I want to start camping again. (The unintentional build)

You have to be careful with Yakima racks and their load rating. The weight of their product and added accessories factors in. I bought, and subsequently returned, an Overhaul HD system because of it. You don't fully discover their rating system until you review all the paperwork that comes with the product. For me, after everything was added in, I was left with well under 100lbs of carrying capacity off road which was confirmed by their dodgy tech support. Not worth it for $1000+.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/kayak-rack-options.72515/#post-1862816

 

@AzureNightmare I hate to break it to you but Roof Nest had a $200 off sale this past weekend. Even tempted me.

 

They are certainly proud of their products.

 

I saw that and posted it in the sale thread that was up for the 4th. Good looking out, though. I appreciate it.

I'm just not in a position to buy right now. Makes it sting a little less. I hope to be able to acquire a rack between now and black Friday, and then maybe they'll have another sale. Might take longer than that, too.

 

Failures look like undercut welds and corrosion to me. Outside of impact wrenches and breaker bars, overtightening should not break good welds on quality steel.

 

I haven't read EVERY comment so not sure if this has been mentioned but if you're considering running a Decked system you may consider going with a tall rack. From personal experience, I am running the Relentless Fabrication 9" bed bars and it is tough to crawl in the bed to reach things due to the rack being so low. The relentless bed bars are great if you want a RTT even with your cab line though. A Decked system would make that issue worse unless you have no desire to crawl around in the bed. But again from personal experience, something always seems to fall way back in the bed! I personally plan to upgrade eventually to a full height rack and hard shell RTT so I will be definitely be keeping an eye on this thread.

PFA

 

After lots of research, budget analysis, back and forth, arguing with myself, and doubt... I think I'm 90% decided.

Bed rack - Cali Raised 10 inch

• I've looked closely at the mounting and it doest appear to have anything sketchy, though it looks like it'll be a b*tch to assemble.
• @Squatting Pigeon has endorsed it, and touted its quality.
• Same guy said its not hard to remove if needed.

RTT - Roofnest Condor XL

• The iKampler is just so much more expensive, and may well be higher quality... but is it $1000 higher quality?
• The RN Condor will fit better when mounted below the roof line for better MPGs. (I swear on all that is holy, if some asshat tries to turn this into an MPG thread I'll ask the mods to reply ban them from the thread, or nuke the thread altogether.)
• I think the window awnings on the RN are a better design.
• The RN comes with lights, shoe bag, and gear bag that are all upcharges on the iKamper.
• Multiple complaints about the sleeping pad in the iKamper being to hard and requiring supplemental padding, and that's more dollars.
• A member on here pointed out a flaw in the iKamper design that caused his tent to have holes worn in the fabric during normal use. Awaiting news on how this plays out.

Storage - El Cheap Totes

• This is something that can be readily upgraded, and cheapo totes are easily repurposed after upgrading.

Camp Stove - Camp Chef Explorer 2 Burner Stove

• Small enough to be easily packed, large enough to easily cook for many if needed.
• Can get it with my Scheels points. Who doesn't like free stuff?

 

I like your thinking. If I were to pull the trigger, I think my setup would be very similar. For now, I will live vicariously through watching your build. Good luck

 

Now the saving begins. I'll be watching for sales on the rack and the tent. Might see if I can get one or the other used, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Great thread. I am looking at rack options to eventually hold a tent over my retractable cover. I prefer to keep some flexibility in how I use my bed, so I have gone the totes route. I have lots of them, mostly in two sizes of Planos. Here is a small bit of info you may find helpful:

• Plano 1919 trunks (the 108qt ones with the wheels on one end) fit very snug three across between the wheel wells. Or…

• Plano 1719 (68qt) will fit three across between the wheel wells with room for either a blue 5gal Coleman water jug or a marine battery box in front of one of the wheel wells. If you’re like me, it’s very pleasing to utilize this space. The downside to putting a water jug there is lack of access. Here’s a pic of what I mean with the water jug (there are 3 x 1719 across up against the front of the bed):

Ultimately, that space the water jug is in is where the 2nd battery to power my fridge landed.

Two more notes on the trunks:

• Both of these models feature an unbroken channel around the lip of the lid so you can add your own weatherstripping. Not all Planos do.

• I went with different colors for ease of identifying contents:
—green: camp kitchen,
—gray: tools and lighting,
—black x 2: tent and sleeping gear.

 

Sweet info! Thanks, man.

 

Two other things I forgot; Roofnest ships free in the lower 48, and if I find a smoking deal on an iKamper Skycamp 2 I will snap it up. I really like the iKamper with the rocky black coating because you don't have to worry about the shell degrading as badly.

I'll have to create a junk email and FB account to check the market place once I'm in a position to buy.

 

Nice! Yeah that helps a ton. I can see how stout that thing is. Definitely my first choice, even though Roofnest recommends 3 cross bars for weight distribution.

 

Leitner Classic ACS rack with Falcon XL RTT. Please help me not click today.
https://youtu.be/l6WMevNLQNY

 

If you've got the funds and only want a 2 man tent, 100% good way to go. Honestly, if I were doing a 2 man only, I'd probably pony up for a GFC.

 

For sure - $5,150 ($1,450 rack + $3,700 RTT) brings on RV trailer considerations. But then again, 5150 was one helluva great VanHalen album (RIP, Edward)!

Thing with GoFast is, all orders are on hold. I think Falcon XL was an immediate go last time I checked.

 

Ah, I hadn't dug into it too deeply as I'm not ready to purchase yet. I was just getting pricing figured for each. I plan to keep an eye out for gently used units, and sales as well.

 

Same boat here with the purchase planning. Want the tall rack for other things, though. Leitner also has lead times on the Classic ACS, but the Forged (+$400 as you noted previously) is an immediate ship. Any option will require me to fab up some new T-slot base plates for my Retrax top, so… it will be project as per usual for me. None of the manufacturers seem motivated to accommodate this “custom” setup.

 

Yep. The forged bumps up the load capacity and doesn't require front braces either. I like the leitner, and if I were going above the roofline I think I'd have to do that one. It's really well thought out.

 

60% of the time, “sexy” costs you every time…

 

The Plano 1719 (68qt) are great options for storage, not the best IMO but they work and do so well for a reasonable price. I can tell you from experience, you can fit 4 in the bed, 2 stacked 2 high, and have room in between them to fit 2 - 7 gallon Reliance water jugs stacked and a ROAM adventure water cooler. I've attached an older picture of fitment but you will get the idea. The height of the caliraised 10" rack is close to my 9" bars so it will give you an idea on clearance. I am also running a tool box in the front of my bed that kills a lot of room.

If you're considering the Plano 1919 (108qt) I was unable to stack them 2 high under my bed rack but you may be able to with a 10" rack, just another thing to check into.

I'm currently looking into new storage options but have yet to find an option I'm truly satisfied with without spending a small fortune!

 

That's great info to have. Thank you!

Totally hear you on the small fortune for storage. Decked and the Leitner storage solutions are appealing, but very costly. Especially when compared to your set up that, quite frankly, will hold more and is more customizable. You can replace a lot of totes for what the sexy options cost.

 

I've been looking over that pic for the last 10 minutes. I see a propane tank and a waterport in there, too. Looks really well thought out. Do you have a build thread for all that?

 

I don't..... I've been too lazy to start one so far. LOL
This is an older pic, I've actually swapped the propane and water port with one another and changed a few things up. I'm always tinkering on it trying to make it better and more user friendly. I'll be heading out on a trip this weekend and will try to get some updated pics, it's the same basic principal just changed a few things and equipment around.

I'm on instagram as Jonnys_Tundra with more photos and info though if you're ever on there.

 

Love the setup. I'm curious what you weigh with full water jugs, a full tank of gas, and everyone in the truck.

 

I’m curious about payload too, those jugs will be 112# full of water, full gas tank ~300#, etc. @Jonnynewton909, we’d love more pics and inventory info here - I’m trying to figure out what lightweight/weather+roadproof items I can put on top of my bed cover (only holds up to 200#) versus the rest of it, which would be pretty well protected underneath.

 

That's on my list of things to do! I've calculated it once before but I need to go have it weighed, it's heavy though!