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If the camper will stay on permanently, upgraded springs are by far the best approach, whether leaf or coil. If it will be removed between trips I know of no spring rate that would afford an acceptable compromise. Better to install air bags in that case. You'll want new shocks as well, at least...

I have no doubt, after reviewing a 2024 TRD Off Road model Tacoma, that it is far better able to handle a load such as a FWC than the previous generation. The chassis is certainly substantially improved, and the engine is also a leap forward (never mind that it's "only" a four compared to the...

Steve, Indeed I am! We bought this one in England for around $800. A 16-bore and a tad under six pounds. I've cycled through several other SXSs including a sidelock or two but this remains a favorite working gun for dove and quail.

This post is worthless without information on the gun. Even if it is an over/under. :)

Well I definitely would skip Yosemite if you want minimal crowds. :) You mention that you already have a tent; I hope it is a good one. So many people skimp on the tent, suffer through one or two miserable weather events, and decide the whole camping thing is idiocy. The tent should be your #1...

This is a terrifying suit.If it's successful, the current Arizona legislature would be all over it. If it's successful, the permanent fate of any piece of public land could be decided by a single state administration, however anti-conservation they might be.

Personally I like low-pressure twin-tube shocks (i.e. OME) for overland travel. They're essentially immune to stone damage due to the outer tube, and less prone to failure due to lower operating pressure. It's not a one-is-bad-the-other-good situation; there are pros and cons for both. But I...

For a permanently mounted camper, you're on the right track to ditch the air bags; you'll be far better off with a properly calibrated spring pack. Personally I'd choose the OME shocks, but Bilsteins would be fine too.

If you're going to leave the camper on all the time then upgrading the springs is a better approach than air bags. If you don't want to spend the money on an upgraded spring pack from a company such as Dobinsons, you might try an auxiliary leaf kit from Hellwig. You might need to upgrade the...

Yes, we weighed it in Australia fully laden; I can't remember offhand what the result was. It's written down somewhere. We're right on GVWR for an HZJ75 when fully loaded.

Sixty seven?! That's crazy. We run 55 on the rears of our Land Cruiser Troop Carrier when it has 71 gallons of fuel and 29 gallons of water onboard for a two-week no-resupply route in Australia. What do you carry? Have you done a chalk or paint test?

Snakes will blithely crawl across a rope. They will also happily crawl across a line of mothballs or "Snake-Away." How do I know? Because I tested all these on rattlesnakes during the course of writing a book about urban wildlife, and also while my wife and I were writing 50 Common Reptiles and...

Beautiful! I would have loved to see the camper on it.

I'm about to get one to review. Given the significant upgrades in chassis (fully boxed once more), power (especially the torque peak at lower RPM), and load capacity, the new generation should be far more capable of handling a FWC.

Like Craig, I was surprised to read of a 2021 camper equipped with a three-way fridge. While there are various ways, effective and not so effective, to enhance the performance of your fridge, you'd be far, far happier with a proper compressor model. Very much worth the investment.

First, you got 20 years out of KYB shocks? You should send them to the Smithsonian. :-) While I do prefer twin-tube shocks for most overland-type use, there's nothing at all wrong with the Bilstein 4600.

Thanks for the report Tom. I love that tire size. Reduced chipping/chunking is something the BFG AT has needed for some time.

For those wondering, there's a good explanation here. The anti-roll bar controls roll; it has no effect on sway.

Putting on my troll hat. I wish we could get away from the term sway bar, which it really isn't. It's an anti-roll bar—which is admittedly an awkward term besides the potential for confusing it with a roll bar. Stabilizer bar would be a nice compromise. Troll hat removed.

I was an early promoter of the Micro-Start, and still carry them in every vehicle we own. I once impressed, but horrified, the owner of the company by daisy-chaining three together and welding with them. Not advised, but it worked.

Thank you all very much!

Thank you!

Lovely! Few things match sunset in the desert.

Tom, The old-fashioned chalk method still works well, although I sometimes use white paint instead. Just paint a couple of white stripes across the tread of each tire, then go drive around, preferably mostly in straight lines, and checking the paint frequently. Where it wears off first will...

Congratulations . . . but that was quite a traumatic introduction!