Well, both time I drop mines ( on different on car rack), one was while it was still boucing on the road, the second time was on roof rack, and I looked through my moon roof after hearing a noise and it was gone this time, never saw it again My guess is that it was stolen. Repported it to area police, and never heard of it, even with id on it.
Either way, it was to late to catch them from falling.
It always happen to fast. With the kayak, what save me was the multiple tie down points when the front j-cradle broke in very srtong gusty side wind at 55 miles per hours.
I picked up my 5 wide Boondock Edge today and towed it with my '15 2 dr Wrangler, 2.5 in lift, 33 in tires, manual shift, 4.56 gearing. City streets, freeway, dirt roads. Towed just fine. No issues.
@Tonopah said:
I picked up my 5 wide Boondock Edge today and towed it with my '15 2 dr Wrangler, 2.5 in lift, 33 in tires, manual shift, 4.56 gearing. City streets, freeway, dirt roads. Towed just fine. No issues.
I'm jealous of the 4.56 gears....
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
@Tonopah said:
I picked up my 5 wide Boondock Edge today and towed it with my '15 2 dr Wrangler, 2.5 in lift, 33 in tires, manual shift, 4.56 gearing. City streets, freeway, dirt roads. Towed just fine. No issues.
I'm jealous of the 4.56 gears....
WilliamA
Just can't wait to get mines in place. And at the same time, rear and front locker back on with half ton brakes!
@Tonopah said:
I picked up my 5 wide Boondock Edge today and towed it with my '15 2 dr Wrangler, 2.5 in lift, 33 in tires, manual shift, 4.56 gearing. City streets, freeway, dirt roads. Towed just fine. No issues.
Ok, now, do we have to informe you that we need pictures of the Jeep and TD togheter? Or it never really hapen!
"JEEP!!!!! T@G!!!! DESERT!!!!! BLUE SKY!!!!!" I just don't see any way to beat that combo!
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
Sure there is. Go to some of the green desert. Lol. We recently went to Williams and I was also in Show Low. It’s amazing. In Jan ish we will go to quartzite and Bisby.
Mike
Chaverim Basenjis
-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—
2018 T@G Sofitel
2016 Audi A3 e-tron
I am simply going to say that a wrangler towing a T@G (a gold star for an outback/boondock) to a remote location for camping, is really hard to beat. And that is in any combination of lake/mountain/forest/desert/beach/river. Did I forgot one?
This is our typical set-up when possible. Add a couple folding chairs and one or two table.
We are mostly on the move, this is why we love the back galley of the T@G so much.
The improvisd fire pit was already there from privious fisherman I guess. Use it to burn one pre drill cheminey log!
This was before the side mounted spare tire.
This are when looked on the dark sky maps, is as dark as any of your deserted area for stargasing. But we do have lots of bugs in the hight of summer. This night was quiet to my surpised.
It is also on this trip I found out that if you leave the roof vent open in dusty dirt roads, that the dust will make it way from the ac vent. The inside was all covered in dust. Including the galley. I was not happy from this mistake.
Hello, new guy here. I thought I'd post a question here rather than start a new thread
We're in the market for a trailer and looking at a T@G. Our tow vehicle is a 2018 2 door JK with 3" lift, 37s, big brakes and an axle swap with 4.88 gears. I'm comfortable the rig will tow an XL.
My question is, how aggressive of trails do you all feel you could take a T@G Boondock XL? Do you feel it's a dirt roader or do you feel it can handle moderately difficult trails?
Nice to know that you are looking at a T@G Boundock XL
To answer some of your question, I will say that this is my feeling about a T@G Boundock/Outback package as an off road trailer.
i tow a 2017 T@G Outback (previous name of the Boundock) also with a 2 door Wrangler, but a 2005 TJ (LJ) Unlimited. Not that the wrangler version is important, just to let you know that I travel off the beaten paths and the Outback (off road) package was a must for us.
Short story, I do overland travel out here in our neck of the wood, with washout and narrow roads twhere tree are taking back the roads.
We got the T@G cause my GF did not like the time it was taking to set-up camp with the RTT on trailer and take down kitcken and camp every time we were moving. That was daily or almost while travelling. The trailer was on 34" tire all steel built.
Now back to main question.
Is the T@G well suited for real off road travel, I would say nyes.
-As Here are some of the short coming in my mind. If you plan to go off road, in my mind, you need recovery point behind a trailer. Well, the T@G as none, and I would not just bolt something in the back of the small rear frame (i did a full spine or back bone from the hitch point to the rear of the trailer). This aslo make the frame way stifer.
-an off road trailer should have a suspesnion that absorb big it and was board and some rock bouncing (i am not saying fast speed here, but crawling speed w/o seeing the trailer is si ply boucing on its tire) well, the 2200 lbs suspension is to stiff for this. I am planning an air bag suspension for next spring.
-An off road trailer should have corner protection (think here rocker guards) for rock ledge drop off or dragging. The Boondock T@G as none.
-An off road trailer should have under floor plating or protection. The belly of a T@G as only some kind of plastick sheet protection for water and dust/gravel/mud protection. This can also be address.
--they have 2 vent under the trailer floor, one for the AC plenum and one for the fridge air circulation, so if you olan on deep water crossing, this is something to think about, either by plugging or relocating.
And this is me, but if I would plan to go off road, I would not go with an XL, more weight, and the extra width increase all the possible dragging issues and not as nimble, and it would aslo means morrior extension for my wrangler.
So I woukd call them soft offroaders, or overlander more than off roaders from the box.
But when we got ours, getting a real off road trailer was not possible for us in eastern canada, and even so, I dod not like the off road models available in the US. The T@G doeas not give you the impression that you are sleeping in a drawer, like many other TD trailer. I prefer slowly modding our T@G to my need and liking.
Btw, if you want to search a bit, look for The Refuge.
I would have to agree that these units are, "soft offroaders, or overlander more than off roaders from the box". There are several different manufactures that build "camping trailers" for serious off roading!
I offroad constantly with my trailer and it's none the worse for wear. The XL is certainly too wide for any explorations of the narrow sort but I'm not afraid to (carefully) take my rig anywhere I feel comfortable going with the Jeep. Overhang and breakover angles are, of course, the big factor. I have mulled over making a rivet-on rear skid plate for the angled section of frame in the back but at the end of the day, one must remember that the thing isn't bulletproof. It's just (relatively) huge. I certainly think that the 2 weak points are the ball-hitch and the low axle. The only real impediment to the offroad capabilities would be solved by putting in an overslung axle or Timbren kit. My pintle hitch solved the articulation problems I was having.
This doesn't look too rough but I had to be really careful not to hang the axle on the high-center of the trail. My axle spacer kit moved the trailer up but does nothing for the low cross beam on the axle. The only solution for that would be larger diameter tires or a Timbren Axle.
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
Thanks @WilliamA and @2004wranglerx !
I've looked at some of the more offroad worthy trailers but the wife keeps coming back to the T@G. The T@G will be perfect for the times we base camp, but we might have to leave it at home when we don't. We've tent camped or slept in my 4 door for years, we can still do that.
Long term I might just make some mods like WilliamA suggested to increase the trailer's ability.
The T@G Boondock was my compromise as well. I believe with a few key mods here and there, it could be a fairly sound trail rig. Not too extreme but stout enough to get into remote areas, base camp, be comfortable and head out from there when needed.
@WilliamA one thing about the axel spacer that you did, on top of lifting the trailer from the ground, I agree that the axle beam is still at the same height, but that also bring some kind of extra protection si ply by creating more space between the ground, the beam and the trailer floor.
And like many of the outback/boundock owners have probably realized, the 2200 lbs axle offer a way thicker and hevier beam that any of the regular T@Gs with smaller wheels and tires.
@Joabmc said:
The T@G Boondock was my compromise as well. I believe with a few key mods here and there, it could be a fairly sound trail rig. Not too extreme but stout enough to get into remote areas, base camp, be comfortable and head out from there when needed.
I don't see it anymore as a compromise. I had thought it would be a "poser" offroad trailer but now having used it for a bit, it does an admirable job of offroading. I usually drop it for the really sketchy stuff, but keep in mind that I have a note taped to the visor that says: "You've still got to drive home, stupid!" That being said, it's not a thing to get in and then back out. I think that most of the "offroad" trailers I've seen are pretty much posers. They are small, but heavy and not particularly good at dragging through the woods and weeds, or at least aren't much better at it. A narrow trailer would be nice, but I LIVE in this thing first, explore second. I didn't want something I'd have to set up just to get out of the rain for an hour or two. If I wanted that, I'd go back to a tent. Narrow trailers are top-heavy and slathered in bling, but not necessarily more capable. For the price of most of them, I could buy two T@G's and upgrade them.
I do wish I'd gotten a 5 wide though. I had altruistic motives to take the ex and my son, but she isn't much interested in going anyway. On the upside, there's no comparison between a 5W and 6W galley. the 6W seems twice as big. Until I get the trailer built to mount a Tardis, this one will do just fine.
Best offroad mods, in order of importance to me:
Pintle hitch (from Curt mfg. Massive increase in articulation, not to mention I can hook up first time, everytime)
Axle spacer kit (from Dexter...#9 kit. Higher breakover/exit angle)
Moving the spare from underneath (more ground clearance)
Electric Furnace (because being warm is so much more pleasant than trenchfoot and/or pneumonia)
Generator (see: "Electric Furnace")
Tossing the A/C and Microwave in the scrapheap (tripled my storage space. Nice to sleep without feeling like I've crawled into an idling jet engine.
Best things I've avoided:
Battery collections (heavy, cumbersome, slow charging and on and on. I have 2 generators; one on the tongue and another in my Jeep mounted to the engine that provide virtually unlimited, fast charging as long as I have fuel. Either one of them will top off my T@G battery in 20 minutes. If I need more power than that, I've got bigger issues)
Solar panels (answers the question no one asked. See: "Battery Collections")
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
You have added a good one, thta I always forgot I did, move the spare tire from the i der carriage. Fit so nicely on the side, that always forget it was not there in the begining.
And yep, the modified hitch. WilliamA went with the pintle, I went with a multi axe. And I also mannage to hook up the fist time. But I have to say, that I think I am gifted for this. Lol
@BlueBabySound We tormented ourselves deciding what to get. Full blow off road or semi off road. The hard core off road campers are expensive and heavy. Those that are not heavy are not as well appointed as the T@G and feel like a small cargo box. Considered the roof top tent option but my wife coined the term "ladder bladder" and nobody wants to do that in the middle of the night. We have taken our 5 wide all over Colorado and Utah, enjoyed being all alone in the middle of nowhere. The amenities are a good balance. It's hard sided, doesn't stink after it has been rained on, has a kitchen, can be packed up and gone in no time. We have been on roads that were rough enough that I was getting the "look" from my wife. The key is don't be in a hurry. Its amazing where you can get low and slow.
We do have a suitcase solar setup, it works great to leave everything behind 10 hours later come back to a fully charged battery and cold stuff in the fridge even when its 110º. Do we take it every time? No, planning dictates what kind of a trip we are about to do.
Extra shade is a must! We had a bat wing on our jeep that we just moved onto the T@G.
This is base camp and has not kept us from exploring and seeing the sights that only the jeep can get to.
All the calculations show it can’t work. There’s only one thing to do: make it work.
@LuckyJ said:
You have added a good one, thta I always forgot I did, move the spare tire from the i der carriage. Fit so nicely on the side, that always forget it was not there in the begining.
And yep, the modified hitch. WilliamA went with the pintle, I went with a multi axe. And I also mannage to hook up the fist time. But I have to say, that I think I am gifted for this. Lol
LuckyJ was the motivation for me when I decided to move my spare. I was perfectly happy to leave it under the deck and would have if it weren't for the fact that I had to move some tongue weight around. I think the crank-down spare cradle is fine and easy to use (if you lubricate it once and awhile) and seriously considered moving the whole crossmember to behind the axle (it will fit back there) but for the fact that its a stressed crossmember to the frame so I'd have had to make another crossmember to replace it anyway. Then there's the reduced ground clearance.
And Luc, somebody has to keep up with the Canadians.....
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
Definitely don't like the current spare location... it's like low hanging fruit! My T@G came with the table mount on the side that most suits the spare location. Guess I'll need to get creative.
@Joabmc said:
Definitely don't like the current spare location... it's like low hanging fruit! My T@G came with the table mount on the side that most suits the spare location. Guess I'll need to get creative.
I do not know much about that wall table bracket, but maybe one could be mounted somehow using the spare as a support.
We just recently hooked up to our new T@G XL Boondock with our 2010 Ford Escape 6 cyl. I did feel a bit of tugging on the rutty roads on the way home. Mind you, these are roads that are limited to 25 mph. I've seen some posters claim with even smaller TV's that they don't even notice the T@G behind them. Our long distance TV will be our 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan. I'm hoping it will perform better than our Escape. I wouldn't want any such tugging over an 8-10,000 mile trek. I'm looking forward to taking our T@G to some more open road and speed once the snow melts to see how things go.
@csonni said:
We just recently hooked up to our new T@G XL Boondock with our 2010 Ford Escape 6 cyl. I did feel a bit of tugging on the rutty roads on the way home. Mind you, these are roads that are limited to 25 mph. I've seen some posters claim with even smaller TV's that they don't even notice the T@G behind them. Our long distance TV will be our 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan. I'm hoping it will perform better than our Escape. I wouldn't want any such tugging over an 8-10,000 mile trek. I'm looking forward to taking our T@G to some more open road and speed once the snow melts to see how things go.
What king of surface were you on. If snow or dirt, did you see traces behind you? Or was it hard as ice? Was tge brake controler engage (if you had the time to install it) are you able t9 move it by hand?
Saying that you don't feel a T@G as a lot to do with TV the T@G width according to the TV width ans also the type of road and hills you have to drive it on.
I tow our regular T@G outback with either my 2005 2 door unlimited TJ on my 2005 nissan X-trail. Both are manual and I do feel it in pulling, but it track like nothing behind. Our T@g with upgrade and equipement might be on the heavy side, jeep as larger tires and I did not get the time to swap my axle/gears set up to help it. Jeep is also off road equiped with hd bumper and front and back winch. Also tow most of the time top down. So slip stream might not be great. The X-trail is the 2.5 4 banger. Pulls nice and stable, as 365 000 km. Only problem I had with overheating was on florida, following trafic with ac on in late august. Slowing down and opening the windows solved my problem on the spot w/o stopping.
I remember 1 st time I saw our T@G on the dealer's lot near quebec city, it looked so tiny with all those bigger RV and trailers around. Once I backed the jeep to it in the same lot, I could not beleive how big it was c9 pare to tge jeep. But when we stop for the night, I can only like tge perfect size it is. I woukd never see me in a 48 in bed, w/o stargazer and side windows, two door, head room and tge galley.
It follow where I go, I woukd even take it in New-York time square at rush hour w/o any fear.
Comments
Best part of the video is the driver seemed unaware the bike was even gone. What a surprise that will be when he gets to his destination.
Tom
Aptos, California
2015 LG Silver Shadow
2012 Ford Edge Sport TV
Well, both time I drop mines ( on different on car rack), one was while it was still boucing on the road, the second time was on roof rack, and I looked through my moon roof after hearing a noise and it was gone this time, never saw it again My guess is that it was stolen. Repported it to area police, and never heard of it, even with id on it.
Either way, it was to late to catch them from falling.
It always happen to fast. With the kayak, what save me was the multiple tie down points when the front j-cradle broke in very srtong gusty side wind at 55 miles per hours.
I picked up my 5 wide Boondock Edge today and towed it with my '15 2 dr Wrangler, 2.5 in lift, 33 in tires, manual shift, 4.56 gearing. City streets, freeway, dirt roads. Towed just fine. No issues.
2019 5' wide Boondock Edge w/ factory solar
I'm jealous of the 4.56 gears....
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
2021 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
2017 T@G XL
Boyceville, Wi.
Just can't wait to get mines in place. And at the same time, rear and front locker back on with half ton brakes!
Ok, now, do we have to informe you that we need pictures of the Jeep and TD togheter? Or it never really hapen!
2019 5' wide Boondock Edge w/ factory solar
"JEEP!!!!! T@G!!!! DESERT!!!!! BLUE SKY!!!!!" I just don't see any way to beat that combo!
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
2021 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
2017 T@G XL
Boyceville, Wi.
Sure there is. Go to some of the green desert. Lol. We recently went to Williams and I was also in Show Low. It’s amazing. In Jan ish we will go to quartzite and Bisby.
Mike
Chaverim Basenjis
-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—
2018 T@G Sofitel
2016 Audi A3 e-tron
I am simply going to say that a wrangler towing a T@G (a gold star for an outback/boondock) to a remote location for camping, is really hard to beat. And that is in any combination of lake/mountain/forest/desert/beach/river. Did I forgot one?
Btw, this is a nice set-up!
These T@Gs are the best. and out west we have TONS of open remote land. Usually with few bugs and low humidity.
Mike
Chaverim Basenjis
-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—
2018 T@G Sofitel
2016 Audi A3 e-tron
This is our typical set-up when possible. Add a couple folding chairs and one or two table.
We are mostly on the move, this is why we love the back galley of the T@G so much.
The improvisd fire pit was already there from privious fisherman I guess. Use it to burn one pre drill cheminey log!
This was before the side mounted spare tire.
This are when looked on the dark sky maps, is as dark as any of your deserted area for stargasing. But we do have lots of bugs in the hight of summer. This night was quiet to my surpised.
It is also on this trip I found out that if you leave the roof vent open in dusty dirt roads, that the dust will make it way from the ac vent. The inside was all covered in dust. Including the galley. I was not happy from this mistake.
Hello, new guy here. I thought I'd post a question here rather than start a new thread
We're in the market for a trailer and looking at a T@G. Our tow vehicle is a 2018 2 door JK with 3" lift, 37s, big brakes and an axle swap with 4.88 gears. I'm comfortable the rig will tow an XL.
My question is, how aggressive of trails do you all feel you could take a T@G Boondock XL? Do you feel it's a dirt roader or do you feel it can handle moderately difficult trails?
Thanks in advance!
Jeff
Hello @BlueBabySound
Nice to know that you are looking at a T@G Boundock XL
To answer some of your question, I will say that this is my feeling about a T@G Boundock/Outback package as an off road trailer.
i tow a 2017 T@G Outback (previous name of the Boundock) also with a 2 door Wrangler, but a 2005 TJ (LJ) Unlimited. Not that the wrangler version is important, just to let you know that I travel off the beaten paths and the Outback (off road) package was a must for us.
Short story, I do overland travel out here in our neck of the wood, with washout and narrow roads twhere tree are taking back the roads.
We got the T@G cause my GF did not like the time it was taking to set-up camp with the RTT on trailer and take down kitcken and camp every time we were moving. That was daily or almost while travelling. The trailer was on 34" tire all steel built.
Now back to main question.
Is the T@G well suited for real off road travel, I would say nyes.
-As Here are some of the short coming in my mind. If you plan to go off road, in my mind, you need recovery point behind a trailer. Well, the T@G as none, and I would not just bolt something in the back of the small rear frame (i did a full spine or back bone from the hitch point to the rear of the trailer). This aslo make the frame way stifer.
-an off road trailer should have a suspesnion that absorb big it and was board and some rock bouncing (i am not saying fast speed here, but crawling speed w/o seeing the trailer is si ply boucing on its tire) well, the 2200 lbs suspension is to stiff for this. I am planning an air bag suspension for next spring.
-An off road trailer should have corner protection (think here rocker guards) for rock ledge drop off or dragging. The Boondock T@G as none.
-An off road trailer should have under floor plating or protection. The belly of a T@G as only some kind of plastick sheet protection for water and dust/gravel/mud protection. This can also be address.
--they have 2 vent under the trailer floor, one for the AC plenum and one for the fridge air circulation, so if you olan on deep water crossing, this is something to think about, either by plugging or relocating.
And this is me, but if I would plan to go off road, I would not go with an XL, more weight, and the extra width increase all the possible dragging issues and not as nimble, and it would aslo means morrior extension for my wrangler.
So I woukd call them soft offroaders, or overlander more than off roaders from the box.
But when we got ours, getting a real off road trailer was not possible for us in eastern canada, and even so, I dod not like the off road models available in the US. The T@G doeas not give you the impression that you are sleeping in a drawer, like many other TD trailer. I prefer slowly modding our T@G to my need and liking.
Btw, if you want to search a bit, look for The Refuge.
Hope this is not to confusing!
@LuckyJ thank you for the insight!! You made some fantastic points
Happy to help, but I hope some others will pop in to comments on their own experience that will sure be different than mine. We are here to exchange.
I would have to agree that these units are, "soft offroaders, or overlander more than off roaders from the box". There are several different manufactures that build "camping trailers" for serious off roading!
I recognize the orange pizza cutters from WF.
I offroad constantly with my trailer and it's none the worse for wear. The XL is certainly too wide for any explorations of the narrow sort but I'm not afraid to (carefully) take my rig anywhere I feel comfortable going with the Jeep. Overhang and breakover angles are, of course, the big factor. I have mulled over making a rivet-on rear skid plate for the angled section of frame in the back but at the end of the day, one must remember that the thing isn't bulletproof. It's just (relatively) huge. I certainly think that the 2 weak points are the ball-hitch and the low axle. The only real impediment to the offroad capabilities would be solved by putting in an overslung axle or Timbren kit. My pintle hitch solved the articulation problems I was having.
This doesn't look too rough but I had to be really careful not to hang the axle on the high-center of the trail. My axle spacer kit moved the trailer up but does nothing for the low cross beam on the axle. The only solution for that would be larger diameter tires or a Timbren Axle.
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
2021 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
2017 T@G XL
Boyceville, Wi.
Thanks @WilliamA and @2004wranglerx !
I've looked at some of the more offroad worthy trailers but the wife keeps coming back to the T@G. The T@G will be perfect for the times we base camp, but we might have to leave it at home when we don't. We've tent camped or slept in my 4 door for years, we can still do that.
Long term I might just make some mods like WilliamA suggested to increase the trailer's ability.
The T@G Boondock was my compromise as well. I believe with a few key mods here and there, it could be a fairly sound trail rig. Not too extreme but stout enough to get into remote areas, base camp, be comfortable and head out from there when needed.
19 T@G XL Boondock Edge
07 Lexus GX 470
@WilliamA one thing about the axel spacer that you did, on top of lifting the trailer from the ground, I agree that the axle beam is still at the same height, but that also bring some kind of extra protection si ply by creating more space between the ground, the beam and the trailer floor.
And like many of the outback/boundock owners have probably realized, the 2200 lbs axle offer a way thicker and hevier beam that any of the regular T@Gs with smaller wheels and tires.
I don't see it anymore as a compromise. I had thought it would be a "poser" offroad trailer but now having used it for a bit, it does an admirable job of offroading. I usually drop it for the really sketchy stuff, but keep in mind that I have a note taped to the visor that says: "You've still got to drive home, stupid!" That being said, it's not a thing to get in and then back out. I think that most of the "offroad" trailers I've seen are pretty much posers. They are small, but heavy and not particularly good at dragging through the woods and weeds, or at least aren't much better at it. A narrow trailer would be nice, but I LIVE in this thing first, explore second. I didn't want something I'd have to set up just to get out of the rain for an hour or two. If I wanted that, I'd go back to a tent. Narrow trailers are top-heavy and slathered in bling, but not necessarily more capable. For the price of most of them, I could buy two T@G's and upgrade them.
I do wish I'd gotten a 5 wide though. I had altruistic motives to take the ex and my son, but she isn't much interested in going anyway. On the upside, there's no comparison between a 5W and 6W galley. the 6W seems twice as big. Until I get the trailer built to mount a Tardis, this one will do just fine.
Best offroad mods, in order of importance to me:
Pintle hitch (from Curt mfg. Massive increase in articulation, not to mention I can hook up first time, everytime)
Axle spacer kit (from Dexter...#9 kit. Higher breakover/exit angle)
Moving the spare from underneath (more ground clearance)
Electric Furnace (because being warm is so much more pleasant than trenchfoot and/or pneumonia)
Generator (see: "Electric Furnace")
Tossing the A/C and Microwave in the scrapheap (tripled my storage space. Nice to sleep without feeling like I've crawled into an idling jet engine.
Best things I've avoided:
Battery collections (heavy, cumbersome, slow charging and on and on. I have 2 generators; one on the tongue and another in my Jeep mounted to the engine that provide virtually unlimited, fast charging as long as I have fuel. Either one of them will top off my T@G battery in 20 minutes. If I need more power than that, I've got bigger issues)
Solar panels (answers the question no one asked. See: "Battery Collections")
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
2021 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
2017 T@G XL
Boyceville, Wi.
You have added a good one, thta I always forgot I did, move the spare tire from the i der carriage. Fit so nicely on the side, that always forget it was not there in the begining.
And yep, the modified hitch. WilliamA went with the pintle, I went with a multi axe. And I also mannage to hook up the fist time. But I have to say, that I think I am gifted for this. Lol
@BlueBabySound We tormented ourselves deciding what to get. Full blow off road or semi off road. The hard core off road campers are expensive and heavy. Those that are not heavy are not as well appointed as the T@G and feel like a small cargo box. Considered the roof top tent option but my wife coined the term "ladder bladder" and nobody wants to do that in the middle of the night. We have taken our 5 wide all over Colorado and Utah, enjoyed being all alone in the middle of nowhere. The amenities are a good balance. It's hard sided, doesn't stink after it has been rained on, has a kitchen, can be packed up and gone in no time. We have been on roads that were rough enough that I was getting the "look" from my wife. The key is don't be in a hurry. Its amazing where you can get low and slow.
We do have a suitcase solar setup, it works great to leave everything behind 10 hours later come back to a fully charged battery and cold stuff in the fridge even when its 110º. Do we take it every time? No, planning dictates what kind of a trip we are about to do.
Extra shade is a must! We had a bat wing on our jeep that we just moved onto the T@G.
This is base camp and has not kept us from exploring and seeing the sights that only the jeep can get to.
All the calculations show it can’t work. There’s only one thing to do: make it work.
LuckyJ was the motivation for me when I decided to move my spare. I was perfectly happy to leave it under the deck and would have if it weren't for the fact that I had to move some tongue weight around. I think the crank-down spare cradle is fine and easy to use (if you lubricate it once and awhile) and seriously considered moving the whole crossmember to behind the axle (it will fit back there) but for the fact that its a stressed crossmember to the frame so I'd have had to make another crossmember to replace it anyway. Then there's the reduced ground clearance.
And Luc, somebody has to keep up with the Canadians.....
WilliamA
"When I am in charge, Starburst brand fruit chews will get their own food group....and where are all the freakin laser beams? There should be more laser beams..."
2021 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
2017 T@G XL
Boyceville, Wi.
Definitely don't like the current spare location... it's like low hanging fruit! My T@G came with the table mount on the side that most suits the spare location. Guess I'll need to get creative.
19 T@G XL Boondock Edge
07 Lexus GX 470
I do not know much about that wall table bracket, but maybe one could be mounted somehow using the spare as a support.
We just recently hooked up to our new T@G XL Boondock with our 2010 Ford Escape 6 cyl. I did feel a bit of tugging on the rutty roads on the way home. Mind you, these are roads that are limited to 25 mph. I've seen some posters claim with even smaller TV's that they don't even notice the T@G behind them. Our long distance TV will be our 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan. I'm hoping it will perform better than our Escape. I wouldn't want any such tugging over an 8-10,000 mile trek. I'm looking forward to taking our T@G to some more open road and speed once the snow melts to see how things go.
What king of surface were you on. If snow or dirt, did you see traces behind you? Or was it hard as ice? Was tge brake controler engage (if you had the time to install it) are you able t9 move it by hand?
Saying that you don't feel a T@G as a lot to do with TV the T@G width according to the TV width ans also the type of road and hills you have to drive it on.
I tow our regular T@G outback with either my 2005 2 door unlimited TJ on my 2005 nissan X-trail. Both are manual and I do feel it in pulling, but it track like nothing behind. Our T@g with upgrade and equipement might be on the heavy side, jeep as larger tires and I did not get the time to swap my axle/gears set up to help it. Jeep is also off road equiped with hd bumper and front and back winch. Also tow most of the time top down. So slip stream might not be great. The X-trail is the 2.5 4 banger. Pulls nice and stable, as 365 000 km. Only problem I had with overheating was on florida, following trafic with ac on in late august. Slowing down and opening the windows solved my problem on the spot w/o stopping.
I remember 1 st time I saw our T@G on the dealer's lot near quebec city, it looked so tiny with all those bigger RV and trailers around. Once I backed the jeep to it in the same lot, I could not beleive how big it was c9 pare to tge jeep. But when we stop for the night, I can only like tge perfect size it is. I woukd never see me in a 48 in bed, w/o stargazer and side windows, two door, head room and tge galley.
It follow where I go, I woukd even take it in New-York time square at rush hour w/o any fear.
It was mostly rutty, hard icy snow with some loose, as it had just snowed. I really think it will be different once the roads clear up.