4Wheel Underground is a company that makes and sells off-road suspension parts. They’re saying you can buy specific pieces (like brackets and joints) separately now, not just whole suspension kits.
A frame bracket is a strong metal mount that bolts to the truck’s frame. The upper one holds the suspension parts in the right position so the wheels can move properly off-road.
The lower link bracket is where the bottom suspension arm/link attaches to the frame. If it includes an integrated bump stop, it also helps limit how far the suspension can move so things don’t hit each other.
A bump stop is like a safety cushion that limits how far the suspension can compress. If it’s integrated into the bracket, it’s built in so the truck protects itself when you hit big bumps.
Cartridge joints are sealed “hinge” parts inside the suspension. They help the suspension move smoothly while keeping mud and water out so they last longer.
Johnny joints are spherical-style suspension joints designed to handle misalignment and articulation in link suspensions. “Rebuildable” means the joint can be serviced (re-greased or have wear parts replaced) instead of being replaced as a whole, which can reduce long-term cost for off-road use.
Heim joints (often called “hymes”) are strong spherical joints used in suspension links. They let parts move smoothly through different angles, which helps off-road articulation.
Offsets are parts that shift the mounting point a little. That lets you fine-tune the suspension geometry so the truck sits and moves the way you want.
Aluminum links are the suspension “arms” made from aluminum. They can be lighter and resist rust better than steel, which can help off-road setups.
Term
Alucard system
The Alucard system sounds like a way to order specific suspension parts—here, aluminum links. The point is you can get the aluminum links you want without paying extra.
A link suspension kit is an upgrade that changes how the wheels are connected to the truck. It uses link arms and joints so the suspension can move more and handle rough terrain better.
Brand
Lee Springs
Lee Springs is the name of the spring setup currently on the Toyota. Springs affect ride height and how the truck handles bumps, so switching them changes the suspension feel.
The Wrangler is a 4x4 SUV made for off-road driving. The podcast mentions doing maintenance related to the Rubicon Trail, which is a well-known off-road route. That means the Wrangler is being talked about as a vehicle people use and maintain for serious trail trips.
A solid axle means the two front wheels are connected by a single axle. Off-roaders like it because it’s tough and can keep the wheels working well when you hit ruts or uneven ground.
IFS means the front suspension is set up so each front wheel can move more on its own. That usually helps the truck feel smoother and grip better when the road or trail is bumpy.
The Toyota Tundra is a large pickup truck meant for work and towing, and it can also handle rough roads. The podcast is mentioning its suspension setup, which affects how it rides and how it performs off-road. It’s often discussed because it’s a common choice in the U.S.
The Ford F-350 is a big, heavy-duty pickup truck built for towing and hauling. The podcast is saying it’s even larger than another F-350 they’ve used, and that width and height matter when driving off-road. Bigger trucks can be harder to fit through tight spots and over obstacles.
“Long travel” means the suspension is built to let the wheels move farther. That helps the truck stay planted on bumpy trails instead of losing traction.
This is a 2014 Ford F-250 with a diesel engine called “Power Stroke.” Diesel trucks like this are popular for off-roading because they pull strongly at low speeds.
A U-joint is a small connector in the drivetrain that helps the driveshaft keep turning smoothly even when the truck’s suspension moves. If it goes bad, the truck may shake or make knocking noises.
A “lift” means raising the truck higher off the ground. Going up about 2.5 to 3 inches helps it clear obstacles and fit bigger tires for off-road trails.
The front bumper is the part at the front that helps protect the vehicle. If it’s missing, it can also affect how you attach recovery gear when you’re stuck.
“Recoveries” means helping someone get their off-road vehicle unstuck. It usually involves tools and careful pulling so nobody breaks the car further.
Term
Michigan rust
“Michigan rust” means rust problems that are common in cars from snowy, salted-road states. Salt speeds up corrosion, especially underneath the vehicle.
A trail gear bracket is a metal mount that helps bolt off-road accessories onto the truck. It’s important because it keeps the gear solid when the vehicle hits bumps and twists on trails.
A trail gear bumper is a sturdier, off-road-focused bumper. It’s meant to protect the front of the truck and usually helps with clearance when you’re driving over rocks and ruts.
In off-road truck setups, a “stinger” is typically a front-end accessory (often a grille/bumper-mounted guard or extended protection piece) that adds protection and a distinctive look. It’s commonly associated with aftermarket front bumpers and recovery-oriented builds, and it can change how the front end visually “fills out” the truck.
The Kia Stinger is a sporty-looking sedan made for more exciting driving than a basic family car. The podcast is talking about how the car’s front design and badge are easy to spot, especially in black. It’s mentioned because it’s visually distinctive.
A “daily driver” is the car you use every day. The host is saying their setup is great for their camping routine, but it’s harder to use for random errands that require different cargo space.
A rooftop basket is a rack on top of the vehicle for extra storage. The host added one so they could haul bulky stuff without cluttering the inside of the car.
Term
gazelle tent
A Gazelle tent refers to a specific brand/model of pop-up or quick-deploy camping tent used for overlanding and off-road trips. In this segment, it’s being secured to a rooftop tent setup, so the speaker is focused on how to keep it from shifting.
A ratchet is a tool that tightens a strap in small clicks and then holds it tight. People use it to keep gear from moving around—like a tent on a roof rack.
A tailgate is the back door on a pickup truck bed that can swing down. If you don’t have it, loading and unloading can be different.
Term
50 pound dogs in a life
They’re talking about how the vehicle has to fit their dogs and still work day-to-day. When people build off-road rigs, the inside layout often changes, so space and weight matter.
They’re talking about the vehicle’s main metal structure (the frame) breaking from hard use. It’s the kind of problem that can happen when a truck is pushed hard off-road for a long time.
The Dodge Ram is a large pickup truck used for everyday driving and for work tasks like towing or hauling. The podcast mentions using an automatic car wash, which is something many owners do because these trucks are used regularly. It’s being brought up as a personal, daily-use vehicle.
They’re talking about how off-roaders plan for breakdowns. If you drive your wheeling truck a lot, you either keep a second rig for parts or carry the most failure-prone parts so you can fix things quickly.
A wheel bearing helps the wheel rotate smoothly. Rough trails and water can contaminate or damage it, so it can wear out and fail—especially on off-road rigs.
Brake calipers are the parts that squeeze the brake pads against the brake rotors to slow the vehicle down. If they fail or get damaged, having a spare can help you get back on the trail faster.
CVs are parts that help send power from the drivetrain to the wheels while the suspension moves. When the rubber boots get damaged or water gets in, they wear out faster—so people keep spares for off-roading.
The alternator is what keeps your car’s battery charged and powers the electronics while the engine is running. Off-roading (bumps, heat, and water) can make it fail more often, so having a spare can prevent getting stranded.
Concept
sand-contaminated water
If water has sand in it, it can act like sandpaper. That grit can get into mechanical parts and cause them to wear out faster.
Pulleys are wheels that help guide the belt that runs accessories on the engine. If a pulley is worn or not lined up right, the belt can squeal or chirp.
Term
spacer within the gap
A spacer is a small piece that sets the right spacing between parts. If the spacing is wrong, the belt can run awkwardly and start making noise.
Trailering is when you load your 4x4 onto a trailer and tow it to the trailhead. It’s useful when the trip is long or the trails are so rough you don’t want to risk breaking something on the way.
Concept
harder trails
“Harder trails” are tougher off-road routes—more rocks, ruts, and steep sections. They’re more likely to cause problems or require recovery help.
Rock crawling is off-roading over rocks and obstacles at low speed. You’re trying to carefully place the tires so you don’t lose traction or get stuck.
In off-roading, a bypass is an alternate route around a difficult obstacle or section of trail. It’s used to keep the group moving when conditions are too risky or when a vehicle can’t safely attempt the main line.
Fenders are the panels around the wheel area. Off-roading can hit them or cause tire rubbing, so people sometimes modify them to avoid damage.
Term
viper cut
A “viper cut” is a common off-road body-trimming style where the bumper or fender is cut to create clearance for tires and suspension travel. It’s named after the distinctive shape associated with that cut style, and it’s used to reduce snagging and rubbing during wheeling.
The Toyota Tacoma is a popular off-road pickup. The speaker is saying they crushed a fender pretty soon after buying it, which is common when you start wheeling.
Concept
wheel separation
Wheel separation means one wheel can lift off the ground while the other stays down. That can happen when the suspension twists over bumps, especially on solid-axle setups.
A solid axle connects both wheels with one sturdy bar. When you hit uneven ground, the axle moves as a unit, so the truck can feel like it twists and shifts more than independent suspension.
They’re talking about tire pressure being set extremely low—so low that it can behave differently than normal. The idea is to make the tire flatten and grip the ground better on rough terrain.
An air bladder is like an internal inflatable cushion. By changing how much air it has, the track/tire can conform to the ground for more grip.
LIVE
Four wheel underground is making some big changes.
They really are.
What's really cool about what they're doing right now is they're kind of changing the
way the business is set in the sense that you get to now buy things all a cart.
Absolutely.
So if you want the upper frame bracket, you can just buy that.
Yeah.
If you want the lower link bracket because it has the integrated bump stop and it's super
stout and it looks really good too.
You can get just those before you would have to buy the whole kit.
Now you're going to be like, that's the bracket I want.
He's also brought joints in-house.
So now you can buy those all a cart from cartridge joints, rebuildable Johnny joints,
hymes, offsets, all sorts of different ones.
Do you know what else he brought in-house?
Aluminum links.
Aluminum links.
That's pretty rad.
He found a way to source aluminum links so that there's no extra charge on the suspension
kits. They now all come standard with aluminum links.
I know I'm totally jealous.
And thanks to the Alucard system, you can also order aluminum links if that's all you
want.
So if you want to move your Toyota from Lee Springs to a link suspension kit,
check out 4Wheel Underground.
We want to check with you guys today about On-X Off-Road.
Definitely one of our favorite apps for off-roading.
Yeah. What's better is not only their software, but they also are doing a lot to be a part
of the off-roading community here in the country from the trail revival program,
which I actually got to be a part of and use to do some maintenance on the Rubicon Trail too.
They have an elite partnership.
So if you are an On-X Off-Road user, you can go to any of their 40 plus partners on there
and you get discounts with any of those partners.
So from bringing the people to the brands to the listeners to everybody involved,
it sounds like they really want to be a part of our community.
So let's be a part of theirs.
Go download On-X Off-Road from your favorite app store.
Welcome one. Welcome all to Snail Trail 4x4 Podcast.
You like going off-roading in Toyotas, wrenching on Toyotas, camping in Toyotas,
maybe making a little fun of Toyotas and of course, botching Toyotas.
I'm Tyler and joining me today as always is just kidding.
It's Alex, Mark, and Gavin from Botches Off-Road.
I'm Alex. I'm Mark.
And I'm Gavin.
Ever seen wedding crashers?
Well, this is podcast crashers, folks.
We've crashed it.
We're just going to plant our flag right in the middle of the Snail Trail podcast.
Just like we landed on the moon.
Oh, we're going around it.
I'll say we were going around it.
Oh, I know. It's lame.
Yeah, for context, listeners, we're recording on April 1st,
and we just got done watching NASA launch the.
It's this one, Artemis.
Yeah, yeah, I just realized Artemis fall.
This was a whole box.
We should have done this in April.
Well, I mean, I know we are recording at April Fools,
but it shouldn't be released on April Fools.
Well, they're releasing it while they're doing the recording.
Oh, what are they out doing?
Trail here on Trail Hero X.
That's what it is.
Trail Hero X box live from Houston.
Well, anyway, Artemis made it.
It's going to do a loop around the moon.
It's not going to land because it's lame, but hopefully,
hopefully this age as well, and they did make it.
I'm going to call it now.
They've they've landed safely back in Earth.
They made it all the way up and around and we're back.
It.
Yeah, I'm not going to make any jokes.
I have a dark humor and I don't want to jinx things.
Right. But they they did well.
Everything worked right.
And this totally isn't a joke by NASA
because it's on April Fool's Day at all.
Yeah, it's not.
Dude, it does.
Watching rockets take off, though, it just amazes me
what humans have done and the fact that we were doing this
in the late 60s and we still are like just at like that same level.
Yeah, kills me.
Yeah, got to wonder.
You got to wonder why aliens told us we got to slow down.
They were going too fast.
I think it's a funding thing.
Yeah, you know, you know, I like that
because that's what the Vulcans did in Star Trek.
So I like that that take.
I've never watched Star Trek, but what I'm just saying.
Yeah, I'm just saying that we did like we have advanced so fast
in such a short amount of time and all of a sudden
we don't go into space for anything anymore.
It's like I'm pretty sure that we got told to step down, slow down.
All right. I guess stay in our lane.
I guess if there's any other listeners that haven't.
Yeah, so the Vulcans kept putting roadblocks in front of humans
from developing the warp drive because and they made them take forever.
And that's why we were so late into space was because the Vulcans
were blocking us from going out and exploring.
Leave it to humans to blame everybody else for our own issues.
Oh, my God.
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, why?
Why haven't we made Solid Axel Toyotas straight out of the factory in 2026?
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, there's issues.
Wait, wait, are none of them Solid Axel?
Is it was a choice to go from Solid Axel to IFS because it makes a more comfortable ride?
The only one that was pretty sure, the only one I would assume,
at least for the American market, would have been the Tundra.
But I'm pretty sure those are IFS as well.
No, no, no, no.
The American market doesn't have any Solid Axel Toyotas.
That's what I'm saying. This is ridiculous.
And we threw tea into the harbor for much less.
So just saying, everybody, just saying if we're going to.
Yeah. Yeah.
All right. So now we're moving on.
And we're going to pretend like we know how to run a podcast.
We do not, by the way, a snail trail podcast.
Are you tired of getting lost on the trail and getting stuck in the mud?
I mean, are you tired of doing motorcycle trails and snowmobile trails?
And then getting stuck and then getting caught and handcuffed and in trouble for it?
Are you tired of any of them?
Bubby Wallace's back 40.
Are you just sick and tired of falling off cliffs
because you didn't know it was there?
And Google Maps keeps telling you to take a right and it's just trees.
I mean, what is going on?
I like I I've done that so many times, I just keep hitting trees.
Well, then get on X on X has your back and your front.
I mean, and your sides, too.
Like, literally all sides, you can even plan your routes
so that Google doesn't mess you up.
Get on X off road today, get it.
All right. So what's the topic today?
Because you're already getting on my nerves now.
Hey, dude, give me bees.
I got was an all a I got to get there early.
I got to get on your nerves a little bit early there.
Yeah, that's OK.
Well, we could we could talk about wheeling the daily a little bit.
We don't really have a whole lot of topics, but that's OK,
because our show doesn't have topics and just how it works.
We kind of spit some shit out sometimes as topics.
But all three of us have ADHD
and we can't tell when we bring our own train off the rails.
So like halfway through a 30 minute rant,
we'll bring it back on and somehow circle it back.
So the question is, did the train start on the rails
or was it off the rails, got on the rails, and then we brought it back off?
Who knows? Yeah. But anyway, it's hard.
Let's let's try to keep on the rails for for these guys.
They're they're used to people being on the rails.
No, they're not. Jimmy and Tyler just as bad as us.
They're better. They're better.
I think I think it's because there's only two of them.
If you added another one, it probably never be on rails.
But yeah, I mean, I could see that.
Did not mean to step on your toes, Gavin.
It's fine. It's fine. I got ten of them.
It'll be OK.
All right. So let's talk wheeling dailies.
All right. Who's wheeling their daily right now?
Raise your hands.
That's everybody. Yeah, that's everybody.
I don't know my daily anymore.
Now you wheeled your daily until like three days ago.
Yeah, OK, I'll say I now have a daily that is not my wheeling rig.
Yes, but we have all wheeled our dailies
and it gets pretty hard to do that.
And I'm not like Alex.
I talked to him a little bit about this last night
that I have a lot more mechanic mechanical sympathy for my vehicle
because then he does.
And now he might understand kind of where I'm coming from.
No, he just he just.
Yeah, you said last night, he goes, I have never taken this thing.
Really? Oh, well, that's because it's my daily.
It's not my wheeling rig.
And it's way too big to imagine that.
Like, OK, I wheeled an OBS F 350 and that was fine.
But this thing is wider and taller
and way more hard to get around trails than what that OBS truck was.
Yeah, honestly, I was kind of annoyed because he popped his hood.
And I just wanted to see inside it and it's like high level.
Have we told the viewers?
I'm not like sure.
You know, I know this is a totally different podcast.
You're right.
We should probably tell them what we drive.
That is a good point. So I have.
I wheel a 98 forerunner on long travel.
It's a pretty nice truck when the timing is right.
And, you know, water pump is working and stuff.
And then I just bought a 2014 F 250 power stroke.
That's bougie. Oh, it's bougie, dude.
Man, is it bougie?
It's got wood grain.
It does. It's got heated seats.
So full treats and cookies.
Hey, you stay out of my snack box.
Wait, he's got I didn't even know he took me on a test drive on it last night.
I didn't even get into it, dude.
I was about to fall asleep in his seat because it was so comfortable.
I'm so used to not having a center console
because third and four runners are center consoles like the size of my cell phone.
So when I got this thing, I opened up the center console
and like there's so much room for snacks.
So all that's in my center console are people, snacks, dog, snacks and pop
people and dog, snacks.
I did the same thing.
I got the dogs dog treats because Oscar's weird about food.
So, no, of course, if you dog treats, tastes good, too.
So I say, if you ask Jackson,
those pepperoni dog treats are amazing.
So they smell great.
They don't taste as great. I tell you that.
That's some free advice.
So we're a make good survival meal, maybe.
But I dropped the kid off to school every day
and we're sitting in the parking lot and we get there about half hour
before he's got to go in and he's like, I want to snack out of the box.
And I'm like, OK, you know, I open it up, I get some Doritos out.
Actually, they're all dressed.
OK, most of these listeners aren't going to know all dress chips are a chip
that's popular in Canada and part most of Michigan.
I'll be honest, most of Michigan.
Yep. And he's telling 100 percent the truth
because I know nothing about those.
OK, Gavin doesn't know.
But anyway, popular to me.
So I got the all dress chips out where it's sitting there snacking on them
and he goes, what's that other bag in there?
And I'm like, oh, that's the dog treats.
And he just goes, hmm, and then keeps eating his chips.
And then I'm like, what's going on, buddy?
You're being quiet.
And he goes, I'm just thinking about those dog treats.
And I'm like, do you want one?
And he's like his eyes light up and he's like, yeah.
So I gave him one and he just he devoured it and then asked for another.
And I'm like, oh, no, no more.
We're done. You're done.
You're going to find him like in your snack box.
Just the whole things devoured.
There's just popperoni crumbs all over the place.
That's OK.
My my son today decided to dip his banana in ranch.
And that is his his thing.
So yeah, we he needs to get outside more.
I think I think he's brain rotting inside from there.
Isn't it like banana and mayonnaise that some people think is delicious?
I haven't met those people, but I.
Yeah, we're not we're not doing that.
We're not. That's not our household.
We're not a banana mayonnaise ranch.
Let's get back on top of guys.
If you want ranch, you can.
Yeah, yeah, real quick, see Southern US.
They like sliced bananas with mayonnaise on white bread.
That's why they lost anyway.
Oh, my God.
Anyway.
Oh, yeah, no.
So Mark, what about you?
What's your daily is a 2014 Toyota Tacoma?
Currently, it's not a day.
I looked you in the shop, bad boy.
Has been for over a month.
Yeah, just about getting there.
Oh, we're not incompetent,
but we we apparently botched our mechanics job.
And that's why we're the modest.
Yeah, that's that's why I try not to take my truck to them.
No, they do good work.
Most times, I don't know.
It's like a it's like playing Dungeons and Dragons or something.
And you got to like shake the dice to see how effective it's going to be.
You're like, oh, I roll the one.
Fuck, time to take it to a shop.
And well, I wouldn't say we roll in that one
because we didn't blow it up.
So it's more like a two.
We were like a two or three.
Right. Yeah.
So got to be careful.
You never know, though.
Sometimes, like the other day,
Alex helped me determine that I had a U-joint gone bad
and we fixed a U-joint in a couple hours
and had it all back in and together and the truck was driving great.
I rolled a 20. It was good to go.
I don't think it took a couple hours.
We just kind of dropped it, pressed it out, pressed it in, bingo, bingo.
I could take a couple hours total because we were bullshitting around to.
OK, any task that should be 20 minutes
is going to be closer to two hours for us because we bullshit the whole time.
Yeah. Well, for me, it's just because somehow
with my experience, everything turns into like a multi-day affair.
So that's why I try not to work on my daily, which.
I have a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
on two and a half, three inch lift,
Bill Steen's and Wild Peaks.
And that's suspension wise, tire wise.
That's all I've really done to it.
No fancies. Yeah, a winch.
That's important.
I got one of the. Oh, wait, I don't have one of those right now.
No toast. I don't even have a front bumper.
No.
Alex and I do recoveries around here every once in a while in the winter.
Yeah, to help people out.
And he might have broken his bumper on a recovery.
Yeah, a couple of months ago.
It's a Michigan or yours.
We haven't said that either.
Wow, it's weird not being on our own show.
All these listeners don't know who we are.
Yeah. So, yeah, Michigan rust.
And he was pulling a vehicle at a weird angle.
And all of a sudden you just hear snap.
Yeah. And rip the whole front.
Rip the whole front of my frame a little bit and just let go and came off.
And it's Michigan problems.
I now have a nice new trail gear bracket.
And soon there will be a trail gear bumper to go with said bracket.
I bought 11 time and then I ended up on another truck.
Yeah. Yeah. Funny how that works.
That's OK. I like I like your new one better.
He's getting the stinger.
So we're happy about that.
It looks better.
The other one just looked kind of bare.
And maybe that's because we were used to seeing a stinger on the front of it.
It looks so good on the black forerunner.
Like a stinger would be out of place on that truck.
But my truck needed a stinger. I'll admit it.
Yeah, yours is yours is close enough to not looking like a daily
that like a stinger looks better.
Yeah. But the black truck.
There's another forerunner that we have around here.
But the the black truck that is closer to stock,
where I think a bumper without a stinger would look decent.
So I think it's the long travel that does it. Yeah.
Yeah. Like I said, it's it's close enough away from stock here.
You're kind of on a whole different level.
But I mean, you don't have to drive super far for your daily.
So just know that's not really. Yeah.
Well, that's that's only for listeners.
It's only about five minutes or so.
So that's not too bad.
Mark has probably the longest drive out of all of us.
And yeah, but he has no idea.
Usually this last year suck, because usually it's different sites, right?
Was that it's just like last?
Is it like different sites?
No, I drive to the Holland every day,
or at least was for the last year now.
So that's what most I've driven.
Usually at least we start back up now.
I drive down Monday morning.
Don't come back home until Friday, because we stay out town now.
So yeah. And that's your only car.
So that's kind of what she got.
My brother's also his wheeling rig that he.
Yeah, right. But that's also your wheeling rig.
You do all the overlanding stuff in it.
Same with Alex, as far as what he had.
Yeah, like a week ago.
I actually did a recovery today on facts in the truck.
Yeah, yeah, a recovery for a certain Western telecom.
Oh, hmm.
Yeah, I got a call.
Hey, I got a flat tire on my trailer.
Can you come help me out?
So I had to run out to Bridgeston and help her friend, John,
change a tire on the work trailer. Oh, Lord.
It's all right.
So I guess the the topic of today
that we're finally getting into 17 minutes in is
what are some considerations that you guys take with daily
in your rig set up changes that you do versus camping?
So like, for instance, I will add a few things into my truck
because it's pretty much dedicated at this point.
But I'll add a few things into it that are battery powered
or whatever when I'm getting ready to go camping.
There's prep I got to do.
We'll talk about that.
And then we want to talk about extra considerations
because it's also your daily and what's important to watch,
I guess, right?
So what do you think, Alex?
What do you what do you want to touch on first?
Well, let's talk about setup first.
So this probably won't happen as much,
but I really rely heavily on packouts
because I can have all my packout set up for a daily driver truck.
So it's got, you know, my farm tools, stuff like that.
And then when it's time to go camping,
it's as easy as just click out the stack and click in the camping stack.
And that works great.
If you if you daily and overland out of your out of the same vehicle,
packouts are like their number one, dude, like it's amazing.
Yeah, because you can go from, you know, daily driver work
ready to camping overland ready in 10 minutes.
Yeah, whereas mine is a little bit more static, I guess.
I don't know how you would permanent.
Yeah, where I have permanent.
I wouldn't say permanent drawers or anything,
but like my shelf systems permanent because it's screwed into the truck.
And my drawers are not screwed in.
Those are just cheap budget drawers.
And I can pull those in and out as I need to.
It's just kind of a more of a pain than I really want to.
So I just leave them.
It's just you pick them up and move them like that.
They're usually I have enough stuff in them
and it's such a tight fit with everything that I have in there, usually
that they don't ever move around.
So the whole backside of my truck for listeners
who might not listen to botches podcast is all kitchen and fridge food base.
So you open up the backswing out.
I have all the extra camp gear like cooking stove, table, fridge, water,
couple of spare tools and then anything to do with coffee, dishes, whatever.
So that's I have a flip down table that I have on the FJ.
And I usually will will rotate that seasonally.
So once winter comes around, I'll take that stuff out.
Anything that could freeze, I'll pull out the fridge comes out.
And then I rotate winter gear into it like shovels, extra snow gear, boots,
maybe some different recovery stuff.
And I keep that a little closer at hand.
Change that a little bit.
Now that I have a box on my spare tire carrier for recovery gear,
I don't really need to worry about it and throw it in the truck as much.
So for me, that's usually my big considerations for seasonal changes.
Other than that, though, I have no space in the truck.
This is this is my daily driver, but it's dedicated for overlanding.
So I going to get groceries if they're going into the fridge,
whether I like it or not, they go in the passenger seat,
they go in the fridge and any other space that I can find on the floor
or anywhere else, and that's that's it.
I still don't know how you manage that.
You've got so much stuff in there.
Like you've got a bigger cargo space than mine
and you've you've bled into your your people space, too.
Whereas I fit all of my stuff in my tiny little third gen cargo space and my room.
Yeah, and it comes to like having like a different priority.
I think I have a lot more in the way that I like to wheel and overland.
I guess I have a lot more comfort and a lot more
comfort for the rest of my family.
I have a two year old son and a wife and they like to not slum it per se.
So, you know, they like to have things a little nicer,
like different food every day.
I'm so glad that my wife and kid are easy because.
Yeah, it's like it's like I guess I could make it easier for sure.
Like I could simplify it down a lot.
But it comes into like if this is really my passion
and she's kind of coming along with me, she likes it too.
But it's not she doesn't like eat, sleep and dream about it.
So I want to make it as enjoyable as I can for her
so that she wants to keep doing it so that I could keep doing it.
Because like I want to do it with her and the kid,
like I don't want to do it solo all the time because then it's kind of boring.
But like I enjoy sharing the experience with them.
So I want to make it as positive as I can.
So, yeah, I mean, like we've talked about this on our podcast a little bit.
But if it was just us and we were just dudes,
I talked about Benji with this on his two.
We'd have hot dogs, beer and uncrustables.
And that would be our meal for the week.
We need more than hot dogs because I'm sorry.
But just slobbering your dog ain't going to get me through the day.
No, you're not doing it good enough.
You ain't doing it good enough, if that's the case.
But but no, I mean, like there's I don't know, man,
do there there's a lot to say about how your setup changes
is based on what you kind of want to do.
So we don't we don't drive to wheel
like we drive for the drive, the destination,
then, you know, on the way there.
We like to stop at little souvenir places
or where little museums and stuff.
Me and Mark just camp so that we're closer to harder girls.
Yeah, and you guys are more trail based.
Like I like trails.
I like I said, it's that's not the problem.
But we like the whole journey and we like the all the little cool
destinations we find on the way.
It's not necessarily the main priority isn't the trail itself.
So having the comfort, having really efficient set up and take down.
And we do more of the like one day camp style things,
whereas you guys will base camp more often.
So we need to have like an efficient and quick set up and take down
because we're doing that every morning and every night.
So we get to camp after five hours driving.
We want a quick set up.
The nice thing about the FJ, how it's set up is I could just flip the back door open,
set up the stove, cook us a decent meal, flip it all back down, close it up
and be ready for the morning.
So that is something I like.
I don't have to pull anything out.
That's actually how the forerunner is now, too.
With that, yeah, you kind of changed it.
Yeah, you kind of changed it up so that it's more efficient about that.
So it was yeah, more of a I needed a way to store a table.
And if I'm storing a table, I may as well make it so I can cook on said table.
So that's kind of how that whole thing came to be.
Yeah, it's every year you get a little bit more efficient.
But as a daily driver goes, though, it's still very hard
for me to do anything else other than that.
So that is the downside to my setup is that I've purposely built it to do this.
So it's harder to like, let's say pick up an office chair
or a buddy gets a hold of me on Instagram and wants me to pick up a dolly.
And I have to lay it down in the front seat.
Like, yeah, that was that was part of why I put the rooftop basket up.
Because, like, I was so sick and tired of I'd go to the store
and I couldn't get anything like I couldn't get lumber.
So I put that rooftop basket up and we hold what, 10, 10 or 11?
Do you buy four or something? Yeah.
Yeah. Now that I've made space on my rooftop, I used to have a bunch of boxes
all around it for different stuff.
I've taken most of those off.
I've consolidated my tools to things that I need.
So I have a whole right side that I use to put on my gazelle tent.
But otherwise, when I'm not camping, I have that rooftop space.
And I just don't have straps, man.
I got a I had like a bunch of straps in the car
and some of them disappeared.
Some of them I cut up for something.
And then I had a few in the trashy room and they got all salty and rusty.
And I tried to like, yeah, yeah.
So I tried to like strap the gazelle down to my rooftop tent.
And it's like like you could see the rust just falling off of it.
And I'm like, didn't want to like ratchet.
And I'm like, OK, I'm getting auto tensioning ratchets.
Just going to get two of them.
They work really well for this.
And it's super easy to put the tent up when I'm not using them.
They're going to go in the truck.
And like, that's going to be it.
So, Mark, it's just expensive.
How is your truck as a daily woman?
I'd say you're the most daily set up for the most part.
Most daily, besides I don't have a tailgate
and I have two spare tires to take up most of my bed.
So yeah, thanks, Mark.
Thanks for carrying my spare.
So if you want to be tentacle, my truck is almost useless as a normal truck.
But other than that, it's a great daily driving back and forth
as long as it doesn't break when it's running.
Yeah. Yeah. When it's running.
Yes. But Mark is also single.
So like he doesn't need all that extra space in the truck right now.
When I be interested and I like this as an experiment,
when we do hook him up with some random girl
who likes to go camping to find someone, we'll find her.
We'll find her.
But when we do, I'm interested to see how the setup changes.
Yeah, because it's going to change.
That's guaranteed.
It's when you add a family or a partner into it,
there's always a comfort level that you add.
He'll he'll need doesn't add much.
Oh, dude, what are you talking about?
I had an attempt with a mattress.
That's so bougie.
Dude, it really is like the swag is great.
Yeah, I would just lay in my truck
if that was a case, but it would be a perfect daily van.
The only thing I really could see Mark changing a whole lot
is he definitely would have to get something other than the light fighter.
Yeah, because it would be hard to cuddle in a light.
Light fighter or a single car.
I mean, you've got to stay close.
I've had me and two 50 pound dogs in a life.
I forgot I was a terrible experience.
Yeah, never again.
But yeah, you have probably the best daily for that.
And it's probably the easily.
Well, I guess Alex is probably just as easily convertible,
but because he could just pull the pickouts out.
Yeah, I could take the tires out.
Yeah. So mine's probably the hardest to convert back.
I've also taken out the 60 percent split
and my rear seat and have that flat now.
So I have a lot of tools and stuff sitting in there.
So ironically, yours is the hardest to convert back into a daily,
but it's the only one that can get converted back to stock.
Yeah. Yeah, it's close enough to stock.
And I love that Toyota made it really easy to take out the
the rear seats.
It's like two bolts, which is kind of scary, but at the same time, it's cool.
Like it's just it's literally two bolts that you can take off by hand
because they have like a little toggle thing on them.
Wild. And you could just unscrew them and pull the seat out and done.
The the back seat, like the top seat that folds down is also two bolts.
But still, it's super easy.
I love that about the FJ, but it's a very customizable.
It's just expensive to customize.
Yeah, it's just I have because I've welded and cut so much stuff off my frame
at this point, mine can't go back.
I know Mark's in the same boat.
You could like honestly, if you bought stock shocks and stock wheels and tires,
you could go back pretty quick.
Yeah. No, I if I really wanted to, I could.
But I plan to wheel this until the frame snaps in half from Michigan winners.
And then we'll weld it back together and you'll do it for another two years.
Yep. So in Michigan, that'll be at about four years.
That's when my frame will snap.
I forecast first patch two years from now.
We'll see.
I actually didn't drive it a whole ton in the winter and I just picked up
a car and then soon another car.
So I'll be driving it less and in winters, I might be driving it less too.
So it really might end up not being a daily anymore, which is good and bad.
Like I love driving that thing.
I like the looks.
I like to be honest, I like people that give me looks.
People like give me thumbs up.
People talk to me about it.
They're like, that's cool.
You know, I went to go pick up this dolly for the guy the other day.
He goes, he goes, yeah, I used to do shit like that.
And I'm like, yeah, he goes, yeah, then I got old.
I'm like, cool, OK, give me my dolly.
Let's go. Yeah, my sadly, mine will still be driven in the winter
because my wife's still going to drive it to New Wego every day.
So yeah, I just have to get her to frame wash that once a day.
Yeah, twice a day.
Three times a day would every time she brush in your teeth.
Every time she gets in, go to the car wash brand underneath it.
Yeah, we had a guy, my my sisters.
God, I don't even know how to explain this.
But anyway, he would take his Dodge Ram after work.
There is a car wash, an automatic car wash in Fremont,
and you pay a subscription for it to have unlimited monthly washes.
He would take it once a day to the car wash after work.
My that was sick.
So I still got the NASA stream going and it just glitched out
and went to a Windows 10 launcher for a hot minute.
Dude, that's sad.
Told you, man, they're still stuck.
They were told to shut it down.
That's why they're still in Windows 10. NASA's old tech.
That's why all these like Elon and what is it?
Burgos, Bridges, what's the guy's name? Bezos.
Oh, my God. He is the Amazon Daddy.
How could you forget that?
You buy so much parts.
Yeah, yeah, not that I like him that much.
But, man, when you're building a budget vehicle,
you really just got to get the budget stuff sometimes in Amazon.
Dude, the one day shipping is great because I don't plan things.
And then I got to go and I need it fast.
I hate to admit that I have bought parts off Amazon
just for one day shipping.
Like I knew that it was dumb to buy that part, right?
But I have bought them off Amazon because I needed it right away.
Also, it doesn't help us that we can use Amazon to afterpay.
So you can get like, yeah, it's over time for those said parts.
Yeah, so we're a real budget crew.
We're a real budget crew here.
We're not paying full on everything that we buy.
I am because my afterpay is mad at me.
But you can't miss it, but if you miss a payment, you're fucked.
Well, it was either that or diapers, and I chose diapers.
You should have used afterpay to get the diapers.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's just a slippery slope, dude.
I definitely use it for groceries sometimes.
So, yeah. No.
But yeah, I mean, other than that, what are other considerations?
Are we thinking of? What about mechanical wise spares?
You guess? Yeah.
All right. So if you're going to daily your wheeling rig,
just buy a second copy of your wheeling rig.
So you have all the spares you could ever need.
If you can't do that, because I already have a bunch of vehicles in my yard,
then buy spares of the parts that usually break.
So I have a spare set of calipers, CVs, a wheel bearing.
CV is on the list, but I don't have one yet.
Alternator.
Alternator for a Toyota for sure, especially in Michigan.
We're always going through some water.
Don't remind me.
So, guys, I got to buy a spare.
All they are all the fucking bearings as well.
Neither police.
Yeah, I got to do that, too.
After my lessons today, we used my spare alternator.
Yeah. Alternator is a big thing.
We go through like crazy here.
Yeah, dude.
It's it is.
It's absolutely not how many alternators we will go through
in a year between the four or five of us that have Toyotas in this group.
The botches group. I think we all.
Well, now we all do.
So what's that seven of us?
I think it's seven of us. Yeah.
Yeah, seven.
I think we went through two.
Did you guys go through like two last year?
44
Four. That's crazy.
Duncan's. We're not like Duncan's third gen.
Shane's third gen.
My third gen.
March Tacoma.
Yeah.
And the only reason I didn't go through one of mine
is because I did it the year before.
And my brother's third gen as well.
Oh, yeah. And that one.
Yep.
I did have to replace my pulleys, though,
because I went through a bunch of water that had sand in it.
We got into my pulleys and so I had to replace a bunch of pulleys.
I still have one that makes noise,
and I just have to go through them all again and do it again.
So you got actual Toyota
bearing or pulleys or is it from AutoZone?
His rock auto.
Oh, even though he's a wild ass.
Yeah, even cheaper ones from Riley's
and they had a spacer within the gap.
So mine just chirps because of it having a weird space.
Oh, OK. No, I just got them all off a rock auto
because that was the cheapest way to get spare parts.
And those were the spare parts,
but they were like eight bucks a piece.
And yeah, I mean, for needing them in a couple of days
and it was the cheapest way to go.
It's the cheapest way to buy spares for me
because I'll keep a few of those.
I still have the old pulleys that still technically work
sitting in the truck, same with the belt, just in case.
They're the pull offs.
If if mine catastrophically fail and I need a pulley,
at least I have some that kind of work.
They don't they're not great, but they work.
So like I have I have parts in for that
because usually when we do our like overlanding trips and stuff,
well, we're at a minimum of an hour away.
So most of our trips are into the UP,
which is at least a three to four hour drive
just to get into the UP, which is the upper peninsula of Michigan.
And then it's another few hours to get to wherever we want.
It turns out to be like a it could be anywhere
from a thousand mile trip to 2000 mile trip round between everything.
So so, yeah, you really need to have spare parts.
And then, you know, you got to do that whole trip, come back
and then drive it to work the rest of the week.
So you really want to make sure everything's you're not trailering it, right?
We can't we don't trailer our vehicles right now.
Let's say I'm right now because I want to start going out west.
But I don't want to make, you know, I don't want to make
a 30 hour trip in my truck wheel for two days
and then a 30 hour trip home and then drive it to work the next day.
I'd rather trailer my truck 30 hours wheel for three days,
trailer it back and then go to work the next day.
I think, yeah, I think now the I think that takes away from my experience,
like how I like to do things.
But I could see the value behind not putting extra stress on the vehicle,
like driving it a thousand miles out there, wheeling it.
And then a thousand miles back, obviously, is going to put a lot
more stress on it than trailering it.
And it fully depends on what you're doing, right?
If you're just doing the overland thing, don't trailer.
That's that's stupid.
But if you're specifically going somewhere to do
rock crawling or harder trails, trailering makes sense.
Yeah. Yeah.
If you're going and of course, if you're going, you know, 30 hours away,
you're very likely going to Moab, very likely break your rig
out of Moab or something like that for some odd reason.
That's just because it's harder.
But I mean, I mean, there's definitely like
there's definitely a reason on why they've ended up breaking.
Like you're pushing your vehicle in some of these hard spots like Moab.
And I can't think of anything.
Yeah, Rubicon.
But me, I'd like to do the scenic stuff.
Like I want to do like Imaging Pass.
I'd like to do like the flat tops go and do the whole Pacific Northwest,
eventually by house out there.
So like I want to be able to travel that long distance
in my own vehicle.
And for that, it has to be mechanically sound.
But because it's my daily, I'm also not pushing it super hard on trails.
So like, could I?
Yes. And these guys have seen, I can push it harder if I want to.
I just don't usually like I will definitely take the bypass seven times out of 10.
If it's like crazy, like usually I could follow behind these guys.
Unless the bypass goes off trail, in which case he does not take the bypass
because he's not a prick. Yeah, no.
We stay on trail, but.
Except for Skidder Hill.
Yeah, but like I give you a pass on that
because most people can't get through Skidder Hill.
Yeah, literally most people can't.
That's like the worst obstacle in Michigan.
And in the lower Michigan.
I would say I would almost say Michigan.
Yeah, because Moose Nemesis is easier.
And that's the worst obstacle in Michigan.
Yeah, I just I'm sure there's some hidden gems.
I know there's a whole off road park
that's secret in West U.P. that they don't let.
Well, parts don't quite count.
Location X.
Well, it's not a park.
It is. It's a private part that's ran by a Jeep.
It's called Location X.
And it's some of.
I didn't know we were just listing the place off.
It's we were trying to keep it low key.
Have fun finding it.
There's no location for it.
It's called Location X. Exactly.
Location X has the hardest wheel in Michigan,
but you you got to get an invite.
It's it's really hard to get to Location X.
It's like a buggy.
That's like a buggy type deal over there.
Some of it. That's yeah.
And a lot of it's like you.
Once you get in the West U.P.,
you get into like bigger rocks, mountains and like mountainous terrain.
So super dope over there.
I I know that I saw the first time I went on to Lake in the Clouds,
which is a lake in the mountains up there.
I shed a little tear.
Not going to lie.
It was just gorgeous.
Like I had never seen anything so beautiful in person.
And then I look at all these guys that live out West.
I'm like, that's that would this would be like nothing to them.
Like, like they'd be like, oh, yeah.
Yeah, that's just over here.
Like we got this thing over there.
It's the same.
That's just a normal driving.
Like you see like independence over land
and some of those other guys that do this overlanding stuff.
And like they've even mentioned in some of their videos
that they don't really even bat an eye sometimes at some of the stuff.
And then when they bring friends that haven't been over there,
they kind of get reminded of like how beautiful it is.
It's fun.
I was watching someone that was wheeling in the U.P.
And stuff that we just drive by, like it's nothing.
They're like, oh, my God, look at this.
Yeah.
So you know, it gets annoyed with me because she's a reader.
She likes to read while I drive.
And as soon as we get into the U.P.,
you start getting like cliff faces on the side of hills.
You like you start seeing rocks and you don't get that until you hit the U.P.
And as soon as I do, I'm like, look, there's a red one.
Dude, it's like an eight foot like rock face on the side of the highway.
And it only it's like a 10 foot long rock face.
I'm like, look, look, look.
And it's like every five minutes, just like, can I read?
Like, I've seen this all before.
And I'm like, all right, dude, I like you get that in my Cadillac area, too.
Not like that, though.
But yeah, I understand what you mean.
Like, I don't know.
It's just different for me once I pass the bridge.
I lived in the mountains and like, I get what you're saying.
But at the same time, like we have that Cadillac and like, depending on I don't
depending on what part of Cadillac you're in, it's like all the way up the side
of your vehicle, like Cadillacs are really hilly area.
Hilly, but it like rock cliff face.
Yeah, we cut through it for the expressway between Cadillac and Chase
on the expressway.
There's like a good two mile section where they had to cut through hills to put
the road down. Yeah. OK.
I think I know where you're talking about.
I'm thinking like I'm thinking a little differently, but yeah, I get what you're
saying, like, yeah, I mean, either either way, I think we all take for granted
the beauty that we do have.
But yeah, like where we live, the area that we live in,
Noego, Michigan area. Absolutely.
It's actually it's actually really beautiful.
Noego downtown is really beautiful and we just live here.
So we're used to it a little bit.
But when I get back from vacations, like long trips and I drive through
Noego, usually by the time we're getting back, it's like 56 at night,
stuns, suns starting to set around the lake.
I'm like, you know, we do live in like a little beautiful area.
Like I got my rose colored glasses on still when I think it's funny
because we live in a tourist area, right?
Like think about the summer and how annoyed you get with all the fucking
tourists around our area.
But then we go other places to be tourists.
Like I think everyone does it though.
It's like when you're used to your area, I feel like if I had more places
to branch out to, I wouldn't travel as far.
I like I love this area.
Like I could honestly wheel here, Noego County trails most of the time
and be happy because we have so many trails here.
Yeah, I think for me, it's like once I've seen it once, I want to move on.
Like and it's not that it's not beautiful, but I'm the same way with movies.
Like I've seen one movie.
I rarely want to go back and do that same movie.
If I if I've done it a bunch of times, it's like, yeah, OK, not really my
priority, but like the U.P.
There's so much untouched up there.
There's it's so hard because on the way to the place you want to get to,
there's more. There are seasonal trails every 10 fucking miles.
There's like 10 trails that come out of nowhere.
See, on a state land and I guess I'm kind of the opposite.
Because like I've seen Futurama probably 30 times from start to finish.
So yeah, I couldn't do that.
Yeah, I would be I like I couldn't even get through one like whole TV show
by myself. It takes me years.
When we for a long time, Futurama would play on loop in our house
like literally 24 seven when it ended because Futurama used to be wrapped up
nice, right? The end of I think it's season seven loops perfectly back
to the beginning of the first season.
So it literally would play on loop, hit the end and go back to the beginning.
And we would celebrate every time it looked.
Yeah, no, I for me personally, I've seen it once.
I want to see something different.
Like I I'm so used to seeing the same thing, I guess.
And and I appreciate the shit out of it when I do.
But it's like after that, like I've seen like the clouds.
I'd love to go back.
But like now I want to go see what else is out there.
Like I don't want to see the same things I've already seen.
I want to see what else is there.
I want to take different trails.
I want to see different things.
So that's like now I just want to keep moving west.
I don't know when that will happen.
Maybe once we blow up an act like we don't know nobody.
But I want to go.
I've lived in Michigan my whole life and I've never been to Kitch.
Itty Kippy. And I want to go.
Thank you. I can never pronounce it.
I want to go so bad.
It's just it's pretty cool.
You got to find a like so they went last year
during the Western UP exploration that we were on.
And the thing is, is like during that time of the year,
like it's so fucking busy.
There's like a huge line.
You got to like time it like in a non busy time of the year
to be able to really enjoy it.
I remember when I went, we went four or five times as a kid.
Yeah. And it was pretty dead.
Like there was like 10, 20 people there.
But they said they were waiting in line like forever
just to get on the little
little Godly thing and go back and forth.
And I'm like, yeah, that's not worth it.
At that point, it's just Torch Lake, but smaller.
Yeah. The Torch Lake School.
I like Torch Lake. Yeah. Super cold.
But there's tons to see in Michigan.
And for us, there's tons to do.
Like, like even going an hour and a half up to Kalkaska area,
Cadillac, that's that's another one of those areas
where you start getting real rural
and there are seasonal roads everywhere.
We don't like.
But do you have to go an hour for that?
We have so many seasonal roads here in Dewego County.
Like it's bad. No, I mean, I agree.
I'm just saying like, like, I guess I save the ones near me
for rainy days.
Yeah, I got you.
You know, I mean, like, and I'll go somewhere
that I can't typically go.
But like, I don't travel.
I don't know. I don't travel.
No, we go county ones, unless you guys do,
because I like to save it for you guys.
So I do the same ones always.
And then I'm like, you know, Alex is really good
at planning until it's time to go.
And he's like, we're going to go this weekend.
We're going.
OK, and then this weekend comes around.
He's like, so I broke it.
Yeah, something. Usually what it is, or the farm gets in the way.
Yeah, so the I like to keep those trails around
just for those, because once I do them,
like a few times, they just kind of get boring.
It does help going with friends, though.
They're like, that does help my get my dopamine up to go with people.
It's fun going with my kid,
because when he's happy, that makes me happy.
So I get that dopamine rush so I can
revisit all the things that I've kind of been like not bored of.
But like, I'm not excited, excited to do like
Traverse Bay or something like I would never go to Traverse Bay
or Leland or something like that anymore.
I've been there a million times,
but because he's excited to go and excited to see all the cool stuff
like Fishtown, there's a place called Fishtown
on the Leland Peninsula in Michigan.
And it's basically a town on the bay.
And it's got a bunch of like
docks and shops and stuff right there in like the.
What would you call that, like a harbor?
Yeah, it's like a it's kind of a harbor area.
A spot where the lake kind of cuts into the shore a little bit.
Yeah, we're just that's just a harbor.
And not really like a harbor is usually like a boat docking place.
Yeah, but like this this Fishtown,
like the docks are out into the harbor and there's like little shacks on there.
Better shops and stuff.
And so it's pretty cool.
So like, we'll take him to that.
And he's like super ecstatic about it and like state parks.
I'm kind of mad about, but he like state parks are great for kids.
Yeah. So till you have to spend 100 and sixty dollars for tonight.
Yeah, I'm not doing that.
I'm so I'll like, I'm sure Turkey runs going to be fun.
But like, holy shit, was that expensive?
Yeah, that's that is way crazy.
I think it's like 27 bucks a night for us at usual state parks around here.
But we've got nine minutes left real quick.
Do you worry about body damage more since you're wheeling your daily?
I did when I first bought it.
Like I just like I fold disclosure.
I purchased my FJ for like 18 grand.
So I did not want to scratch the shit out of it at all
until I did some trails that already did it.
And now I'm just like, maybe I'll just cut the fenders.
Maybe I'll do a viper cut on the bumpers.
Like now I don't really care because to me it's they're almost like marks
of of the track like trail badges almost.
Like, I know most of my scratches.
I know where I got them, like I can hear when I got them.
And I remember each one of those. Mark, so how long was it after you bought
the Tacoma that you crushed that fender on Mike's Little Off-Road?
That was a good couple of months. It wasn't.
Yeah. But you spent what like 2223 on that thing
and then crunched it like within a few months.
But you can't remember fear.
It was like not a week after owning it.
We went down, we went up to Everett.
We were just pinstriping the whole truck sides the entire time.
But ripped the cap off that was on it.
I do remember. I keep telling myself that I'm just going to wrap it
so I don't care.
But like, I've never gotten the wrap.
Never, never even tried.
I'm just like, well, I'll wrap it someday.
When it gets so bad that it's like super easy to see, I'll wrap it someday.
And I've never done it.
But I mean, someday I plan to.
I mean, I keep saying maybe I'll wrap mine in a cool botches wrap.
And then I just stripped the paint off and clear coat it because the paint looks like ass.
So. Yeah.
I mean, I don't I don't know.
I like him at the same time.
It's like you get some people that do this stuff
and they don't have a scratch at dent.
They have no indication that they actually do stuff
like other than forest roads.
And they go, yeah, I've done all this and that.
And sometimes I hate to be judgy.
I really do. But like, sometimes they're like, they'll be like,
oh, I've done all this cool stuff.
And I'm like, have you because your truck doesn't look like you have.
Are you really going out there?
Then you get other people like Tyler who buy a new wheeling rig
barely really wheel it and then driving down the road.
The whole front axle just kind of twist and rolls underneath it.
Yeah, that's rough.
You know, I'll have to find you a picture.
I saw one somewhere.
But that that fourth gen that Tyler just bought,
he rolled that whole axle rolled under the truck.
Did you see the more broke all the legs completely separated?
She more fleets.
April Fool's because it's solid axle.
No, no, I didn't.
Yeah, so more fleets.
It's not an April Fool's joke, Mark. It's real.
It's a real product launch.
It's it's inflation for tracks.
The whole negative PSI so that you can.
Yeah, negative five PSI to suck you closer to the to the your terrain.
And it's got a it's got an air bladder in the track inside the tracks.
The track itself, but in the components that helps you with traction.
So it's it's pretty good.
They did a really good job of that.
OK, sorry, I'm watching a little bit.
This is hilarious.
Yeah, oh, it was super.
It was super good.
I was I was a static about it.
Hey, and since we're recording this on April,
maybe they'll like our onyx pitch, our onyx advertisement.
But you might hear that or you might not.
We'll see if you find out what happens or not.
So yeah, yeah, you'll hear that.
So yeah, I mean, I mean, that's our hour.
That's our hour, right?
That's our hour.
Yeah, so that was quick.
Yeah, this actually, OK, no lie.
This might be one of my favorite episodes we've recorded in a while.
So that's kind of fun.
It's not even for our podcast.
And I think it's my favorite we've done in a while.
Yeah, it is fun talking about working with these guys.
It's it's I don't know.
It's kind of fun to be able to talk with other podcasters
and to share and connect because they kind of they get it like they understand.
So it's pretty cool.
We're glad to be here.
We will figure out a much better topic for a next one
if we ever come back, if they ever let us come back.
Yeah, if they ever need us.
I don't know. I think we botched it.
Yeah, who knows?
Yeah, we did our thing.
We botched the episode.
But yeah, I mean, on that note, man, what do you guys think?
All right, catch you guys later later.
I got one for you.
Hmm.
Why do crabs never volunteer?
Why? No guesses.
I feel like this one's obvious.
Because they're selfish.
Oh, selfish.
Brown and sticky syrup.
A stick.
Come on, dude.
About this episode
Hosts and guests from Snail Trail 4x4 Offroad Podcast kick off with a Botches Off-Road takeover vibe, then jump into practical wheeling-and-overlanding talk. The conversation covers suspension choices and parts sourcing (including moving a Toyota to a link suspension kit), plus daily-driver realities like quick swaps, interior comfort, and carrying spares. They also get into trip logistics—trailering vs driving, bypass decisions, and Michigan/UP terrain—while sharing real repair stories (like a U-joint fix) and recovery gear setups.
Alex, Mark, and Gavin from Botches offroad Podcast take over the SnailTril4x4 Podcast. This is the final takeover before the Snailboys are back from their trip. They Botches Boys start off like all their normal podcasts with no real directions, but they quickly get to their topic of wheeling your daily driver.
We have a massive discount this month with Rusoh Fire Extinguishers. You can get 25% off this month only with the discount code Rusohcrawlers. Go grab yours today!
SnailTrail4x4 Discord: https://discord.gg/yFyFFkQbuy Come hang out with us on the SnailTrail4x4 Discord — it’s the easiest way to connect with Tyler and Jimmy directly, chat with fellow offroad enthusiasts, and get first access to Group Buys and Treasure Hunt token drops.
MORRFlate Giveaway at 900 Reviews on Apple Podcast. But our next giveaway is when we reach 800 reviews; we are giving away an OnX Elite Membership. We will also give away an OnX Elite membership when we get to 850. However, when we reach 900 Reviews, we are teaming up with MORRFlate for a $1000 MF Product Giveaway. Go over to Apple Podcasts to leave your review now and become eligible to win. Congratulations to A13XMONT, who won a set of tires from Yokohama Tire!
Call us and leave us a VOICEMAIL!!!
We want to hear from you even more!!! You can call and say whatever you like! Ask a question, leave feedback, correct some information about welding, say how much you hate your Jeep, and wish you had a Toyota! We will air them all, live, on the podcast! +01-916-345-4744. If you have any negative feedback, you can call our negative feedback hotline, 408-800-5169.
4Wheel Underground has all the suspension parts you need to take your off-road rig from leaf springs to a performance suspension system. We just ordered our kits for Kermit and Samantha and are looking forward to getting them. The ordering process was quite simple, and after answering the questionnaire, we ensured we got the correct and best-fitting kits for our vehicles. If you want to level up your suspension game, check out 4Wheel Underground.
SnailTrail4x4 Podcast is brought to you by all of our peeps over at irate4x4! Make sure to stop by and see all of the great perks you get for supporting SnailTrail4x4! Discount Codes, Monthly Give-Always, Gift Boxes, the SnailTrail4x4 Community, and the ST4x4 Treasure Hunt! Thank you to all of those who support us! We couldn’t do it without you guys (and gals!)!
SnailSquad Monthly Giveaway
Massive thanks to this month’s giveaway with Rusoh Fire Extinguishers. We have one of their 2.5-pound extinguishers to give away to a lucky winner. This extinguisher has an 18-year shelf life and is the best fire extinguisher for any off-road vehicle. To learn more, check out Rusoh.com. If you want a chance to win, sign up for the Giveaway Tier on Irate4x4
For the Month of April, we are giving away Gift Boxes. Its Gift Box month and two luck indiviuals will win a one of our gift boxs. These are jam packed with goodies from tools to whiskey smokers. They are always different and always random. If you want a chance to win, sign up for the Giveaway Tier on Irate4x4
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SnailTrail4x4 –SnailTrail15 for 15% off SnailTrail4x4 Merch MORRFlate – snailtraill4x4 to get 10% off MORRFlate Multi Tire Inflation Deflation™ Kits 4WheelUnderground – snailtrail 10% off Ironman 4×4 – snailtrail20 to get 20% off all Ironman 4×4 branded equipment! Sidetracked Offroad – snailtrail4x4 (lowercase) to get 15% off lights and recovery gear Spartan Rope – snailtrail4x4 to get 10% off sitewide Shock Surplus – SNAILTRAIL4x4 to get $25 off any order! Mob Armor – SNAILTRAIL4X4 for 15% off SummerShine Supply – ST4x4 for 10% off Backpacker’s Pantry – Affiliate Link Laminx Protective Films – Use the Link to get 20% off all products (Affiliate Link)
