mountain biking+camping focused 4runner setup?

[nomad_games]

Wondering what other folks are doing for MTB-trip-focused builds. I’m in a 19 TRD ORP 4runner I bought new 2 years ago. The first 6 months it was a Denver corporate office commuter and weekend ski vehicle with occasional Moab trips. Then the pandemic and a layoff happened and it spent a year as a wandering home/cross country road trip/offroading/wilderness access vehicle for me and my 90 pound dog. I built a simple bed platform in it with a mattress, did a basic lift, bigger AT tires, and a cargo box up top.

so now I’m settled. I’m living in the Tetons in eastern Idaho and I don’t plan to move again any time soon. So currently it’s my winter daily driver/get up the ski hill 4-5 times a week/take me and my dog to work in a foot of snow truck. Also, it’s my “drive 8 hours to the desert in southern Utah and camp and mountain bike for a few days to a week, every month or two” vehicle. And in summer, my drive to mountain bike 3-5 times a week truck.

My current setup is as mentioned above. Rear seats removed, simple bed platform (storage behind front seats under platform, no other additional storage), plus a hitch mount bike rack. Cargo box up top if someone else comes on the trip with me, otherwise I try to leave it off to save the MPG hit it causes. For daily driving with the dog, and for skiing, it’s fine. For summer MTB, it’s ok. The hitch works fine. Not as well as throwing it over a tailgate pad, but it’s fine. For trips to the desert, it kinda blows. It’s fine for me as a long road trip vehicle (except the softex seats get HOT). It’s great as an off-roader. Sleeping in the back is…ok. Obviously I have to crawl in through the door and then can’t sit up when I’m inside. But the mattress is cozy and I sleep decently in there.

The thing that really drives me up a wall is moving my stuff around at every stop. I try to keep it so that I have one side of the bed clear of stuff, but between my biking gear, extra clothes, bike pump/tools, blankets/sleeping bag, pillows, cooler of food, large bag(s) of dry food and cooking implements, and stuff to make fires with, I end up having to pack and unpack the car every time I stop. Move all the stuff to the front when i sleep, move it to the back for driving. Take the front wheel off the bike(s) and put them in the car when I park in a populated area so they don't get stolen, etc. It's annoying AF.

I don't want to build a raised platform with storage under it because I already feel cramped for sleeping. Putting the cargo box on top kills my MPG, and only sort of solves the moving stuff around. I'm considering everything from getting a smaller cheaper car that does better on gas and just staying in hotels to building some storage in the back somehow to getting a trailer to selling it and getting a van to god knows what else.

Thoughts? anyone figured out a good system with the 4runner?

 

[jaxyaks]

Would something like this work for you? Bike rack and cargo box/basket option on the hitch

EXO

The Yakima EXO System is a hitch mount cargo carrier that revolutionizes the trailer hitch, turning it into a do-anything, go-anywhere multi-tool.

yakima.com

 

[SFP]

What about the bike over locker set up from Yakima for your hitch?

Yakima EXO System

 

[phsycle]

Would something like this work for you? Bike rack and cargo box/basket option on the hitch

EXO

The Yakima EXO System is a hitch mount cargo carrier that revolutionizes the trailer hitch, turning it into a do-anything, go-anywhere multi-tool.

yakima.com

That’s pretty cool. I’m not fond of roof boxes or racks. This seems like an excellent option.

 

[nomad_games]

What about the bike over locker set up from Yakima for your hitch?

Yakima EXO System

that might work, actually. I'll look into that.

 

[nomad_games]

that might work, actually. I'll look into that.

Holy sheet those things are expensive. It’s like $2k plus for the two level box and bike rack system.

 

[phsycle]

Bro. Every set up, from budget DIY to built earthroamers have their own issues. It’s all a compromise.
You want a midsize that’s good offroad, with a cargo room of a full-size truck, and an interior configuration of a van.

Let me know when you find that magical rig.

Gotta figure out what you value more then go from there. I have a family so full-size truck is my answer. But in my single days, my 4runner was great.

 

[nomad_games]

Bro. Every set up, from budget DIY to built earthroamers have their own issues. It’s all a compromise.
You want a midsize that’s good offroad, with a cargo room of a full-size truck, and an interior configuration of a van.

Let me know when you find that magical rig.

Gotta figure out what you value more then go from there. I have a family so full-size truck is my answer. But in my single days, my 4runner was great.

Oh, that isn’t what I meant. I just meant it’s expensive for a rack. And no, I don’t need a midsize with the interior of a van etc etc etc. I bought the 4runner when my life was different. It’s just what I have right now. I’m not doing as much offroading as I used to and it’s not as much of a priority. I probably actually should switch to truck or a van again and probably eventually will. The rack might work for now. Just didn’t expect it to be so much.

 

[phsycle]

Oh, that isn’t what I meant. I just meant it’s expensive for a rack. And no, I don’t need a midsize with the interior of a van etc etc etc. I bought the 4runner when my life was different. It’s just what I have right now. I’m not doing as much offroading as I used to and it’s not as much of a priority. I probably actually should switch to truck or a van again and probably eventually will. The rack might work for now. Just didn’t expect it to be so much.

Everything is crazy expensive right now. Not a great time to be buying anything.

If offroad nimbleness isn’t an issue, no reason not to get an extended cab 1/2 ton. It’d get better MPG than the 4runner and longer range.

 

[nomad_games]

Sure. I’ll prob trade the 4runner for a Tundra or other truck with a camper or RTT at some point in the next year or two, but for now I just want a less irritating solution for my stuff for the desert trip I have coming up in a couple weeks. $2k for a rack is out of my budget at the moment so maybe I’ll just get some stacking totes or something. This particular trip has hotels paid for by work so it won’t be as much of an issue. It would help if I had a swing away bike rack at least. I used a Kuat rack this last trip and had to unpack the bikes to open the tailgate, which got tiresome.

 

[dman93]

We do many of the things you do, and finally got a van. Huge off-road with limited clearance, poor mpg, but sleeping inside (with a furnace!) and keeping the bikes hidden inside are worth it for us … most of the time. We still have our previous travel rig, a 5’ bed Tacoma so sleeping in the bed was only a one person option. But on the pickup which we used for several years, we cycled through having a shell, and RTT and finally settled on open bed with a soft rollup tonneau,so the bikes could go over the tailgate for short trips, and a hitch rack so we could fill the bed and cover it on longer trips.

The key was using a ground tent and not sleeping in the vehicle. Not suggesting you get a small pickup as the sleep outside the vehicle method works fine with the 4Runner too (I assume you can put a bike inside with your other gear if you removed the sleeping platform) but for us, the ground tent added a lot of flexibility. If there’s bears (or Death Valley burro’s) we can put everything in the vehicle and still sleep. If the best camp spot is not where we can park, we can squeeze the tent behind some boulders or on a patch of soft ground. Not great in wind and rain and snow, but everything’s a trade off. We also have a rooftop box that’s been on may cars for 25 years, but only add it if there’s a 3rd person along or other special needs like bikes AND skis on the same trip. Hate what it does for mpg and encourages over-packing.

 

[nomad_games]

We do many of the things you do, and finally got a van. Huge off-road with limited clearance, poor mpg, but sleeping inside (with a furnace!) and keeping the bikes hidden inside are worth it for us … most of the time. We still have our previous travel rig, a 5’ bed Tacoma so sleeping in the bed was only a one person option. But on the pickup which we used for several years, we cycled through having a shell, and RTT and finally settled on open bed with a soft rollup tonneau,so the bikes could go over the tailgate for short trips, and a hitch rack so we could fill the bed and cover it on longer trips.

The key was using a ground tent and not sleeping in the vehicle. Not suggesting you get a small pickup as the sleep outside the vehicle method works fine with the 4Runner too (I assume you can put a bike inside with your other gear if you removed the sleeping platform) but for us, the ground tent added a lot of flexibility. If there’s bears (or Death Valley burro’s) we can put everything in the vehicle and still sleep. If the best camp spot is not where we can park, we can squeeze the tent behind some boulders or on a patch of soft ground. Not great in wind and rain and snow, but everything’s a trade off. We also have a rooftop box that’s been on may cars for 25 years, but only add it if there’s a 3rd person along or other special needs like bikes AND skis on the same trip. Hate what it does for mpg and encourages over-packing.

word thanks. I used to have a lifted 91 E350 that could go most places my 4runner could go, but it got 8mpg and some dude at a gas station offered me twice what I paid for it, so I sold it. also I couldn't stand up in it and the suspension was insanely harsh, and it was incredibly loud on long road trips. TBH I've often wished I had kept it and did some noise insulation and a pop-top and some better suspension. It's definitely on my mind to maybe get another van. I'm pretty fond of sleeping in the vehicle, like to the point that I don't really even want a RTT, but maybe I'll try it out. I agree about the cargo box. I only put mine up there if i'm bringing my dog AND my girlfriend. the dog doesn't like traveling much anymore and the gf has kids, so it's usually just me.

curious how having the bikes up high like that on the Yakima double tier system affects the MPG. I borrowed a Yakima 6 bike vertical hanging hitch rack and it slaughtered my gas mileage. way worse than the 3 bike horizontal Kuat i'm using currently.

 

[counterbalance]

Is there more to that story? I am dying to know if you tossed him or her the E350's keys and just walked home from the gas station.

Couldn't agree more that it's all just a massive set of trade-offs. You could add a swing-away adapter to your current rack to make rear access easier, or maybe a front receiver ($150 or so) then mount the rack in front. I have a front receiver, but it feels weird (to me, at least) to see my bike lording over the hood like that.

 

[nomad_games]

Is there more to that story? I am dying to know if you tossed him or her the E350's keys and just walked home from the gas station.

Couldn't agree more that it's all just a massive set of trade-offs. You could add a swing-away adapter to your current rack to make rear access easier, or maybe a front receiver ($150 or so) then mount the rack in front. I have a front receiver, but it feels weird (to me, at least) to see my bike lording over the hood like that.

we met somewhere the next day at a bank and he bought it from me. I had another 4runner at the time, so it wasn't a big deal.

I borrowed a swingaway rack and it helped for sure. I don't think i'd want the bikes up front.

 

[Fishenough]

Built a prototype raised bed, built light and as low as possible, with plans to build a more solid system, with slides and covered with the light carpet like material. Decided to keep the template, it's light, easy to move and store, I definitely like the mileage with the light 4Runner. Our first trip 2 years ago, nothing on the roof, with camping and backpacking gear only, found I had slightly better mileage than my 2016 little Escape. Better than my 2016 Tacoma with a fully loaded box and canopy, with a carrier on the roof also. We have Yakamas on the roof and a swing away carrier, plus a couple of roof carriers and awning, but that comes and goes depending on our use.

Borrowed photo, but our next, or 2nd, backcountry vehicle may be a little Suzuki with a RTT. We found one camped on the remote beach this summer, with his stripped interior he had room for gear and 2 E bikes.

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