Builds indycole's 2016 200 Series Build and Retrospective (1 Viewer)

[indycole]

Spent the day doing a return trip to Hollister (Hudner Ranch section) to put recent mods through the paces. I swapped out the Gamiviti for Eezi-Awn load bars in a rare move that actually reduced the vehicle weight (by a net 100 lbs). On a related note, anyone want a Gamiviti Rack? I’ll make a screamin deal on it.

I took some photos and a bit of video of the front and rear bumpers as well as the Trekboxx system and will post sometime soon. I also have more to add on the Eezi Awn setup.

 

[indycole]

More photos... commentary later this week.

Replaced Roof Rack with Eezi Awn Load Bars









A Few More Trekboxx Photos











Closeup of the Redarc Isolator and BCDC1225D



Bumper Photos

 

[TonyP]

Looks good Cole!

 

[Markuson]

Hey Cole, what size is that tire bag? Gotta be BROG’s large, right? I think they have two sizes...

Very curious to hear your thought on it, as my Trasheroo (tho a helpful piece of kit) leaves some gaping holes in my view.

When you have a chance, I’d like to hear your thought after use.

Great post and truck, as always.

 

[indycole]

Yeah, it's the large BROG bag. I like it so far but it hasn't really been trail tested, yet. I've used Trasharoos for years and treat them like a wear product. The trasharoo is larger... I could fit 3 bundles of firewood in one bag. The BROG would probably hold two bundles? The BROG is much easier to attach and detach. It uses the same tire mounting system as their smaller bag as well as their Maxtrax bag. Maxtrax would fit just fine behind the BROG bag as well. One of the best aspects of the BROG bag is that it uses the paracord on the sides to "cinch up" to secure the load or even the bag itself when it's not in use.

 

[Markuson]

Yeah, it's the large BROG bag. I like it so far but it hasn't really been trail tested, yet. I've used Trasharoos for years and treat them like a wear product. The trasharoo is larger... I could fit 3 bundles of firewood in one bag. The BROG would probably hold two bundles? The BROG is much easier to attach and detach. It uses the same tire mounting system as their smaller bag as well as their Maxtrax bag. Maxtrax would fit just fine behind the BROG bag as well. One of the best aspects of the BROG bag is that it uses the paracord on the sides to "cinch up" to secure the load or even the bag itself when it's not in use.

Thanks for info.
From its apppearance, it looks coated so that it appears close to waterproof. One concern I have is the worsening effect it might have on garbage getting truly nasty if moisture doesn’t escape as well.

I really like the cinch cord. One of my peeves with Trasheroo is that it’s hard to keep it from sagging and basically impossible to tighten around the contents.

I’ll look for a “garbage report” in the future.

 

[Orange Hat]

What a build no doubt! Been following for awhile and the 22 pages (so far) never gets old. I'm at the point of putting together a build list for the dual battery system in my 200 and I've looked towards yours for inspiration. With that, I noticed you replaced the Blue Sea ACR with the Redarc unit including an isolator...do you mind expanding on the logic there?

 

[indycole]

What a build no doubt! Been following for awhile and the 22 pages (so far) never gets old. I'm at the point of putting together a build list for the dual battery system in my 200 and I've looked towards yours for inspiration. With that, I noticed you replaced the Blue Sea ACR with the Redarc unit including an isolator...do you mind expanding on the logic there?

Thanks! The Blue Sea ACR is a robust and simple solution but there are three reasons to go with a charge controller. Two are relevant to me right now and the third could be in the future.

1.) The second battery never got fully charged. The combination of the Blue Sea and the 2016+ alternator did not put out enough charging voltage for my Odyssey battery. There's a small chance this could have been address with a different aux battery with lower charge voltage requirements. Also, there's no way to fool the alternator to putting out more voltage on the 2016+ using the alternator boost control devices that seem to work pretty well for earlier models.

2.) You need a solar controller. I have a solar blanket that I only bring along for trips where I know I'll be camped for a few days without driving. I can eliminate the solar controller from the kit and just plug the blanket into the Redarc SB50 connector. Easy peasy.

3.) Lithium. You'll need a charge controller that has profiles for Lithium batteries. The Redarc does and maybe I'll look into this at some point.

At some point Redarc will make a 120vac version of their BMS 30. That would make for a cleaner install since it does the isolation and charging in a single device.

 

[indycole]

Roof Rack Refactor

I'm now on my third roof rack solution on the 200. I went from a Rhino Rack to a Gamiviti Expo++ to Eezi-Awn rails + load bars (no rack). There are pros and cons to each option, without question. I'll focus here on the decision to try out the Eezi-Awn load bars as load bars alone seem to be a rare choice but something from which I could see more people benefitting.

So, what was wrong with the Gamiviti? While it's true that this change resulted in an overall weight reduction (which is awesome) that was not the primary driver. Ultimately, I was unable to resolve a holistic device mounting puzzle among the Stealth tent, Series 2000 Awning, and Quickpitch Ensuite that didn't result in one of these scenarios:

• The rear Stealth latches overlapping with the tubes on the rack in a way that would actually prevent the tent from opening or closing.
• Mounting the Stealth to sections of tubing that resulted in the Stealth working its way loose.
• The Stealth being off center (just an aesthetic problem).
• The Stealth ladder-mounting-points for entrance/exit being blocked by awnings.
• The Series 2000 awning hitting the vehicle doors when open.
• The Ensuite awning hitting the doors whether open or closed.
• The Ensuite awning hitting the side of the Stealth tent.
• Having to remove the Ensuite tent to get in or out of the Stealth (I did this in Baja... not really that bad but still bad form).

To be clear, this was totally a solvable problem with the Gamiviti but I honestly just got tired of the process of trial-and-error and knew it was time to try something else when I started looking at equipment for a personal powder coating and small bracket machining.

One of our posse in Baja mentioned the Eezi-Awn load bars as an option to save weight (over half the group were running 8,000 lb or over trucks) and roof racks are an obvious candidate when you're running a full size hard shell.

Stateside, one thing led to another with the mounting problems and eventually I reached out to Equipt. Paul heartily recommended the load bars for my application and talked me into the 1500mm width ones for the awning. I was certain those would be too long and goofy. Well, he was right and I was wrong. There's no way I would have fit both awnings on the 1400mm bars. I'd go with the 1250mm ones if you're running no awnings, FWIW.

The install was pretty simple. I cleaned the roof channels with denatured alcohol once the old rack was off, plopped down some goops of Silicone Sealant, installed the spacers, and bolted down the roof rails. I purchased 4 load bars but the rooftop tent is only attached to the front and rear bars. That seems to be enough. The load bars have t-slot on the top, a proprietary (I think?) slide plate slot on the bottom, and a flap on the back for drilling. I used the flap and drilled holes to match the width of the Stealth. This also made aligning the tent super-simple once mounted.

The awnings are both mounted with a combination of Eezi-Awn mounts and ARB awning mounts. I used an extra proprietary slide plate to mount the dust light. Gotta have a dust light.

Overall, the setup is a bit higher than I'd like off the roof but any lower and the dust light wouldn't have enough clearance. I could remedy this by mounting the dust light between the tent and the awning on the top-side and trying the lower Eezi-Awn feet. I'm also toying with the idea of modifying the Eezi-Awn roof mount for tables to work with this setup... the table has a nice, clean, home at the moment atop the Trekboxx so it's not really a priority.

The load bars don't have the cool factor of a full roof rack, but I stopped trying in that department long ago. I think the Gamiviti is a great rack and recommend it without question for a variety of use cases, but probably not if you're running the world's heaviest RTT and two awnings.

 

[DRCocaCola]

I didn’t realize Eezi-Awn made bars or might have gone that route. I ended up with a similar setup with Thule bars on the stock rack. I’m still considering adding the third bar for stability (in theory) but also to mount an Ensuite opposite my Eezi-Awn 1000. I wasn’t a fan of the spring action on the 2000 when I had one before. We should get together and compare setups some time.

2014 LC200 Executor

 

[indycole]

I didn’t realize Eezi-Awn made bars or might have gone that route. I ended up with a similar setup with Thule bars on the stock rack. I’m still considering adding the third bar for stability (in theory) but also to mount an Ensuite opposite my Eezi-Awn 1000. I wasn’t a fan of the spring action on the 2000 when I had one before. We should get together and compare setups some time.

2014 LC200 Executor

Ah, yeah, really like your build! Love that photo from above (drone shot?) of camping along the river. It'd be cool to meet up anytime. The Series 2000 spring action is definitely a bit scary. I was lazy one day and it retracted on its own after I hadn't staked it down at Death Valley. Can't believe we didn't end up with more scratches. We don't deploy it that often but when we do it's always appreciated.

How are you liking the Trekboxx so far? I'm writing up some initial thoughts later tonight now that I've gone out on a few short trips.

 

[DRCocaCola]

Ah, yeah, really like your build! Love that photo from above (drone shot?) of camping along the river. It'd be cool to meet up anytime. The Series 2000 spring action is definitely a bit scary. I was lazy one day and it retracted on its own after I hadn't staked it down at Death Valley. Can't believe we didn't end up with more scratches. We don't deploy it that often but when we do it's always appreciated.

How are you liking the Trekboxx so far? I'm writing up some initial thoughts later tonight now that I've gone out on a few short trips.

That’s actually a roadside turn off that drops down below a highway pullout, so the photo is from the pullout. It was entertaining as folks got out to stretch their legs, or otherwise, and get shocked to see us camped down below them.

I like the Trekboxx a lot. It’s tough to explain the quality difference and why it’s worth the bump in price from other options but I don’t regret my decision at all. I still need to bolt down the fridge. I have the front cargos guard out at the moment because I needed the length and I still need to test it for interior sleeping that way.

 

[indycole]

Thoughts on Trail Tailor Armor

At this point I've had a few month of experience with the Trail Tailor Rear Bumper (sorry, kids, not available until a year or so from now assuming Jason decides to design another) and a handful of outings with the front bumper. One of my favorite aspects of this hobby is getting to do business with people who are both passionate and extremely good at what they do. I put Jason (Trail Tailor), David (Trekboxx), and the entire Valley Hybrids / Cruiser Brothers crew in that category, among others. It makes it a bit easier to part with hundreds (thousands!?) of dollars when you have confidence that you're going to get your problem solved and products/services that are simultaneously expensive yet a good value.

Late last July, I drove by a car wash in Moab and noticed a 200 in one of the bays. Immediately, I recognized it as Tony's truck no more than a few months after the initial round of armor went on. I'd like to say I was impressed with the build quality, etc. but I actually didn't know what I was looking for but had to admit it a.) looked good, and b.) seemed to provide a lot of storage/utility. Also, Tony seemed to be happy with it.

Next, over the course of 2-3 days, I saw Tony put full faith in his armor time and time again. Is that a three foot ledge where we can't see the bottom because it's covered in tepid water? No problem, let's just nose dive this front bumper right into the ground. I remember the sound of scraping metal more than image. To be fair, Mark's Slee+TJM setup faired very well and I'm a fan of Slee's shop and Amory's knowledge/service/advice but the reality is at that time there were no 16+ bumpers I liked and Slee wasn't quite ready to ship their rear for installs outside the shop.

Breckenridge didn't really have much to test armor aside from skids and sliders, but I made up my mind after last summer to reach out to Jason regarding a hidden winch mount and a rear bumper.

Rear Bumper

The rear bumper came first and even in its original form it exceeded expectations. It was rock-solid, the wings attached to the frame, and it gave me the option to finally carry water outside the vehicle. I also valued the utility of being able to run spares on either side plus a tray or spares on both sides. The bumper-mounted camp lights solved another problem I had as well. Feature-wise, the bumper had everything I wanted. I also appreciated how Jason worked in the factory parking sensors which I know can be a bit of a challenge.

There were a couple minor issues with the bumper in its original form that Jason addressed while the truck was in for the hidden winch mount R&D (which turned into a front bumper install). One issue was that the locking strut mechanisms made it difficult to close and lock both arms. Jason was already aware of this potential issue and offered to install some locking pins. The locking pins completely solved the problem. The second issue was that the tailgate was dangerously close to the bumper. This was resolved by installing some small spacer blocks between the bumper and rear crossmember.

I've yet to smash the bumper on any rocks as I don't really seek out technical terrain but have full confidence that the bumper would be the least of my worries. Finally, going back to the main reason I wanted a bumper in the first place, the setup excels in auxiliary storage options. The tray itself takes 3 jerry cans and I also have my shovel mounted via a Quickfist mount. The arm frames could also house additional accessories if one is so inclined. In Baja, I had my second spare tire, a set of Maxtrax, a Trasharoo loaded with firewood, 130 lbs water, a shovel, and a camp light bar attached to the bumper and had zero failures over 2500 miles of travel including multiple high speed drives over washboards and whoops where the 8500 lb truck saw a bit of error.

In general I think a rear bumper is a necessary mod for any vehicle that needs to split the balance between carrying additional gear for backcountry trips and relevant protection for technical trails.

Skid Plates

Protecting my rear shocks has been a constant area of minor concern for the life of the vehicle. I lost my BP-51 protection on the first trip out and since had been concerned with minding the shocks while driving. I decided it was time to commit to an improvement after my redesigned BP-51 guards broke as well. I asked Jason to make a simple skid and he ended up designing a bombproof solution that protects the shock and the mounting bolt. I'm super-happy with the solution and look forward to not worrying about busting my shock bolts.

Hidden Winch Mount turned Front Bumper

It's old news now in terms of the build but I ultimately ended up with a full front bumper from Trail Tailor instead of a Hidden Winch Mount. However, my very first communications with Jason were related putting together a state-side hidden winch mount solution for this community. People have had mixed results with the Asfir option and I knew Jason wouldn't do it unless it was it was a complete solution.

After Baja, the truck went back up to Redding for a few weeks of R&D focused on both the hidden winch mount and the 16+ bumper. Well, once I saw the truck modeling the 16+ bumper I decided that I had to go that direction. I loved the idea of added protection in the front, had continued to have issues with 34s rubbing, and wanted a better platform for a light bar than the roof. The integration of Baja Designs lighting solutions sold it for me as I've had nothing but good luck with their lights for many years.

I have zero complaints thus far with the front bumper. Like the rear, it kept the parking sensors. The forward camera still works without a hitch, and the Baja Designs Squadrons wired directly into the factory fog light harness. There's ample room for a winch (I have a Comeup 9.5 in there). The overall design and geometry is both practical and aesthetically pleasing.

In terms of the winch, in hindsight I kind of wish I'd gone with one of the integrated units from Comeup or a Warn Zeon series. The winch controller fit easily enough behind the grill but I'd have preferred to not block any airlow (though I doubt it's blocking enough to be concerned.

Working with Trail Tailor

I feel like it's easy to see Jason's output on the mud forums but his high levels of customer service, stellar communication, and general good-guy-ness tend to not be as visible until you work with him. Since he used my truck for R&D for both the 16+ front and rear, my truck has been at his shop for 6-8 weeks in 2018 and I never felt like he took that time for granted. I got frequent updates, photos, and he valued my time traveling to and from Redding. I was also always impressed that Jason would remember every single tiny, small piece of feedback or verbal request and integrated it into the work. Early on in the rear build, I mentioned that I was thinking about mounting a table behind the spare tire mount. I assumed he'd forgotten all about it but when I visited to pick up the truck he grabbed a Frontrunner table from his pile of goodies and told me about how he had tried to fit it but there just wasn't room with the clearance.

Anyway, I hope folks enjoy the shock skids, hidden winch mount, and 16+ gear that my truck played a small role in helping Jason bring to market.

Prior to Telluride/Ouray, we're taking the long way via Palm Springs, Tucson, Ojo Caliente, and Pagosa springs and hope to find some more technical terrain en route or in the San Juans. If nothing else, I'll go scrape the bumpers on some Sierra Granite in late summer.

 

[indycole]

That’s actually a roadside turn off that drops down below a highway pullout, so the photo is from the pullout. It was entertaining as folks got out to stretch their legs, or otherwise, and get shocked to see us camped down below them.

I like the Trekboxx a lot. It’s tough to explain the quality difference and why it’s worth the bump in price from other options but I don’t regret my decision at all. I still need to bolt down the fridge. I have the front cargos guard out at the moment because I needed the length and I still need to test it for interior sleeping that way.

If you haven't tried already, I'd highly recommend trying a set of Trekboxx's fridge straps prior to drilling. I cut a hole in the Trekboxx last weekend to mount a SB50 connector for the fridge and that was hard enough... I just don't want to mess them up!

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Thoughts on Trail Tailor Armor

At this point I've had a few month of experience with the Trail Tailor Rear Bumper (sorry, kids, not available until a year or so from now assuming Jason decides to design another) and a handful of outings with the front bumper. One of my favorite aspects of this hobby is getting to do business with people who are both passionate and extremely good at what they do. I put Jason (Trail Tailor), David (Trekboxx), and the entire Valley Hybrids / Cruiser Brothers crew in that category, among others. It makes it a bit easier to part with hundreds (thousands!?) of dollars when you have confidence that you're going to get your problem solved and products/services that are simultaneously expensive yet a good value.

Late last July, I drove by a car wash in Moab and noticed a 200 in one of the bays. Immediately, I recognized it as Tony's truck no more than a few months after the initial round of armor went on. I'd like to say I was impressed with the build quality, etc. but I actually didn't know what I was looking for but had to admit it a.) looked good, and b.) seemed to provide a lot of storage/utility. Also, Tony seemed to be happy with it.

Next, over the course of 2-3 days, I saw Tony put full faith in his armor time and time again. Is that a three foot ledge where we can't see the bottom because it's covered in tepid water? No problem, let's just nose dive this front bumper right into the ground. I remember the sound of scraping metal more than image. To be fair, Mark's Slee+TJM setup faired very well and I'm a fan of Slee's shop and Amory's knowledge/service/advice but the reality is at that time there were no 16+ bumpers I liked and Slee wasn't quite ready to ship their rear for installs outside the shop.

Breckenridge didn't really have much to test armor aside from skids and sliders, but I made up my mind after last summer to reach out to Jason regarding a hidden winch mount and a rear bumper.

Rear Bumper

The rear bumper came first and even in its original form it exceeded expectations. It was rock-solid, the wings attached to the frame, and it gave me the option to finally carry water outside the vehicle. I also valued the utility of being able to run spares on either side plus a tray or spares on both sides. The bumper-mounted camp lights solved another problem I had as well. Feature-wise, the bumper had everything I wanted. I also appreciated how Jason worked in the factory parking sensors which I know can be a bit of a challenge.

There were a couple minor issues with the bumper in its original form that Jason addressed while the truck was in for the hidden winch mount R&D (which turned into a front bumper install). One issue was that the locking strut mechanisms made it difficult to close and lock both arms. Jason was already aware of this potential issue and offered to install some locking pins. The locking pins completely solved the problem. The second issue was that the tailgate was dangerously close to the bumper. This was resolved by installing some small spacer blocks between the bumper and rear crossmember.

I've yet to smash the bumper on any rocks as I don't really seek out technical terrain but have full confidence that the bumper would be the least of my worries. Finally, going back to the main reason I wanted a bumper in the first place, the setup excels in auxiliary storage options. The tray itself takes 3 jerry cans and I also have my shovel mounted via a Quickfist mount. The arm frames could also house additional accessories if one is so inclined. In Baja, I had my second spare tire, a set of Maxtrax, a Trasharoo loaded with firewood, 130 lbs water, a shovel, and a camp light bar attached to the bumper and had zero failures over 2500 miles of travel including multiple high speed drives over washboards and whoops where the 8500 lb truck saw a bit of error.

In general I think a rear bumper is a necessary mod for any vehicle that needs to split the balance between carrying additional gear for backcountry trips and relevant protection for technical trails.

Skid Plates

Protecting my rear shocks has been a constant area of minor concern for the life of the vehicle. I lost my BP-51 protection on the first trip out and since had been concerned with minding the shocks while driving. I decided it was time to commit to an improvement after my redesigned BP-51 guards broke as well. I asked Jason to make a simple skid and he ended up designing a bombproof solution that protects the shock and the mounting bolt. I'm super-happy with the solution and look forward to not worrying about busting my shock bolts.

Hidden Winch Mount turned Front Bumper

It's old news now in terms of the build but I ultimately ended up with a full front bumper from Trail Tailor instead of a Hidden Winch Mount. However, my very first communications with Jason were related putting together a state-side hidden winch mount solution for this community. People have had mixed results with the Asfir option and I knew Jason wouldn't do it unless it was it was a complete solution.

After Baja, the truck went back up to Redding for a few weeks of R&D focused on both the hidden winch mount and the 16+ bumper. Well, once I saw the truck modeling the 16+ bumper I decided that I had to go that direction. I loved the idea of added protection in the front, had continued to have issues with 34s rubbing, and wanted a better platform for a light bar than the roof. The integration of Baja Designs lighting solutions sold it for me as I've had nothing but good luck with their lights for many years.

I have zero complaints thus far with the front bumper. Like the rear, it kept the parking sensors. The forward camera still works without a hitch, and the Baja Designs Squadrons wired directly into the factory fog light harness. There's ample room for a winch (I have a Comeup 9.5 in there). The overall design and geometry is both practical and aesthetically pleasing.

In terms of the winch, in hindsight I kind of wish I'd gone with one of the integrated units from Comeup or a Warn Zeon series. The winch controller fit easily enough behind the grill but I'd have preferred to not block any airlow (though I doubt it's blocking enough to be concerned.

Working with Trail Tailor

I feel like it's easy to see Jason's output on the mud forums but his high levels of customer service, stellar communication, and general good-guy-ness tend to not be as visible until you work with him. Since he used my truck for R&D for both the 16+ front and rear, my truck has been at his shop for 6-8 weeks in 2018 and I never felt like he took that time for granted. I got frequent updates, photos, and he valued my time traveling to and from Redding. I was also always impressed that Jason would remember every single tiny, small piece of feedback or verbal request and integrated it into the work. Early on in the rear build, I mentioned that I was thinking about mounting a table behind the spare tire mount. I assumed he'd forgotten all about it but when I visited to pick up the truck he grabbed a Frontrunner table from his pile of goodies and told me about how he had tried to fit it but there just wasn't room with the clearance.

Anyway, I hope folks enjoy the shock skids, hidden winch mount, and 16+ gear that my truck played a small role in helping Jason bring to market.

Prior to Telluride/Ouray, we're taking the long way via Palm Springs, Tucson, Ojo Caliente, and Pagosa springs and hope to find some more technical terrain en route or in the San Juans. If nothing else, I'll go scrape the bumpers on some Sierra Granite in late summer.

Cole,

Thank you for the kind words. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them. It was a pleasure working with you on all the products. I tell people this all the time, but the simple fact is, I do love what I do. I've always loved making things from a post driver for the ranch in Texas to a 9 million dollar cryogenic scrubber for a gas processing plant when I owned my tank and vessel shop in Texas. I've always enjoyed the fact that at the end of the day I can look in the shop and see what I accomplished and every morning when I wake up I'm excited to get to the shop.

But all in all at the end of the day you guys are the reason I keep doing this. It's an absolute blast for me to meet and work with you and try to make each build special for you. All of you have a choice when choosing a product and thank you for considering me. I'm a small one man shop and Andrea does my books, website and small package shipping. I get behind from time to time but always try to meet the dates I initially discuss with customers. Communication is key to success, or it always has been for me.

Once again thank you.

Jason

 

[indycole]

Here are some initial shots of the middle row platform.

I also attached a left over piece of the front bumper cover as a trim piece.

 

[mcgaskins]

Looks awesome! I don’t mean this to sound blasphemous, but with how far down the road you’ve gone with this build essentially turning into a 2 person vehicle, have you wondered if you should have done this kinda buildout to a pickup truck? There are some really cool camper and canopy style things people are doing with Tundras, Tacomas and others I’m just curious if you’d do it all over again with a 200. I’ve never been a pickup guy, but I really like the new products that have been coming out for them in the last couple years. Personally I’d still prefer a 200 with a Maltec camper conversion to any pickup with a camper, but that means big money. Either way you’ve really maximized the utility of the 200 platform and it looks amazing!

 

[indycole]

Looks awesome! I don’t mean this to sound blasphemous, but with how far down the road you’ve gone with this build essentially turning into a 2 person vehicle, have you wondered if you should have done this kinda buildout to a pickup truck? There are some really cool camper and canopy style things people are doing with Tundras, Tacomas and others I’m just curious if you’d do it all over again with a 200. I’ve never been a pickup guy, but I really like the new products that have been coming out for them in the last couple years. Personally I’d still prefer a 200 with a Maltec camper conversion to any pickup with a camper, but that means big money. Either way you’ve really maximized the utility of the 200 platform and it looks amazing!

Heh, very much yes. One post/thread I’m saving up is a bigger picture retrospective on the limitations/trade offs of building out a 200 to be set up for both remote travel and rock crawling.

TBH, the ideal platform for us would be something like a Lexus version of the 78 or 79 series. A well outfitted Tundra would be a close comparison, but I just haven’t gotten excited about Tundra builds.

I have an appreciation for Big Three heavy duty trucks but know they wouldn’t work for a decent chunk of the trails we do.

If I were starting from scratch I would seriously consider a cargo chop, roof chop, or both.

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Heh, very much yes. One post/thread I’m saving up is a bigger picture retrospective on the limitations/trade offs of building out a 200 to be set up for both remote travel and rock crawling.

TBH, the ideal platform for us would be something like a Lexus version of the 78 or 79 series. A well outfitted Tundra would be a close comparison, but I just haven’t gotten excited about Tundra builds.

I have an appreciation for Big Three heavy duty trucks but know they wouldn’t work for a decent chunk of the trails we do.

If I were starting from scratch I would seriously consider a cargo chop, roof chop, or both.

Bring up the Lexus and we'll get to chopping....

J

 

[TonyP]

That's one of the big reasons I sold mine; having and wheeling a two seater as an off-road mule that was built to be a 3 row luxury suv wasn't ideal, for me, for multiple reasons.