These guys are great to watch, some really cool series they've done all over showing their overlanding expeditions. As part of their new series, "Overlander", they are doing a Tundra build. Thought I'd share it here:
mts6175
Expedition Overland is doing a Tundra Build
Im subscribed to that show, I think I've seen every episode, it's a good show and they do a good job of explaining most of what they do or how they make decisions.
I think they are going to Greenland this year.
I think they are going to Greenland this year.
Digging that bumper just because there are holes for the sensors. I haven't seen any other bumpers that have holes for sensors as of yet which is giving me a hard time trying to decide on which bumper I want. Only thing about that CBI bumper is that I'm not a fan of the hoop IMO for my build list, but what EO is doing looks great on their build!
I like the show, as well. It's no Monster Energy Ballistic BJ Baldwin Recoil 17: Rambo vs Yeti vs Megaladon... but I enjoy the pace of the show most of the time. And FINALLY! A Tundra!
CBI is local to me. They were a vendor at one of the local community park events last year where they had a couple of Tacomas outfitted with every tinker toy available from their catalog. I asked them whether or not they were planning on building any stuff for the Tundra and they said they were going to release a new line of parts for them this year. I think they were going to start with bumpers, skids, and sliders. Glad to see somethings happing
I've got a friend a friend that was their lead fabricator for a while (he's been on an off with them once or twice, IIRC) that I keep meaning to push my other friend into meeting up with to pick his brain about Tundra stuff and general fab questions.
CBI is local to me. They were a vendor at one of the local community park events last year where they had a couple of Tacomas outfitted with every tinker toy available from their catalog. I asked them whether or not they were planning on building any stuff for the Tundra and they said they were going to release a new line of parts for them this year. I think they were going to start with bumpers, skids, and sliders. Glad to see somethings happing
I've got a friend a friend that was their lead fabricator for a while (he's been on an off with them once or twice, IIRC) that I keep meaning to push my other friend into meeting up with to pick his brain about Tundra stuff and general fab questions.
And to think that as a kid we used to overland "car camp" in an old stock '58 Chevy sedan with cardboard boxes of gear in the trunk.
They seem to be a little all over the place. When they were driving to south America, it was about once a week or so.
Plus a couple extra videos of his wife doing a rally in Africa.
Plus a couple extra videos of his wife doing a rally in Africa.
I'm not sure I care for the PCOR system but it might be nice for someone that doesn't use their truck as a daily driver as well as for adventure.
Personally, we've been looking at the Conqueror trailers mainly since they have the option of a/c. Sleeping in a pool of your own sweat in a tent in south Texas in the summer just doesn't work for us anymore and we can store it when we aren't using it during the rest of the year.
--Matt
Personally, we've been looking at the Conqueror trailers mainly since they have the option of a/c. Sleeping in a pool of your own sweat in a tent in south Texas in the summer just doesn't work for us anymore and we can store it when we aren't using it during the rest of the year.
--Matt
I wouldn't pick a Tundra to build a serious trail or off-road rig. And if picking from all the Tundra platforms, a loaded CM would be the last pick.
I get it, it's not about anything other than a truck to showcase products and get people who own a Tundra to go ooohh-aahhh and whip out their wallet for a bunch of crap they will never realistically have a use for.
Just being a dick.
The Tundra is built to be a work truck. It's already large and heavy. Adding to the weight and raising the center of gravity with lift kits, over sized tires, heavy add-ons, etc, in my mind just handicaps the truck. It amazes me, how much money people spend for that "off-road look" and their truck will never see conditions that a stock truck can't handle with ease. But that's what keeps these companies in business, I guess.
I love the Tundra, but if I had to build a vehicle for serious off-road chores, I'd pick a much smaller, more versatile and capable vehicle for the task. And certainly wouldn't pick the "limited" or "platinum" trim level.
BTW, I tried finding videos of modified Tundras doing extreme off-roading. I only found vids of people with mall crawler lifts and ghetto-fabulous wheels, doing donuts on the beach,....or traversing the raging rapids of a 4" deep stream.
Oh, and a few vids of some RC car Tundras :laugh:
There's a reason a Tundra isn't the first choice for real overland/trail/rock crawling rig, etc. Same reason for not picking any of the other full-size trucks. Full size trucks are set up to either be a work truck, or a luxury daily commuter. Not the best platform for an off-road rig.
They're a great billboard for selling products though.
I get it, it's not about anything other than a truck to showcase products and get people who own a Tundra to go ooohh-aahhh and whip out their wallet for a bunch of crap they will never realistically have a use for.
Just being a dick.
The Tundra is built to be a work truck. It's already large and heavy. Adding to the weight and raising the center of gravity with lift kits, over sized tires, heavy add-ons, etc, in my mind just handicaps the truck. It amazes me, how much money people spend for that "off-road look" and their truck will never see conditions that a stock truck can't handle with ease. But that's what keeps these companies in business, I guess.
I love the Tundra, but if I had to build a vehicle for serious off-road chores, I'd pick a much smaller, more versatile and capable vehicle for the task. And certainly wouldn't pick the "limited" or "platinum" trim level.
BTW, I tried finding videos of modified Tundras doing extreme off-roading. I only found vids of people with mall crawler lifts and ghetto-fabulous wheels, doing donuts on the beach,....or traversing the raging rapids of a 4" deep stream.
Oh, and a few vids of some RC car Tundras :laugh:
There's a reason a Tundra isn't the first choice for real overland/trail/rock crawling rig, etc. Same reason for not picking any of the other full-size trucks. Full size trucks are set up to either be a work truck, or a luxury daily commuter. Not the best platform for an off-road rig.
They're a great billboard for selling products though.
the trip to south America wasn't exactly hard core. They chose AT tires rather than MT, i think a winch was used twice.
Compare that to previous adventures and it appears they are becoming soft to appeal to a larger audience.
https://youtu.be/TO5hQ6ShDYI
Compare that to previous adventures and it appears they are becoming soft to appeal to a larger audience.
https://youtu.be/TO5hQ6ShDYI
That whole video was of everything but wheelin footage.
And the tiny portion of it that did show soft core off-roading,....90% of it was showing them trying to get unstuck from 3" of mud! :laugh:
General did a poor job of finding a bunch of mooyuks to sponsor and advertise their tires. Here's a vid of us NOT being able to get through mild mud in our sponsor's tires. Brilliant.
I liked the other vid of the aussies off-roading. None of them had full-size trucks,....or mall-crawler A/T tires.
And the tiny portion of it that did show soft core off-roading,....90% of it was showing them trying to get unstuck from 3" of mud! :laugh:
General did a poor job of finding a bunch of mooyuks to sponsor and advertise their tires. Here's a vid of us NOT being able to get through mild mud in our sponsor's tires. Brilliant.
I liked the other vid of the aussies off-roading. None of them had full-size trucks,....or mall-crawler A/T tires.
While I was trying to find footage of the elusive hardcore off-roading Tundra, I buzzed through a vid that was just a slide show of all different modified Tundras.
One was lowered, had ghetto wheels and low profile street tires,..........and a deep water fording intake. I about pissed my pants. I'll try to find it again.
One was lowered, had ghetto wheels and low profile street tires,..........and a deep water fording intake. I about pissed my pants. I'll try to find it again.
They've built some interesting vehicles in that past for sure, pretty cool to see what they do with a tundra.
I'm looking foward to see if they actually overland the Tundra on this adventure. It should be interesting to see how a tundra weighed down with thousands of pounds of accessories will do off road, thats if they get back into off-roading like they did in their earlier series.
That's why I'm pessimistic, judgmental and not very supportive or enthusiastic about stuff like this.
Some of these shows start out entertaining and somewhat authentic and by the 3rd season, all they are is a 30 min commercial for their sponsors with no real entertainment or educational value. Most shows simply start out that way now.
How many of us working slobs have the time and money to by a $50k loaded CM and put another $30k in mods into it and then overland it and trail it around the world?
It's all silly. Only these guys who are sponsored, have the time and money to build and use these vehicles. And they don't even really use them. They trailer them around to shows, to advertise all the product they bolted on. Then we ooh and ahh and maybe we buy a HD winch bumper, fender flares and a ghetto-fabulous "lift kit"......so the truck can sit in the driveway and the parking lot at work.
Leave the Tundra a work truck. Spend the money on a trailer, go buy an old jeep or FJ and take it out to the country and beat the crap out of it and have some fun. Put the winch and mud tires on the actual off-road vehicle.
Some of these shows start out entertaining and somewhat authentic and by the 3rd season, all they are is a 30 min commercial for their sponsors with no real entertainment or educational value. Most shows simply start out that way now.
How many of us working slobs have the time and money to by a $50k loaded CM and put another $30k in mods into it and then overland it and trail it around the world?
It's all silly. Only these guys who are sponsored, have the time and money to build and use these vehicles. And they don't even really use them. They trailer them around to shows, to advertise all the product they bolted on. Then we ooh and ahh and maybe we buy a HD winch bumper, fender flares and a ghetto-fabulous "lift kit"......so the truck can sit in the driveway and the parking lot at work.
Leave the Tundra a work truck. Spend the money on a trailer, go buy an old jeep or FJ and take it out to the country and beat the crap out of it and have some fun. Put the winch and mud tires on the actual off-road vehicle.
A guy I work with has a 2012 blacked out Harley edition Ford. Not sure if it's a 250 or 350, but it has the solid front axle.
Anyway, has a ridiculous lift on it, custom wheels, mud tires, the whole ghetto mall crawler 9 yards.
He got it stuck in some mud, dropping off a friend's boat (maybe a 20' open bow, not a big boat) at their father's farm for storage.
Blew up the tranny and front end, trying to get out.
All that money to jack it up in the air and fit bigger mud tires on it,.......to drive it around on pavement 99.9% of the time, because he thinks it looks cool. Then he actually tries using it in mud and it blows up. Cost another wad of cash to get it fixed so he could use that lift and big mud tires for blacktop again.
Anyway, has a ridiculous lift on it, custom wheels, mud tires, the whole ghetto mall crawler 9 yards.
He got it stuck in some mud, dropping off a friend's boat (maybe a 20' open bow, not a big boat) at their father's farm for storage.
Blew up the tranny and front end, trying to get out.
All that money to jack it up in the air and fit bigger mud tires on it,.......to drive it around on pavement 99.9% of the time, because he thinks it looks cool. Then he actually tries using it in mud and it blows up. Cost another wad of cash to get it fixed so he could use that lift and big mud tires for blacktop again.
Another moronic thing about the lift kit phenomenon,....and his truck is the perfect example,....
His truck is probably a good 12" higher off the ground than stock,....just to fit tires that are a few inches taller and an inch wider.
But his differentials are only an inch or 2 higher than they were when the truck was stock.
All that money for a 1.5" gain in actual ground clearance and his truck looks like it would flip over in a fast turn.
Idiotic.
His truck is probably a good 12" higher off the ground than stock,....just to fit tires that are a few inches taller and an inch wider.
But his differentials are only an inch or 2 higher than they were when the truck was stock.
All that money for a 1.5" gain in actual ground clearance and his truck looks like it would flip over in a fast turn.
Idiotic.
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