantage of it. We took an extra two days off work and turned it into a 5 day, 4 night trip. We drove to Skookumchuck via Harrison West FSR. It is roughly 110KM off-road to the Hot Springs from where the road turns to gravel. The road is fairly good for the most part however there is a section about 5-10KM long that gets pretty rough. They are actually logging through this section right now. I'm not sure how they got some of the equipment in there or how the plan on getting any of the logs out. It looks like they dragged some logging equipment in behind excavators as there is no way logging trucks or semis could make it this far up with some some of the cross ditches and rocky sections you need to drive through. We got to the Hot Springs mid afternoon Thursday and snagged a decent spot along to river before the campsite began to quickly fill up for the long weekend. We camped 4 nights, had a few more friends join us through the weekend and then left monday early afternon and continued the loop up towards Pemberton, over to Whistler and then back down the Sea-to-Sky Highway back towards Vancouver. I've done this loop about 5 times in my Tacoma now and the drive is one of the most scenic and a favorite of ours by far. The last time we did this loop was the week before Christmas when we went to another Hot Springs in the area called Sloquet Hot Springs. There was anywhere from 6-18" of snow on the ground during that trip and it made things even more interesting. In total the loop is roughly 300KM on pavement and another 160KM on gravel/dirt road.

We started out at the beginning of Harrison West FSR with some fairly clean trucks as we aired down for the upcoming 160KM of gravel road from Harrison all the way up to Pemberton.


The trucks didn't stay clean for long and we stopped near the fire ravaged area by Wood Lake that got hit hard with a forest fire last summer to snap some photos of the trucks.


More photos along the way




Camp setup the first night.


And some more shots throughout the weekend.





On the way home.



We stopped at another rec site on the way out (Driftwood Bay) to check it out. There are lots of beautiful rec sites in this area along Lillooet Lake and River.




And back on pavement near Pemberton Airing back up.

 

Cool thread Leppz. I just joined this site and am looking to by my first Toyota this fall. Ive done some of the same trips youve posted. BC is a very beautiful place. Its nice to see that you take time to do informative trip reports.

 

Thanks @Hardwood. I'm very grateful to live in such a beautiful province. I try to take full advantage of it and get out there and explore as many new places as I can. I have many more weekend trips planned for this summer and also a big 9 day trip in September where I plan on exploring Vancouver Island. I'm very excited for that trip because I haven't explored much of Vancouver Island at all. There is also a few things I'd like to get done to the truck before that trip happens so that we are better equipped for living off grid for 9 days and also exploring the back country alone.

My main goal with my trip reports are to encourage others to get out there and enjoy all that BC has to offer. Have fun with your future Toyota purchase, you will not regret it!

 

Gorgeous pics. So lush!

 

Thanks @Crom. Pretty much the polar opposite of your own backyard.

Have you ever ventured this far north before?

 

Not yet. Seeing your pics makes me want to plan a trip though.

 

Finally did the Fog light anytime mod on my truck. Leave it to an electrician to procrastinate about the simplest electrical mod ever.

I'm heading out on another trip on Friday and there's going to be some offroad driving during the night involved. I really hated how the fog lights went out when high beams came on. You need the high-beams to see down the road/trial as far as you can but as soon as you turn them on you loose all vision directly infront of you when the fogs cut out. So with this trip coming up where I knew I was going to be driving offroad at night it finally gave me some motivation to tackle this quick and easy mod.

I followed @nd4spdbh method (link to his write-up). Which is 100% reversible and requires no splicing or bending of relay legs.

"Relay extension harness" made up. I was a little nervous about heat shrinking the connections so close to the relay but it didn't seem to effect it at all.


Plugged in.

Working

 

Sick build!!! Glad i could be a small part of it

 

Love the trip reports.

When are those new suspension mods coming in?

 

Suspension mods unfortunately won't be coming for probably around a year, ideally early spring 2017. I plan on running Bilstein shocks with OME springs and Dakar leafs. My truck cries everytime I load it up for a trip currently. The rear end sags a decent amount. I also have an ARB front bumper sitting at the side of my house that needs some slight metal fab repairs but I've put that project on hold until I deal with the suspension to handle the additional weight. I'll probably need to replace my tires around that time so with a 3" lift going in I plan on runnin 33's. Hopefully if all goes to plan by next summer my truck will be an entirely different beast. 3" lift, 33's and an ARB front bumper.

 

Harrison East FSR to Nahatlatch Valley via Shovel Creek and Kookipi FSR - June 3rd-5th

Be prepared for a large photo dump.

We had some unseasonable warm weather last weekend and to take full advantage of it we loaded up the truck, meet up with some friends and headed out on an adventure taking us on one of my favorite "circle routes". This route is roughly 450KM long with over 160KM of it on back country Forest Service Roads (FSR). I try and do "circle routes" like this whenever I can as I find it way more enjoyable with new scenery along the entire way rather then just coming back to same way you went.



We left our home city of Coquitlam around 6:30 PM. By the time we made our way up to the resort town of Harrison Hot Springs the sun was about to set.

We made one last stop at the liquor store before heading out into the back country.


The sign drawn up at the liquor store gave us a good chuckle.


After leaving the liquor store we made or way up the last bit of pavement up the east side of Harrison Lake before stopping at the beginning of Harrison East FSR to air down our tires.



With the sun setting we stopped along the FSR to take in some of the breathe taking views.



The daylight quickly died out and we soon found ourselves 45KM up Harrison East FSR were the road starts to veer away from the lake shore and up Big Silver River. We pulled into a popular spot along the river and found it surprisingly completely empty. Somebody has built a structure out of logs, rope and a few tarps. With no one around we decided to make it our home for the night.



During the night around 1am we had another pair of Toyota trucks stumble into our campsite. They were lost and looking for Clear Creek Hot Springs. I grabbed my BC Backroads Mapbook (Vancouver, Coast and Mountains Edition) and showed them were they were and how to get to the springs. They decided to try heading there in the morning and we told them it was alright if they set up there camp nexts to ours as we were packing up and heading there in the morning ourselves.

Some morning shots.


We packed up our camp, left our neighbours as they were still asleep in their tents and headed up towards Clear Creek Hot Springs. It is pretty straight forward to get to the springs. Basically you just stay on Harrison East FSR until you see the marked turnoff for Clear Creek FSR. From here its around a 20min drive and a large elevation gain up to the springs. The road has vastly improved over the last few years but it is still none the less an interesting drive.

Here are some shots on the way up to Clear Creek.



We arrived at the springs and to our surprise we had the whole place to ourselves. We made a note of breaking our camp early and heading to the springs right away so that we could beat any potential day trippers.


We left the springs after going for a nice 45min-ish soak. From the springs we needed to head back down to Harrison East FSR so that we could make our way over to the turn off for Shovel Creek FSR.

Some photos back down towards Harrison East, then onto Shovel Creek FSR which turns into Kookipi FSR before meeting up with Nahatlatch River FSR







Some shots of Nahatlatch Lake.


We went for swim in the lake but unfortunately all of the nice lake front campsites were taken already. I've explored this area lots on my Dirt Bike so we headed past Nahatlatch Lake to see if any of the lesser known spots along the River were taken. Were going to camp at this spot along this creek but decided against it. The spot wasn't that great and it was also the hottest weekend yet this year and the area didn't offer much shade from the sun.


We ended up camping at a spot along Nahatlatch River at an old abandoned wood cabin that has been in disrepair for many years now. It is built on crown land and anyone is free to camp here. The site is nice although there has been some garbage left behind here and expect many new pin stripes to get to this location and the trail in is very overgrown.





I found an old, rusted, and what looked the remains of a
car grill in the bush and used it to roast some veggies and potatoes over the fire.


We woke up the next day, packed up our camp and heading back to the lake for a swim.


While parked at the lake I got the chance to see some of the new BC Pin stripping I picked up during our adventure.



We left the lake and headed towards Boston Bar and Highway 1.


Crossing the Fraser River.


Once back on Pavement we stopped at a small gas station just outside of Boston Bar for some ice cream. Boston Bar was one of the hottest place in BC on June 5th with a temperature of just under 40C.



And some cool shots through the tunnels south of Boston Bar on Highway 1.