Wondering what other folks are doing for MTB-trip-focused builds. I’m in a 19 TRD ORP 4runner I bought new 2 years ago. The first 6 months it was a Denver corporate office commuter and weekend ski vehicle with occasional Moab trips. Then the pandemic and a layoff happened and it spent a year as a wandering home/cross country road trip/offroading/wilderness access vehicle for me and my 90 pound dog. I built a simple bed platform in it with a mattress, did a basic lift, bigger AT tires, and a cargo box up top.
so now I’m settled. I’m living in the Tetons in eastern Idaho and I don’t plan to move again any time soon. So currently it’s my winter daily driver/get up the ski hill 4-5 times a week/take me and my dog to work in a foot of snow truck. Also, it’s my “drive 8 hours to the desert in southern Utah and camp and mountain bike for a few days to a week, every month or two” vehicle. And in summer, my drive to mountain bike 3-5 times a week truck.
My current setup is as mentioned above. Rear seats removed, simple bed platform (storage behind front seats under platform, no other additional storage), plus a hitch mount bike rack. Cargo box up top if someone else comes on the trip with me, otherwise I try to leave it off to save the MPG hit it causes. For daily driving with the dog, and for skiing, it’s fine. For summer MTB, it’s ok. The hitch works fine. Not as well as throwing it over a tailgate pad, but it’s fine. For trips to the desert, it kinda blows. It’s fine for me as a long road trip vehicle (except the softex seats get HOT). It’s great as an off-roader. Sleeping in the back is…ok. Obviously I have to crawl in through the door and then can’t sit up when I’m inside. But the mattress is cozy and I sleep decently in there.
The thing that really drives me up a wall is moving my stuff around at every stop. I try to keep it so that I have one side of the bed clear of stuff, but between my biking gear, extra clothes, bike pump/tools, blankets/sleeping bag, pillows, cooler of food, large bag(s) of dry food and cooking implements, and stuff to make fires with, I end up having to pack and unpack the car every time I stop. Move all the stuff to the front when i sleep, move it to the back for driving. Take the front wheel off the bike(s) and put them in the car when I park in a populated area so they don't get stolen, etc. It's annoying AF.
I don't want to build a raised platform with storage under it because I already feel cramped for sleeping. Putting the cargo box on top kills my MPG, and only sort of solves the moving stuff around. I'm considering everything from getting a smaller cheaper car that does better on gas and just staying in hotels to building some storage in the back somehow to getting a trailer to selling it and getting a van to god knows what else.
Thoughts? anyone figured out a good system with the 4runner?
so now I’m settled. I’m living in the Tetons in eastern Idaho and I don’t plan to move again any time soon. So currently it’s my winter daily driver/get up the ski hill 4-5 times a week/take me and my dog to work in a foot of snow truck. Also, it’s my “drive 8 hours to the desert in southern Utah and camp and mountain bike for a few days to a week, every month or two” vehicle. And in summer, my drive to mountain bike 3-5 times a week truck.
My current setup is as mentioned above. Rear seats removed, simple bed platform (storage behind front seats under platform, no other additional storage), plus a hitch mount bike rack. Cargo box up top if someone else comes on the trip with me, otherwise I try to leave it off to save the MPG hit it causes. For daily driving with the dog, and for skiing, it’s fine. For summer MTB, it’s ok. The hitch works fine. Not as well as throwing it over a tailgate pad, but it’s fine. For trips to the desert, it kinda blows. It’s fine for me as a long road trip vehicle (except the softex seats get HOT). It’s great as an off-roader. Sleeping in the back is…ok. Obviously I have to crawl in through the door and then can’t sit up when I’m inside. But the mattress is cozy and I sleep decently in there.
The thing that really drives me up a wall is moving my stuff around at every stop. I try to keep it so that I have one side of the bed clear of stuff, but between my biking gear, extra clothes, bike pump/tools, blankets/sleeping bag, pillows, cooler of food, large bag(s) of dry food and cooking implements, and stuff to make fires with, I end up having to pack and unpack the car every time I stop. Move all the stuff to the front when i sleep, move it to the back for driving. Take the front wheel off the bike(s) and put them in the car when I park in a populated area so they don't get stolen, etc. It's annoying AF.
I don't want to build a raised platform with storage under it because I already feel cramped for sleeping. Putting the cargo box on top kills my MPG, and only sort of solves the moving stuff around. I'm considering everything from getting a smaller cheaper car that does better on gas and just staying in hotels to building some storage in the back somehow to getting a trailer to selling it and getting a van to god knows what else.
Thoughts? anyone figured out a good system with the 4runner?
