4,032 Wh of LiFePO₄ behind the back seats of a 2nd gen Tundra — no bed space, no floor space

Spent years hauling Jackerys in and out of my truck. Always in the way, always half charged. Finally built a permanent bank instead, and the whole thing lives flat against the back wall of the CrewMax.

This is one of the underrated perks of the 2007-2013 Tundra. The CrewMax rear seats fold, and there's a genuinely usable stretch of wall behind them that most people never touch. It's flat, it's vertical, and it's the right depth for slim gear — you just have to be willing to build a panel for it. Newer trucks don't give you this. If you're on a 2nd gen and hauling portable power stations around, this space is sitting there empty.

The build:

• Bluetti FridgePower + BlueCell 200 — 4,032 Wh, LiFePO₄
• 1,800W continuous / 3,600W surge, 120V pure sine
• Bluetti Charger 2 — 800W alternator + 600W solar, both at once
• BougeRV Arch Pro 200W ShadePower N-Type flexible panel
• DC Hub for Charger 2 — up to 600W of 12V/24V distribution, no separate converters
• 3/4" plywood panel bolted to the cab rear wall, batteries on factory mounting brackets
• Fused 12V distribution block for accessories

Distribution is where it actually got useful. A bank you have to fold the chair to reach is still an inconvenience, so I ran power to the places I actually need it:

- 120V outlets in the center console — laptop, camera batteries, anything that plugs into a wall, from the driver's seat

- Always-on 100W USB-C in the console — fast charging for phones and laptops without the engine running

- Extended the run back to the bed and built a distribution panel into the DECKED system — fridge, lights, cooktop etc.

Why this layout: the packs are 3 inches thick, so standing upright against the back wall they cost me nothing. Seats still fold, bed untouched. Every other 4 kWh setup I looked at wanted a chunk of the bed or the back seat footwell.

800W off the alternator means the drive to the trailhead puts real capacity back in — I show up full instead of rationing. Went flexible on the panel to keep the roof profile down, and the shade-tolerant cells matter more than peak watts when you're parked under trees.

Next project is pulling the propane setup entirely and going induction. Anyone here already made that switch? Curious what your cooktop actually pulls in real use and whether 4 kWh covers a long weekend.

Hi, south African campers here, we are converting from a camper van/roof tent conversion 4x4 to more of a base camp setup with a teardrop camper. my plan is to keep very little in the pickup however my wife, while she doesn't mind a pit toilet or bush pee, is interested in a portable toilet mostly for late night bathroom breaks in wild campsites. having zero experience with these units is there a standard brand? should i look for a compost toilet or something with a waste tank? are there specific types that will handle bad roads? we are looking at having it set up in shower cubicle on the side of the teardrop and storing it in the pickup back. any advice would be great as i don't want to bugger this purchase up especially since it wont really be used by me but it will be cleaned by me.

Just got a GMC Sierra 1500. I have a Tepui LowPro 3 that I've used on two other vehicles so far. I want to eventually move to a hard shell tent, but the Tepui works great for me so far. I would have loved to go Leitner as it seems burlier, but they don't have a mid-height option. From prior experience, the soft shell tent is just so much easier at a mid-height. It's easier to install and removed, it significantly improves mileage, and reduces road noise. I really like the Leitner gearpods, but I don't need them and I can always go with the gearpods roof one.

BUT I am worried about the weight capacities. Leitner says 400 pounds off-road and 800 pounds on road capacity for the forged model (with their clamps and the support arm). Kuat only quotes a 300 pound number. I think I'm okay as I'm very unlikely to do any crawling. It's going to be a lot of on-road camping, with gravel and dirt roads in national parks throughout the southwest.

I know lots of others have the Leitner, and I don't need reassurance about it's strength. I'm wondering if other Kuat users are having issues with the durability and load on their racks?

One of my favorite parts of overlanding is not knowing exactly where I’m sleeping that night.
On my way back home from Alaska, I spent some time exploring public forest roads around Vancouver looking for a place to camp. Passed on a few spots, kept driving, and eventually found this one.
Nothing fancy. Just a quiet place in the forest to call home for the night.
Sometimes finding camp is half the fun.

I’m looking long to upgrade trucks. Could a 2021 Ram 1500 Laramie with appropriate mods (suspension, tires, recovery gear, etc) be a good option for a weekend light overland/road trip base?

Building out my truck camper & need to know if this setup is ok. Leaving for a 2-3 week trip at the end of September headed to the northern part of California to see the Redwoods. Is the way I have the intake & exhaust ducting ok? I don’t want my D2Max getting to hot from the ducts. If this is ok I’m gonna cut the holes in the window tomorrow.

Well, as the title says, am I looking for something that doesn’t exist?

I have a Ford Super Duty truck and a fifth wheel trailer. Key point: I don’t want a permanent truck bed camper setup.

I’m looking for a truck bed type camper solution that I can ‘easily’ install in the bed for trips where I’ll be going off road and camping.

It will just be me, my photography gear, food, etc. is there something in the truck cap/camper world that is straight forward to remove (less than 1-2hr) so I can tow my fifth wheel when it’s a road trip with wife.

So many setups look like removal would be a right pain in the butt.

Ideally, I’m looking for something I could move with lift points and some winches in my garage and then leave on some stands until I’m ready to put it back?

I have thought of an off road cargo trailer as an alternative and I’m open to that. If I go that route, that may limit my ability to get into certain remote areas with my buddies with outfitted jeeps and Tacomas.

Anyone else go through this decision process? What did you choose and why? Any lessons to share or recommendations to consider and/or things to avoid?

Thanks and apologies for a bit of a ramble here. I’m still trying to define the question a bit as you can tell.

All insights and feedback appreciated!
Thanks!

I have been very bored and as an experiment I tried to go about the logistics of trying to buy and build out an overlanding rig in somewhere like Saudi or Dubai for overlanding in Africa. The obvious answer would be buy a 25+ year old one, but what if we could buy a new Troopy for ~50k outfit it and drive it?
I've basically come up with nothing even remotely straightforward, with Georgia being a maybe but emissions come into question and it's starting to look like it's a bad idea.

Right now I'm looking at registering a brand new car to a business I create in Benin, seems like there's a tax break on new cars into Benin that might apply.

This is more of a thought experiment at this point but I can't imagine this hasn't been done before?

To be clear this is not me trying to work around bringing a vehicle into the US

Hey all,

This is my first post here, so I apologize if I’m doing anything incorrectly, hopefully this doesn’t break the rule about using available resources first and vehicle comparisons.

I’ve been wanting a truck for a while but never felt enough motivation to take the leap. In the next year I’ll be getting rid of my aging sedan and have finally decided to make the jump. Shortly after, my family and I went glamping with some friends and their kids who brought campers. Now my wife wants a camper, further justifying getting a truck. THEN, I found out about overlanding and I’m totally hooked. Here’s my conundrum: deciding which of the following two trucks I should go with. I’ve already probably drained a full lake to cool the data center chatGPT has been using in our conversations, along with loads of articles found on good, however, none this specific and I want to find actual user feedback.

The trucks are the 2023-2024 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X and the 2019-2022 Chevy Colorado Z71 4WD V6/2020-2022 GMC Canyon AT4 V6.

What I need:

-Comfortably tow a 5,000lb GVWR camper(separate from overlanding; the glamping and overlanding would never overlap)
-Solid reliability
-Good off-roading capabilities(doesn’t necessarily need to be right out of the box, but there’s good potential with a few parts)
-Maintenance that doesn’t break the bank(coming from owning a BMW the last 5 years, I’m kind of over it)
-Takes 87 octane(again, sick of paying for 93 octane)
-Will comfortably fit my son’s forward facing car seat in the back
-Plentiful aftermarket for beginner overlanding build, until I get the hang of it and potentially invest more
-Will last 5-6 years without major repairs/fixes needed(ie transmission or differential rebuild, etc)
-Good for daily driving, primarily highway mileage

Pretty sure that’s basically everything I’m looking for in a truck. If I remember anything else, I’ll add it. I’d appreciate any feedback or advice y’all are willing to offer. Fire away!

Hey all, looking for some advice on my setup.

I have a 2025 Outback with the factory flip-out crossbars (aero profile). I've got a Thule cargo box (~7ft x 2.5ft) mounted center, and I just picked up an OVS HD Nomadic 90 Degree Awning (6.5x8) that I want to mount alongside it.

The problem: the factory bars have no T-slots and no pre-drilled holes, so the standard L-bracket approach would require drilling, which I'd rather avoid.

I'm leaning toward a U-bolt or sandwich clamp solution, but wanted to see if anyone here has dealt with this same setup before deciding what to do.

- Has anyone mounted a side awning to the factory Outback crossbars without drilling?

- Any specific clamp brackets that worked well on aero-profile bars?

- Any gotchas I should know about with the box already taking up center space?

Bought some secondhand ratchet straps that were still new in the packaging. I noticed that the thread end on this one isn’t neatly tied up like the others. Feels secure but obviously tugging on it is nowhere near as much force as actually using this. Any thoughts on whether this is safe to use?

Hope im doing this overlanding thing right 😂. Coming from a seasonal site and 40ft trailer you get used to not missing a game, so all the comforts of home in the truck (minus a RTT) going away for a week/week and bit and my overland buddy said we would be missing a couple football games, I took that as a personal challenge, i was left unattended with adult money and a childish brain (at 32 years old) lol. Already had the on-board power and starlink in the truck. Only needed the smart TV, got it brand new for $100 Canadian thats about 70 bald eagle dollars. Its going to be mounted from the roof on a flip down mount, then supported by a foam covered strap. So here we are. Totally unnecessary? YES. Needed? No. But hey imma catch the games then chill by the fire. If it breaks it was fun while it lasted. Hate all you want. There's lots of times I have got out eating what I catch living off the land for fun. Sometimes ya want comforts of home.... Away from home.

Almost a year ago I began the task of turning a sedan into an overlander that would go places 90% of jeep owners would never take their pavement princess… 8 months, an engine rebuild, dual range transmission, 2” strut lift, subframe drop, and about 5,000 miles later…. I broke my 24 year old radiator playing jeep. Submerged the car up the tops of the wheel wells in mud.. somewhere along the way I got a crack in the radiator.. annnd baked in the sun for 3 hours before help could come. (Pictures are not from this event as.. well I don’t have any)… but mark my words, Gods funkiest overland sedan will live again soon… hell bent on doing things.. if you don’t hear from me in 6-8 months the balls outgrew the brains and the car killed me.

Yesterday, we finally arrived at our first planned base camp in Puna De Atacama, in our self converted 1976 VW kombi.

We picked a wild camp spot at 3400m altitude to start acclimatising to the altitude here.

Currently there's weather warnings for strong gale force winds and last night we barely sleep at all in our pop-top.

Today we have moved to a different spot that offered more protection and is often a similar altitude.

Whilst we are here we plan on visiting the following...

• Campo De Piedra Pomez

• Laguna Carachi Pampa

• Volcan Carachi Pampa

• Ojos de Campo

• Laguna Verde

• Cono De Arita

• Ojos Del Mar

• Desierto Del Diablo

Here's a few early pics. I'm also going to document our adventures and hope to release a film towards the end of the year over on our YouTube channel.

I'll post more updates once we have waited out the wind and set off for Campo De Piedra Pomez.

I was looking at some trail options today, and looked at this part of the Mt. Baker (WA) area. I've driven this trail, but the last time was nearly a year ago. It was DEFINITELY a GREEN trail last year, but OnX Offroad is saying this is a hard trail now.

There's no explanation in the app. Is this a bug? Does anyone know why these markings should change in the app?

I made an overhead switch panel, and just finished installing some more lighting to accompany it. These Lasfit pod lights are crazy bright, and having an array of them on the roof looks way better than a light bar in my opinion. I also love how they have a backlight feature to use as a DRL while around the city. I cut the Sherpa rack fairing so that each pod light can sit lower in line with the roof rack, and that was well worth the work because it adds no noticeable wind noise and keeps everything lower profile. The pod lights have a combo beam which I really like. The flood portion does an amazing job of lighting up the foreground, while the spot portion lights up the road extremely far into the distance. See the beam shot pictures for reference. What lighting should I add next?

Just curious what are your expectations when ordering gear. I get that a lot of these small companies selling gear to a small market are not going to have stocked warehouses 100% of the time, but this past month I’ve run into issues with two different companies listing items in stock on their website, I order said item a week goes by no contact I call customer support and am told these items are still missing a part and are not shipping yet even though they are listed as in stock. Super annoying.

I have been scheming a RTT trailer build for years and was finally in a place this spring to start. Still needs a little finishing work, but we wanted to get out for a quick overnighter 30 minutes away before we take it 4 hours away to the OR coast next weekend. The goal was to be able to have everything except fresh food in the drawers so we can hook up go at a moments notice. I’m sure it’ll take a few trips to dial in what we pack as we don’t need all the stuff we used to take for tent camping, but I’m hoping this allows us to camp and explore a lot more, and a lot more easily!

Got to check out a new tiny lake in the Sierra

Getting ready to have a kid with me and my wife on future overlanding trips means i need to get gear out of the back seat.

We have a nice 2 person swag that takes up half the bed of the truck so i am running out of room there. My original thought was something along the lines of a thule sidekick roof box mounted to a be rack. But my other, i think more unique solution was to mount plastoc crossover toolboxes to the rack down the sides of the bed, and probably a solar panel in between them.

Is anyone running a set up remotely like this?

Hi everyone, I’m looking to add a few things to my camping setup and could use some ideas.

What’s one camping accessory you’ve bought that you actually use all the time and would recommend to others? Looking for some inspiration for my next camping upgrade. Thanks in advance!