Dirt N S'mores Adventure Truck and occasional daily driver

From Yucca Valley up to Big Bear a few weeks ago

 

soooooo... how'd the truetrac perform for ya!?

 

I was going to get to that in a separate post. But in a nutshell, it works great for what I needed it to do. A few soft spots, plenty of rocks and uneven surfaces. Not one tire slippage. Never felt like I had to give it skinny pedal to get over an obstacle. Granted, there weren't many huge obstacles or steep inclines. But yeah I'm super impressed so far! You called it man...

 

New article at the website!

A word on overlanding WITHOUT a RTT (rooftop tent)



I was recently listening to a podcast called The Average Overlanders and the guests mentioned how they tried the rooftop tent experience and eventually moved away from it. It got me thinking... why haven't I tried the RTT overlanding experience with my Toyota Tacoma? Of course, it has to do with me having a truck bed to sleep in, but what else?

Here are a few reasons I've passed on a rooftop tent for overlanding:


I have a long bed truck. On a trip where it's just myself and my son we both sleep in the back of the truck. I recently setup a bed platform that goes above my gear, which should make setup even easier than before. My Gazelle ground tent is also very quick to setup and amazing.

Cost. You need to spend at least a thousand dollars, often more than $2,000.

Getting up there. And down. I'm not stoked on getting in and out of that and down the ladder at 3am to go pee or take the kids out. Don't even get me started on the dog.

Wind. Just like a tent, desert wind can make your night sleepless. In the back of my truck there isn't any flapping of material and possibility of my shelter collapsing in (I've heard stories of RTTs).

Weight. These suckers are heavy, and I rather not have that much weight so high up on the truck. It makes the truck more unstable and less aerodynamic (not that it really matters in our overland vehicles).

Lack of versatility. After the trip, my truck goes back to a normal truck bed after a few minutes of cleanup. Where would my rooftop tent go? Stay on the truck year-round? I don't have any room for it in my one-car garage.

Read more here:

A word on overlanding WITHOUT a RTT (rooftop tent) - dirt/smores (dirtnsmores.com)

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgN-_J5ryIh/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CgXIN6-uBim/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChITP0BPznV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/Chf8abrvOaG/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cck4u3rr_lI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/CgktsKQvoaq/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Lots of great adventures this summer!

 

Here's my fleet. Daily the Toyota matrix and around town plus adventures with the Tacoma. Over the years I wanted a front bumper, change out the grill to a Toyota text logo, add a bunch of lights, but I never got around to it. Lately I've been enjoying the mostly stock look of my truck. Especially when the Sun hits it just right

 

Wanted some type of quick shade setup for my lunch breaks at work off the back of the softopper without having to spend $1k on a standalone awning and a bedrack. I just used a cheap $15 tarp from Amazon and some bungees that have a carabiner on the ends. This specific tarp has loops at the ends that are wide enough to slide over the softopper bar ends. Obviously you need a fence to hook the other end to. Cheap quick setup for parking lots. Takedown was a breeze

https://amzn.to/3NoiTdp

https://amzn.to/3zyQPOJ

 

Went up to Big Bear area a few weeks ago and covered about 40 miles of dirt. Didn't anything too major, but we did find some mud to play in and had a blast looking for hidden campsites for next summer.





Detroit Truetrac did great once again. Didn't feel anything slip once. I recently sealed the tailgate area of the bed with a kit from Amazon and didn't get any dirt or dust in the bed of the truck!

Washing mud off the undercarriage was absolutely not a blast! Never again will I do that in my driveway.

 

Uploaded my first Youtube video! It's real quick and basic featuring a few things from my sleeping platform camping setup and also use it like this on my lunch breaks at work. Have a look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx7SDy9Xf-s

 

Old pic from Joshua Tree. Need to get back out there!

 

New Article:

See my sleeping platform system for the Toyota Tacoma in action using the BamBeds modular system


https://dirtnsmores.com/sleeping-platform-system-toyota-tacoma-bambeds-modular-system/

Long story short... I'm loving the @BamBeds system in the back of my Tacoma

Photo previews
below...









Link to article so you can read all about it!

https://dirtnsmores.com/sleeping-platform-system-toyota-tacoma-bambeds-modular-system/

 

Ordered a Jackery 300 power station today! $210 with black friday deals. i've had the 160 for 3 years and it's been amazing. just need some more capacity. if anyone is interested in the details... link at my website. I'm hoping it can run my 12 volt heated blanket for a few hours a night!

 

Looks good

 

Definitely interested in this. If it works out hopefully my girlfriend will head out with me when it's cooler out. The lack of mosquitoes is what I love about it!

 

Rain update... We've gotten a ton of rain and flooding on slick oily California roads. Truetrac has been awesome I can feel it work when in the past I would've slipped

 

brotha from anotha motha.

stock appearance
pizza cutters
soft top
bambeds

your ethos on things makes perfect sense, to me, anyway. RTT for example. Subscribing to your sh*t cuz you've done the homework and you're blazing the trail.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Same to you brother! I've had a lot of help and done my research thanks to this site. Next up... Softopper might end up going... I've gotten the urge for more headroom ever since the bambeds since I hang out in the bed a lot. Keeping an eye out for a used mid rise shell with windoors... Specifically the Leer 180. Otherwise, I love my softopper

 

Next up... The headlights mod upgrade that @crashnburn80 posted! The new harness and bulbs already came in... Still gotta order my new OEM headlights. Will post when it's complete.

 

Overlanding aka truck camping last year out in San Bernadino National Forest

 

Tailgater Tire Table Review: A tire-mounted table for overlanders and campers

The Tire Table by Tailgater is yet another piece of gear for overlanders who love things attached to their vehicle. It’s sturdy, fast to setup, and stows away nicely. It’s also kind of pricey. Is it useful enough to validate the price? Check out our Tire Table Review.

Read the full review: https://dirtnsmores.com/tire-table-review-a-tire-mounted-table-for-overlanding-camping/

My Review of the Tire Table by Tailgater

I’ve used the Tire Table by Tailgater on about 4 trips in various terrain and so far it hasn’t failed me. Setup is fairly easy, although you do have to know how it works beforehand. Handing it off to someone who hasn’t seen one of these and asking them to set up the table probably won’t fly. Now that I’ve done it multiple times I can definitely set it up in under a minute.

Once it’s set up you will have a very sturdy platform. It works as a cook station and I’ve also used it to hold heavy jugs of water and even my rotomolded cooler. They are rated up to 50 lbs. and I’m sure mine has held that weight no problem. You can either set up the leg to butt-up against the bottom of a tire or straight down onto the ground. I prefer the ground method, but if you’re in sand or rocks, the tire is fine. I have 33-inch tires and the Tire Table by Tailgater is tall enough. And it looks great next to my Softopper!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJTYOavUh9I


Full Review: https://dirtnsmores.com/tire-table-review-a-tire-mounted-table-for-overlanding-camping/