So, I am making a move to Sacramento CA and will be moving into the capitol of the "Golden State" arriving on July 11th. As luck would have it Rubithon got postponed until July 13th this summer due to excessive trail snow pack. I have dreamed about doing the rubicon trail for over a decade and having this opportunity available, well lets just say, I will do what any cruiser lover worth their birfield would do;.......... I will drop my belongings off at my new abode without moving in, return the uhaul, and hightail it to the trailhead for my first rubithon!!!
I have never configured my 40 for prolonged outages. Areas it is deficient in is storage. I was concerned that 4+ days out on the trail would severely stress its fuel supply and storage capacity.
My wife will be joining me on this adventure. She has put up with my landcruiser fetish for years and has learned to love fj40's and 45's herself. I need to do everything I can to make our camping trip enjoyable and as amenity available as reasonably prudent so we may both have a fun and relaxed time.
My decision to build a new upper rack system was based on both the required and recommended things that would be needed for a few days on the rubicon. My feelings for the build are centered around a couple of specific criteria
1) build as strong as possible so the rigors of trail bashing would be withstood
2) Keep the center of gravity as low as possible. This is a big feature for me, The majority of my wheeling is not prolonged outings so this trail rack needed to be easily removeable so that the 75% of the time where the cruiser was going out on day trips the extra weight up high could be removed.
3) The rack needs to be multifunctional, a swiss army knife for my camping needs. My design needs to not only be cruiser bling but also campsite functional
4) I have a very limited time to build this setup, like mentioned above, I am moving in a few weeks and I have a whole lot of packing/other stuff that needs to get done at the same time
I have never configured my 40 for prolonged outages. Areas it is deficient in is storage. I was concerned that 4+ days out on the trail would severely stress its fuel supply and storage capacity.
My wife will be joining me on this adventure. She has put up with my landcruiser fetish for years and has learned to love fj40's and 45's herself. I need to do everything I can to make our camping trip enjoyable and as amenity available as reasonably prudent so we may both have a fun and relaxed time.
My decision to build a new upper rack system was based on both the required and recommended things that would be needed for a few days on the rubicon. My feelings for the build are centered around a couple of specific criteria
1) build as strong as possible so the rigors of trail bashing would be withstood
2) Keep the center of gravity as low as possible. This is a big feature for me, The majority of my wheeling is not prolonged outings so this trail rack needed to be easily removeable so that the 75% of the time where the cruiser was going out on day trips the extra weight up high could be removed.
3) The rack needs to be multifunctional, a swiss army knife for my camping needs. My design needs to not only be cruiser bling but also campsite functional
4) I have a very limited time to build this setup, like mentioned above, I am moving in a few weeks and I have a whole lot of packing/other stuff that needs to get done at the same time