Had a blast out in Pismo, here's the things I know:
1.
Thule box: We love our thule box mounted to the roof rack for secure storage. Probably will end up getting a longer one, to better utilize the space up there.
2.
Airing down: Airing down makes a HUGE difference in ride comfort. We didn't air down at all in Anza-Borrego and the corrugations rattled us silly after just a day. We basically "floated" our way around Pismo @ about 18-20 PSI. What we did notice is that we definitely traded comfort for ground clearance. We'll be going up in tire size to compensate because we are sold on the comfort/traction we gained.
3.
Onboard Air: Airing down doesn't require an expensive compressor. Ours is a cheap $40.00 model off amazon that got good reviews.
4.
Smell the roses: Take time to get out, pause and enjoy where you are. We paused for about an hour just watching the surf from these dunes, digging in the sand, watching the buggies zip around and made a lasting memory with our girls.
5.
Cruising: With all our mods, we've been careful not to compromise the street-ability of our 4runner. Skids, sliders, Dobinson's suspension, winch bumper, rear bumper, rack, snorkel, etc. are all completely transparent on the highway cruising at 70mph to get to or from our destination. MPG's have probably taken a hit, but it's within 1-2 mpg's of where we were stock, at this point. No biggie for an adventure rig. (We have a Honda Civic for commuting.
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