Expedition Tips & Tricks

[NLXTACY]

I have all of my maps laminated. That way they are waterproof and I can use a grease pencil to mark it up and clean it off later. I also always carry extra CF cards for the digital camera. For passports, driver's license, insurance info, etc, I scan them and make PDFs of them and then load them onto a flash drive that I keep in the truck. This is along with physical copies of everything.

 

[NLXTACY]

Here is another one that has saved my bacon on two occasions: Go to AAA and get a credit card spare key!!! Keep in your wallet or "murse". I find this works out better then trying to hide a spare on the truck. We had, what we thought, was a good place through one of the water crossings with brush and wood, it got knocked off somehow.

 

[joshoisasleep]

•A 3/4" diameter stud with a padlock hole at the end welded to the body allows a security box to be mounted in the area behind the right wheel well. Drill a hole in your box, slide it over the stud and padlock. I leave cameras, laptop, power tools in the box with no concerns for smash & grabs.

can you elaborate at all on the above? I like it but I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Is this box actually hidden, or is it just an exterior strongbox?

•Screw in snaps above the windows are a great way to hang and remove curtains when sleeping in the back- four curtains attach in 2 seconds. The map light on the Tuffy box spins around to read in bed with and it is as comfortable as home w/o the cat walking on my face.

Also, for this I've discovered if you don't want to screw snaps through your ceiling, you can also use magnets! Just 2 or 3 little round magnets (2" diameter?) will hold up a curtain... if you sew your curtains with the magnets built in, this is a nice way to go.

As far as making your truck look beat up... I agree, the best way to do so is to physically have dents and scratches. Maybe have a second hood or other panels if you like it to look nice when you're at home? Also, have a bag of clean garbage (wrappers, cans and such) ready to strew over your interior before you leave. Attach them together on a string for easy pickup! People look in the windows before deciding whether to break in and steal your s***... if it looks bad, they might not bother.

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

On the load barrier thing, I wouldn't even consider loading up the back of my busses without one. I sure as s*** wouldn't stick the kids in the car without one. Doesn't Milford sell into the states?[/QUOTE]


Yes, they do, through Slee off road. I don't know why more people don't protect themselves from potential debris.

 

[sandcruiser]

a rear drawer system for heavy stuff is even better than a cargo barrier (IMO). We also use rubbermaid containers for the rest of the junk and strap them down. Not perfect, but it would help keep stuff from flying in a crash.

 

[joshoisasleep]

I generally just never fill up the cargo compartment that high... not only can stuff hit you, but you also can't see out the back. Not to mention you have to dig through a massive pile of stuff to get something out of the bottom

 

[sandcruiser]

It would be nice to travel so light...
But an awful lot of people on "expedition" find that they've got more cargo than will fit in the first foot or two of cargo area.

I generally just never fill up the cargo compartment that high... not only can stuff hit you, but you also can't see out the back. Not to mention you have to dig through a massive pile of stuff to get something out of the bottom

 

[No. 3]

Been out of the habit of checking lately- the welded stud passes through an exposed metal strongbox inside the box is the padlock, the stud is welded to the body and would take time and tools to remove. Probably the lock on the box is the week link but it is a Tuffy lock keyed to the console Tuffy box. They seem pretty tough.... The visual deterrent is the thing though for the most part.
Jeff

 

[joshoisasleep]

It would be nice to travel so light...
But an awful lot of people on "expedition" find that they've got more cargo than will fit in the first foot or two of cargo area.

I just can't believe you need THAT much stuff. My girlfriend, me, and our cat have been living pretty much out of our 60 for the past 5 months with the ability to be more or less self sufficient in South America, and still it doesn't go any higher than the back seat. Partially because we have to take everything out to sleep back there.

Been out of the habit of checking lately- the welded stud passes through an exposed metal strongbox inside the box is the padlock, the stud is welded to the body and would take time and tools to remove. Probably the lock on the box is the week link but it is a Tuffy lock keyed to the console Tuffy box. They seem pretty tough.... The visual deterrent is the thing though for the most part.
Jeff

Any chance of a photo? I need something like this, but it's still not totally clear.

 

[No. 3]

I will try my best to take a picture and post it this weekend. But maybe this will help; imagine a 1/2" dia x ±4" piece of steel round stock with a hole drilled at one end and the other end welded to a body panel stiffener in the quarter panel parallel to the floor of the cargo area. Drill a hole in the interior panel that covers the quarter panel to pass over the welded stud and drill a hole in any metal box with a lock you want to use to put your stuff in. Pass the box over the stud and pass a padlock through the hole drilled in the end of the stud. Once the box is locked it is impossible to get at the lock or the stud to rip the box out of the truck. The lock on the box becomes the point of entry for a thief and mostly some other car looks like less hassle. Hope that helps but I'll try for some images this weekend.
Jeff

 

[sandcruiser]

I'm the first to admit that we travelled wayyyyyyy too heavy when we did our central america gig. Way too heavy.

But, having said that, when we had four people in the car, even with a rooftop tent, I don't think we could have found a way to stow all our gear in the back without going over the top of the back seat.

And for folks traveling further off of the pavement, supplies, tents, fridges and whatnot start to seem a lot more important.

edit: just visited wanderinglost.com, fun site. If you drive back north, stop over in Costa Rica and I'll buy you a

 

[GeoRoss]

I just can't believe you need THAT much stuff. My girlfriend, me, and our cat have been living pretty much out of our 60 for the past 5 months with the ability to be more or less self sufficient in South America, and still it doesn't go any higher than the back seat. Partially because we have to take everything out to sleep back there.


Any chance of a photo? I need something like this, but it's still not totally clear.

For just two people, yeah you can get away with less stuff.


Try traveling with three kids <8 years old with any of them an infant.


I end up filling the entire rear cargo area to the roof. When I travel solo I don't even cover the entire rear cargo area floor area.

 

[joshoisasleep]

you're a better parent than my dad. i was raised in the back of a 60 for almost a year at that age... i had to share my footwell with a fridge for his film

 

[Azrocks]

I keep soft items like clothes, tarps, etc. tucked between the roof and the roll cage in my FJ40. It's really a lot of space that I typically not used much.

 

[soenke]

many good ideas been mentioned already...

We use Dyneema rope on our winch and for the shakles.

The main advantage is safty and weight! and they don´t rattle when stored away.

SVB *-* Rope Shackles

(very expensiv) blocks are available with aproved operating loads up to 5000kg, though breaking load should be higher

http://www.kohlhoff-online.de/documents/Loop Products UVP.pdf

 

[sandcruiser]

those shackles look great, but it seems to me you would have to be very careful in your rigging to avoid any slippage between the rope/strap and the shackle.... I've seen nylon webbing get cut by a climbing rope in the matter of a few seconds, with very little load on the rope (just pulling off of a rappel).

still... those shackles are pretty cool! and much safer in the event of a strap/shackle failure

 

[soenke]

We don´t get stuck very often , so I have used the shackles just a few times, with no problems so far.
Shure I avoid mechanical stress on the Dyneema rope and would not run a winch line through a soft shackle (wouldn´t do that with steel shackles neither), that is what blocks are for...

So far I would not go with steel again...,
but maybe the advantages would disapear with a more frequent use...

 

[soenke]

regarding the food supplies, we try to avoid unnecassary weight of the packages,

no glas, no tins,
we take wine in boxes, food in plastic package when possible, or repack in our foodcontainer system.

Advantage besides the weight and preventing burst glasses in the car or foldable kayak is reduced wast volume and it can be burnt up

 

[rusty_tlc]

Organization is one thing that can't be over stressed. I wish I was better at it.

Multifunctional items are also great space/weight savers. For example a bin that stores dishes and can also be used for mixing/serving and washing.

One of my favorites for our open top FJ40 is a blow off tool. I hook it to the CO2 and blow the dust off the dry sacks and storage bins before I open them. If you carry stuff on a roof rack you could use this trick too.

Dry sacks are great for storage. They not only keep stuff dry they also keep dust out and can be smashed into odd shaped spaces.

In a closed rig like my 100 fruit boxes make great storage. They are re-closeable, free, sturdy, they stack well, did I mention free? I also like the idea of re-using better than recycling.


John Steinbeck mentioned doing his wash this way in Travels with Charlie.

...
A 5gal pail with tight lid is handy for a million things- among them is doing laundry. Just put a little bit of soap in with your clothes and some water, then put it on the roofrack (sun=warm water, offroad=washing machine effect). change the water to rinse, and you've got no-effort clean clothes.

 

[retrofive]

Simple thing I all ways have in my fj80 is velcro. The type that sticks to itself and comes in a a large roll. Its about .25" thick. Wont hold your truck together (well maybe), but amazed how many uses it has.