Project Choose Your Own Adventure

[ScottyB]

thanks guys!

This is so cool. Glad the first trip went well! Any idea how much the whole teardrop weighs? I'm sure the Xterra would have pulled it fine, but there is probably some nice peace of mind pulling it behind a brand-new, slightly more capable tow vehicle. And glad to hear the 4Runner went where you needed to go, not like that would be a huge concern 99% of the time.  What a great setup!

thanks and that's something i wanted to see about before our first tow but didn't have the time for. there's a pilot travel center down the interstate from me that has a CAT scale and we'll try it out next time we have it loaded up for a trip. i think, fully loaded with ice, food, water, and luggage we're probably in the 1500 lb range.

Sully mentioned it earlier but yeah, same sentiment. the Xterra could have done it. it would have been work though to stay on top of the braking distances and brake fade, and i would have had to really bring my speed down on the interstate to keep it stable. the 4Runner has so much power and braking ability to spare that i really never had to think about anything except my extra set of wheels when making sharp turns or shifting lanes. the extra room was nice too and with luggage + the tongue weight the rear barely sagged at all. very pleased. it punches a larger hole through the air as well which keeps the teardrop really tucked into its draft. looking at instant MPG readouts at 70mph there was no mileage difference on level ground. only going up hills or accelerating.

i wish we had time to push onto more challenging trails but we were taking the roads to find fish, not more mud. one day we'll really get out there. i can tell already that its not Wrangler capable, but good enough stock that if i get it stuck it'll be because of my lack of skill and not lack of equipment.

[.RJ]

[ScottyB]

so in the spirit of black friday consumerism, just picked up an ARB 2000x2500 awning from chicagooverlanding.com. pretty solid deal - 15% off plus free shipping. we'll pair this with an ARB screen room so we have a place to change, keep a kennel/gear, or chill out of the rain or bugs if need be.

if anyone knows who's doing a solid sale on Yakima stuff, please let me know. i need their "widebody" false gutter mount brackets and 1A Towers + tube crossbars.

[JPolen01]

REI has 20% a lot of roof rack/boxes/components through Sunday I believe. Probably will do a black Friday deal as well. I've been looking at a Thule box and they are all 20% off.

[ScottyB]

REI has 20% a lot of roof rack/boxes/components through Sunday I believe. Probably will do a black Friday deal as well. I've been looking at a Thule box and they are all 20% off.

you're the man

[WRXtranceformed]

This is amazing man, so much blood sweat and tears paying off with a big ole smile from the little man!

[ScottyB]

boy did this thing collect some dust.

thanks to the beerdisease we blew past 3 camping trips that were supposed to happen this spring but got cancelled.  by April we were getting pretty antsy and we decided we were going camping at some point this summer in the safest manner we could manage.  that decision, along with some free time due to my work slowing down, fired me up to get a few new modifications done before the summer temps spiked.

3 big ones here.  roof rack, ARB 8x6.5' awning and a detachable side table.


the rack is actually a ROLA van rack meant for carrying ladders and attaching to a rain gutter.  specialized teardrop racks are $$$$ and i needed something i could mount to the sides, not the roof. this was a great answer for about a hundo. i canned the gutter attachment and just directly mounted them to the side, which has good framework to bear weight.  it was a real friggin treat, lemme tell you.  not only did i have to figure out to to keep each rack the same level height on a curved roof profile, but i had to also make sure the rear rack straddled between the roof vent and solar panel while still allowing both to keep their ability to tilt.  

doing maths


because i was drilling through the wall, i had to be particularly careful not to drill through any hidden wires.  luckily, there's only a single wire running up each wall, from the switch by the loft up to the roof where it runs forward to the fuse panel in the tongue box.  i made a note to avoid that corridor.

unluckily, i'm stupid as shit and drilled DIRECTLY through that wire on the first try.  literally, out of a 10 foot long camper i picked the one spot to send a drill bit through a tiny width, as wide as a single 12ga wire, to cut it perfectly in half.  the odds of being this retarded are staggering.  and yet, here i am.

so anyway that was a pain in the balls.  had JUST barely enough slack in the wire to fashion an extension and reconnect it.  the wires were too stiff to keep them together while soldering so i just used connectors.  from there i decided to only use 2 bolts on the rear rack supports to avoid that from happening again.  i plugged the errant hole with an 8mm hole plug which was perfect, thankfully.  on the inside i just fashioned a little square patch panel and it blends in alright i guess.



had to run these spacers on the rearmost rack since that little "Z" bend couldn't clear the roof profile and still be level with the front.  they're just nylon units from home depot, and did the trick.  hardware is stainless. why not just turn the supports the other way and avoid all that? well, i wanted the supports to put the awning as inboard as possible, so that in a rainstorm, there's no gap between the camper and the awning. this proved to be worth the effort on our next trip.



anyway, got 'em all drilled and installed with ample use of Loctite marine sealant.  rock solid.  time to mount up the ARB awning.  pretty straightforward - just check for level and make holes with the step bit.  i only have half the bolts holding the tubes to the side mounts in this shot, since i had to drill them all by hand...that steel is really thick and each hole took like 10 minutes to get through. they're all bolted up now though.


then i made curtains so nobody can peep my peen when i'm changing.  i can't sow so i used some kind of fabric adhesive strips that you iron over and they melt hot glue into the fabric to hold it together.  you can also see the patch panel upper left.  insert notbad.gif


the side table was thankfully, actually straightforward and easy.  used some scrap cabinet grade plywood and a cool little mounting kit that includes the rail, mono-leg and a mini bungie to stow the leg up.  the table is sized to fit perfectly into the cooler slideout behind the cooler.  the rail on the camper is interesting, never seen one like this before.  you put the round section in at an angle and then let the table down and it secures itself with gravity and the leg adds additional support.


shot of the rail profile, you can kinda see how it "sockets" into place as you lower and rotate it in.  neat.


finally.  it works!


then we got an awning room for bugs/rain and where the doggo can sleep.  game changer for real.  having a dry space to stow gear, hang wet stuff, and chill is awesome.  


did a couple other minor things to make it 100% for the road, and then we headed for the hills the week after Memorial Day....

[Apoc]

That awning is pretty awesome. Having a place to take off muddy shows BEFORE getting in your camper is clutch. Outside storage that isn't your vehicle is pretty nice too. Any concerns with it sloping towards your camper in a heavy rain?

[ScottyB]

That awning is pretty awesome. Having a place to take off muddy shows BEFORE getting in your camper is clutch. Outside storage that isn't your vehicle is pretty nice too. Any concerns with it sloping towards your camper in a heavy rain?

nah it just runs off onto the ground...nothing actually comes near our door or vents.  our issue we found is that if it rains enough, the roof sags a bit in the middle and puddles up.  the only way to get it to drain is lower one of the poles and help it drain off.  not ideal, and a common problem but workable and still keeps our stuff dry.

[JPolen01]

That table is trick! Love the awning/mobile screened in porch.

[ScottyB]

we decided on a campground in Cherokee NC that was staying to a 50% capacity for the sake of social distancing.  we just had to get out...between job stress, kid being bored and annoying, temps being perfect up in the mountains and just being sick of walking the same sidewalks every day.  initial weather reports looked not great, potential rain every day.  turns out you really don't bother trusting the weather report in the smokies any more than you'd trust a weather vane to tell you which way the birds are flying.  

got in on Monday, stayed until Friday.  we had rain just after setting up Monday night, and then that was about it aside from 2 little 5 minute showers throughout the week.  i found that the hatch leaks a little when its up and covered in water...appears the water is running back down the hatch and forcing its way back up through the hurricane hinge.  nothing horrendous, just some drops but i'm OCD about water getting in the camper and i'm fixing it this week with a thin rubber sheet over the hinge to keep it from happening again.

we had no issues with power - we had an outlet at the campsite and it kept us topped off regardless of how much we ran the fan or the lights, so that was good.  the Yeti kept our stuff cold for 4 nights on 30lbs of ice with about another 8 lbs to spare when we got home.  pulled great, we had no travel issues and did about 450 miles out and back.  

pupper slept in the screen room.  found out he can weasel his way out by forcing the zippers open, thankfully i had some vise grips on hand to keep the zippers locked shut the next night!

getting in on Monday.  right on the river!  no neighbors...we had the entire campground block to ourselves.


the full gypsy camp.  screen room did a decent job of giving us a place to dry things, keep gear, and put our chairs when the bugs got bitey, and the big dome tent kept our picnic table dry.  those things break down and travel in the camper when they're stuffed away in their bags.


have to tilt the roof of the awning to let it drain when it rains hard.  the only downfall but not a big deal.


i immediately got to work.


as did the boy


the neighborhood scenery wasn't bad.





found a few of these guys


funny story here.  we're sitting grilling bratworsts after a slow day fishing.  a local (Cherokee Native) drives up and comes into our camp holding a big rubbermaid bin.  I'm thinking....uh hey?  crap, did I do something to upset the locals?  what's going on....

he goes "hey, i love to catch fish but i'm not big on cleaning them.  i caught too many today and just wanted to see if you want some.  do you want them all?  take all you want."  there's like 8 enormous trout in there.  i tried to offer him firewood or anything i could think of in exchange but he just wanted the fish gone.  so we grabbed 3 biggins and cleaned em right there on the creek.  straight into foil with lemon/butter and it was fantastic.


some of our other neighbors:



on the way out on the last day.  it was exactly what we hoped - an adventure.  


we're off to the coast soon.  will report back with how island camping goes.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Pictures arent working! Would love to see this; we want to get out for a camping trip soon before the RV sells.

[ScottyB]

weird...everything shows up for me?

[Apoc]

Pics work for me too.

We're supposed to be van camping for a week in state parks at the end of the month, but ~60% of our campgrounds still are not open for overnight... including the two we made reservations at last November. I'm probably going to hurt someone or myself or both if that doesn't pan out.

[ScottyB]

I'm probably going to hurt someone or myself or both if that doesn't pan out.

i feel this on a personal level.

its a privileged thing to say, but i can't deal with surburbia for extended periods.  

when we got back my wife and i were different people.  you wouldn't think 4 days next to a stream in a remote valley would change you so much, but it does.  100% worth it, and no ragrerts.

[ScottyB]

catching up from a journey we took that i forgot to post about.

we made a run for the coast mid June.  its been a longstanding tradition every year that we join family at the beach for a week and obviously those plans were erased this year due to the COVID risk.  my son in particular loves the beach and that vacation is the only time of the year he gets to enjoy it.  we decided the camper was a chance for us to go do our own trip, in a new way, away from the typical hotel or rental home.  we knew we were taking a chance with visiting a sub-tropical island in June in a non-airconditioned camper, but the hell with it.  turns out in a massive stroke of luck, we had unseasonably cool weather.  Low 80's during the day, mid 60s at night.  don't know how it worked out like that but we're sure glad it did.

we had a chance to visit Jekyll Island here in GA a few years ago and loved it.  really quiet, well maintained place that is essentially a big nature park.  we noticed they had a campground and kept that info in the back of our minds, and realized now was a great time to check it out.  

i'm absolutely not attracted to most campgrounds that i would normally describe as "RV Parking Lots", where everybody fits in a slot and the view is a slab of motorhome to each side of you.  Jekyll's campground is borderline that, yet it was really peaceful, under a canopy of incredible live oaks, and spaced out enough you felt like you had room to breathe.  i thoroughly enjoyed it and the access to biking trails and interesting beaches was fantastic.  

a shot of the entrance (this is us leaving, but you get the point).  we had a pretty easy ride, and cruising down I-95 at about 75 the teardrop did just fine.  you'll notice we added bike racks to the top!  i bought these Yakima Aero Raptors used for cheap, did a little refurb work and added our own lock cores.  i also had to get some larger bar mounts made for mounting off road lights, to mount one rack to the passenger side where the bar is too large for Yakima mounts (the rack has 2 different sized crossbars that slide one into the other so you can adjust the width to your vehicle).  ah the fun of having to find custom solutions for your peiced-together camper....anyway we're glad we took them.  chucked our son's little bike in the 4Runner and i bet we probably did 10 or 20 miles on the trails.

the setup.  no need for a screen room this time, we didn't have any bug problems and the pup was boarded because his fur + sand and ocean water would be a complete mess.  we did bring a box fan and plugged it into our extra outlet, and made hanging out under the awning really pleasant.  after touring the campground, aside from the tents, i can tell you we were without a doubt, the smallest camping rig there!  made for a lot of fun conversations.  people were very cool and we generally kept our distance while talking.  

have a look at those trees!  spanish moss everywhere.  truly a unique experience.  you could bike for days around this place.  my wife said it felt like touring Jurassic Park.  



Driftwood Beach on the north end of the island is probably the only place of its kind on the east coast.  can you imagine having to tell someone you had a surfing accident where you ran into a tree?


how weird is it that these were everywhere, AND the only shells on the beach at all?  strange.

its a natural rule of law that any dinner tastes better over hot coals.  

the beauty of the marshes....



if you can go, do it sometime.  i'd recommend the campground too, they do a nice job with it and the sites towards the back are quiet and pretty, and you can't beat the access to trails.

camper performed flawlessly.  i was nervous about all the weight on the rack and stability at highway speeds but things worked as they should have.  we dipped a bit in MPG's with the bikes on there, they make more drag than i'd expected but otherwise you wouldn't know they were there.  still love that awning and would recommend it to anyone building a small camper like this.

posting this in hindsight, i'm really glad we went when we did.  as of the last 3-4 weeks the COVID cases have exploded down here and we would have had to bail entirely if we'd settled on a later July or August attempt.

[Apoc]

Reminds me of our camping adventure earlier this month. I'll see your Spanish moss and raise you evergreen trees!

[ScottyB]

I'll see your Spanish moss and raise you evergreen trees!

love it though.  gotta get out west sometime soon.

[CaptainHenreh]

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[Senor_Taylor]

No mention of how you're GRM famous????