What do you carry? Tools, recovery, spare parts, etc? (1 Viewer)

[jlhollowx13]

Please move to correct section if this is not suitable here...

But I am wondering what you carry on expedition trips, camping trips, road trips, etc? What type of things do you deem necessary as far as equipment, recovery gear, tools, spare parts and anything else you find to be a must have?

I have 3 cruisers, fj40, fj60, lx470. I have done WAY more exploring and long trips in an fj60 than anything else, just got my lx470 not too long ago and see that as becoming the rig we will use more, but its completely stock at the moment. I have always carried tools, recovery strap and a chain, hilift jack and standard camping gear when going out exploring, but there is a lot of options out there for even more stuff and I have never really carried any spare parts. My fj40 rarely travels any further than 100 miles or so from home and does a lot of work on my property dragging logs and doing town runs, so I have always felt confident with minimal things in there (and there is minimal room!). What do you all find are some must haves, or good ideas to have for the lx470 and fj60 on your longer trips? Just wanted to see what everyone thinks.

Thanks!

 

[REKCUT]

I usually go with other similar rigs. 2 trips to your neighborhood last summer. Had to stop at gunnison tire and wheel for a couple of repairs. Between the trucks we have belts, hose, birfield axle and driveshaft along with joints. Easier to do with each truck carrying a little amount. Along with funds.

 

[REKCUT]

It also depends on what type of trip, road vs trail.

 

[jlhollowx13]

I usually go with other similar rigs. 2 trips to your neighborhood last summer. Had to stop at gunnison tire and wheel for a couple of repairs. Between the trucks we have belts, hose, birfield axle and driveshaft along with joints. Easier to do with each truck carrying a little amount. Along with funds.

Awesome! My dad used to work at Gunnison tire years ago, the current (new) owner is into Toyotas. I wanted to buy that place when it was for sale, but he's changed things a lot there, for the better. Doing much more than the previous owner was but my family was close with the previous owner so I've worked in that shop a lot in the past.

I don't have many (any haha) offroad friends around here, so it's just me, the wife and the dogs when we go out, so just our rig. I travel all over the state for work so a lot of road travel, but we get out and mildly offroad/camp quite a bit when we can and usually that is pretty far from home. I live bordering BLM about 15 miles south of Gunnison so I have A LOT of territory to explore around here as well but definitely don't pack up like I do for the long road trips/camping trips when doing that.

I agree having it split between multiple rigs helps in many respects, for me the biggest challenge has been finding people with 100 series/60s/40s that actually do stuff with them like I do. We have lots of 100s in the valley but most of them are just get around rigs, people drive them to work and the super market, etc and aren't the offroading/camping type. A decent number of 40s and 60s too, but most of them are really nice (much nicer than my 2) and I think the owners mostly just have them to have them/like those vehicles, none that really look like they get used for much else than cruising around town and the occasional dirt road. My rigs are perpetually dirty as the 15 miles to my house is dirt roads, mud this time of year.

 

[REKCUT]

I know that Brain from Gunnison tire takes his rig out. I have run into him on the trail. I also seem to remember a guy in crested butte that used to post a lot. I also have seen several more local trucks up near italian pass so there are rigs out there that run trails.

 

[Bigsky80]

I carry the usual tools and have added ignition coil packs to my LX470 load out. My 80 series was fairly predictable regarding maintenance, but the 100 series coil packs (in my case) seem to go bad without notice. They are easy to replace if the need arises. I also bought a cheap code reader and now keep it in the tool bag.
Cheers,
Scot

 

[BearBio]

Frontier (My daily driver): small ax, small shovel, First Aid, Hi-Lift, CB, water, small stove, energy bars, various hand tools, snatch strap, surplus wool blanket & bivvy bag. Oh, a couple of trash can liners to be used as ponchos. Oh, and kitty litter!

Wife's Xterra: Much the same (except Hi-lift and CB. No stove or bivvy bags. Hatchet and entrenching tool.

Mud Sloth (FJ40): Socket set (Metric & SAE), hand tools, Hi Lift, larger shovel & ax, bigger snatch strap, air compressor, CB, etc. Chain saw, if needed. Extra gas cans.

Remember, we are in the PNW and weather change is the norm!

 

[jlhollowx13]

I know that Brain from Gunnison tire takes his rig out. I have run into him on the trail. I also seem to remember a guy in crested butte that used to post a lot. I also have seen several more local trucks up near italian pass so there are rigs out there that run trails.

I carry the usual tools and have added ignition coil packs to my LX470 load out. My 80 series was fairly predictable regarding maintenance, but the 100 series coil packs (in my case) seem to go bad without notice. They are easy to replace if the need arises. I also bought a cheap code reader and now keep it in the tool bag.
Cheers,
Scot

Frontier (My daily driver): small ax, small shovel, First Aid, Hi-Lift, CB, water, small stove, energy bars, various hand tools, snatch strap, surplus wool blanket & bivvy bag. Oh, a couple of trash can liners to be used as ponchos. Oh, and kitty litter!

Wife's Xterra: Much the same (except Hi-lift and CB. No stove or bivvy bags. Hatchet and entrenching tool.

Mud Sloth (FJ40): Socket set (Metric & SAE), hand tools, Hi Lift, larger shovel & ax, bigger snatch strap, air compressor, CB, etc. Chain saw, if needed. Extra gas cans.

Remember, we are in the PNW and weather change is the norm!

I really appreciate everyone's input so far, it has given me lots of insight! I have thought of adding CBs to my rigs as well, need to research them a bit. The CBs I've had experience with in the work trucks I used to drive were garbage. Didn't work unless you were very close to each other and many of them had issues like screeching on the receiving end when trying to communicate, squelch or any other adjustment didn't help. Probably just cheap units.

As for axe, shovels, etc, I do have a Hi-lift Handle-all (I think that's what it's called). It's a pretty neat kit, collapsible and fairly compact. It includes an axe, shovel, pick and sledge hammer that all fit on a collapsible metal handle. It's a bit heavy, but in a vehicle it is fine (wouldn't want to have to lug it around a bunch) and the tool heads are all pretty stout. Nice to be able to move that around between vehicles, but of course it takes up space compared to such tools being mounted on a roof rack or something.

One thing I've wondered about is those orange plastic traction devices. I'm not real sure what they are called but they are rectangular and I see them on a lot of kitted out offroaders mounted on roof racks or tire carriers but have never had experience with them personally. Would be interesting to hear from someone that does have experience with them.

 

[BearBio]

I REALLY suggest you watch Expedition Overland on Prime (Worth the cost of Prime, just for that). A bunch of guys from Montana make three expeditions from Montana to the Arctic Ocean (Trip One); Montana to the end of Costa Rica (Trip Two) and Costa Rica to the southern end of South America (Trip Three). You'll learn a lot about the mud, the blood, and the beer of Off Roading!.

 

[Dharma Dude]

I really appreciate everyone's input so far, it has given me lots of insight! I have thought of adding CBs to my rigs as well, need to research them a bit. The CBs I've had experience with in the work trucks I used to drive were garbage. Didn't work unless you were very close to each other and many of them had issues like screeching on the receiving end when trying to communicate, squelch or any other adjustment didn't help. Probably just cheap units.

As for axe, shovels, etc, I do have a Hi-lift Handle-all (I think that's what it's called). It's a pretty neat kit, collapsible and fairly compact. It includes an axe, shovel, pick and sledge hammer that all fit on a collapsible metal handle. It's a bit heavy, but in a vehicle it is fine (wouldn't want to have to lug it around a bunch) and the tool heads are all pretty stout. Nice to be able to move that around between vehicles, but of course it takes up space compared to such tools being mounted on a roof rack or something.

One thing I've wondered about is those orange plastic traction devices. I'm not real sure what they are called but they are rectangular and I see them on a lot of kitted out offroaders mounted on roof racks or tire carriers but have never had experience with them personally. Would be interesting to hear from someone that does have experience with them.

The gold standard for emergency communication when there is no cell service is something like Garmin Inreach or Spot. I would never count on CB, Ham, GMRS if my life depended on it.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I REALLY suggest you watch Expedition Overland on Prime (Worth the cost of Prime, just for that). A bunch of guys from Montana make three expeditions from Montana to the Arctic Ocean (Trip One); Montana to the end of Costa Rica (Trip Two) and Costa Rica to the southern end of South America (Trip Three). You'll learn a lot about the mud, the blood, and the beer of Off Roading!.

Thanks for watching!

 

[jlhollowx13]

I REALLY suggest you watch Expedition Overland on Prime (Worth the cost of Prime, just for that). A bunch of guys from Montana make three expeditions from Montana to the Arctic Ocean (Trip One); Montana to the end of Costa Rica (Trip Two) and Costa Rica to the southern end of South America (Trip Three). You'll learn a lot about the mud, the blood, and the beer of Off Roading!.

Started watching it last night, definitely up my alley! Cool show, thanks for the recommendation!

The gold standard for emergency communication when there is no cell service is something like Garmin Inreach or Spot. I would never count on CB, Ham, GMRS if my life depended on it.

Thanks for that input. Some of my family uses them for hunting and they seem to really like having them. Might be an investment in my future!

 

[BearBio]

Started watching it last night, definitely up my alley! Cool show, thanks for the recommendation!

Thanks for that input. Some of my family uses them for hunting and they seem to really like having them. Might be an investment in my future!

Wait until they get to Baja (Season 2) and stay with Ivan Stewart! South America is a real trip, also (Season 3).

My uncle Kenny was with Mickey Thompson from his early days. Helped design the Challenger IV (world speed record). He was with Mickey as pre-runner the year he and Cepek were stranded on a beach in Baja by a hurricane. Kenny and Bill Stropp gave my cousin a Stroppe Baja Bronco for a wedding present! (Typical orange, white and blue)

 

[cruiserpilot]

Recovery and tire change tools never leave the truck. This is a universal flip-socket cause when I stop to help people and
now I can remove every size of lugnut there is. 2 Toyota bottle jacks, booster cables, jumper battery, mulitmeter with extensions,
small tools to help others.
Heavy bag with comprehensive amount of birf socket tools, snap ring pliers, all my sockets and everything else I put together prior
to trips. I'm slowly saving up tools so I don't have to empty drawers every trip.
I've changed all my drain plugs to allen head plugs - One allen socket and they NEVER get rounded off.
Try to carry a couple of containers to catch internal fluids. Nothing worse than needing to drain radiator to fix a leak and nothing
to put the antifreeze in. Radiator tape, duct tape, electrical tape & survey tape. List goes on and on.

For me I use tool canvas bags only. I never carry boxes. No rattling and they 'settle' without shifting especially rocking and rolling off road.

 

[Nooooooooob1]

Awesome info. Need to start building a kit like this.

 

[tls3601]

I really like the tool bag so less rattling as well. I also have a couple 40’s, a ‘76 and ‘78 and definitely haul more tools when I wheel them then when I wheel the 4Runner. Funny as I think it would be WAY more difficult to break ANYTHING on the 40. Socket set, wrenches, duct tape, recovery gear, etc. As it is solid front axle I do carry bottle Jack on all my rigs but NOT a fan of Hi Lift jacks. Also have HAM radio on board.