TGO - The Overlander Build

[emulous74]

The Mabett may be a good option for a Tailgate table?

Do you have to drill any holes for installation?

For the price, I don't think you can beat the Mabett v3 of their tailgate, it provides the most area for all your stuff and is a pretty solid unit. There are no holes to drill for the installation it uses existing holes on the tailgate door.

Sponsored

 

[wizardoforange]

Thanks. That's my inclination. I was a little worried about adding weight to the tailgate, but I think the Rock Slide Eng. solution and two 2 gallon Rotopax will be minimal.

 

[emulous74]

For those of you that are following along for the GFC Superlite, while not on my Bronco, but on my Bison, I finally slept in it and was very impressed.

Some good friends of mine are moving to Colorado and they asked me to help tow a trailer up there with them, so the Bison was the right choice. I mounted up three Leitner Designs cross bars to my RLD Canopy and mounted the Superlite and off I went to Colorado with the idea of camping on the way back.

My first night was outside of Great Sand Dunes National Park on some BLM land that I found through iOverlander:

It was windy (30-40 mph) and was supposed to get down to 32 degrees F that night with possible gusts to 60 mph, so all panels on the tent closed up and angled for the front of the tent to take most of the wind. With all the wind, I didn't even try to deploy the awning (OVS Nomadic 270), even though I though with the wall panels, it would be a nice reprieve from the wind. But I've had bad experience with a Rhino Rack Batwing and an Alu-cab awning bend support bars in heavy wind.

I put on some silk long underwear and slide into my sleeping bag. My pup was put into my truck as a ground tent for him would of been miserable with all the wind and cold. Overall the SuperLite did great and much better than I anticipated in such strong wind. The panels did a great job of keeping out all of the wind, yes it was cold in the tent with no insulation in the panels, but I was able to stay warm in my sleeping bag and get a decent nite sleep. The GFC mattress was really firm in the cold weather, but as I'm a side sleeper it still had enough give to be comfortable.

I was amazed how well it put up in the wind and gained a lot of respect for it. For an 80lb RTT it definitely exceeded my expectations. Setup is not as easy as other wedge RTT that have two clips and struts to open and close. As the Superlite has zippers on three sides and 10 pull straps and you have to raise tent 2 tent poles (inside) to get it open. That being said having an RTT that I get on and off my vehicles myself and not carrying hundreds of pounds so high up, I think the compromises are worth it for me.

I tried out the new Tred GT Levelling pack and liked it pretty well.

I think it's easier than getting out the MaxTrax to level out your vehicle and it's easy enough to break apart. It held my vehicle well, I just wish they were a little longer. The extra "green" plates allow you to level from side to side. I'm not sure how well they will hold up, but we'll see.

I tried to other campsites on my way back, Blue Creek off of FM1913 in Texas, which looks like an awesome off-road park, but there are no official camp sites and the river was down to about an inch of water. I liked the spot enough, but didn't want to wake up to side by sides right next to my tent so I drove to Lake Meredith (which is one of my favorite camping spots) but when I got there the winds were worse than normal, enough that the wind blew my canopy door enough that one of the struts fell off. I tried out different sites but I knew the wind was to much and I looked up the weather and the wind was only going to get worse and the temperature was to drop into the 40's and the kicker that sent me driving was Tornado watch, which North Texas is known for. The last place I want to be caught in a tornado is in a fabric RTT.

I was right about the wind, my mpg dropped from mid twenties to 15 mpg and all the pull straps on the closed Superlite came loose and a few came undone. Mind you on the drive up with normal winds, the straps stayed taught.

For the drive in CO and NM:

For the drive through N. Texas to Central Texas:

So 10 mpg drop just because of wind.

 

[emulous74]

Looks like a good starting list! How do you like the go fast superlite RTT? Was initially looking for one but then they stopped making them. I’ve got the inspired overland RTT-also super lightweight-hoping to see how it does in colder weather soon

I actually used this past week on a trip up to Colorado. The weather on the first night sleeping in it had me worried. 30-40 mph winds with up to 60 mph gusts. Color me impressed, the fabric panels and zippers didn't flap and they kept all the wind out. It dropped down to 32 degrees F that night but but some silk long underwear and a good sleeping bag kept me warm. The mattress was firmer than when I tested it, but that was probably due to the cold weather, but I got a good nights sleep. It's a little more work than most wedge RTTs in that you have to unzip it on 3 sides and undo and/or loosen 10 pull on brackets as well as raise the interior tent stakes. With all that and how well it did in 60 mph gusts of wind, considering I can get the tent on and off the vehicle myself (not gracefully), it is worth more than it cost me.

 

[emulous74]

Just picked up some Black Steelies that were take-offs from a 2-door Black Diamond.

Here's a pic of a 2-door HPR Black Diamond with the rims, mind you the BD comes with 32" tires and I'll be running the 33" K02's that came with my Badlands, the rims are 1/2 narrower, but from my research a 7.5" rim is the smallest you can put a 285/70/17 on, so I should be fine.

I'm thinking about getting them painted bronze, What are you thoughts on that?

 

[ElDuderino]

How is the Litewing awning holding up? Do you like it? Was thinking about buying one, they are on sale for Memorial Day. Can’t find too many reviews out there.

 

[emulous74]

I still like it, I'd like to see improvements before I can fully recommend it, but for the price it is a quality tent that should hold up better than I expected.

 

[emulous74]

Well, I couldn't pass it up when Ford Performance started offering the Method 703s in Bronze that are hub centric to the Bronco, and luckily I jumped on them the day they first offered them, because now the price has gone up 200 bucks.

So I literally now have 3 sets of wheels for the Bronco (still fighting with Grudge Motorsports on the Everglades wheels they never sent me). So the steelies and the stock badlands wheels should be going up in the Classified section soon.

I personally am loving the Hot Pepper Red with the bronze wheels.

I know it's been a while since I posted, but was getting a house ready to sell and that paid off, got an offer on it in the first week and it sold. Used that money to buy a lake cottage about an hour East of Dallas on Lake Tawakoni. Once the weather cools down some, I'll host a g2g out there I think with 3 acres there will be enough room.

Sponsored