My new to me 2009 4runner Trail Edition

chmura · May 11, 2016

photo nomad said:
I have a James Baroud Evasion Evo and switched out my Icon 2" springs for a set of OME mediums to handle the extra weight when my FJ is fully loaded.

How do you like the OME mediums compared to the ICONS? Do they ride harsh? What things do you carry in your FJ? I am not sure to go medium or heavy. I think medium without a rear bumper might work better.

chmura · May 11, 2016

I purchased a NorthStar Group 31m battery to power my ARB 50 quart fridge. Going to the single battery route since I never let my vehicle sit more than 24 hours while camping.

photo nomad · May 11, 2016

chmura said:
How do you like the OME mediums compared to the ICONS? Do they ride harsh? What things do you carry in your FJ? I am not sure to go medium or heavy. I think medium without a rear bumper might work better.

I run a stock rear bumper, but have a James Baroud RTT on my truck full time, and when backcountry carry a full complement of recovery equipment, tools, minimum 5 gal of water, 50q ARB fridge, ARB awning, food, stove, camera gear and either 4 or 8 gallons of fuel in Rotopax hanging off the rear of my truck.
It rides a little harsher on the street when unloaded, but not too bad.

chmura · May 11, 2016

photo nomad said:
I run a stock rear bumper, but have a James Baroud RTT on my truck full time, and when backcountry carry a full complement of recovery equipment, tools, minimum 5 gal of water, 50q ARB fridge, ARB awning, food, stove, camera gear and either 4 or 8 gallons of fuel in Rotopax hanging off the rear of my truck.
It rides a little harsher on the street when unloaded, but not too bad.

Sweet picture! ^^^^

I think I will go with mediums then.

How tall are you by chance? I am having a hard time choosing between a James Baroud and a Autohome. Since I am 6'1" I am Leaning towards the Autohome since the dimensions are longer on paper.

photo nomad · May 11, 2016

chmura said:
Sweet picture! ^^^^

I think I will go with mediums then.

How tall are you by chance? I am having a hard time choosing between a James Baroud and a Autohome. Since I am 6'1" I am Leaning towards the Autohome since the dimensions are longer on paper.

I'm 5'11" and have plenty of space in the JB Evasion. If you have any doubts about fit go see Bruce at Nomad Ventures in Escondido, I believe he has one in the showroom you can check for size. Plus I think the 2015 model James Baroud tents are the nicest hard shell RTT's available right now.

chmura · May 29, 2016

I purchased a NorthStar Group 31m AGM battery.

I decided to run a large single battery instead of a dual battery. People that used this battery ran a ARB fridge up to 5+ days without starting the vehicle. I usually never let the vehicle sit for more than 24 hours without starting so going with a single battery for me was preferred.

I did not make any modifications to the OEM battery connections so I can revert back to OEM size battery in the future if I wanted to.

Few things to note that are 4th gen specific.

I had to remove the pos/neg posts of the new battery since they were hitting the hood when closed. I bolted them down into the threads using a 9/16" nut.

I made two positive and negative extension cables using 1 awg battery cables with 3/8" copper end terminals.

I removed the dual terminal on the negative side of the battery to gain more clearance between the battery and hood.

Happy with the results.

chmura · Jun 14, 2016

Purchased my very first stove. I been using a very small Snow Peak backpacking stove just to boil water and do very simple cooking.

I was set on purchasing a Camp Chef stove but more and more researching I did on here I purchased a Cook Partner Stove from Steel Partner Company. This thing is very well made.

This is a 18" model with extra slats welded on. I also ordered a 15 inch hose with an adapter to be able to use the Coleman 1lb propane bottles.

chmura · Sep 11, 2016

Labor Day weekend went to the Sierra Mountains for a quick camping trip.

Got a chance to test out my new GooseGear icebox storage cabinet with top drawer. Excellent product by GooseGear, and excellent customer service by them. Highly recommend them!

chmura · Mar 21, 2017

Small update to my build.

Purchased a new Autohome Medium Extreme roof top tent. Also purchased a 81 quart Alu-Box storage case and hard mounted it to my roof rack.

Went on a few trips with the setup.

Ryanmb21 · Mar 21, 2017

Very nice tent and great trip pictures!

rickashay · Mar 22, 2017

Awesome pics. I'm always looking back here for ideas... very well put together truck. Really want to get a similar RTT for mine. I just need to find one with enough long for my 6'6" body! haha

chmura · Mar 22, 2017

rickashay said:
Awesome pics. I'm always looking back here for ideas... very well put together truck. Really want to get a similar RTT for mine. I just need to find one with enough long for my 6'6" body! haha

Thank you!

Autohome makes an Extra Long version of the tent which has a 80" mattress. There are a few inches beyond the mattress so you should be able to fit fine in an XL model.

chmura · Mar 22, 2017

Here is another picture of last weekend that I forgot to include.

Found an awesome camping site in Anza Borrego stayed here for 2 nights and I did not see a single person/vehicle. Was awesome.