DetroitDarin
Scratching a 10 year Itch
A couple weeks ago I was part of a 15-truck/jeep group in the Ozarks; camping and wheeling. While this is not a comprehensive report, it was a great weekend and one where I decided to live in the moment vs capture everything.
My girlfriend and i camped on a sleep platform in the bed, elevated above a bed-slide. Power comes from an EcoFlow River 600 (576w/h). 12v fans for cooling and the LED bulbs for ambiance.
Two vids of varying interest to others -
First, is my truck coming back after my first sorta deep-ish water crossing in my newish-to-me Tacoma (had it about 8 months so far). We were the 3rd or 4th truck of the group through the river - though those trucks (all with 35" or bigger tires) faced the water when it could have been 8-10" deeper I suppose. As I dont have a snorkel, but my aftermarket intake draws air right at the front of the hood, where it meets the grill, i wanted to ensure i was breathing dry air. Also helping, my girlfriend pointing out the brown we could barely make out in the green water - the brown river stones; they served as a guide to know i wasn't getting too deep.
Here's a tranquil version of that same river area
Second video
Following a new friend up a muddy bypass to a larger obstacle. Off camber and up hill slightly to the right as you can see; he'd get going and when the spinning started he'd slide down to the left. He and i both use the same make, model (Wildpeak MT) and size tires - 33", but his are 11.5" wide compared to my truck's 10" wide versions. We both were around/under 20psi from what i recall. I was at about 18.
One thing i'll say about the group I was with - Nobody TRULY Cared what kind of rig others had. There was typical jeep vs toyota comments and snarky remarks around camp; good-natured ribbing. But as you can see at the end of the video, the guy was cheering me on, for how well I made it through. I think a couple things worked in my favor for this part of the trail -
First was me watching the lines he was taking and choosing a slightly different approach. Second was my truck's long wheelbase which tends to (on short obstacles) keep the back end out of the mud until the front end is through the mud - thus the truck can push-pull at the perfect times.
My girlfriend and i camped on a sleep platform in the bed, elevated above a bed-slide. Power comes from an EcoFlow River 600 (576w/h). 12v fans for cooling and the LED bulbs for ambiance.
Two vids of varying interest to others -
First, is my truck coming back after my first sorta deep-ish water crossing in my newish-to-me Tacoma (had it about 8 months so far). We were the 3rd or 4th truck of the group through the river - though those trucks (all with 35" or bigger tires) faced the water when it could have been 8-10" deeper I suppose. As I dont have a snorkel, but my aftermarket intake draws air right at the front of the hood, where it meets the grill, i wanted to ensure i was breathing dry air. Also helping, my girlfriend pointing out the brown we could barely make out in the green water - the brown river stones; they served as a guide to know i wasn't getting too deep.
Here's a tranquil version of that same river area
Second video
Following a new friend up a muddy bypass to a larger obstacle. Off camber and up hill slightly to the right as you can see; he'd get going and when the spinning started he'd slide down to the left. He and i both use the same make, model (Wildpeak MT) and size tires - 33", but his are 11.5" wide compared to my truck's 10" wide versions. We both were around/under 20psi from what i recall. I was at about 18.
One thing i'll say about the group I was with - Nobody TRULY Cared what kind of rig others had. There was typical jeep vs toyota comments and snarky remarks around camp; good-natured ribbing. But as you can see at the end of the video, the guy was cheering me on, for how well I made it through. I think a couple things worked in my favor for this part of the trail -
First was me watching the lines he was taking and choosing a slightly different approach. Second was my truck's long wheelbase which tends to (on short obstacles) keep the back end out of the mud until the front end is through the mud - thus the truck can push-pull at the perfect times.
