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

I'll take one of everything, please

 

i'm thinking about ditching the self leveling airbag idea and using some 18'' coilovers instead. long travel trailer . i'd love to have a trailer that can keep up, doing 45 through Ocala.

imagine this, but with a nice coilover attached..........

 

Ha we talked about that in my build its keeping the trailer from whipping side to side or rolling over in corners that's hard..and having the weight to actually make the suspension work..and other stuff. Didn't seem very probable haha

 

you talking about the airbag thing?

 

Lol no the long travel thing haha

 

oh, gotcha.
I'm game to trying new things, which would be a big motivator of why i'd try an LT trailer.
you nailed it with the areas of concern. there are, however, at least partial remedies for most of those areas.
the swaying can be controlled by a sway bar, the swinging from side to side can be lessened by a longer distance between the hitch and the axle. I have a heavy trailer that is usually loaded up with over 1000 lbs of cargo, so with a light spring and valving, you can get proper suspension travel. in the even of a rollover, a good hitch like the max coupler will let the trailer roll without taking the truck with it. a good exo-cage will also keep the trailer in one piece in the event of a rollover. just make sure all of your cargo is tied down correctly.

really though, the most important part is line choice and other good driving qualities.

I think it's something that may be worth trying. i have some thinking to do now to see if i want to try LT or a

$1,400 self-leveling 165FT/50M, drain pipe inspection camera built-in 512hz transmitter, meter counter, with microphone speaker DVR recorder, 16GB TF card, guide wheel (5mm cable)

self-leveling air bag setup

 

Well good luck! Haha I'd rather LT my truck first and get lockers and a crawl box.

 

I would love those things too, and will hopefully have 50% of that list checked off within a year. fortunately LT on a trailer is far cheaper than anything on that list. if i factor in the cost of coilovers for the trailer with what is already spent on the 4 link, I am still under the cost of a single locker.

I don't mind experimenting with something at a relatively low cost. worst case scenario is that it is a learning experience.

 

Epic adventure for sure...the video was cool to say the least. I'm glad you had a great time!!!

 

that looks epic man, can't wait to get going on trips like that
Hey i got one question i'm curious about, most rigs i see the tent is over the bed, any particular reason you're running it above the cab?

 

So the 4 main reasons I've got it mounted on the cab are:

1-Structural rigidity. Being that the Snug Top camper shell is built out of fiberglass, and secured to the bed by bed clamps, I feel the solid structure of the Tacoma's roof (which is built to withstand the weight of the vehicle in the event of a rollover) is superior.

2- COG. I beleive having the tent centered over the cab (essentially the middle of the vehicle) aids in maintaining a more correct center of gravity rather than placing added weight over the rear axle, which already has the excess load of all my gear stashed in the bed. Additionally, the low profile Baja Rack allows for a lower mounting of the tent itself. If I placed it on my shell, it would be on top of the Yakima racks, which are already fairly tall. Plus the Baja rack is securely bolted to the roof, unlike the Yakima which locks into tracks screwed into the Fiberglass.

3- Room for surfboards. With the tent over the roof, I can load my surfboards on the Yakima racks over the shell, and it's OK if they hang out off the back a bit. Essentially if I had the tent on the back I could load the boards up front, but they'd hang way out over the windshield, creating a visibility problem, and it would look HELLLLLA whack.

4- The "Annex" The Tepui Autana RTT comes with an "Annex" or lower attachment which zips on and can be used for a second sleeping area, or just a place to chill out of the elements. This annex features a full length door on the side that is up against your vehicle, giving you access to the inside of your rig without having to exit the tent. As its situated now, the door lines up perfectly, allowing access to both the front and rear of the cab. With the tent on the camper shell, I would be unable to access the trucks doors through the Annex.

Aaaaaand thats pretty much it As you can see quite a bit of planning has gone into this . From what i can tell, most people who run the tent over the bed are utilizing some form of steel bed rack (such as the one from All Pro) which are super sturdy, and allow for a lower profile configuration.

Anyways, that's my reasoning behind my setup. I can fully reccomend the RTT, my wife and I had a blast on our trip, we're really getting into the whole Expedtition style of camping and adventuring. In fact we were busy planning our next trip on the drive home from this one!

 

Thanks bro! I noticed you just scored an RTT as well, you're going to love that thing, so fun! And once you've set it up a few times it gets super easy, you can get it set up and stowed away in no time

 

RTT FTW!!

However I would like to state that if you do some more..hardcore(for lack of a better word) trails on the roof isn't a great idea due to tippy ness.

Other then that..so worth it.

 

Good points, hadn't thought of the rack/fiberglass stuff, i have a Rack-it around-the-shell lumber rack, I can (and have) put hundreds of pounds on it.

 

Episode 6 of xoverland is out, thought you guys would wanna know. It was kinda meh.

 

Yea agree. Liked the message and totally agree..not 38 minutes worthy tho.

 

I'm stoked they're coming to AK next season though, gonna shoot clay an email and see if we can meet up with them and show them around.

 

Just got off the phone with clay from xoverland. Cool guy! Gonna show him around a bit when they're up here. Help them find trails and routes and stuff.

 

Very cool. Clay is a great guy. High class in my opinion (which isn't always the case in the wheeling community). not that all of you seedy gents are bad.

 

Yea he sounds like a great guy with the emails I've had with him. I hope he takes up my offer to help polish up his sound tho..