I'll probably take you up on that. I've looked before but not totally sure what to look for.
What have you been doing with your Toyota? (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter JohnnyOshow22
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JohnnyOshow22
KK0TEQ
- Thread starter
- #682
Let's get together soon it takes all of a minute to diagnose and better to catch it before it goes south
I'm going to try and make it to the meet and greet on the 13th. Will you be there?
JohnnyOshow22
KK0TEQ
- Thread starter
- #684
I'll try but I may be working that Saturday. Depends how things progress next week, being an engineering student and juggling building land cruisers most Saturdays I'm crushing builds. If I don't make it lets still try and get together. I'm pretty flexible most week nights.
In addition to getting our truck ready, Polly and I are always upgrading the camp life too. We have plans to go to alaska summer of 22 and have already started prep for that. A month of living out of the cruiser meant we needed a new sleeping arrangement. While I love my marmot limelite 3 ground tent and the megamat it took awhile to set up and take down but that all changed on Monday. CVT had a sale in the middle of february that we couldn't pass up and we ordered a CVT Mt. Hood double channel in desert tan and it showed up monday. Its 85" x 56" x 8" and 150lbs. Set up and take down is a breeze and we can leave all of our stuff up there and whats better is that if we aren't fans of the mattress we can take it out and our megamat will slide right in and make it that much more comfortable. One of the reasons I chose this tent is that it has an awning over the back door so if there is bad weather you can get into the tent without water getting in and it has interior pockets. The pocket thing may sound dumb but as a person that wore glasses for a long time and now that my wife wears glasses there is nothing like being blind in a dark tent wondering where your glasses are because they got covered by some clothes or you forgot where you set them. Also because I shaved my rack the top of the tent is only 9 & 1/4 " from the tallest part of the roof. Thats 3.75" lower then the tan boxes I had up there. It has extrusions on the sides so I can attach my awning and the roof is able to hold 100lbs while still being able to open. It comes with roofrack bars for the top, a ladder, shoe bags and all the hardware is stainless. All in all i'm stoked with the quality so far and with 30 planned nights of camping this summer we're going to get really familiar with it
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Tent looks great! The hard shell RTT seem like the way to go personally.
JohnnyOshow22
KK0TEQ
- Thread starter
- #686
Thanks! I've had a softshell fold over style on there before. Took a buddies Tepui Kukeman ruggedized (220 lbs) on the rubicon back in 2015, that sucked and setup/takedown took forever on top of a tall 80 like mine. This thing sets up in 30 seconds and shutting takes all of 2 minutes max. The price sucked but I think it's going to be well worth it. Out of all the clamshells out there this one checked the most boxes for me.
I've been backpacking focused for decades and most of my gear reflects that, but the wife and I have been getting more into camping out of the 40 since I've gotten it mechanically reliable and since covid has made other travel more difficult. We picked up a couple of Megamat 10's this year and they are pretty amazing. They take a while to inflate, but they are extremely comfortable. If you've been using Thermarest pads for years and know the folding trick for deflating, getting the Megamats packed up is a breeze. Our next purchase will be a larger tent. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with adding the weight of a RTT up high on a 40, plus I don't want to carry dogs up and down the ladder.
Remind me to tell you how much the campteq was and you'll feel better. We haven't gotten to test it out yet, but in our opinion will be totally worth it.
JohnnyOshow22
KK0TEQ
- Thread starter
- #689
We have one of the DUOs and it's great and it does pack up easily just takes a bit of time, blowing it up is a breeze if you have one of those battery powered mattress inflators, also helps deflating. Getting our dogs up the ladder isn't even an option
1 dog is taller than the wife and weighs the same as her and the other one isn't small either lol. 
I agree with not putting one on a 40, the weight would make it sketchy for sure
This is one of my favorite tents right now. Excited to hear how this works out for you!
JohnnyOshow22
KK0TEQ
- Thread starter
- #691
Thanks! If you're thinking about getting one and want to see it first let me know. One thing I forgot to add is that it also has way better latchesthan roofnest, area bfe, etc and carpet on the inner roof to help moisture condensing
My dogs (Australian Shepherds) aren't nearly that big, but I still don't want to carry them up a ladder. I don't know that we'll ever get all that serious about camping/overlanding with the 40 just because it's a demanding vehicle to drive. I've driven a lot of miles in the HMMWV, LMTV, HEMTT, and PLS, and they don't wear me out as much as the 40 does. My Magruder Corridor weekend trip this summer is going to be challenging for me. I have the mileage planned out as 293, 249, and 233 for each day.Getting our dogs up the ladder isn't even an option
I agree with not putting one on a 40, the weight would make it sketchy for sure
JohnnyOshow22
KK0TEQ
- Thread starter
- #693
40s are tough to do miles in for sure, probably one of the main reasons I will likely never own one besides maybe inheriting one at some point from my dad. Just not highway friendly enough unless theyre on a trailer or have been completed gutted and rebuilt from the ground up with a new drivetrain and links/coils. Awesome trucks though! Magruder is on the list not sure when I'll make it through there though. It's also tough to put enough stuff in a 40 for more than a few days unless like you said, you're a backpacker
Yeah, the storage situation is a challenge for sure. One of my projects this spring is some built-in storage, but no storage system can overcome that lack of space. One of the benefits of camping out of a vehicle over backpacking or bikepacking is the ability to carry more and more comfortable stuff for longer. Some of that benefit is lost in a vehicle as small as a 40, but there is something really special about bouncing down a trail on leaf springs with manual steering. Special, but not special enough to want to do it for much more than a long weekend. At least in my opinion.
I used to do a bit of bicycle touring too. There were two styles of bicycle tourist then: loaded tourists, who carried all their gear on rack and in panniers, and credit card tourists, who stayed in hotels and ate at restaurants. I was a loaded tourist, but I could see the appeal of credit card touring. I imagine that a longer trip in a 40 would, out of necessity, be more like credit card touring than loaded touring.
Everyone must have been chronically dehydrated before the invention of the cup holder. It's a credit to human ingenuity and problem solving that we are here today, with mass-produced cheeseburgers, drive-thru coffee shops, and cup holders in all of our new vehicles. Isn't progress beautiful?
But what about those older vehicles? What about those produced before the great awakening? Are they condemned to obsolescence simply by virtue of their manufacturing date? Can that same human ingenuity and problem solving be applied to the technology and equipment of days gone by to keep it useful and functional?
I got a pretty good start on building a center console for my 40. The hinge for the lid/armrest, the magnetic latch, the cupholder inserts, and the foam padding for the armrest should show up today. I also need to order some material to cover it and I'm debating ordering enough of that material to recover the seats with the same stuff. The console has a huge amount of storage space in an area of the interior that hasn't been very useable up to this point. This should also provide a good location for mounting a 2m mobile radio.
I'm hopeful that I'll have the 40 out of the garage and on the road in before the end of the month, but if it keeps snowing I may have to push that back a bit further.
But what about those older vehicles? What about those produced before the great awakening? Are they condemned to obsolescence simply by virtue of their manufacturing date? Can that same human ingenuity and problem solving be applied to the technology and equipment of days gone by to keep it useful and functional?
I got a pretty good start on building a center console for my 40. The hinge for the lid/armrest, the magnetic latch, the cupholder inserts, and the foam padding for the armrest should show up today. I also need to order some material to cover it and I'm debating ordering enough of that material to recover the seats with the same stuff. The console has a huge amount of storage space in an area of the interior that hasn't been very useable up to this point. This should also provide a good location for mounting a 2m mobile radio.
I'm hopeful that I'll have the 40 out of the garage and on the road in before the end of the month, but if it keeps snowing I may have to push that back a bit further.
Under a buck...
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Who needs cupholders. I can drive with Starbucks in one hand, on snapchat with my phone, driving with my knee. Also drive a stick shift.Under a buck...
I once saw someone eating a bowl of hot soup while driving down Huffine.
a real stick shift takes both hands, left arm thru the wheel for the left stick and the right hand for the right stick, hold the cup with your teeth and hope you don't hit a bump or you get a nasal flush. to loud to be on the phone and hard to text on a bagphone
it is fun watching new kids get into a truck with multiple sticks and let them figure out what to do.
