The Taco Trailer is Real?

Is there a scissor lift for the RTT in this?

 

When im dispersed camping sometimes I think itd be nice to have a portable fire pit so i can “leave no trace”

 

The real question is whats the biggest tire size I can fit on it stock.

 

Im just wondering what they’re gonna charge for this thing.

$13k sounds right?

 

Isn't overlanding just camping?

 

Double it and you're in the lower ballpark. Offroad trailer prices are INSANE. Let alone a Toyota badged/developed one.

 

Car camping + a youtube account and a pair of maxtrax in the roof

Yikes! My poor is hurting

 

sorry pal, but your 10 years experience as an R&D engineer for Toyota has nothing on @kairo ‘s community college diploma in business.

“A good example is how toyota R&D learned it’s lesson about rusting frames on 1st gen... I mean 2nd gen... uh 3rd gen Tacomas?” Lol they had the most reliable truck for 5 years and then made the most liable truck in 2016

 

Not only did I enjoy a buckets worth of stank, so did my neighbors. There was genuine mystery amongst them as to where the poultry perfume was emanating from.

 

We used to keep a old semi truck wheel in my trunk, we could have a fire pit anywhere we went and when done we just put it back in the trunk and emptied it out at home.

 

In 2014 I bought a 36' Denali 5th wheel, with three slide outs and all the Chinese amenities one's heart could desire.
Fast forward four years and and I'm moving to the mountains. No way to get it to my house, let alone up the driveway.
I figure I'll pick up one of these cute little teardrop campers I'm seeing around.
LMAO, Same price as my 36ft 5th wheel...
Yea, No...

 

yeah I don’t get teardrops. Crazy expensive for what they are and you still have to deal with the hassle of towing a trailer to sleep in a beer can. I’d rather just setup a tent and not have to tow it.

 

Does it come with disc brake? Asking for a friend....

 

Ok, I'm going to explain this in real simple terms so that you, and the other guy (who never claimed he worked for Toyota) can understand. BTW, I did work for a division of Toyota for 2 years, but whatever.

Toyota is a business. Businesses exist to make money. Businesses have a model, a mission statement, and a certain way they conduct their business.

The way that Toyota primarily conducts their business is by manufacturing products that provides additional value to the consumer versus the competition. Too difficult? Toyota has built their reputation on the premise that they build shit that lasts.

So how does Toyota keep people buying their products? Well, there's a few ways. One is, that they build a quality product. You can espouse one-off issues like frames or fuel pumps or whatever. Find me a company that has never had a product issue. I'll wait. While you're thinking, think about this as well -- "Why did I choose to buy a Toyota product versus one of their competitors?"

Another way Toyota keeps people coming back to their products is by spending money on marketing. Marketing is promoting the product's value to both potential new customers, as well as re-affirming that value to existing customers; ensuring them that they made the correct choice with their purchase. It serves to strengthen brand recognition and loyalty.

Sometimes companies do fun or quirky things to promote their brand. In this instance, Toyota has unveiled a gaudy, high margin trailer. It immediately achieved its primary objective -- it got you talking about the product. Toyota doesn't care if you buy it or not, they care that you are talking about it.

People will buy the product if they release it. And Toyota will make a good amount of money for very little cost.

Money that goes into companies is good. Because that money is then able to be used by the company to do things like design better products, build better products, and advertise those products.

Nobody, myself included, ever insinuated that every dollar from the sale of these trailers was going directly into the R&D budget for Toyota. I had assumed that would be common sense, but then again, here we are.

Now I'd like to explain to you what a budget is. Companies are like a big bucket of water. Think of all the water as money. There's lots of thirsty people in the company that need some. Some of those people are janitors, some are R&D engineers, some are HR folks -- well, you get the picture.

If the company makes a cool little niche product that adds high margin returns, then a little bit more water is added to the bucket. Next year, when it comes time to distribute the bucket's contents, the R&D guys might get a few extra sips because the company is making more money overall.


I can try and make it a little simpler to understand, but I'll have to run to the store for some crayons.

 

In early 2017 when I bought my popup camper I came up with a cute little formula to make myself feel better about the purchase:

Minsleeps = Sticker / (Super8av - campsiteav)/ JS

• Sticker= Price of the camper.
• JS = The number of years it takes before the value of the toy depreciates to jack shit.
• Super8av - campsiteav = the difference in price between your average hotel that you would normally book for a family road trip, and your average state park fee. For ease of the math I call it at a very reasonable 100 bucks. Or to look at it using a different philosophy, this is the price of fun. I'm assigning the arbitrary value that one night's worth of sleeping in a camper is valued at $100 worth of fun.
• Minsleeps = the minimum nights per year spent camping for the camper to justify itself.

My cheapass camper cost me 12k new, and I predicted at the time that I could get a solid 5 years out of it before it either falls apart or I unload it on craigslist for a dirtbike or some shit. Put that through the formula and I get a commitment of 24 nights per year for the next 5. One weekend a month, on average, camping. Yeah, its reasonable for me to commit to that much. Fast forward three years, its been taken out well past my 120 night "justification point." It's been a good toy in my mind.


Earlier this year I saw and drooled over one of those aussie conqueror off-road teardrops. It looked badass. Then I looked up the price - way north of $50k for that thing. Even if I corrected my formula for a non-linear depreciation and an early bail out before it reaches end-of-life, I think it would still fail my justification. I mean, it's cool, but it ain't that cool.

 

Exactly what I’ve always thought.

 

Realistic expectations and expectations met. That's success in my book.

As for the Super8av to campsiteav matrix.. Between business and pleasure, I've probably spent 3-4 hundred nights at the inn, but the older I get the more I know that if I could just see the things that have transpired in that bed at the Super, I probably wouldn't be able to bring myself to slide under the comforter and onto that 300 thread count sheet that separates me from all the atrocities that have occurred there.

I can never make the numbers work on paper for my recreational purchases, so I've got to simply look at the figure and decide if I can justify it in my mind.
I've never looked into pop ups, as I've always had something against them despite not knowing exactly what that might be.
That said, there wasn't much left of my 5th wheel by the 5th year..
I could swallow 12K, maybe I'll take a peek at a popup.
Which one are you pulling around?

 

Short bed is better offroad.

 

Fake fire and Astro-turf is not offroad.

 

Flagstaff 206STSE.

I'll be happy to run down it's long list of flaws too.

It takes a realistic 30 minutes to unhitch and pitch. Longer if you start adding luxuries like a mattress topper or want the awning deployed.

The fridge sits in a spot that can't be accessed in travel mode. I have to bring my yeti cooler along and then just transfer the commonly used items to the fridge for convenience.

Putting away wet. I bring a towel just for the occasion.

It isn't the most durable thing. Every washboard road is a new round in the game of "there's a screw on the floor, where did it come from."



That said, it definitely has more pluses than minuses. It goes anywhere, it's cleared some decent trails, it's much more comfortable than you would think. I'd definitely recommend one.