Truck Shopping - Update: now with build, bikes, and colorado

[I_squared_r]

Bought it off Amazon. Works well for not much money. I have it strapped in there just to keep it from flapping around. There are 2 carry on size bags, 2 child suitcases, a "pack-and-play", and a few other things in it as shown.

It's a heavy canvas with a "rubberized" coating on the outside. The zippers aren't super strong, but they are well covered with the "weather flap"

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M3P828/

Mine is the 59x24x24 size.

I was thinking to build a slide for a Roam Adventure 95L, but this morning I found the Du-ha storage tote and slide which is exactly what I was thinking to build. I wasn't going to buy it because it was $420 +tax at every place. But someone posted on the tacoma forum, 20% off leonardaccessories.com .. "hmm, i'll see if the code works.." the code worked, free shipping, no tax. $331. This thing is going to be great because it locks to the bed with the slide and it should have plenty of space for my camping gear and misc boat stuff. Plus I can keep it installed throughout the winter. I'm really excited about this lol sliding tote on the left and sliding fridge on the right. Oh, and this tote has mounts for rifles. Maybe I should buy another AR15 haha

 

[2kwik4u]

@I_squared_r That looks like a much nicer setup than a simple dry bag (cost bears that out as well).

I think I found a solution to my over bed rack setup. Found some polished 3x2 eliptical SS tubing in the back of the fabrication facility. Apparently it's leftover from a job a few years back. Going to have the guys laser cut and form some bracket for me, and make a custom rack. Then I just need to piece together the bike trays to hold the bikes and I'll be good to go.

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress.

 

[I_squared_r]

@I_squared_r That looks like a much nicer setup than a simple dry bag (cost bears that out as well).

I think I found a solution to my over bed rack setup. Found some polished 3x2 eliptical SS tubing in the back of the fabrication facility. Apparently it's leftover from a job a few years back. Going to have the guys laser cut and form some bracket for me, and make a custom rack. Then I just need to piece together the bike trays to hold the bikes and I'll be good to go.

I'll keep you guys posted on the progress.

Do you have bike trays yet? I have the thule sidearms that came with my bedrack. The previous owner had the fabricator weld simple 1"x1" square tubing off the bedrack.

 

[2kwik4u]

Do you have bike trays yet? I have the thule sidearms that came with my bedrack. The previous owner had the fabricator weld simple 1"x1" square tubing off the bedrack.

I don't ahve trays yet. Not sure where I'm headed with those to be honest.

I had a couple different ones on my Focus years ago (this was ~2012 or so). I liked the idea of leaving the front wheel on, but wasn't really comfy with how much her bike "wobbled" while in that position. My fork mounts felt much more secure, but then I had to find a spot to put the wheel, and it was another step in transporting it.



We still have both of those bikes I'll need to transport. The 9yr old is getting a 24in Mt Bike (most likely a Cannondale Trail) for Christmas this year, and we have a small 18in Trek that will need to go as well once the toddler gets up to speed (still a couple years out on that one). I'm hoping to get a 29in Mt Bike in the spring (Hoping for a Cannondale Habit). So, ultimately I'm looking to get 4 bikes on the rack at any one time WITHOUT the tent, and probably two bikes with. I think I would most prefer to have all the wheels left on all the bikes during transport.

Been looking at getting a hardshell RTT for this very reason. The Roofnest Falcon XL has my attention currently. I like the Condor XL for the size, but not sure it will accommodate another rack system on top of it.

 

[I_squared_r]

I recommend the thule sidearms. The arm goes on top of the tire between the fork and the wheel, and it ratchets down tight. I like everything about the rack except that I have to remember the bikes are on top. There is actually 1 bridge near my home that would wreck the bike. And with the bike hanging high on the side of the bed, I have hit a tree and a "Alternate side parking" sign. Now I keep the bike on the driver side rack to avoid hitting things..

I would like to demo the cannondale habit. I have the cannondale jekyll and i'm wondering if i'd be faster on the habit. The jekyll has a ton of suspension travel and it feels great going downhill, but a lot of the trails here would benefit from acceleration and improved climbing. I was thinking to buy a small sized trail bike that I can ride and lend to riders. But now I met a girl that is 5'-0" tall and she should be on a XS. Kind of ruined my plans haha because any bike for me, 5'7", is surely too large for a 5'0" rider.

EDIT: What about a hitch rack? I had a Yakima 4-bike that I sold recently. It sold for $200

 

[2kwik4u]

I recommend the thule sidearms. The arm goes on top of the tire between the fork and the wheel, and it ratchets down tight. I like everything about the rack except that I have to remember the bikes are on top. There is actually 1 bridge near my home that would wreck the bike. And with the bike hanging high on the side of the bed, I have hit a tree and a "Alternate side parking" sign. Now I keep the bike on the driver side rack to avoid hitting things..

Best friend ripped a BEAUTIFUL Soma Smoothie custom built bike off the top of his Golf as he pulled into his garage. He was literally sick to his stomach over it. Ended up not hurting the bike beyond bending he handle bars (surprised the carbon fork survived), but it shattered BOTH rear windows and bent the sheet metal up around the rack mounts pretty good. Ended up being a shade under $5k in damage to the bike/car/house combo, and we only moving at 5-6mph or so.

I would like to demo the cannondale habit. I have the cannondale jekyll and i'm wondering if i'd be faster on the habit. The jekyll has a ton of suspension travel and it feels great going downhill, but a lot of the trails here would benefit from acceleration and improved climbing. I was thinking to buy a small sized trail bike that I can ride and lend to riders. But now I met a girl that is 5'-0" tall and she should be on a XS. Kind of ruined my plans haha because any bike for me, 5'7", is surely too large for a 5'0" rider.

I've done VERY little mountain biking. Same friend that crashed the Soma had an old StumpJumper he kept around so he lend to friends to ride. It was a great hardtail and I spent a few summers riding that before he moved away and took it with him. I also demo'd a Lightspeed Sewanee a few years back, and the full suspension and Titanium frame just rode wonderfully. I remember feeling like a rock star on that bike despite my relative lack of talent. I would LOVE, and I mean absolutely LOVE to build a Moots Baxter 29. It really looks like the "do it all" bike that I really want. At $3,500 for just a frameset it's outside my budget.

I went looking at Cannondale for a mountain bike since I've been on one since the late '90's. Started with an R400, moved up to an R1000, then finally on to my CAAD9 you see above. I've spent more miles than I care to admit in the saddle of that bike, including two long distance (700mi, and 1,200mi) tours. The Habit looked like a decent FS bike that had enough travel to cover me on most of the cross country type trails I would ride. I've lost my riding buddy (moved to CA), so I'll be riding by myself, or with the 9yr old next summer, so the trail difficulty won't be super high, and the speed will never be aggressive either.

EDIT: What about a hitch rack? I had a Yakima 4-bike that I sold recently. It sold for $200

I've considered a hitch rack a few times. I really like that they come in enough sizes to cover ALL the bikes, and the idea of moving it between my truck and my wifes Rogue is nice. I always felt they were "sketchy" compared to roof racks, and I don't like that they block the taillights most times. Also, won't let me take the boat, bikes, and tent all at the same time, which honestly might not be that often. Have to see how things progress as the toddler becomes more and more independant. I haven't completely ruled those out, but they're not super high on my list.

 

[I_squared_r]

Some things came this week. The Du-ha storage tote is a perfect fit. It has wheels on both sides, a lot of space, and good theft deterrents. I'll go tomorrow to my brother to help me finish installing it and cut the bed mat around the slide.

I ordered a Seaflo kit $73 amazon warehouse deals. SEAFLO 3.0 GPM Washdown Kit 12V Distributor

And now i'm shopping for the final piece: a on board air system for the air suspension, and to fill tires. I'm thinking about a full Viair kit like below and then adding a pneumatic switch to raise/lower the rear.

Medium Duty Onboard Air System

VIAIR’s Medium Duty Onboard Air System is a pre-packaged compressed air solution that provides a 33% duty cycle 325C compressor, 2.5 gallon air tank, and all components needed to install basic vehicle-based pneumatics.

www.viaircorp.com

And of course all this will need power, so I took some measurements and putting together more things that my brother needs to cut on the CNC.. This would fit in the little cubby on the right side next to the 110V outlet.

So im almost there to finishing the build. I'm not trying to go any further than this.. I need to leave money to afford the actual trips!

 

[I_squared_r]

Best friend ripped a BEAUTIFUL Soma Smoothie custom built bike off the top of his Golf as he pulled into his garage. He was literally sick to his stomach over it. Ended up not hurting the bike beyond bending he handle bars (surprised the carbon fork survived), but it shattered BOTH rear windows and bent the sheet metal up around the rack mounts pretty good. Ended up being a shade under $5k in damage to the bike/car/house combo, and we only moving at 5-6mph or so.



I've done VERY little mountain biking. Same friend that crashed the Soma had an old StumpJumper he kept around so he lend to friends to ride. It was a great hardtail and I spent a few summers riding that before he moved away and took it with him. I also demo'd a Lightspeed Sewanee a few years back, and the full suspension and Titanium frame just rode wonderfully. I remember feeling like a rock star on that bike despite my relative lack of talent. I would LOVE, and I mean absolutely LOVE to build a Moots Baxter 29. It really looks like the "do it all" bike that I really want. At $3,500 for just a frameset it's outside my budget.

I went looking at Cannondale for a mountain bike since I've been on one since the late '90's. Started with an R400, moved up to an R1000, then finally on to my CAAD9 you see above. I've spent more miles than I care to admit in the saddle of that bike, including two long distance (700mi, and 1,200mi) tours. The Habit looked like a decent FS bike that had enough travel to cover me on most of the cross country type trails I would ride. I've lost my riding buddy (moved to CA), so I'll be riding by myself, or with the 9yr old next summer, so the trail difficulty won't be super high, and the speed will never be aggressive either.



I've considered a hitch rack a few times. I really like that they come in enough sizes to cover ALL the bikes, and the idea of moving it between my truck and my wifes Rogue is nice. I always felt they were "sketchy" compared to roof racks, and I don't like that they block the taillights most times. Also, won't let me take the boat, bikes, and tent all at the same time, which honestly might not be that often. Have to see how things progress as the toddler becomes more and more independant. I haven't completely ruled those out, but they're not super high on my list.

I haven't tried a lot of different bikes, but my Cannondale feels great. The carbon fiber looks almost as good as a Santa Cruz and Yeti, but I have to be honest, bikes are supposed to be pretty for the 1st season and after that they all look beat. So putting aside all the superficial things like fancy carbon fiber and attention to detail that the higher end brands have, the Cannondale was a great value. I was able to get my Jekyll 3 on closeout for $3000 with upgraded Zee brakes and it has a similar build to the $4500 Santa Cruz Nomad. Those higher end brands dont discount bikes like the big brands Cannondale, Specialized, and Trek. You may want to open up your options, wait out the covid rush, and find a discounted full suspension trail bike.. Like Cannondale Habit, Specialized Stumpjumper, and others that you can add to your search. I was fortunate that i'm 5'-7" and can fit a size small bike because they are always the previous year leftovers.

 

[I_squared_r]

I was a little busy on the previous weekends. Installed:
Air bags
Bilstein 5100 struts (lifted approx 2")
Fridge and storage tote in the bed

The front struts were easy to install. I used a jack under the control arm and was able to leave the strut mount bolted while I dropped the strut+spring. I tried to mark the control arms and get camber close, but it needed an alignment. Still not happy with it.. I think the tech didn't have the wheel 100% straight before aligning the toe. I have to bring it back soon

I have a air compressor kit coming and I have some CNC stuff happening. Almost to the finish line, but it will have to wait some time. I'm going to brazil next week and then after i'm seriously thinking about going to colombia to work remotely for some time. Direct flight to Bogota for only $320

 

[Bluewater272]

Slick setup - love the storage and refrigerator. You'll like the Viair on-board air. I mounted mine up under my truck with a quick connect mounted to the back next to the license plate. So nice to just plug in the hose and air up.

 

[I_squared_r]

Slick setup - love the storage and refrigerator. You'll like the Viair on-board air. I mounted mine up under my truck with a quick connect mounted to the back next to the license plate. So nice to just plug in the hose and air up.

What size compressor did you get? I was being cheap and saved $80 with the smaller 325c. I'm going to spend the beginning of 2021 putting money back where it was supposed to be lol but on a lighter note.. I designed this switch plate that will go next to the fridge. I already had 3D printed a prototype and it looks good.

 

[Bluewater272]

I got the 450c with the tank. Fills the tank in about 90 seconds, and keeps up reasonably well when airing up all 4 tires. That panel looks awesome.

 

[I_squared_r]

I got back from Brazil a few days ago. I could've stayed and worked remotely, but I was kind of missing NY. Wrong. I got off the plane, felt that cold air and I immediately missed Brazil.. I'll give it 1 or 2 weeks and then decide if I will go back. I went to a crowded bar in downtown rio de janeiro and everything felt normal. It's been at least 10+ days since that bar so I am ok lol. I did a lot of mountain biking there. Beaches. Eating. I met some friends there. Went to a friend's bike store/cafe.

Anyways, my brother CNC cut the plate while I was away. I sprayed 1/8" aluminum sheet with black and then cut out everything. It looks like the router jumped on the "O" but I like it.. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to trucks. I'm waiting on more parts now.

I drove from Rio de Janeiro to Macae typically it is 2.5 hours but it took 6 hours in traffic. I was driving a manual transmission and really I missed my Tacoma and it's automatic transmission lol

 

[I_squared_r]

I finished the build. If I had done it again, I would change some things. But I am very happy with the results. Now I leave in a few days to Brazil and will return when spring is here.