Truck Camper Adventure announces the 2021 Adventure Rally

[Mundo4x4Casa]

2021 Truck Camper Adventure Quartzsite Rally With Itinerary | Truck Camper Adventure

2021 Truck Camper Adventure Rally With Itinerary, RV, Recreational Vehicles, Slide-In, Quartzsite, Overland Rally

www.truckcamperadventure.com

will get you to the announcement and enrollment page.
Jeanie and I were fortunate enough to be at last year's Rally, and it was just great.
For you hard-cores, a smaller group of TC-er's will be doing the 150 mile long El Camino del Diablo along the Mexico border. It doesn't get much better than this for those who don't want to ply these remote sands and rock alone.
jefe
Dirty Dozen last year at the ready to do the Bradshaw Trail:
Note: this year our N* will be on a new truck.

 

[Lance990]

Why are no DRW allowed on the 4x4 trip? Seems strange to me.

 

[kmacafee]

Last year on the Bradshaw Trail, the duallies had a tough time, with one getting an inside flat. I suspect that could be the reason.

 

[montypower]

Look like fun.

 

[Lance990]

Last year on the Bradshaw Trail, the duallies had a tough time, with one getting an inside flat. I suspect that could be the reason.

Oh yeah, because only dually trucks get flats. Why would a dually be more prone to flats than a SRW? It doesn't make sense.

 

[STREGA]

Just signed up, hope I’m not to late. Missed out last year because I didn’t know about the event until after it was already filled up.

 

[kmacafee]

Oh yeah, because only dually trucks get flats. Why would a dually be more prone to flats than a SRW? It doesn't make sense.

I never said more likely but changing an inside tire on a dually is a PITA. Ultimately, the dually had to slow to a crawl and I'm not sure the organizers wanted to deal with it again.

 

[montypower]

Oh yeah, because only dually trucks get flats. Why would a dually be more prone to flats than a SRW? It doesn't make sense.

I must say... I have the same impression and don't agree. Our previous Winnebago View (dually rear) people said the same thing. Or that rocks would jamb between the tires and flatten them.

Here's the problem:
1. Many/most dually owners run "factory type tires". This is a bad plan off road - dually or not.
2. No way to monitor tire pressures (especially inside tire).
3. Too close together.

I solved the problems by:
1. Installed off road tires on factory wheels (along with quality suspension plus 4.5" lift increase)
2. Crossfire Dually Equalizer - Links both tires together then disconnects if one drops below preset valve pressure. Ours was ~30psi. Then we had TPS sensor on the Crossfire to monitor pressure in the cab. It also allowed for easy air up/down since the tires were linked and resolved the issue of tire pressure differences. Made the dually function similar to single tire.
3. Wheel spacer installed between the dually tires. This gave space between the tires and also widened the stance by a 2.5" on each side (better stability). When aired down in the sand there was no issue with the sidewalls making contact.

But most people don't plan ahead or modify. So it's easier saying... NO!

 

[kmacafee]

I must say... I have the same impression and don't agree. Our previous Winnebago View (dually rear) people said the same thing. Or that rocks would jamb between the tires and flatten them.

Here's the problem:
1. Many/most dually owners run "factory type tires". This is a bad plan off road - dually or not.
2. No way to monitor tire pressures (especially inside tire).
3. Too close together.

I solved the problems by:
1. Installed off road tires on factory wheels (along with quality suspension plus 4.5" lift increase)
2. Crossfire Dually Equalizer - Links both tires together then disconnects if one drops below preset valve pressure. Ours was ~30psi. Then we had TPS sensor on the Crossfire to monitor pressure in the cab. It also allowed for easy air up/down since the tires were linked and resolved the issue of tire pressure differences. Made the dually function similar to single tire.
3. Wheel spacer installed between the dually tires. This gave space between the tires and also widened the stance by a 2.5" on each side (better stability). When aired down in the sand there was no issue with the sidewalls making contact.

But most people don't plan ahead or modify. So it's easier saying... NO!

The other really big issue is trying to recover one if it gets stuck. It would take a lot of winching power and multiple vehicles. And honestly, I followed that dually most of the way and it was swaying so much there were times I thought it would fall over. So, while it sounds like you took the steps to make yours work, I suspect most people do not. Nothing against dually's honestly but many of those rigs are so heavy and have such a high COG, that there are trails that are probably not appropriate.

 

[STREGA]

Cool I made the list #39.

 

[Lance990]

I never said more likely but changing an inside tire on a dually is a PITA. Ultimately, the dually had to slow to a crawl and I'm not sure the organizers wanted to deal with it again.

That's nonsense. There are exactly 8 nuts on DRW and a SRW. It takes no more time to change an inner dual or an outer dual than it takes to change a SRW.

 

[Lance990]

The other really big issue is trying to recover one if it gets stuck. It would take a lot of winching power and multiple vehicles. And honestly, I followed that dually most of the way and it was swaying so much there were times I thought it would fall over. So, while it sounds like you took the steps to make yours work, I suspect most people do not. Nothing against dually's honestly but many of those rigs are so heavy and have such a high COG, that there are trails that are probably not appropriate.

If you weigh those DRW trucks and the SRW trucks with hard side campers, you will likely find that they weigh nearly the same. The DRW truck owners just know that they are more stable than SRW trucks with the same load. Besides, there are few electric winches capable of pulling a 12,400 lbs truck without doing a double or triple line pull. I have a 12,000 lbs winch and I would always attempt to do a double line pull rather a single line pull, if possible. I have a Lance 990 camper and I would never try hard trails with it loaded. I put a camper shell on the truck bed and I mainly sleep in the bed for most trips. I have built it out as a micro RV in the back. I truly recognize the limitations of my rig and that is why I am trying to get away from truck campers entirely. I just returned from a 3,000 trip to Colorado and slept in the bed of my truck every night. But, if I had a FWC Project M in the bed of my DRW truck, would I still NOT be allowed on the trail? Sure, there are width factors to consider but my DRW truck is just as capable as a SRW truck when width is not a factor. It sounds like the limitation is actually based on the size of the truck camper, not the capability of DRW truck. THAT is a completely different story.

 

[kmacafee]

If you weigh those DRW trucks and the SRW trucks with hard side campers, you will likely find that they weigh nearly the same. The DRW truck owners just know that they are more stable than SRW trucks with the same load. Besides, there are few electric winches capable of pulling a 12,400 lbs truck without doing a double or triple line pull. I have a 12,000 lbs winch and I would always attempt to do a double line pull rather a single line pull, if possible. I have a Lance 990 camper and I would never try hard trails with it loaded. I put a camper shell on the truck bed and I mainly sleep in the bed for most trips. I have built it out as a micro RV in the back. I truly recognize the limitations of my rig and that is why I am trying to get away from truck campers entirely. I just returned from a 3,000 trip to Colorado and slept in the bed of my truck every night. But, if I had a FWC Project M in the bed of my DRW truck, would I still NOT be allowed on the trail? Sure, there are width factors to consider but my DRW truck is just as capable as a SRW truck when width is not a factor. It sounds like the limitation is actually based on the size of the truck camper, not the capability of DRW truck. THAT is a completely different story.

I have a Ram 3500 with a 2000 pound camper. Fully loaded, I am just over 10k pounds. Some of the big campers (Mammoth for example) have a dry weight close to 5000 pounds or more so ideally, they should be on something bigger than a one ton dually. In my travels, I have seen and assisted a few of the big dually campers on trails that IMHO they should have probably not ventured onto. In most cases, it was their width and height, not weight that got them in trouble.

I've never owned a dually and never will. But based on many conversations with dually owners, they love the extra stability it provides but hate the maintenance and expense of dually wheels. That me be why many people are converting dually trucks to SRW.

I am not the organizer of the rally so any questions as to why he is not allowing DRW trucks should be directed at him. That said, I was on the drive last year and the way those dually equipped rigs went down the trail was pretty unsettling. And the owner of the rig with the inside flat did not feel comfortable changing it so he had to crawl the last few miles, holding everyone up.

I have a pretty capable rig but would never attempt the Rubicon trail. Same logic should apply to some trails with DRW.

 

[kmacafee]

Cool I made the list #39.

I thought you were selling your rig? Glad to see you didnt have to.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

jefe here. I used 12 inch wide super single rear wheels (see below) with 375/65/R-16 (33-15.50 x 16 ) Mickey Thompson tires on my Dodge/Lance lashup and plied more than a few tough, narrow two tracks for days on end. The total track width was 4 inches narrower than factory dualies. Really great on sand dunes and for stability, but in not following a two-track.
The result was the rear track was too wide to follow in narrow jeep tracks and the tires (tough as they were) AND wheels took it in the shorts, catching every sharp rock carefully lined up and formerly spit out by passing narrower rigs. A few chunks of aluminum wheel littered the trail along with chunks of tread. The tires stayed up, as they were E and 3750 pound rated but they did not fit the trail. I too was back in the pack on the Bradshaw trail and could see that the hapless dualie guy was leaving a wide and rock strewn path. He did not deflate like most of us down to a less bone jarring ride and rode those dualies hard. It was simply the wrong application of a wonderful rig.
jefe
the MT tire compared with a stock Dodge Michelin: