What next? Fridge, Drawers or RTT?

[JSparky]

You make some very valid points.

I'm seriously even considering a hard shell RTT however I'll need to change my roof rack. Luckily it's not too costly as I have the ARB setup all I need is the flat rack itself, which is around $450. I could even sell my current rack to make up the costs. Currently I'm finding hard shell RTT models around $1500-1900. Also the idea of a hardshell is nice for maybe some better fuel economy and easier tear down and expansion. I was turned into the hardshell when I got to wheel my BIL's Patrol in Australia last year. That thing sets up so fast.



The fridge seems to be winning the subject for what to do next. I may make that happen first. But damn I really want them ARB drawers too.

I went from FJ, to FJ TT, to 5th gen Trail, to LC200, 3rd gen Taco, and now back in a 5th gen ORP. I should have just kept my '14 Trail. The LC200 was nice and I felt so inspired by all the sweet 200's I saw in Australia, (seriously, they have it made there) but once I did suspension, wheels, tires and sliders the MPG went to almost 11mpg and made my range about 190 miles per tank. Not good, right. Well, around the same time I was reconsidering a build my wife gets into a car accident and we replaced her car with a new Tundra 4x4. Ergo, no real need for the 200 so I traded it in. Used the equity in that to drive the tundra down (1794 edition- loaded) and I settled on something "different" and got a 17 Taco TRD OR. Nice truck but the engine/tranny powerband/shifting issues, wheel bearing, 15.6 MPG (stock) and seeping rear diff made me find a leftover 17 5th gen again. I don't have the v8 of the 200 nor the issues of the taco. I'm good now. Here to stay for a while.

The quality of the 200 is quite nice though. Also everything is more expensive in the aftermarket for it.

I still want the rear bumper for knowing my roof rack, in the current configuration or if I upgraded to the flat rack would be just about 100% utilized by the tent. Therefore, gas/water storage and spare relocation are what I'm looking for. I'm willing to be a little more patient on the bumper since it's not highest on my list.

Damn, and I thought the number of vehicles I went through over the last few years was bad!

Yea, everything you mention makes sense. Those hard shell tents are super nice. I’ve noticed sometimes they don’t have as much headroom though, especially the models that lift the roof up on an angle. Drawers are nice but I’ve all but eliminated them due to weight, at least the ones I was looking at.

 

[Jhalko]

Indel B has to be one of the most cost effective too. Has yours been trouble free? I don't have much experience with them. But what I do know is their portability is hard to beat, especially since I'll be in a hotel while I'm away for work. It may be a good way to expand my grocery storage instead of having to make several trips to fit food in those small hotel type fridges.

I think this is my fourth year with the Indel B, no issues and I’ve had it through 120 degree temps traveling across the Southwest. If you go fridge definitely get a deep cycle battery as well, trust me from experience there. I also have an Antigravity jump pack since I’m not running dual batteries. This has all served me well on some awesome roads trips.

Honestly the fridge has more than paid for itself as I never eat out when on the road. Hit the grocery store and stock up then I’m good for days depending on if it’s just me or I have my whole family with me.

 

[adio3x]

Damn, and I thought the number of vehicles I went through over the last few years was bad!

Yea, everything you mention makes sense. Those hard shell tents are super nice. I’ve noticed sometimes they don’t have as much headroom though, especially the models that lift the roof up on an angle. Drawers are nice but I’ve all but eliminated them due to weight, at least the ones I was looking at.

The models that lift at an angle have the most headroom, I'm 6'1" and can sit up and have several feet left. +1 for hardshell though, I've had the traditional tepui fold out style tent and I'm so so so happy I've made the switch. The wedge pops up in seconds and I'm done. The tepui took me about 5 minutes to setup completely.

If I were you I'd do a fridge and dual battery first. For a quick pop up ground tent, a good bang for the buck is the front runner pop up tent. Fits two people, sets up in seconds! Then save for a new rack and get a hardshell down the road.

If you're interested in the one I have, hit me up, we're doing a group buy for them.

 

[JSparky]

The models that lift at an angle have the most headroom, I'm 6'1" and can sit up and have several feet left. +1 for hardshell though, I've had the traditional tepui fold out style tent and I'm so so so happy I've made the switch. The wedge pops up in seconds and I'm done. The tepui took me about 5 minutes to setup completely.

If I were you I'd do a fridge and dual battery first. For a quick pop up ground tent, a good bang for the buck is the front runner pop up tent. Fits two people, sets up in seconds! Then save for a new rack and get a hardshell down the road.

If you're interested in the one I have, hit me up, we're doing a group buy for them.

That's a nice tent. Headroom depends on the make and model. We had a Tepui white lightening for a few days and headroom was miserable, you could barely sit up inside. I suppose it depends on where you're measuring too, fold-out rtt's obviously have a more even volume, the hard-shell tents that angle up are more skewed. All depends what you're looking for, but good to consider everything. Hope that helps.

 

[SurgicalApple]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you, OP. I'm headed out for a cross country national park road trip with the kiddo and gf in June. I purchased the Baja RR and a Tepui RTT. I was debating between a fridge and a cooler, and ended up going with an RTIC cooler. Keeps ice solidified for the minimum of 5 days and every thing within remains nice and frosty. However, I was talking to a guy who said he managed to snag his RTT at 1/3 of the the price by directly dealing with the manufacturer in China, and saying he was a company who was interested in creating a line of RTTs. Consequently, they sold him one to try out with no other obligations. There is always that route if you're up for it. Out of curiosity, any mods on the inside?

 

[Bonyfattony]

We just returned from a weekend out and my new ARB Element 63 was awesome. It was running off the stock battery with no issues. It ran for a day before I needed to run the truck to charge the battery. If you running around everyday, I think you can get away with the stock battery for a little while. I mounted my fridge on an ARB drawer, thought process was that if its 300 buck for a slide a few more buck and I have a drawer.

I was thinking of running the same setup. Do you have pictures of your setup? How do you like that fridge.

 

[Crikeymike]

Fridges are awesome though. Had cold beer, cheese, salami, and crackers at the ready.

This is a real American man right here!!! hahaha, always ready to party

I agree with a fridge, as it's not limited to using it in your car, you can use it in someone else's, or in your hotel like you said. Once you buy one and use it, you'll never be without a fridge ever again in your life, but other accessories may come and go.

You've already got an awning, you can setup a quick sleeping setup right under that. Or grab the tent room that goes underneath it. Saves with and space over a RTT.

 

[Bumbo]

My ARB 50 fridge freezer has probably been one of the best camping / truck / life accessories I ever owned… I could live without it, but I don’t want to because it’s pure luxury.

I kept looking at it on and off and always got turned off by the price but after owning it I wish I bought it sooner.

• Never having to re-up on ice on a road trip is luxury.
• Off grid camping and not needing ice is a necessity.
• The space saving of not needing such a large cooler for ice is efficiency.
• Being able to pack food days in advanced is a huge convenience.
• Being able to use it for grocery shopping allows me to better utilize my day since I don’t have to rush home after getting meats, daily, or other items that need refrigeration.
• It runs off DC or AC so I can use it a home in the backyard for parties.
• And the most important one of all which was my breaking point for buying it, was food saftey / not getting sick.

And to be 100% honest, I love showing it off to my family and friends because everyone that has ever seen it instantly wanted one too.

One of my favorite things is returning from a trip and not having waterlogged food. It just goes back into my regular house fridge, assuming I am not being lazy and actually unpack the truck.

The performance is actually amazing too… I have a photo of thermometer when I was in Vegas… it was 108F in the parked truck, and 13F in the freezer easily holding a 95F temp differential without problem.

The thing actually saves me money, time, and gas. So in case you couldn’t sense my enthusiasm… go with the fridge.

 

[AFdude]

Ok. I pulled the trigger.

Order is as follows:

ARB drawers rdrf945 and rd945
ARB 50 fridge
ARB wiring kit
ARB fridge tie down kit
ARB roof rack wind fairing
ARB fridge canvas travel bag
ARB universal floor kit for sides of drawers

All just under my budget. Whew.

I'll explore a RTT option closer to my departure date. I already have some kick ass ground tents so I'll make due for now.

 

[Bumbo]

I like your style... You sir are Extreme AF

 

[ZOMBRNR]

Ok. I pulled the trigger.



Order is as follows:



ARB drawers rdrf945 and rd945

ARB 50 fridge

ARB wiring kit

ARB fridge tie down kit

ARB roof rack wind fairing

ARB fridge canvas travel bag

ARB universal floor kit for sides of drawers



All just under my budget. Whew.



I'll explore a RTT option closer to my departure date. I already have some kick ass ground tents so I'll make due for now.

Dang you went hard!!! Drawers AND the fridge!

I should add, after I did my RTT, I built drawers, then got the fridge haha. Putting in the tilt slide today.

 

[AFdude]

Dang you went hard!!! Drawers AND the fridge!

I should add, after I did my RTT, I built drawers, then got the fridge haha. Putting in the tilt slide today.

Holy moly that's a clean drawer build!

 

[AFdude]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you, OP. I'm headed out for a cross country national park road trip with the kiddo and gf in June. I purchased the Baja RR and a Tepui RTT. I was debating between a fridge and a cooler, and ended up going with an RTIC cooler. Keeps ice solidified for the minimum of 5 days and every thing within remains nice and frosty. However, I was talking to a guy who said he managed to snag his RTT at 1/3 of the the price by directly dealing with the manufacturer in China, and saying he was a company who was interested in creating a line of RTTs. Consequently, they sold him one to try out with no other obligations. There is always that route if you're up for it. Out of curiosity, any mods on the inside?

That's a pretty good idea. I'll look into that.

Only inside mods I have are AOB switches for lights and compressor and a CB routed to the center console. Oh I also have a mount for a Garmin Montana (it's great for off road tracks). I use it all the time on my adv bike.

Anything special on the inside you can recommend? I think the Molle Panels would be a nice addition, depending on what I can't fit in the drawers.

 

[Nickk6]

I went RTT
I just got it from China using Alibaba. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, I'd make sure up front if you are not use to doing international shipping that you make sure the seller knows how to handle everything with a broker.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...122.html?spm=a2700.8443308.0.0.11073e5fqv9uh4

Listed price $950, ended up being $1134 and my brokers charged $822 for a total of $1,956.

Quality seems decent for the price. I'm glad I went this route because of the 59" wide bed versus the 51" on the largest Bigfoot or similar I could find. I still have yet to get it mounted but I did lay in it and it seemed like it will be okay with 2 people.

 

[Jhalko]

Ok. I pulled the trigger.

Order is as follows:

ARB drawers rdrf945 and rd945
ARB 50 fridge
ARB wiring kit
ARB fridge tie down kit
ARB roof rack wind fairing
ARB fridge canvas travel bag
ARB universal floor kit for sides of drawers

All just under my budget. Whew.

I'll explore a RTT option closer to my departure date. I already have some kick ass ground tents so I'll make due for now.

Awesome! And you are decisive too... love that.

 

[baldrik78]

What tent is that?

 

[adio3x]

What tent is that?

It's a tent I'm offering. For more deets, shoot me a pm!

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/group-buys/240682-chandlerdooms-hardshell-rtt-round-3-closed.html

 

[sn_85]

Ok. I pulled the trigger.

Order is as follows:

ARB drawers rdrf945 and rd945
ARB 50 fridge
ARB wiring kit
ARB fridge tie down kit
ARB roof rack wind fairing
ARB fridge canvas travel bag
ARB universal floor kit for sides of drawers

All just under my budget. Whew.

I'll explore a RTT option closer to my departure date. I already have some kick ass ground tents so I'll make due for now.

Not to add more to your list but I saw these and played around with them in person and it's a really great add-on product to your drawer

https://adventure-ready.com/store/arb-stainless-steel-sliding-table-for-roller-drawers-rd945_rd1355/

 

[AFdude]

Not to add more to your list but I saw these and played around with them in person and it's a really great add-on product to your drawer

https://adventure-ready.com/store/arb-stainless-steel-sliding-table-for-roller-drawers-rd945_rd1355/

Damn you! Haha.

Really, thanks for that. That will be a great addition. I'll add it to the list.

 

[4runner_RN]

FRIDGE FTW! I have an ARB directly hooked up to an odyssey extreme battery that I swapped for the stock one. It's running all the time and never killed my battery.

That would be the best #1 choice! I've got cold beer and ice cream wherever I go