“Keep crawling” is off-road slang that points to slow, controlled driving—often associated with rock crawling or technical trail sections. It emphasizes patience, traction management, and careful throttle/brake inputs rather than speed.
Harbor Freight is a store that sells budget-friendly tools and gear. They’re being used here as a source for storage bins that can hold camping cooking equipment.
Storage containers help you keep your camping gear organized and protected while you drive. They’re especially useful when you’re trying to fit everything into limited space.
A butane single-burner stove is a compact camp stove that uses butane fuel. It’s being highlighted as a downsizing option that still works well for cooking while taking up minimal space.
Propane is a fuel gas like butane, often used for camping stoves. People compare it because it can be easier to find and may work better depending on the weather.
A “one burner” stove is a small cooktop with just one cooking spot. Using one in the trailer and one for car camping can make it easier to pack and cook.
“Car camping off-roading” means you camp using your vehicle as the base. You usually keep your cooking and gear in/around the car instead of relying on a trailer.
Here, “trailer” means a thing you tow behind your vehicle to carry your camping gear. Keeping the stove in the trailer means you don’t have to pack and unpack it every time.
Term
RTT
RTT means a rooftop tent. It’s a tent that sits on top of your vehicle so you can sleep up off the ground and set up camp faster.
"Permanently mounted" means the stove is bolted or fixed in place. That can be safer and more stable for travel, but it can also make it harder to change the layout later.
Shelf space just means extra places to put things on shelves. On a trailer, having more shelves can help you stay organized, but it can also take away room you might want for cooking.
Counter space is the flat work area where you prep food and cook. They’re talking about how different camping setups (like a trailer) can make it easier—or harder—to have enough room to cook.
This is a table made of aluminum that rolls up or folds out when you park. It’s handy because it gives you extra counter space for cooking, but stays out of the way while you’re towing.
A fridge is the cooler unit that keeps food cold while you’re camping. They’re saying you might not have room for extra storage if you need that space for the fridge.
Company
Bob cat
“Bob cat” probably refers to Bobcat equipment—machines used for moving things around on job sites. Here, it sounds like they’re talking about using that kind of equipment to help with the setup.
They’re talking about licensing, which is basically “permission to build” something. That’s why different companies could make similar Jeep-related vehicles.
Term
B engine Jeep
They’re describing an early Jeep-related Toyota vehicle using “B engine” as a clue to what powered it. Think of it like a shorthand label people used for that specific setup.
“3.4 liter petrol engine” means the engine is about 3.4 liters in size and it runs on gasoline. Bigger displacement can help with pulling power, which matters off-road. They mention it to explain why the vehicle was so capable.
Concept
scaled Mount Fuji's sixth stage
They’re referencing a famous climb up Mount Fuji to show how capable the vehicle is. It’s basically a “this thing can handle tough terrain” story. The point is to highlight real-world performance, not just specs.
Term
BJ
“BJ” is a code Toyota used on some Land Cruisers to indicate it’s diesel. So if you see “BJ” on the model name, it usually means the truck runs on diesel fuel. The hosts are explaining that connection.
“BJ 62” is a specific Land Cruiser diesel model. The “BJ” part is basically the clue that it’s diesel-powered. They’re saying they rode in one and that’s how they learned what the letters meant.
Term
diesel Jeep
They’re using “diesel Jeep” as a casual way to say “a diesel off-road vehicle.” It’s not necessarily a specific Jeep model. The important part is that they’re talking about diesel power.
Mitsubishi is a car company from Japan. Here they’re being discussed because they may have been asked to help design or build a vehicle that never fully made it to production.
Overland Expo is a big event for people who like traveling and camping off-road. They’re mentioning it to say this conversation happened around that time.
A Nissan Frontier is a pickup truck. People like it for off-road trips because it’s practical and there are lots of parts and upgrades available.
Concept
Titan swapping
“Swapping” means taking parts from one vehicle and putting them into another. “Titan swapping” means using parts from a Nissan Titan to upgrade your truck for tougher off-road use.
Concept
VK swapping
A “swap” means changing big parts of your truck for something else. “VK swapping” usually means putting a different engine into your truck to make it better for off-road or long trips.
A ground tent camper means you sleep in a tent on the ground. It’s different from rooftop tents or trailers because the setup and comfort can change depending on the campsite.
A bed shell is like a hard box that sits over your truck bed. It can help you camp more comfortably by protecting you from weather and giving you a more enclosed space.
Snow recovery is how you get a stuck vehicle out of snow. It usually involves using traction and sometimes a winch, and doing it carefully so you don’t break anything.
Concept
cab overs
Cab-overs are camping setups where the sleeping area sits above the cab. People bring them up as another way to camp without using a rooftop tent or a trailer.
Concept
Covered wagons
“Covered wagons” is a historical reference to enclosed travel. Here it’s more of a comparison than a practical modern camping option.
Ground tents are the normal tents you set up on the ground at camp. The idea here is that they’re sturdy and quicker to put up and take down than some other options. They still require setup, but they can be simpler than dealing with a rooftop tent.
Gazelles are a type of camping tent brand. People like them because they can be quicker and easier to set up than a basic tent. In this conversation, weight matters a lot for off-road trips, and the Gazelle model they mention is pretty heavy.
Shift Pods is a tent brand mentioned in the context of Gazelle-style tents. The speaker says they think Shift Pods are better quality, but they’re heavier than what they want for off-road trips. So it’s a tradeoff between quality and how easy it is to carry.
Term
T eight
“T eight” sounds like a specific tent model (the Gazelle T8). The speaker’s point is that this model is very heavy, which can make it harder to carry on off-road trips. Weight matters because you’re packing gear onto/into your vehicle.
A rooftop tent is a tent that sits on top of your vehicle. It’s convenient for camping, but if you’re constantly driving and changing locations, it can get annoying to deal with every day.
This means using a pickup truck’s cargo bed as your sleeping spot. The host is basically saying it depends on whether the bed is long enough for you to sleep comfortably.
The Wrangler is a 4-wheel-drive off-road SUV made for driving on trails and rough roads. People often choose it for trips where they spend multiple days on difficult routes. The mention of the Rubicon is about a well-known off-road trail where this type of vehicle is commonly used.
Overlanding means taking longer trips where you’re kind of “camping on the way,” not just driving to a campsite. People choose gear like trailers or rooftop tents based on how far and how rough the trip will be.
“Wheeling” is more intense off-roading where you’re tackling obstacles and trails, not just cruising on dirt roads. The gear choice changes because you may need a setup that’s easier to manage while you’re driving hard.
A four-season tent is built to handle colder, harsher weather than a basic tent. The speaker is saying they own one, but they don’t use it much because they prefer rooftop tents now.
Wind noise is the annoying sound you hear when air hits the tent. People try to reduce it with better sealing and adding interior panels so the tent doesn’t flap or vibrate as much.
“Snow camping conditions” highlights the practical challenges of cold-weather camping, especially for tent-based setups. Cold temperatures affect comfort and condensation, and they can also change how you manage airflow and heat retention.
They’re saying wind is a problem for tents because it makes them flap and lets heat escape. How you position and secure the tent matters a lot in windy weather.
Here, “ladder” refers to the access ladder on a rooftop tent system. Locking and bracing it matters because it affects how the tent sits and whether it can bounce or shift in gusty conditions.
A hinge is the pivot point that allows the tent to open and close. The speaker’s point is to avoid relying on the hinge to carry load in wind; instead, they want the tent’s weight pressing down on the ladder so it stays stable.
“Rain resistant” means the tent can handle some rain, but it may not stay fully dry in harder or longer storms. If the coating wears off, it may not work as well as it used to.
King of the Hammers is a tough off-road event where people drive through very rough desert terrain. They’re talking about what kind of camping setup works best for that kind of trip.
A mattress cover is a removable layer that protects your mattress. It helps keep it clean and can make sleeping more comfortable.
Concept
Walmart parking lot
This is an example of sleeping somewhere very normal and public, not a campground. It’s relevant because it shows how easy different camping setups are to use in real life.
Land Rover is a car brand that makes serious off-road 4x4 vehicles. Here it’s mentioned because the guest/host is associated with that off-road community.
“Traffic” here is a real-world driving condition that affects travel time and pacing, which matters when planning off-road trips and recovery strategies. In the context of a recap, it sets the scene for why the hosts are discussing route timing and how long vehicles can take to move through difficult sections.
“Stuck and digging” describes a common off-road recovery scenario where a vehicle loses traction and sinks into soft ground, requiring manual or tool-assisted traction recovery (digging out, clearing obstacles, and reattempting). The speaker’s repeated passes suggest the vehicles were struggling to regain momentum on the climb.
“Sinking” means the truck gets stuck because the ground is too soft. When that happens, the tires can’t get enough grip and the vehicle can sink deeper.
“One ton” is shorthand for a big, heavy-duty truck class. They’re made to tow and carry a lot, but they can sink more easily if the ground is muddy or weak.
They’re talking about the Toyota 4Runner. It’s a rugged SUV that’s commonly used for off-roading, and they mention “generations,” meaning different model years/updates over time.
“Generations” just means the different versions of a vehicle across the years. Newer generations can have different parts and upgrades, so knowing which generation matters for buying, repairs, and setup.
“Third gen” just means the third version of that vehicle model. Different versions can have different engines and parts, so it’s important when people talk about what’s been swapped or modified.
“3.4” means the engine is about 3.4 liters. Bigger or different engine sizes can indicate which model generation it is, or whether someone changed the engine.
An “engine swap” means putting a different engine into a vehicle than what it originally came with. People do it for performance or because parts are easier to find, but it can also make the truck harder to identify.
“3.0” means the engine is about 3.0 liters. It’s part of the clues the speaker uses to decide whether the truck’s current engine is original or swapped.
Concept
on tracks
“On tracks” means the vehicle was on a tracked or grooved surface, which can change how it grips. That affects how easy it is to move and steer, especially in snow.
If the back tires start slipping on snow, the truck can’t “bite” into the ground. Once that happens, it may stop moving and you might have to back out and try a different route.
If you’re stuck, backing up can help you get traction again without digging the tires in deeper. It’s often the first move before trying a stronger recovery.
When you’re driving close to other vehicles, you have to judge how much room you really have. If you misjudge the gap, you can end up boxed in or stuck trying to squeeze through.
A solid axle connects the left and right wheels together. When one wheel goes over a bump, the other side is affected too, which can help the tires stay on the ground on rough trails.
Independent front suspension means the front wheels can move separately. That can make the ride smoother, but off-road folks sometimes argue about which setup keeps better traction when things get really bumpy.
“Fuel system repairs” means fixing the parts that move gas from the tank to the engine. If something in that chain isn’t working right, the engine can start acting like it’s out of fuel even when the tank still has gas.
Sometimes a vehicle or boat can “feel” like it’s out of fuel even when the tank isn’t empty. That usually means the pump can’t pull the fuel correctly, often due to a broken or clogged pickup or a fuel delivery problem.
The fuel pump pickup is like the “straw” inside the gas tank that pulls fuel toward the pump. If it breaks, the pump can’t grab fuel properly, so the engine may quit even though there’s still gas in the tank.
LIVE
You have reached the snail trail 4x4 podcast voicemail.
If you want to leave some feedback about Toyotas, have questions about Toyotas, maybe poke some
fun at Toyotas, or let us know how your JL came with a Starbucks membership, then leave
it all on the line and we'll get to it on the podcast.
Keep crawling.
Oh, what's up everybody?
Welcome to snail mail snail mail.
You're supposed to go again.
Thank you.
How's everybody doing?
Happy Friday.
Hopefully you guys have some fun plans for the weekend.
We I'm going to be going to Prairie City and hanging out on tomorrow morning for skills
day.
So that'll be fun and then hopefully get to work on some vehicles afterwards.
Let's see.
We do have some voicemails.
I'm glad people are still giving us a call.
A lot of people are giving us calls.
We ended last week at 34 41 41.
So I don't think that's any further up than the week before, right?
I think it's about this.
I think we actually got a few less because I think we were down to 32 and then we went
up to like 42 or 40 or 43 or somewhere in there.
Yeah.
It's right around there.
Yeah.
Maybe we're right around the same six to seven or something.
Okay.
Okay.
Dang.
Well, first up on the list for today is a text message.
Oh, okay.
Cool.
It says, cool, this is long left y'all voicemail about these storage containers from Harbor
Freight.
Oh, we listened to that one.
We did.
Oh, that was from February 16th.
So March 13.
Here's a new one on today's snail mail episode on March 13th.
Y'all mentioned downsizing your camp stove.
Yeah.
We used this butane single burner stove and it worked awesome.
It fits easily in one of the Harbor Freight tool bins that I previously talked about
along with the butane canisters and other cooking supplies.
The butane is cheap, compact, and we barely scratched to the surface of the supply we
carried.
And he gave an Amazon link.
Sweet.
It's called send it over.
Click to cook butane portable stove.
All right.
So let me copy this and I'll text that over to you real quick.
And then he went on, he said, another option that we can use, that can use propane or butane
is click to cook butane propane portable stove.
I mean, copy that one over.
All right.
Thank you.
Hit up your local Wal-Mart three canisters for eight bucks.
And he gave the link on Wal-Mart for that for the canisters.
Pretty cheap.
That was pretty cheap.
Butane.
Nice.
So let's see.
Doesn't butane burn hotter pound for pound?
I think it does the propane.
Yeah.
So here's Wal-Mart send in to you.
And then here's the two Amazon links.
Perfect.
Well, thank you very much.
Yep.
I got it.
I don't know if the Amazon links are going to come through properly.
I'll figure it out.
Okay.
You can see the start.
Really long.
Got it.
So anyways, that was, um, I want to actually take a look at this guy.
Okay.
It's one of those.
I got it.
Um, yeah, I see those.
Those are used in restaurants a lot.
The single burner style butane.
Stuff that he sent.
I'm guessing somebody made one kind of designed and, um, marketed.
Towards, uh, outdoors stuff.
Yeah.
The link didn't come through that well, but I'll, I'll get it.
I'll figure it out.
Don't worry about it.
Um, I'll connect the dots and we'll get it 60 bucks on Amazon.
That's not bad.
Not bad at all.
Um, cool.
And then the propane butane one was $40.
Yeah.
So it looked the same.
Uh, yeah.
And it's dual fuel.
Interesting.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's cheaper from same company.
That is 20% off.
It's 27% off right now.
Yeah.
Fancy.
Yeah.
Well, we went out, uh, last weekend, I think it was or two weekends ago.
I can't remember.
Now when we went out wine tasting and the assistant was like, we should just probably
downgrade this one to one burner also.
Okay.
So we might just be, I might just look into getting two one burner stoves, one for that
we have in our car camping off-roading, uh, tote and then one that permanently lives
in the trailer.
Cause we almost, I mean, it's very rare that we need both burners.
Yeah.
Okay.
And when you do, it's kind of like, it's, it's a really like, you can't have two full
pot.
Like I can't have a normal pan on there and a pot.
It's, they're just too big, right?
Okay.
So you need the smaller stuff to get it to work on birth, both burners.
And are you really in the need to run both burners at the exact same time?
Can you cook one thing and then let it sit and then cook the second thing.
And yeah, camping.
Usually you have the time.
Yeah, I guess it's just a matter of having it warm at the same time.
That's the big thing.
I think at least the big thing for the secretary.
She hates cold food.
Yeah.
Well, and or serve one course and then here's the rice next course up will be
the fish here or whatever.
I end up using both burners quite often, but I'm also typically making a hot
drink.
Sure.
Like something with hot water.
And I'm, so I'm boiling water to make a hot drink to go with my dinner.
Right.
Typically or after dinner, but if you boiled the water first and then started
cooking, you would have the hot.
Like if you did tea, the tea would be steeped by the time dinner was done or
you'd be done with the tea by then.
I'm not a tea person.
A hot tea.
I typically am using both burners.
I think quite a bit.
So I typically don't.
All right.
So that's, yeah.
So that's, it sounds like I've got the okay to move down to a single
burner in the trailer also, which is going to be nice.
Cause that just then that gives us more shelf space.
Yeah.
Is a big benefit of it.
Cause our burners on top of a shelf.
Yeah.
And if we got rid of that or shrunk it down, then we would have more
room.
I've also, it's also permanently mounted.
And I've thought about making it not permanently mounted.
The cooking, the cook stove, the double, it's like a Coleman double
camp stove.
It's like permanently mounted on there.
Okay.
And I thought about undoing it.
And then so like when I'd not using it, we can unscrew it and put
it away and not worry about and then have the shelf space.
Yeah.
See in, when I had my trailer, which is teardrop style in a big
box, I really needed that the counter space for cooking off of the
door, right?
So the door swung open instead of lifting open.
So if I was in your situation, I would have that roll up aluminum
table that I have and put that out and do all the cooking on that.
And then you have two spaces to do stuff on.
Yeah.
We have, well, there are a bunch of different ways that we could put
more shelving on the trailer and around the trailer.
It just doesn't seem like we use it very much.
We don't pull them out to, to utilize it.
We also have a table that we bring that if we're not, if there isn't a
picnic table around, then we can use that as a storage and prep area.
Okay.
So we work around it.
It's just, it'd be nice to have a little bit more counter space.
I guess I don't know.
Yeah.
I also would like maybe put, put it on a drawer system underneath
the counter.
However,
You need that space for the fridge?
I need that space for the fridge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The big thing for me is being able to cause like your, your,
your little shelves that you can put in different places around the
trailer.
Yeah.
They're all like around the corner pretty much.
Right.
So there are some on in the kitchen.
Okay.
And he made a longer, like a three foot long, but only 12 inches
wide, one foot by three foot.
And it has a little peg leg that shoots down.
Okay.
So it'll mount more or less on the edge of the trailer,
but in the kitchen area and shoots straight out,
like the back of the trailer, out of the back of the trailer.
Okay.
And so, and there's a fixture for it to mount on the left side or
the right side.
So the one on the right side could literally be right in front of
the sink.
Yeah.
So, and the left side one is right in front of the stove.
Okay.
So you could have it put those one or the other.
Yeah.
I think that one would be used more often,
except it's so long and bulky that it normally gets under all the
other shelves that put in place.
So to get to it, you have to like dig for it.
Yeah.
And bury it.
That or maybe the answer is we need to move that to a more
usable space.
Maybe.
And because it sounds like it could be used more.
Yeah.
I was going to say that that sounds like it'd be useful.
I don't know how super useful 12 inches wide would be a one foot
by three foot, but it's just a storage.
Yeah.
You know, it's like you put the,
you prep cook in that general area and then you cook on in the
stove and clean at the sink.
Okay.
I don't know.
But if, if I've got the okay to go down,
probably what we'll do is we'll try a one burner with Bob cat.
And then if we like it and think it's okay,
we'll probably move a one burner into the trailer as well.
Okay.
Yeah.
Nice.
I just realized that since we're getting into the text messages
now, those technically count as a voicemail.
Yeah.
So if you include text messages, we have 46.
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
So all right.
Next up voicemail from Zach.
All right.
Hey, Zach.
There we go, buddy.
What's up, Jimmy and Tyler.
Zach from Oklahoma.
I think I was rambling a lot and spoke too fast with my last
voicemail and so some information didn't quite come out of my
mouth quite right.
So before the Land Cruiser was called the Land Cruiser,
it was known as the Toyota Jeep BJ or something like that.
And that was during the Korean war when the U.S.
was still stationed in Japan.
And while that was going on, they had put a commission out to
Mitsubishi's and Toyota to make possibly the next Jeep.
And eventually the license for the Willis Jeep was given to
Mitsubishi's to produce a variant of the CJ.
And that wasn't that license ended in like 98 or something like
that, somewhere in the 90s.
Well, in 1953, that's when the license for Mitsubishi's began.
And because Toyota was still trying to make the BJ and because
it was still called Jeep, they had to change the name in 53 and
or they had to stop selling the BJ and then eventually they
brought out the 20 series Land Cruiser, which not to be confused
with the Rovers.
Anyways, but there's some clarification for information on that.
So yeah, y'all keep crawling and I'll catch you in the next one.
See y'all.
Cool, some fun history there.
Yeah.
So I kind of looked up a little bit just and once again, it's just
a Gemini research here.
It says the BJ is the predecessor to the Land Cruiser, which we
knew, right?
And that's what Zach said.
It says known as the Toyota Jeep or B engine Jeep.
Okay.
B dash engine Jeep, two words.
It was highly capable featuring a 3.4 liter petrol engine, which
famously scaled Mount Fuji's sixth stage.
BJ generally refers to diesel power.
Okay.
Yeah.
40 series Land Cruiser.
Yeah.
So I think it'd be, I think it'd be fun to dive into some more of
that like history and some of the facts behind it.
But I rode.
See, I rode in a BJ 62 when I was hanging out with Kurt Williams
when I was stuck in.
That's right.
Utah.
Your vacation, your extended vacay.
And it was and the BJ referred to more or less that it was a diesel
Jeep or diesel Jeep.
It was a diesel powered Land Cruiser.
Okay.
Right.
So it was a diesel 62 series Land Cruiser.
Okay.
Because it was a BJ 62.
Okay.
So that's the only way that I knew when I hear of a Land Cruiser
BJ, that's what I know.
I reference it to the diesel side of things.
Nice.
Yeah.
There's definitely a lot of history there in the Land Cruiser side.
I didn't know any of the Mitsubishi's contracts and stuff.
So that's interesting.
Yeah.
So is Mitsubishi making a CJ?
It sounds like they were commissioned to design or make something
that was the, was going to be a CJ and then either they didn't
or it never came to fruition as far as I know.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Never seen one.
I don't even.
That's why I was curious.
Yeah.
All right.
Next up is Josh from SoCal.
Josh.
What up?
This was, I guess, just after Overland Expo.
So here we go.
This is Josh from SoCal.
I just met Tyler this weekend at Overland Expo.
Been listening to you guys for years and I appreciate what you do.
Always looking forward to episodes coming out.
Just, I have an hour and 15 minute community these days.
So every time I see an episode, I get excited.
I drive a 05 Nissan Frontier that I'm planning on.
VK swapping and Titan swapping in the future.
A question I guess I had for you guys was when I go camping,
I'm a traditionally a ground tent camper,
but I'm looking into rooftop tents and trailers and bed shells.
But I have a very short bed at like four feet.
So just wondering what better solutions are out there for people.
Also appreciate the episode going over the snow recoveries.
Very enlightening and very brutally honest.
Makes you appreciate things.
Thanks guys. Keep crawling.
Yeah, man.
Geez. That's a, that's a whole topic.
Ground tents, trailers, rooftops, cab overs.
Yeah.
Covered wagons.
Feel like we've done some of that before.
We have too.
If not individually and over multiple episodes of some sort.
We had a TTTT on rooftop tents first.
Tents.
Yeah.
Those are fun.
I personally really like trailers.
I think the best of all the worlds is having a camping trailer
because you can, it's very easy, quick and easy to set up camp.
You're housed within something that can handle all the elements.
And you can set it up in camp and then go use your vehicle for the day playing.
So I really like the, the, the concept and functionality of trailers.
I just don't always go to locations.
That's easy to get trailers in and out of is my main problem.
So I think the next best thing from trailers is a sturdy, easy to set up
and take down ground tents, which for me are gazelles.
There's a few different companies now making gazelle design tents,
like shift pods, shift pods makes a, in my opinion, a higher quality
a tent than gazelle.
They're also local, really cool people.
They're just a little bit heavier than what I want to carry around in a rock
crawler and gazelles are already, especially that T eight is a very heavy
tent already.
So yeah, the Jimmy likes his rooftop tents.
I think there's a big argument for rooftop tents.
I think that they're, they definitely serve a place.
I just don't like having to pack down the rooftop tent.
If I want to go play with my vehicle, the next day kind of thing.
That's what I real, that's the deal breaker for me for rooftop tents.
Yeah.
So that definitely sucks.
It's, um, yeah, if you do plan on using your vehicle every single day,
then the rooftop tents, a bummer, if you plan on going to difficult driving locations
then a trailer is a bummer, um, you know, and really sort of the best next answer
to that is sort of a ground tent or sleeping in the bed of your vehicle.
And, you know, if you're the bed of your vehicle is five foot zero,
and then you lay the tailgate down, you know, it gets maybe to six foot,
maybe, uh, you, that might be too small, you know, then, uh, what do you do?
Then yeah, it's got to be a ground tent.
So I think a lot of it comes down to what do you, what kind of off-roading
or what kind of adventuring do you enjoy doing?
If it's nothing crazy and it's more road, you know, maybe a trailer is a good option.
If it's, um, if you're not planning on moving every day,
like you go to one location, you make camp, you hang out for a day or two,
and then you break camp and you head home, then maybe a rooftop tents, a good solution.
You know, but if you're the type of person that likes to go say, you know,
spend two nights on the Rubicon and you move every single day,
then maybe a ground tents a little easier than a rooftop tent.
Cause dragging a trailer through the Rubicon is no fun.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
And there's, uh, you know, I'm in a fortunate situation where I kind of
have every one of them.
Plus a hammock.
Plus a hammock if I'm solo, um, you know, and, and once you get one,
you can, as long as you take good care of it, you know, it'll last you a really,
really long time and then you can work on acquiring another or another,
you know, or do your upgrades, however you see fit.
But, um, I think the next, if you already have a ground tent and you already have
figured out that camping situation, maybe the next step is a trailer or a rooftop
tent of some sort and you know, just make a good choice and you know,
decide which one you need, whether you're, you do more overlanding road trips
or you do more off road, hard kind of wheeling.
Playing with your vehicle, not, not a trailer level.
Um, figure out which one would be your next best fit and go that direction
because you can always fall back on the ground tent.
If you, if things aren't working out.
So I don't know if there's a, there's definitely not a correct answer.
There's not a one answer fits all here.
It's, you know, it's what type of overlanding, what type of off-roading,
what type of car camping do you enjoy doing?
And then you're going to end up with a option or a situation that's
going to best fit your needs.
Cause if I go to the Rubicon, I'm taking a rooftop tent.
If I go on an overland trip, you know, I'm taking the trailer.
If I'm, I almost never ground tent anymore, but I will pretty much
always do a rooftop tent, but, um, yeah, I mean, I, I have some,
I have a four season ground tent that I almost never use anymore.
But yeah, so I don't, I don't think there's a correct answer.
I don't think there's a right answer. It's just, you know,
if you've already got the ground tent situation, figure out what's going
to work well for you next, whether it's a rooftop tent or a trailer,
and then start working that direction.
Yeah. I like it. Collect them all. They're like Pokemon.
There you go.
Josh called back later on in the day there. So we'll see what came back to mind.
Hey Tyler, Jimmy, it's Josh from SoCal. I called yesterday and I realized
I probably left out some details. Uh, so I have an 05 Nissan frontier
with a short bed. It's 48 inches long. It's fucking small.
48 inch bed. Wow.
I've been back and forth on the idea of a rooftop tent for a while,
but most of the camping I'm doing is out in the desert with wind and cold.
Just want to know your thoughts more on how to insulate in them,
how to prevent the wind noise or are there panels that you can put on the inside?
Is it worth it to get a rooftop tent? Just, I need some personal experience.
Everything you see online is just crap, essentially. So let me know what you guys think. Thank you.
If you're going out to desert and just kind of like setting up camp for a few days,
I think you either want a trailer or rooftop tent works really well.
I think trailer would give you more shelter than a rooftop tent,
but it's not like a rooftop tent is a bad option in that scenario either.
There's definitely ways to make them really nice,
like what Jimmy does with the electric blanket to jump in and have a nice warm bed to crawl into.
You were kind of nodding your head when you were talking about
is there a way to insulate from more wind noise?
I'm sure there's a level or there's some sort of like quilts that you can put in on the walls
or something that insulate the walls a little bit,
but I've never seen them or I've never researched them, to be honest.
Never looked into it. The tent I have is and I don't,
you know, I guess Josh a good question retaliation question.
Maybe not retaliation.
Rebuttal question is, you know, are you going by yourself or with a family?
Yeah.
Because my follow-up is that my roof top tent is small.
Yeah.
And the tent warms up very quickly and it's not,
and laying one person, it takes me a little time to warm that tent up.
Two people hit the tent, warms up pretty quick and mine is like mine is a California full.
You know, it's not even a queen size bed.
It's really narrow and a little bit longer than a full bed up there.
And so with two bodies up there, it warms up pretty quick and the tents,
it's not that bad of a problem.
I've been in snowy, rainy, nasty weather situations in it.
And it takes a little bit for the tent to warm up,
but once it warms up, it holds its temperature.
Also, the electric blanket helps.
The electric blanket helps warm the entire tent up on the inside as well.
It doesn't, it's not hot, but it's definitely warmer than it is outside.
And then you climb in the warm bed and then you're warm also.
Yep.
I've definitely been out with you in snow camping conditions and you get up in the morning like,
we got a little hot in the tent last night.
Jeez.
Yeah.
We were out on that during the Halloween one, one of the times.
Spider.
When we went in, we came in really late and the next day everybody was like,
that sucked.
We're leaving.
Yeah.
And then we left the next day and we were like on the Rubicon,
less than it took us time to drive there or something like that.
But that, it snowed or it was super cold and snowed that night.
And we had the electric blanket and I woke up and I like tried to like,
I turned the temperature up to like max temperature on the electric blanket,
hoping to like smoke out my wife until then she'd come outside and she was like,
enjoying every minute of how hot it was up there.
Yeah.
So they get warm and they're, you know, they can be depending on the size
of your tent and how many people are up there can be warm.
Now for wind, wind is an issue with, I would say any tent, right?
Cause they're just going to flap.
So the hotter you can get the tent, the better the,
don't put the fold upside how towards the wind, right?
Cause if there's massive gusts, it could,
I've been in a tent where it's like started to close on me.
Another trick is to sort of like, you can bungee or ratchet strap the ladder back to the tire.
Cause usually that's sort of over the tire area and you,
that'll help hold the tire, press the, or excuse me, hold the ladder down.
Therefore your tent won't rise.
I always lock the tent.
This is kind of hard to say.
I'd make sure that the ladder locks and then I put the ladder since it is locked in.
So it won't bounce up and down anymore.
The tent won't bounce inside the ladder anymore cause the ladder is locked.
Then I put the ladder on the ground a little higher and kind of jam it.
I lift the tent up ever so slightly.
So it's not relying on the hinge.
But the weight of the tent is now pressing down on the ladder.
Yeah.
And not being suspended.
It's like the table kickstand.
So I always lock the ladder so that it's the weight is pressed down on the ladder,
not the weight is on the hinge.
But let's see.
Another trick I usually try to do is if it is windy,
cause the loose flaps on my rain fly,
if it's not going to rain, take the rain fly off.
Cause that's usually the thing that's flapping and making a bunch of noise.
If it possibly is going to rain and it's super windy,
you probably shouldn't have the rain fly extended.
But the loose side, the looseness is usually the one that goes over the door,
over the window on one of the other sides.
I usually pull those up and like shove them underneath the rain fly on the roof.
Because the top parts are usually taut,
but then the downsides are not.
And so I shove those up and hope it doesn't rain.
Okay.
If it's going to be super windy.
And usually, at least my tent used to be rain resistant.
It's not really that anymore.
Yeah.
But I would be, it would be okay for a night.
Okay.
So you'll figure out little tips and tricks as you go to just figure out,
okay, how do I solve this?
Yeah.
Now that you've had both, do you prefer the trailer or the rooftop tent?
It depends for me.
I mean, I don't, the benefit of the trailer is that it's self-contained.
It's a hard, like I'm next skiing in the hammers.
I'm not going to take the roof.
I'm not taking a rooftop tent down there again.
Yeah.
Right.
I'm going to take the tier job trailer probably again.
You've been avoiding the rooftop tent.
I mean, in the past two, three years,
you've been sleeping in a camper, Sean Clifford.
I did.
I'm not sure why I didn't drive the Tacoma down a rooftop tenant.
The rooftop tent is great.
It's fine.
It works.
But if I can get a hard shell around me, then that's more ideal.
Yeah.
The, I don't.
You just can't always get to places where we go wheeling.
It's hard to get a hard shell around you.
And having a trailer is easier because like the kitchen's there,
you know, it already has the fridge and everything kind of built into it.
You know, the bed is bigger and more comfortable.
It's got the power to run the electrical stuff and, you know,
the rooftop tent is more basic and more resistant or more or less
resistant to weather.
Yeah.
And, you know, it has, you know,
you're out in the elements a little bit more.
So I think for King of the Hammers, having a teardrop trailer
or some sort of shell is nice.
You know, a hard shell like that does damper, whatever the sounds
and things that are going on outside.
There wasn't a lot of fireworks this last year,
but I sucked like a baby in the teardrop trailer.
It was perfect weather.
I would have been totally fine this last year in the teardrop trailer
or in the rooftop tent also.
I think they're both good.
I think they just sort of both have their place.
If you have any more rooftop tent questions,
feel free to call back in.
If there was something I didn't cover or you just want to want me
to expand on, let me know.
Yeah, I think, I mean, I have lots of experience in a rooftop tent.
I don't have a lot of experience with different rooftop tents,
but I've been a slept in a rooftop tent for many years.
So since like 2019, I think so.
It was about the time when we met when you got to sleep
in the Walmart parking lot with the mattress cover.
Yeah, that was the night I bought it.
I hung out with Ian from wheel every weekend way too late
to make it home.
I was having the assistant when she was my girlfriend
find me a tent or a hotel to stay at because I was like,
I'm too tired.
I'm not going to be able to make it home.
This isn't going to work.
And she's like, didn't you just buy a tent?
Like, oh yeah, it just wasn't, I never like,
I didn't think that way before.
Right?
It's like, was never in my mind to be like, oh,
I can sleep anywhere now.
Yeah.
I was like, I got to find somewhere to stay.
But she, I'm like, find me a Walmart.
And no, that night it was like 12 degrees when I woke up.
Oh, geez.
Yeah.
And I had nothing.
I didn't have no blankets.
I bought a pillow and a mattress pad thinking it was a
comforter and it wasn't.
And so yeah, I wrapped myself up in a mattress,
a down mattress pad and add my clothes on and a pillow.
And that's all I had.
And I was, I wasn't warm, but I made it through the night.
Yeah.
Got some hot coffee the next day.
It's a fun story.
It was a fun story.
Yeah.
All right.
Next up is a Donnie from Mr. Land Rover after dark himself.
They started calling themselves rad now rovers after dark.
That's pushing it.
But listening to, I listened to their episode about our
camping trip.
It was a lot of fun.
Okay.
I need to go listen to that one.
Yeah.
It was pretty good.
You just need to skip to like an hour in or what?
Like it was the last 30 minutes of that episode.
They start talking about it.
Yeah.
Nice.
This is three minutes and no transcript.
So it might have been a butt dial.
Oh God.
All right.
Donnie is ready.
Here we go.
Hello boy.
We're not again.
Once again, sitting in traffic listening to episode 690.
The snow run recap, which is oddly just congruent given that
we're currently in the midst of a heat wave and it was 89
degrees in my house yesterday.
Yep.
But a couple of little things that you didn't mention in the
trip that I thought I would point out.
Uh-oh.
You didn't mention the two, uh, one was on Lexus and I think
the other was a forerunner, but they were largely stock or
near stock that were working their way up from Ice House.
I think I passed those guys four times all.
They didn't move more than a quarter of a mile the entire time.
I passed them when Kellen and myself and the three of us,
uh, we ran down, uh, to Ice House ahead of everybody else.
Uh, we passed them stuck and digging and, um, then I, I
turned around and came back up the hill, uh, back up towards
the top and met you guys on your way down as the second time
and passed them on the run back down to Ice House for a third
time and then we passed them again somewhere on the, on the
way up as we were heading out.
And I can say every time I talk to them like, but you know,
it's getting worse if you keep going up the hill and you know,
if you need help, we're here.
We're not, there's a bunch of us.
We're not going anywhere.
We'll be around.
We're coming back through here later.
But, uh, they, they seem to take care of themselves.
They were definitely sinking though.
Um, also when we were all sitting down at the Ice House
Junction and, uh, the guy shows up in, I don't know,
big one ton Chevy Duramax and he's going to go over Wentworth
pulled in like one truck link and promptly just sank.
Yeah.
Decided maybe that was not the best route for him.
That was pretty fun.
I thought that, you know, that's a good one.
Yeah.
Big truck guy.
No, you're going nowhere.
And you forgot to mention that, uh, Tyler went full Conestoga.
He had his home brood, uh, rooftop tent on his discovery there
and all four of them were in it.
But yeah, he was, uh, he was ready for the Oregon Trail,
a hundred percent.
And apparently, you know, there was no dysentery.
So they won.
Um, other than that, it's good to meet a few of you guys.
And, uh, I'll just, I'll just, I don't know how to say this,
but, um, yeah, that was it.
Andrew was running that, uh, the third gin.
I don't know.
Four runner on, uh, board axles.
That's, that's kind of a nice truck.
Any idea.
I did.
I did.
I don't know what came over me.
Let's be the traffic.
Uh, anyway, um, yeah.
Uh, you know, keep your crawling up even though there's.
You gotta say it.
No, it was funny listening to the rovers after dark episode.
Talk about us.
Uh-huh.
Rover Don has no knowledge.
He has about as much knowledge as we do about Land Rovers as he
does about the generations of like four runners and Toyotas and
whatever else he kept calling.
So Andrew Clamps is a second gen.
Yup.
Right.
And he was like, I think it was a third gen.
He kept calling yours.
I think he said yours was a third gen.
Uh-huh.
Uh, he's like, it has the 3.4 in it.
I know they swapped the 3.4 and then the, um, oh no,
I forgot what the, they're like main host guys name is.
Um, he was a Toyota guy back in the day.
Okay.
And he was like, well, if they put a 3.4 in it,
it was probably a second gen.
Those came with the 2.4 or the 3.0.
So it didn't have a 3.4 in it.
So it's probably a second gen.
He's like, I don't know.
It was on tracks.
It didn't look normal.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that was, it was fun.
That was super funny when that full size tried to like drive.
We're all sitting there on the snow, you know,
had turned around right there in the way where this guy was.
And this guy comes up off of one chairs, hanging out, just relaxing.
Yeah.
In that spot too.
Yeah.
And then he, because Wentworth Springs was cleared and dry.
He drove up that way and then he went to go up ice house and it was just,
or he went to continue to go up Wentworth Springs.
Sorry.
He came in on ice house and he went to go up Wentworth Springs.
And he, as soon as the rear tires hit the snow, he went nowhere.
He's like, okay, I guess I'll reverse out of here.
So that was kind of funny.
That was pretty good.
Yeah.
The two, the two guys that were just kind of sinking further and further.
Those were the guys that I was trying to drive around.
Yeah.
Kind of in the ditch and I almost got the four running the track stuck
like right next to those dudes in the deep snow and the ditch.
I remember and then it was like, I couldn't get past them because I
didn't gauge how much space is behind the second car.
And I had to go in between them.
And I was like, well, I'm an asshole here.
Sorry guys.
Sorry.
I didn't mean to do this.
I didn't think this through fully.
That was on the seventh time they were stuck.
Yeah.
That was a, that was a fun trip.
That was a good trip.
It was a good mixed variety of vehicles and people and, you know,
it was good to have kids out there in an organ trail discovery.
Yeah.
And I'm pretty sure we talked about the, his rooftop tent.
I'm pretty sure we did too.
His custom made wagon looking rooftop tent.
I think Don just messed a glassed over that or something.
He might, maybe it was in traffic fuming.
All right.
Moving on.
Yep.
Next up, Richard from Atlanta.
Okay.
Hey, Tyler and deep in Jimmy.
It's Richard from Atlanta.
I'm going to talk about several things here, but, um, yeah.
Super, uh, was super enthusiastic to hear about, uh,
Jimmy driving a Jeep in the snow and, you know, how it handled so well.
And I guess it was a jail and really, really did well.
And, you know, the solid axle is superior to the, uh, independent front and,
you know, all the, all the good deep shit.
So it was, uh, uh, it looks like Jimmy's kind of taken a turn.
Um,
kind of continuing along that line.
I don't know what virus.
Virus.
Hack.
Infectious.
Something or other is starting to take me over,
but I am now noticing, and I'm not talking about YouTube.
Out and about my eye is now starting to be caught.
Life.
Poyotas.
Fucking Poyotas.
Can you believe this shit?
Like I'm starting to notice these houses near my work that like, you know,
this guy's got like a, a gen one, um, you know, Poyota pickup or like,
you know, four wheel drive, whatever, four runner, this and that.
Like I'm starting to see shit like that.
Like just going down the road, you know, your eye catches something.
Does that mean I'm interested in it?
I don't really know.
I still don't feel like that's feasible for,
at the moment for what I'm trying to do my boys and all.
And we've talked about that, but, um, you know,
I just thought I'd give you all some information to make fun of me about in
that regard.
Um, third topic for my call, if I may.
Now with the, uh, the season starting to change.
Do you all have this problem where, uh, you know, yeah,
I'm going to get to that, you know, um, when the season starts up,
I need to tear into that, you know, uh, in February.
And I still got till May or, you know, June to get that fixed.
And then before you know it, the time's here.
Or it's July.
I can't believe how fast sometimes time goes by.
I've got a, uh, a boat.
I need to make some fuel system repairs too.
It can't, uh, it doesn't use all the gas in the tank.
So it kind of runs out of gas before it's out of gas.
If that makes sense.
And I've got to tear apart the whole floor of the decking in the back of the
boat and figure out, you know, the fuel pump pickup, broken off the bottom of
the tank or whatever.
And it's like, man, I told myself, ah, I'm not going to put that thing in the
water till May.
And here it is.
I'm like, you know, a month and a half out and I don't have much time to
work on it.
And I'm getting ready to run out of time.
So y'all keep calling seasons change quick.
Yeah, they do.
They do indeed.
And I think nobody really wants to do much during winter unless you have a
cover over your head.
Yeah.
So it's always hard to go out and do something like that in winter.
But yeah, I, I, in regards to the Jeep, I was pleasantly surprised that we
didn't have to put too much effort into getting it out.
I was, I was shocked that it was able to pull itself out.
And then I, it did drive great on the way out.
And I would, I might dare say I'm becoming as much Jeep and Jimmy as you
are Toyota Richard.
Okay.
Nice.
But yeah, I don't know.
I think, you know, I think if it's catching your eye, I think we're doing a
good job.
Yeah.
We're doing our job correctly.
Yep.
All right.
You hear that Toyota?
We need sponsorships.
Right.
We're getting people in the toilets.
Come on.
All right.
We're a little ways into this episode.
We're down to 40.
Okay.
With voice, with, with the text messages, including text messages.
Okay.
But next up we have two voicemails and two text messages from the same
day.
Okay.
Or sorry.
Same person.
No, all different.
No.
One of the text messages is one of the voice callers.
Okay.
So.
All right.
Let's hold off till next week.
All right.
Sounds good.
We will continue on with collecting your guys's fun voicemails and calls and
texts telling us about what you guys are up to or making fun of us is totally fine.
And we enjoy the snail mail episodes.
I mean, hopefully, hopefully you guys are as well.
If you want to call in and join us on a snail mail episode, you always can 916345
4744.
The phone just goes straight to voicemail.
It does not ring on our end.
So call at any time, any moment, whenever you're feeling inspired to give us a
ring.
Sounds good.
Everybody have a safe weekend out there.
Hopefully you get working on some spring projects.
Richard Toyota Richard, get that boat going man.
And we'll see you guys on Monday.
Bye.
Bye.
The number you have called has been disconnected.
About this episode
Storage and camp-cooking upgrades kick things off, with listeners sharing cheap Harbor Freight/Butane stove setups and the hosts debating whether to downsize from a two-burner to single-burner for more trailer shelf space. The show then pivots to Land Cruiser history via a voicemail clarifying the BJ/“Toyota Jeep” roots and Mitsubishi’s CJ-related licensing. A big chunk is rooftop tents vs trailers for short-bed trucks, focusing on insulation, wind noise, and real-world tips. Snow-run recap voicemails add laughs, stuck stories, and vehicle trivia.
Caller 2: Josh from SoCal talks about different camping setups
Caller 3: Josh from SoCal asks about RTT
Caller 5: Rover Don talks about the Snow Camping Trip
Caller 6: Richard from Atlanta is becoming a Toyota Lover
Join Our 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.
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.
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% Backpacker’s Pantry – Affiliate
