Guy back again, and a few things have changed on the ‘ol Rig. A challenge with the Tepui tent mounted to the Tacoma was that once we got camp set up, our home was attached to our rig. It seemed daunting to have to tear down the tent just to take the truck somewhere. We felt stuck and didn’t necessarily want home to be right where we parked it. We wanted to be able to leave our tent at the camp spot and drive the truck to a trail head a few miles away or go grab a bag of ice back in town.
I said I didn’t want to pull anything. Good lesson here is to never say never! We are now pulling a small trailer. After much research and debate we went with a local company in Denver: Ruger Trailers. We found them through The Adventure Portal off-road trailer guide. We called and talked to the owner, Steve, and he invited us down to their production facility so we could check out the trailers and options. We always prefer to shop and buy locally when we can and Steve was so friendly and knowledgeable, it was an easy decision. We had them add a propane tank holder and an emergency gas canister to the sides. They customized the rack by increasing the height about 6″ so our Tepui would mount a bit higher. They also added bike rack mounts to the sides. With the two additional racks we added to the tongue, we can fit four bikes total. The trailer space is perfect for all our camping gear (inside dimensions are 72″l x 43.75″w x 24″t) which leaves the bed of the truck open for our personal and recreation gear.
Speaking of the truck bed, we added a storage solution which consists of 2 sliding drawers and a cargo slide. We have never been more organized and gear has never been easier to get out of the truck, even the stuff all the way back. Just like mom used to say, “Everything has a place and there is a place for everything”. Girl feels more empowered knowing where everything is and she can get what she needs without needing to ask Guy or Gal for help. Dog has no thumbs, so she can’t get anything and spends her time lying in the dustiest spots directly in the sun; to each their own!
Last weekend we went up to Lake Dillon, just outside Breckenridge. It was really fun and a great test run for driving with the trailer and canoe. The trailer is only about 60″ wide total, so I never had to worry about it veering into the other lanes. It pulled very smoothly and easily. Turning and corners were no problem either. We do need to work on our backing up skills though…we will have plenty of time to practice that in 11 days when we set off on our journey!