New Guy: Taco to GX460
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Y'all were discussing rooftop tents and I've seen a lot about the iKamper and the Alu-Cab, but has anyone considered/heard of Go Fast Campers?
gofastcampers.com
Roof Top Tents
gofastcampers.com
- Thread starter
- #63
Y'all were discussing rooftop tents and I've seen a lot about the iKamper and the Alu-Cab, but has anyone considered/heard of Go Fast Campers?
Roof Top Tents
The GFC brand is very popular. The tent is extremely light but you sacrifice some things with that. The mattress is thin and not as comfortable and I've read complaints about them in winter / wind with the material being thin. Not hating on GFC because they are a solid choice.
We opted for the Alu Cab eventually. We've owned a couple different brands and slept in others but none compare to the Alu Cab for us. The accessory selection, excellent mattress and having power inside sold us really. Our iKamper was nice ( mattress was meh ) but not being able to store items on top led us to selling it.
Just my 2 cents...
We spent two weeks in a Alu Cab RTT in Namibia in 2019, excellent RTT. Heavy for sure though. The GFC is okay. I was looking into them. Many items are optional, like the ladder. Can’t hard point or mount anything to them as it’s essentially a couple giant cloth bags with panels inserted in them, prop up struts that are kinda make shift. With that being said they are working on V 2.0 and have stop production of V 1.0.
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- #65
Must of been an incredible trip!
We actually no longer bring our Exped mattress now that we are in the Alu Cab since it’s so comfortable. Downside is with this GX plus a lift, 33’s, Alu Cab on top, then some traction boards on top of that parking is a pain. I’m waiting on my flight now and I had to park a long ass ways away from check in.
Yes a most excellent trip. Botswana is next in Africa once we get past all this COVID BS. But first the land down under.
Yep, loading up a RTT, recovery boards, and solar makes for a tall ride!! That being said we stopped at the Venetian in Las Vegas last spring after our Death Valley trip and due to our height of the vehicles they parked us on “the curb” next to the Bentley’s, Rolls Royce and Porsche’s. Was quite the scene with the fancy cars and two filthy 4x4s.
Botswana and Namibia are on my bucket list! F this covid cult crap, I’m ready for life to go on around the world. lol
r2m
Richard
We have the iKamper. Love it except the inability to load things on top. For us it would have been great to load ski's, surfboards, paddle boards and maybe a couple of solar panels up there, but can't mount racks on an iKamper. It's also a little on the heavy side. Other than that, we love it! Warm, quiet, very easy setup/take down.
If I ever trade out the iKamper it will be for something a little lighter and with racks. But for now, we love it!
Regarding Africa, I've been there a couple times, first to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (Kenya and Tanzania) as a fund raiser for the famine in east Africa in the early 2000's. The second time to Kenya with my family to help with an orphanage. Africa is a very awesome place! I was not able to do any wheeling there but have done 3 or 4 safari's.
If I ever trade out the iKamper it will be for something a little lighter and with racks. But for now, we love it!
Regarding Africa, I've been there a couple times, first to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (Kenya and Tanzania) as a fund raiser for the famine in east Africa in the early 2000's. The second time to Kenya with my family to help with an orphanage. Africa is a very awesome place! I was not able to do any wheeling there but have done 3 or 4 safari's.
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- #70
Alright.. need some opinions on what my next upgrade should be.
- Sliders
- Skid Plates
- I'd go skids first over sliders. I'd rather have a dinged up door than a critical component in pieces underneath.
- Tire Carrier
- Currently no spare tire since it won't fit underneath or inside. Do have a tire repair kit w/ ARB compressor.
- Garmin Powerswitch w/ led pods
- A lot of our weekend trips start with late Friday nights and there's a lot of rain / fog in these Tennessee mountains. Really wish I had them last Friday.
- Focal speaker upgrade w/ gas money saved
- After putting Focal components in my previous Tacoma I die a little inside every time a song comes on in the GX. And I drive a lot.
Bang Bang
Age is a state of mind.
Armor above all else is what I would usually say. Dent a rocker to the point that you can't open / close a door and you'll know what I'm talking about. But no way I'm going out without a spare so I would figure that out first, then armor, then lights and then speakers.
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- #72
I've been holding out on a tire carrier until I can find a class 4 hitch.. but I don't see that happening anytime soon so I may just get a class 3 for the time being. Really want the Westcott Designs tire carrier but the 4 month time is throwing me off so I've been searching Marketplace for a used Rigd.
I completely agree with the order you listed but damn I miss the quality of my metal music played through some Focals lol
I say sliders before skids but it depends on the type of wheeling you do. If you crawl through boulder fields or plow through deep mud then the possibility of an intruding rock or stick underneath becomes higher. In places like Moab where you are mostly dealing with ledges, rocker protection is far more important.
r2m
Richard
Armor!
Oh, wait, maybe I wasn't clear enough ARMOR!
I hate to have to do this again, but this is the short list build phases towards an end game.
Phase 1: Rims and tires
Phase 2: Suspension
Phase 3: Armor
Phase 4: Electrical accessories. e.g.: winch, compressor, aux lights, HAM radio, etc.
Phase 5: Anything else
This GX is my third overland build and this is the order in which I build them.
Yes the phases are more extensive, but I've already posted it several times and don't want to bore all the other members.
Again, I'd do the armor next considering the trails you said you do. And get a spare! A compressor and fix-a-flat won't help a side wall split.
All-in-all just have fun and enjoy the ride!
re_guderian
SILVER Star
I agree with your order. Sliders for rocker protection, then skids for the dangly bits underneath. Take your OEM spare, it's better than nothing to get you to safety where you can work on a better solution, and won't fry your Torsen center diff like a mis-matched spare would do to a viscous coupler center diff (Subaru, early Toyota AWD minivans, etc). With the basics done, I went for bang-for the buck. MTS/CC for $500. Next on my list is KDSS delete, which you might priortize if you're running a lot of FS roads. Less than $200 to get the KDSS out of stiff mode at higher speeds. Speakers? I'm old and my hearing sucks. OEM not nearly as terrible as on the Land Cruisers... I DO have extra lights going on my front bumper and winch, but they are the last on my list.
But like others have said, SO much of this depends on your actual and planned usage. You could run FS roads prudently on a totally stock rig!
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- #76
Garmin PowerSwitch and Diode Dynamics SSC2 Sports pods went in this past wknd.
Love the Garmin. I keep it pulled up on my iPad at all times since it’s mounted on my dash. Works like a charm with the Multitasking feature on iOS.
The pods are nice but def too weak in my opinion. Going to move them to the rear and get some Pros to replace them.
Think I finally found a Class IV hitch so that and a tire carrier are up next!
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- #77
Alright.. I need some help with re gearing the GX. Should I do it?
I'm running 33s and if possible I'd like to improve my MPG from around 12. I may even go the 35 route when these wear down so what would ya'll recommend?
I'm running 33s and if possible I'd like to improve my MPG from around 12. I may even go the 35 route when these wear down so what would ya'll recommend?
If you think your leaning towards the 35’s then I’d say yes. You can break in the new gears with the 33’s.
Also, I’m pretty sure I saw you & the rig on Emory Rd this week.
I called just differentials for 4.88 nitro gears. Just waiting for them to free up time to get me in. I’m also on 35s
