Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

Thanks for the thread! I'm highly considering a full time road trip build in May!

 

I'm my experience. The roof rack shit is what KILLS mpg. Every inch you go above the roof I swear is 1 mpg. Or more. Why I got rid of mine.

Maybe try that for fun. Just take them off for a day or two if you can fit it in the back.

I get 17 usually city and 17-20 depending on conditions highway. Not even regeared on 33s

 

Do eet!

 

Method wheels. ARB awning. The exponess here can't be overlooked.

 

#EAFAF

 

Yeah, my issue is because it was a work rig, a swingout wouldnt work... which was the only way I would have made room for shit that ended up on the roof.

But, I will be trying that, since on Sunday it'll be pretty damn close to stock other than the winch bumper and Kings!

 

OOOH... What MPG?

 

I bet you'll be surprised. Mine was so bad I could barely use 5th gear on any hill.

Went from 15-17mpg to 12-14. Just that one thing could give you want you want with the current truck. And since you're getting a new work truck. Add a freaking swingout and you're done.

 

Correct... BUT I would rather put money into some acreage and a house(shack) and drive a cheaper rig for right now instead of a more expensive toy and no place to come back to.

But it will be nice to see the difference. It will be losing a bit of weight as well, so it'll probably feel like a rocket (topper, roof racks, sliders, solar, water tanks)

 

I went to reply and got swept away in the other stuff.

Yeah, the element's do look cool especially with the seemingly very popular (and for that I'm guessing not too expensive) pop top tents. Maybe I can get by with a smaller setup...

And I guess I am still wanting to be able to go bashing through snow drifts and do recoveries and such which is why I'm leaning towards something larger. But on my trip, particularly when I was in Squamish with the climbers... it was cool to see how little you actually need to travel and live out of. Definitely not glamping, but you're out there and getting it done. And thats what its all about!

A regular looking mini van rolled up and had the coolest kitchen slide out/stove setup and organization. No #eaf points from the outside but I was jealous.

 

Well honestly..you have the perfect platform for doing what you are doing.

I don't see the logic in getting a cheaper rig. You have it already performing well. Buying a 3rd Gen 4runner or 1st gen tacoma...6-14k plus than its older so you'll want to go through it and fix shit. Just redoing the front end alone using oem parts will be a grand or more. Then the motor..who knows. Then you have to outfit it with suspension and other things..

Soon you're looking at another 20k+ truck. No matter what.

And it's smaller. Which is nice offroad but you will have to redo all your packing and may have to slim down a lot...actually as you have a double cab and utilize the cab alot. Your looking at a major down size in storage room. Secure dry storage.

I just don't see your logic in it. You have one of the best support platforms for getting out and doing what you've been doing. What exactly are you going to save by getting rid of it?

 

Well this truck surely is not paid off... It could have been but I decided cash in hand was better than saving some interest money.

So I still have a truck thats worth $30kish before mods that I'll be paying monthly for vs something cheaper that'll just be paid for with cash. I'm only looking to spend around $5k for the next rig. There will be maintenance, and other stuff to do, but MUCH cheaper in the long run. Higher mileage, thats part of the game, the Tacoma was the first new vehicle I've ever had so I'm used to maintenance and such. Between the two Chevys I had, they had over 350k miles between them and did great, silverado I owned for the longest and had a few very cheap things go wrong.

The next rig will be more of a budget build... part of the reason I went on this sell everything trip was I realized I was sucked into the consumerism way and was buying so much shit I didn't need... I was thinking about ditching the Tacoma at that point for the diesel ZR2 and then I saw that I would just be spending money just to spend it.

 

Ahh payments. That makes sense.

5k won't get you a lot but be something to build on.

 

I'd really like a 1st gen Taco, always wanted one, but the prices are so steep.

Yeah, even if this was paid off.. it would still be tempting to sell it, bank the money and get something cheap, although maybe bump it up a little.

And that was my dilemma, higher mileage 4runners and tahoes in pretty good shape are easily found in that range. Silverados, not so much, gotta go older and more beat up which then may mean more maintenance headaches. My Tahoe had 206k when I sold it and it would've run for another 100k easy. But it had a rear main leak that I didn't want to deal with. Crappy GM quality.... oh wait, the rear main started leaking on my 2015 Tacoma at 25k miles, only serviced at the Dealer.

 

Meh. Can get a 1st Gen taco for around 6 easily up here. Hell there is a long travel one up here for 7500.

Not that expensive anymore. In Colorado yes. But that's because the yuppies down there think they are gold. They have dropped in prices a lot in the last year with the 3rd Gen driving down 2nd Gen prices. May not have caught up around you yet though.

 

As I look for the listing.

 

Define good MPG? I did see that Expo had an article on one but never really followed it.

I could put a bouncy house in the back of that thing just for fun with all the space.

Edit: Just saw, 20mpg. Nice. BUT, prices are still on the high side, 15-20k for good condition. With diesel being so much more expensive, it would never equal out.

There is a diesel Tahoe for sale right now. Built using all the stock stuff from a Silverado. Clean as can be but they want $20k.

 

Yeah and they sell quick saw one in Holyoke co a year ago sold basicly in 48hrs around that price range too!

 

Yeah, a clean mid 2000s diesel Silverado still fetches that so it's not as wild as it seems.

 

Good gas mileage 20-30+ and cheap. Dont know much about them but would satisfy the space requirement.