"I bought this pickup truck because I needed more space than an SUV," is what you might have heard me say about a year ago when I bought a used 2017 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab, Short bed TRD Off-Road. (DCLB TRDOR). And that's a good reason to get a midsize pickup instead of an SUV like a 4Runner...
RV Life
My grandfather lived in Louisiana and for a little while he had a dolphin. One summer he drove it out to where we lived in Michegan and took us all on a big road trip. Of course, I mean the Toyota based cab over recreational vehicle, not the marine mammal. And while that RV was...
In 1996 Ford killed off the last bronco. The full size, two-door beast we'd loved since the seventies, was gone. It took 24 years for them to bring it back. But in 1997 they launched the Expedition, a full-size, 4 door SUV following on from the wildly popular Explorer and taking the next step in...
I am of two minds on the matter, but having had some experience with Roof-Top tents this last summer, I have some conclusions about the places where they are better. Note: That my opinions are as a dad who has to set up camp for 4 people, two of whom are not helping, or getting in the way...
Was out at Moon Rocks and saw this Frontier Wheeling hard! The guy said he has suspension parts and bumpers on order and he recently got rear-ended, so the damage was inconsequential. I was impressed with how there's nothing hanging down below the frame rails to get damaged, unlike my Tacoma.
While I own two roof top tents, and like them and also hate them, this video on why ground tents are better is spot on. But you have to realize that Harry is single, and mostly travels either alone or with his girlfriend. Travleing with a family of 4 presents different challenges that a RTT...
I suppose on some elemental level, every dirt road looks about about like the next. Just an endless valley. Another scraggy mountain range with a name that only means something to the dusty pioneers who gave it. But every road leads somewhere. And this one brings us back here to Sage Valley, The...
Howdy! Wanted to share this article I wrote about my friend's Tundra Overland build. There are links to all the gear mentioned at my blog, but I didn't want to clutter up the post here with it. You can find those links here.
The hum and rattle of the road is the background noise of adventure...
Last month I went out with Harry Wagner and Bradd Davidsonto test and shoot photos and video of the new ARB Hydraulic Jack for off road vehicles. I did a test of each lifting Harry’s Jeep LJ. My conclusions are that the ARB JACKis a far better and safer tool for lifting a vehicle than a Hi-Lift...
What kind of person leaves a perfectly comfortable modern home in the city, drives out the interstate to a lonely road, to a lonelier road, to a dirt road to a two track and finally stops, gets out to gaze with reverence upon, explore and photograph a wrecked and abandoned mining town at the...
A few years back we did a 3 day overland trip through the north end of death valley. I thought I'd share the whole route so others could follow along. Here it is. Full description below the video:
Number 1: Titus Canyon
From The Death Valley Road there Titus Canyon road crosses the...
On a recent group trip we came across a perfect natural experiment to see how OPEN DIFFERENTIALS, LOCKERS, and TRACTION CONTROL handle the same obstacle. I got video of it all and you can see that below. Here are my thoughts on what we saw:
How A Differential Works
Here's the best video I've...
I think we can all agree that the Ram Power Wagon is the best looking production 4x4 truck on the market today.
No?
Ok, well then. Can we at least all agree that with a factory lift, front and rear lockers, disconnecting sway bars and burly skid plates and guards and a 12,000 pound Warn...
Ouradventure begins on the edge of Winnemucca Dry Lake in Pershing County, Nevada.
First thing was to air down the tires for the day on the dirt. This isn’t strictly necessary for this route, but it does make the going a little smoother.
We had a diverse range of vehicles in the caravan from...
I’m not going to go into the WHY of a bed rack like this. I think it’s a concept that isn’t super obvious since you can’t really carry lumber or big ladders on it. If you get it, awesome. There are a lot of off-the-shelf options to make a bed rack like this. The best designs I’ve seen are low...
It’s a tense moment piloting a full size truck down a technical jeep trail. Each wheel placement critical, springs squeaking, rocks grinding under the tires, metal bits hanging low under the truck rasping over boulders in the trail telegraphing either minor scuffing or potentially catastrophic...
So if anyone is following my Aerotow trailer project, I noticed that there was a MAJOR failure where the tongue assembly bolts to the structure of the trailer. It's all in the video, and the photos below. If you have an Aerotow, give it a check and think about reinforcing it a bit.
I think...
I suppose it doesn't look that Gnarly, but it was rough and steep enough for 4-low, especially pulling the trailer. This was the first real test of the trailer with the new axle and wheel/tire. Tires are down to 15 psi and I might pull a leaf out of the springs to soften them up a bit...
This is version 3 of an SUV Cargo Storage deck that I’m calling a Drawerless Drawer System, and I think I’m done for now.
Here's the build video with full process. At the end I address the critical measurements. Keep reading below for more build details and measurements for a 3rd gen 4runner...
This project is for a 3rd Gen 4Runner, but I think the concept could work for many vehicles.
Supplies:
22 Ga Steel from Home Depot
3M tape (The white stuff)
3m Velcro
Tin Snips
Angle metal and clamps
Grinder, files, sand paper
I go through the whole process in the video:
The 22 ga steel...
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