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

You saw the description about the interchangeable canopies right? You could swap out the mesh one for a full panel "spring" weather canopy or a heavy duty "winter condition" canopy in just a couple minutes.

I'm get what you're saying, there are a lot of places you aren't exactly "alone" when your camped and the lack of privacy with the mesh could be less that ideal. But we've camped on a couple beaches in Baja where you'd never see a soul for days. In that setting, this mesh one would be awesome!

 

Yeah we camp in super remote places sometimes, but sometimes we have this! Super packed at stagecoach! 14 tents in one lot!

 

That is my nightmare.

 

Haha we fight through it once a year for that weekend. It is such a blast to go to that festival!

 

Best thing I can say is consolidate your gear. I was big on totes etc but I've moved away from them. I have one tote for kitchen supplies, currently looking for a pelican case locally for dry food storage but my last big trip I managed to pack enough for 10 days plus my kayaks. I shove a lot of stuff in my tool box, all bedding stays in my tent, anything that fits in my tool box goes there. Dry stuff goes in the cab you can store stuff on top of the tent I put my kayaks up there for 3k km. It helps I have 4" rise bed bars so I can go slightly higher in the bed if need be


My biggest issue is on long trips my cab is a mess gotta work on some incab solutions

 

Advice #1 put on a cap
Advice #2 bring less crap

I think the idea of the allpro rack is better. The low bed bars just limit how much you can store below the bars. I'd just get the lowest rack you can get while still managing a 2 tier storage setup. That way you keep the eventual RTT as low as possible and you maximize what you can store below it, even if that means the RTT sticks up a bit.

 

That extra few inches makes a huge difference... here's an older pic but you can see the Gear under there this was a short weekend trip but I had cooler kitchen tote 40L fuel 20L water fire wood shovel, chainsaw all in the now 4.5 feet of box I have left with my tool box on

 

LOL I thought the same thing when I saw the picture.

 

Haha I get a kick out of both types of camping. I prefer remote camping with a few buddies though.

During festivals like that, the comradery of all the people hanging out before the concerts is a blast!

 

Do you use the back seat of the AC?

 

I know there are a few 4Runner guys on here. This is for the 5th gen, 4th and 3rd are coming out soon

Looks pretty cool. I'm gonna get one for my driver side.

 

My gf sat back there once during a trip and I use the term sat loosely. More like she built a pillow fort and sat sideways (closed course) while me and a budd were up front. The rear cab portion of my truck is just extra storage, I'm actually gonna pull out one of the seats and biild a slide when I get my fridge for Christmas hopefully lol

 

Wait. Aren't you the guy always telling me to bring chainsaws, propane torches, etc...??

I think that's the consensus I've come to too. I originally bought the bed bars mainly so the (future) RTT would sit below the cab. I didn't anticipate how much they would limit bed storage though. There are a few bed rack options that place the crossbars right below the 3rd brake light - which seems like a good compromise. As you say, the RTT will stick up a bit, but it shouldn't kill me. Then I'll just brute force more totes in with ratchet straps. That's probably the cheapest option for a solution. I'll still dream of a trailer though....

 

My gear is mostly fine. But when I bring friends and family with, they typically don't have low-weight/high-end gear that stuffs nicely. For example, on one of my last trips my friend brought his sleeping bag in a f'ing garbage bag. Which is fine. I enjoy taking these heathens in my truck and exposing them to the great outdoors.

I guess I forgot rule #3 too - I'd like the cab to be offlimits for storage. My peeps gotta be able to stretch.

Nice truck.

 

That is what I was going to suggest

 

Ya I got a buddy that works at 4wheel parts so ultra hook up... but a fridge will allow me to eliminate one of my two coolers and free up more precious bed space. Although I'll need to find something to put there. Draw backs of the Toyota cargo net

 

Thanks ya my truck is basically a reg cab lol back seats are for small girls or drunk people who won't careven their knees are at their ears

 

I'm running All Pro bed bars with my RTT. They keep the tent just at cab level and I still have plenty of storage space in the bed for gear. I can still toss my canoe up on the cab roof rack when I want to take that out as well.

 

Sub'd.

 

You think your friends can't pack light? Try taking two little kids a wife and dog! Haha! Here's my low tech solution. I use a truck bag on my roof rack. It provides about 4'x5'x18" of waterproof storage. I put light weight, bulky things like pillows and sleeping bags and mats in there. Really helps me to keep things organized.