How much weight on your tacoma is too much weight for overlanding?

The Beverly Hillbillies always come to mind...

There is a guy in my neighborhood who has been running around town with his RTT, Rotopacks, tools (ax/Shovel etc.), goat armor and kinds of all other accoutrements on a daily basis for years now.

The things are all getting bleached by the sun. - I don't think the has left town since I noticed him.

I wonder if the RTT has ever been used...

There was a VERY nice and capable looking off road trailer (small one with real axle-less suspension) always parked in front of another home close by. The trailer seemed brand new...
It was parked there looking pretty for ages. One day it just dissappeared.

 

My wife will definitely have something to say about that. She’s not happy unless she brings ALL of her shoes.

 

Don't come to Idaho it's terrible here too.

I hear Arizona is nice

 

Now we are seeing the Wrath of Grapes take place. U Haul has to pay to get their empty trailers and trucks back to California.

 

Just got back from CO and UT. Camped 3 nights at Devil's Kitchen in the Needles with my family. I have no problem staying under payload with my rig when it's just me on my own or with a friend camping with other guys. However, if I am camping with a family of four, and it's just our vehicle (i.e., need to bring all the recovery/safety gear for all the contingencies), then it's a whole different ball of wax.

Payload is really difficult to keep in check when about 450 lbs is human flesh. Doing a camp site like Devil's Kitchen, and needing to take Elephant Hill in to get to it, just makes it worse. My recovery gear is 300 lbs on its own. 10 gals of water for my family (83 lbs). A extra can of fuel, in case something crazy happens and we have to exit out through Beef Basin (41 lbs), food for four + cooking gear (50 lbs), cooler with ice (50 lbs), 6-man tent and sleeping bags/pads/pillows (75 lbs), propane fire ring with 11 lb propane tank (because the NP doesn't allow wood fires) (40 lbs), tonneau cover with rack (175 lbs), awning (35 lbs), aluminum skids, steel sliders and hitch skid (mandatory minimum for a long wheel base vehicle on 32s) (175 lbs), and clothes for four for 11 days with no opportunity to wash them (50 lbs), and other odds and ends. All done and said, my total payload was approx. 1500 lbs.

It should be noted that while in ECT mode, I never felt the truck was significantly under-powered on the interstate or Elephant Hill switchbacks in 4LO. Braking was also completely acceptable and adequate, using 4LO when needed. If you read the manual, while the on-truck payload max is around 1000 lbs for a TRD OR, the braked and unbraked trailer weight rating is also 6,600 and 1,000 lbs. That means that the engine was designed to tow a total of 6,600 lbs, and brakes were designed to stop approx. 2,000 lbs. The primary limiting factors to exceeding the on-truck weight, is the bed sides at the tailgate and suspension sag. If you keep wheel weight and size reasonable (I'm running 32" SL rated ATs), the steering is adequate to handle more weight. The axles, diffs, ball joints and bearings also seem to be okay, if you don't make a habit of it, although I imagine there is some premature wear here. Even if a part does wear out early on the chassis, I like the challenge of wrenching on it. You probably should change fluids more often, if you also make a habit of carrying this weight.

I should note that I have spent a lot of time figuring out how to stay light, and still keep my family happy on these trips. I have also spent a lot of time figuring out how to easily remove most all of the weight I do take camping. My tonneau cover, rack and awning can be removed and installed by myself in less than 20 minutes. So once we get back from camping, it's pretty much back to stock weight plus armor. To account for the significant differences in weight in the back, shocks with clickers are critical. While the back is over-sprung when empty, it still just drives like a truck. Lastly, I am a big fan of aluminum cargo cases for their weight to space to strength ratios. Over-priced, yes, but sometimes you can find deals on ebay on surplus stock and used. I am currently using 6 Zarges cases in various sizes.

Anyway, you can push the limits a bit and still have a very functional rig, but the wear on the vehicle is naturally going to be more than normal. A couple pics of my setup on Elephant Hill:

 

Plus one for a Moon Shade and Softopper combo

 

No, AZ isn't nice. Florida is nice.

 

Down by the river...

 

Well said. I've fallen into the trap of buying things I "think" I might need but have never actually needed when doing what I do with my truck. It is still a struggle, but I'm getting better, lol

 

Yes please

 

You ain’t seen shit till you travel down through Mexico. Beautiful, tons of unpaved things that near towns look like roads but as you go farther way are just two lines in the earth. Headed into Guatemala tomorrow from Ciudad Cuauhtémoc Mexico. These are just my thoughts about some overlanding shite if you come down here. It’s just my opinion but I don’t think I’m the only crazy ass that wants to travel all of Central America alone. Hell I might be. But I thought I’d pass some stuff on.

First, you better have extra gas and plan down in this bitch. And you better not have a vehicle that looks inviting. And you better think shit through. Several times. And once more for good measure. And look for cow shit. Yes that’s actually needed.

There’s a shitload of ands but I don’t have the time nor a signal in enough places to list and explain them all. And I don’t want to be looking at a cell phone longer than absolutely necessary


As a note I’m traveling by myself. If you are in a big group or staying in major cities this may not apply. But then again, in a big group they may just send more pickup trucks so it may not matter if there are more of you. Explanation is coming.

Full overlanding/Instagram build? You better hire mercenaries to protect that shit. Think you’re a tough as nails hardass and they wouldn’t dare do that to you? Wait till you see the cartel assholes down here demand something from someone. Three or four trucks roll up. 12 to 15 guys get out. Most with m16/m4 variants. These ain’t AR’s. They walk up and butt stroke someone across the head. Another guy walk up with a machete and holds it to someone’s throat. The other 13 or so aim their rifles at everyone with this person. They get what they want. You live, albeit maybe with a smashed face. That’s a good day.

They don’t get what they want? Came across three small shacks that had been burnt down. Dead horses, cows, donkeys, you name it stinking up the whole AO. Asked some locals a ways away what happened. Cartel wanted their land. They said no. Came back and killed everything. Even the chickens. Tied up the families, locked them in their shacks and torched the place. Stay off the radar down here. Shit happens every day down here. We only hear about it north of the border if it is politically motivated. Every day.

Been to Bosnia, Iraq, the Stan, Nigeria, Congo and a few other hot spots where violence and killing is a normal day to day thing. These fuckers here are in their own league. They make ISIS look like babysitters.

And if you’re getting 10 to 12 mpg with all your weight and don’t have an extra 25 gals, you’re gonna be hurting. Got told there’s a gas station 60 miles away. Get there and the gas station is there but they ran out of gas two months ago. The last truck they sent to make a delivery got hijacked. Thank you Wavian for having 5 Jerry Cans in stock before I left. Yep, I have 25 gals in the back.

Softoppers are all over down here. Some real softoppers others homemade. ( Some so good I’d trade my real Softopper for their shit). Mostly on old beat up trucks that haul fruits and veggies to market. I looked like a produce guy in a new truck. Then friends I have down here suggested I throw mud on my truck and never wash anything off. I listened. I’m glad I did. I don’t stand out. Now I look like a poor produce guy in a shit covered truck. Add cow shit for smell factor.

If you come down here minimalist is best. Low weight low attraction lower chance of shit going sideways. And bring gas. Notice I keep saying bring gas.

And if you only have one or two rotopax you may want to rethink them. They aren’t exactly the quickest to empty into your tank. The less time you look disabled the better. I’ll say that again:

The less time you look disabled the better.

A lot better. A real Jerry can with the real nozzle, not the carb approved yay I’m green and don’t splash ones, is what you need. I can dump 5 gals in in less time than running a credit card at a gas pump, even ones with the tap feature. All the while with my head on a swivel. It pays to be observant. Very observant.

If I lived down here I’d definitely spend the $$$ on LT suspension. The roads outside of populated areas are just like in the movies. Hell. No other way to describe it. Hell.

Rooftop tent and your not with a large group? Might as well send up a flare at night and put a neon sign on your truck. Have to move quickly in the night? Good luck in that. Busting your ass down the ladder to get to the ground. Not gonna have time to stow that shit. That would be a sight to see.

I’ve had people ask if I’m homeless as I have a truck and usually just put up a hammock if I can. I go along with it. Yep I’m homeless and poor. Look at my shit covered truck, dirty clothes, unwashed hair, and the dirty motor oil on my hands from doing an oil change. I’m the poorest mfer around here. And hope to hell that I can find some cow shit to add to the truck to make it smell. Hehehe.

Got stickers all over your truck with brand names or company logo on it? Here come those pickups. Or an unwanted eye at checkpoints. I rolled through a federale roadblock about 9 days ago. They took a look at the truck, a look at me, asked for my ID. Gave them my veterans administration id. Guy looks at it asks what service. I respond. Asks where I’m going. I say a town in southern Mexico. Don’t say you are traveling down to a country south of Mexico. They will think you’re running something and that is an open invitation to inspection at gunpoint. As I drive away I hear him say to another another that I was another poor American come down to find… didn’t hear the last of it. I’m glad he thought that. I’m off their radar too. Cow shit might have made it go even faster.

Water. Yeah you can bring your water tanks, fancy showers, etc. I get 2 one gallon jugs of water every day. No more no less. Less weight more miles I can go. But what if you run out of water? You need to drink? Two words, Life Straw. Nuff said.

Lights. This is tricky. You need a ton of light down here. Not just to see in the dark but to see contours holes ruts etc at night. But you have to kind of keep it low key if you’re by yourself like me. I have a hidden light bar that I made a cover for out cardboard spray painted black. Just to hide it. Ditch lights and roof lights are a target. My headlights and fog lights are dirty until I need them. Clean them off and when I park use the window cleaning foam to make more mud. It’s a process. Smells better than the cow shit too.

Window tint. I have 2 percent on everything but the windshield. It’s dark as the depths of hades. Gotta roll window down to back up at night, hell most times in the day too. Car lights look like a feeble candle. But no one can see in that shit. Plus the windows look like ass with all the dirt anyway. Add that cow shit to them and ain’t nobody gonna press their face up to it. Thanks cows.

Gotta get some sleep. Have to do paperwork for Guatemala in a few hours.

 

I'm so confused....you mention nothing about your vehicle weight. which is where this all started....

 

Follow up to post 33 same thread if you missed it. I’m traveling light.

 

My favs are from the BST:

“Maxtrax - never used, only mounted.”
All the armor with no scratches.
The RTTs used 5 times.
Etc.

Gotta wonder if OP slings all 30 guns to his bod when he goes plinking with his light trigger mods.

 

Can’t help but read this in the voice of the library cop: https://youtu.be/D9tP9fI2zbE?si=MnJLXVy4rnHzHuAj

 

Heheheh. Just laughed my ass off. I probably wrote too much but been on the road since May.

 

hahaha I love this. This forum needs more people who can laugh at jokes instead of being offended. Your trip sounds amazing by the way, stay safe.