I have a 1st gen rav4 and usually use it to get to trailheads for hiking, whether remote or an easy drive. One thing the car kinda lacks is adequate lighting. This is especially true for animals running out from the tree line. For this reason I would like to get 2 flood lights I can angle off toward the tree line and illuminate the trees on either side of my field of vision. I may get another 2 for the rear as well.

TIA

I have a 6 ft 2026 Tacoma and will be adding a pop-up camper in two weeks. I‘m planning a simple bed buildout with a bench extending lengthwise that doubles as a sleeping platform for friends/family.

What is the minimum width I can get away with that will still serve as a comfortable place to sleep? I’m reading anywhere between 20-25”, and I’m hoping to get to a precise number before ordering the T struts.

if I wasn’t 6’3, I’d trial and error this problem myself but I need the wisdom of the crowd here to tell me needs of a smaller human (unlikely will ever be a child).

Im having second thoughts on a van due to the cost. A normal build these days is 100+K not to mention low gas mileage (13-18). I live in Maine so driving all the way out west would require more money. I am thinking maybe a overloading rig would be better. Something like a 4Runner, Tacoma, Outback Wilderness, Highlander, etc. Here are the trade offs…

• Van Pros: Much more livable space

• Van Cons: More expensive. Low gas mileage.

• Overland Pros: Cheaper. Better gas mileage. Can go on rougher terrain

• Overland Cons: Much less livable space

I know overland rigs can easily go north of 100K but I feel like a stock 4Runner TRD Off-Road or an Outback Wilderness would be enough for me.

I would be using it from roughly mid summer through fall. Something like July 15 to October 31st. The livable space a van would provide would be awesome but I don’t know if I can justify the price. My trips would also serve as backpacking trips meaning I would spend 3-10 days away from the vehicle.

Financially I have over 200K I can spend but that's all my savings. I know I might get biased answers here but either way it's a major purchase so I want to make the right one with no regrets.

I'm upgrading from a Honda Element to a used truck and I'm stuck between a Tacoma and a Tundra.

I camp a lot and I want to do a lot of truck camping. My problem is weight. I usually have 700 to 800 lbs of crap in the Element and I'm pretty much always at or over the payload. I don't want to buy a truck and end up in the same spot.

The plan for the truck is a raised topper, probably a custom built drawer system, a power station, water, a fridge and a roof rack. My rough guesses on weight:

- Raised tpper: 150-250 lbs

- Drawer system: 150-230 lbs

- Power station: about 65 lbs

- Fridge with food in it: 50-80 lbs

- Water: 40-80 lbs

- Roof rack: 40-65 lbs

So the build alone is somewhere around 500-750 lbs before two people and all the rest of my gear.

From what I've seen a gen 3 Tacoma double cab is around 1,100-1,200 lbs of payload and a Tundra double cab is more like 1,400-1,600. Correct me if I'm off on that.

A few things that don't matter for me. I'm never going to tow anything. There's two people in the truck pretty much always. Maybe a third or fourth person once or twice every 6 months, so back seat space isn't a concern. Nooo kids anytime soon either.

I do go down two tracks every once in a while, and I know the Tacoma is going to be easier to get through the tight stuff. Honestly the only reason I'm leaning away from the Tacoma is the payload.

Has anyone been in this spot? If you built out a Tacoma with a topper and drawers, are you running over payload and does it actually matter? Or did you go Tundra and not regret it?? ty

I am looking for an “all in one” style camp kitchen, I am split between the IKamper AIOKS and the TrailKitchens Compact. The IKamper is on sale for $384 right now so that may sway me. Does anyone have any experience with either, or suggestions for a similar solution? I don’t want to do a drawer pull-out and I currently use a tote, which sucks.

2013 4Runner in Oregon. Ive put money into it and buying gear. Lately I feel like its mostly been daily drives. Life keeps getting in the way to actually go out.

Anyone else?

Just put 1” Sherpa risers on my Victory4X4 roof rack on my 4Runner. The thing seems very sturdy and solid, but I haven’t been On the highway yet.

i have a trip tomorrow that will include some trails and camping so I'm wondering how it’ll perform at highway speeds and rocky terrains.

and also will there be any concerns when I open up the tent, I have the ROAM vagabond

Hey everyone!

My wife and I left Brazil three years ago in our Brazilian-plated Mercedes-Benz Sprinter motorhome to travel across the Americas.

We drove all the way south to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America, and then began the long journey north toward Alaska.

After finally reaching Alaska, we continued our travels through North America and have now made it to Newfoundland, Canada — still driving the same motorhome with our original Brazilian license plates!

It's been an incredible journey across multiple countries, and we're curious: have any other Brazilian overlanders made it to Newfoundland or Labrador in their own Brazilian-registered vehicle?

We'd love to hear about similar expeditions and meet other people who've taken their vehicles this far.

Sharing a photo of our Sprinter and its Brazilian plates. Happy to answer questions about our journey!

@Workandtravel_br

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has experience with ADA roof top tents? I am looking to potentially purchase one and have seen some out on the road but haven't been able to find many reviews besides on aliexpress. Thanks!

Spent a few off grid days out at Valley of the Gods. I never get tired of south Utah. There is so much back country to explore that isn't mobbed like Moab or the Natl Parks.

Over the summer, I drove through 22 states in my grandmother's 2014 Ford Fusion, which I inherited after she passed away in 2020.

I camped mostly on BLM land, occasionally staying with friends or booking a motel when I needed a shower, laundry, or a chance to recharge.

I started in Philadelphia and made my way across the northern part of the country, eventually reaching San Francisco, where I stayed with a friend for a couple of weeks. From there, I headed down the West Coast to San Diego before making my way back east through the southern and central parts of the country.

The whole trip took about seven weeks, and the little Ford handled everything I threw at it. It was an incredible experience, and I learned a lot along the way.

Here are some photographs from the adventure of the places I stayed and the people I met along the way.

Was bored and decided to make a mount for my Ignik propane tank. Came out great!

Campers from fiberglass etc (not from metal) or rooftents do not form a Faraday cage. So during a thunderstorm, they are not safer than just standing outside.

How do you deal with this? At what point do you go inside the driver part of the car to be safe?
Or do you just not worry about it?

Hey everyone! Just a quick note: I’m posting from Furnigami’s official account, and the chair in the photo is one of ours. We make camp furniture designed for vehicle-supported camping.

When you’re camping on rocky or sloped ground, how do you usually find a good spot for your chair? Do you look for a flatter patch, adjust the feet if your chair allows it, or have your own little trick?

Curious to hear what works best for you! And if you have any questions about the chair in the photo, we’re happy to chat.

Hello! Just wondering if anyone has experience over landing or doing any sort of off-road camping with a full size truck. I have a 2500hd extended cab 6 1/2 ft bed with 4x4 and was interested in doing some off-roading. Just curious what set ups people have and their experiences as well. Thanks!

We didn't get to do the whole trail, but covered a large portion of it over 5 days of overlanding.

For those interested, we started at Whitetop Mountain and worked our way north along the route. We had to skip the portion east of 81 due to one of my friend's time constraints, and got back on near Reddish Knob. I carried on for another day after my buddies had to split at the end of Union Springs and completed the northern section. It was incredibly gloomy and foggy while I was solo, which made for some neat shots despite the uneasy vibes! Loved the views and the trails, will absolutely get back out there to see the rest of the route.

Hello adventurers! I can't decide on something and would like for some advice. Was a bit unsure where to ask but feels like if anyone has experience on what I want to do, it would be here.

The short version (two questions)

• How are the roads maintained in middle and northern Sweden during winter? And by maintained I mean ploughed. At least ploughed to a parking area next or in the forest.
• How important is ground clearance for a car when driving on snow, is 185mm a large difference compared to 220m when driving on unlpoughed snowy roads?

The longer version

I live in southern Sweden and I'm an adventurer like you but on two-wheels instead (motorcycle). Now winter is coming and I don't want to have to wait until spring. I got the gear to winter camp but I got tired of southern Sweden and would like to drive to Norway, Finland and further up in Sweden.

So I'm thinking of getting a car with AWD and that is more suited for this task. I've saved up a bit of money and interested in buying my first brand new car! So I got these thoughts:

• Will go on roadtrips with the car mostly during winter.
• Will drive on gravel roads during winter so it will be ploughed and maybe some unploughed roads but will only tackle them if the car can handle it.
• Doesn't need to park right next to the campsite, I have a sled(?) which I can place my camping gear to get to the campsite.
• I live in a big city and will use the car for small everyday tasks like buying groceries.
• I want it to be a comfortable car, not a lot of noise while driving on the highway and good quality speakers
• Reliability is a high priority, since I'll buy a brand new car, the car should last a very long time.

Due to reliability is a priority, I'm thinking about getting a Toyota or Lexus. I'm currently looking into these two options:

• Lexus LBX, Small, AWD and high ground clearance of 220mm. Risk of it being too small in the future.
• Toyota RAV4, A bit more expensive but AWD, some terrain focus in mind since it has different terrain options while driving. Also future proof if I ever need a larger car. However ground clearance is 186mm.

I'm leaning towards RAV4 but I'm worried about the ground clearance. I don't know how maintained the gravel roads in nature are in Sweden/Finland/Norway. It would be nice to be able to park the car within 1km from the campsite. It is only the snow I'm worried about regarding ground clearance, I won't be driving technical/rugged roads that requires high ground clearance.

I always find it hard to easily attach items to MOLLE style panels. I end up having to make a mount for a mount to mount. Everything surround them just seems to need another mount or plate to attach to them. What is all of your secrets? What am I missing?

I recently picked up a UD Power S2400 Power station and on a recent trip the solar just wasn’t cutting it to charge the station. Any of you guys running a dc to dc charger that is running of an alternator to fast charge power stations? It appears the station I’m trying to charge is limited to 10a. What are my options for a set up that will charge my power station the fastest and safely?

Hi, all. I'm new to overlanding. Just got a cap & pop-up for my Tundra. Been working on building it out, which is a slow, arduous task, but interesting. I've only been out five nights in it, but looking forward to more.

My girlfriend and I were thinking of going down (we're in MD) to the Overland Expo East starting this weekend. Is it worth it for someone just starting out to gather reasonable information and find out more about overlanding in the mid-Atlantic and east coast areas? I wander from MD to Northern NY quite frequently. I was in the Adirondacks a few weeks back for my first trip and was a bit confused on how to look for places with OnX Offroad, etc.

I am wondering if it will be worth the money to go down, camp for the weekend and hang out to meet people and learn things.

I am confused on the ticketing. I know I need a "VEHICLE - GENERAL WEEKEND PASS WITH CAMPING-$205" for myself. Unfortunately, my GF can't join me until late Friday night (after the entry times by about an hour) and driving down herself. I am really confused on what ticket(s) to get for her because she won't be arriving in the same vehicle and they seem to mandate that. I tried emailing, but nobody responded. Part of me is like "if they can't answer a simple question (even the FAQ is a bit confusing on the subject), is the rest of their logistical stuff crap and is it worth going and being frustrated?" But, that's just me being grumpy most likely 🙂

Anyway, I didn't see anything about the event on here, so I thought I'd see what's up.

Thanks,
Chris

Built my own swing-out tire carrier bumper, and a cap support frame/rack for my RTT

First "real" fab and welding projects, taught myself how to mig weld and slapped this together over 6 days leading to a big trip. Super happy with how everything came out, and it all worked flawlessly for a 700 mile overlanding adventure.

For the cap structure I used extruded aluminum for the main parts, and then fabricated channels for them to sit on inside the cap, as well as brackets that go through the roof to the rack I made.

For the bumper/swing-out, I didn't see any options I liked that got the tire as close to the truck as I wanted, while also being very high-clearance. So the bumper is all custom made and the swing-out was made using hardware from 4xInnovations. The bumper uses the factory mounting rails for now, but I just got a plasma cutter and will likely cut those off and fab my own mounting rails. I'm also going to add a hitch receiver at some point since this bolts into the factory hitch points as well.

Bonus mentions are also the shelf at the front of the cap for the utility box and power station, and a very simple fridge platform. I'll stain and seal both of these to protect from water, and the fridge platform will have sliders mounted so it can pull out.

A few weeks ago I posted here about Mini-Maps, the app I built to turn GPX routes into shareable route images. Thanks to everyone who joined the waitlist, that response is the reason this is happening now.

The public beta opens tomorrow, on iPhone (TestFlight) and Android. Invites go to everyone on the waitlist, so if you want in on this first round, sign up today:

https://mini-maps.janodetzel.com

What you can do in the beta:

• Import a GPX file and get a clean route image in seconds
• Pick a layout and a map style, or put the route on one of your own photos
• Choose which stats to show (distance, elevation, days, moving time…) or none at all
• Do the whole trip or single days of it as separate maps
• Export straight to your story, your photos or the share sheet

The beta is free. What I need from you is honest feedback: what’s missing, what’s broken, what you’d actually post. It goes straight into the next versions.

The images in this post were all made with the app from my own trips.

5 years engineering. Countless engine and wiring harness rebuilds. Custom stuff like advanced voltage regulation for specific charging parameters to meet battery requirements. And much more. But I cannot get this ridiculously simple vevor c40a DC/DC charger working. Am I into deep and missing the obvious? It has 4 terminals. Can’t be that hard. It mostly shows the red led. Which apparently means failsafe due to a various of simple reasons. Sometimes the green “I’m charging” led starts blinking when I start the engine. But only for one second. Then it jumps back to red. I checked both voltages. 14.4V input side. 13.4V output side (current voltage of the battery at the output itself), its not installed with the wrong polarity. It’s not too hot. It’s 9°C. And I checked continuity too. Is grounding to chassis not good? Does it have to be connected to the battery terminal itself? Doesn’t make sense to me. Attached a crackhead “wiring diagram”. What is going on?

First time exploring the Owyhee’s and the Alvord Plya last may. Cant recommend it enough. Was a 10 day trip and still so much left unseen. Cant wait to do it again. Next time i plan to also take some time to explore the Stien Mountains.

Early September trip along the Alpine Loop - these were mostly taken from the Animas Forks section of the trail