r/overlanding

Looking to buy a vehicle to build out into a overland/off-road rig. I’m kinda at a fork in the road and maybe the answer is obvious but I just can’t make the decision.

I’m torn between an og Land Rover defender 110 (not the junk modern ones) or a new 4Runner trd off road. I know it’s a 30 year difference but I’m trying to figure out the pros/cons for each considering they’re about the same price.

I’ve been thinking that the Land Rover has been tried and true for at least 40 years and since it’s older it should be easier to work on at home, plus it’s a 300tdi engine paired with a locker and from what I’ve heard a great manual transmission

Where as the Toyota I’d have a harder time working on it myself but every shop around me could work on it very early as well as much better parts availability

I might be trying to compare apples to oranges here but maybe someone in here could give me some guidance

Taken from a few different trails:

1. Picayne and Placer Gulches

2. Clear Lake

3. California Pass

4-6. Picayne and Placer Gulches

Looking for reliable subreddits that I can post to offload for personal life reasons, anyone have suggestions?

I recently built a DIY hard sided, slide in camper for my 2020 Tundra and wanted to share some progress!

The frame is made out of Aluminum Extrusions with ACP paneling on the outside. I used birch plywood as the interior panels and a small electrical setup for the fridge, lights, fan, and linear actuators.

Working on an interior roof and lights now and have a lot of ideas for the future. Looking forward to sharing more about my experiences going forward and learning from others too!

Are aluminium roof racks a better choice than steel for a Kenyan 4x4 if the vehicle is used for both everyday driving and occasional overlanding trips?

I have a Honda Odyssey and designed a 3D printable bracket to hold mounting hardware in place for custom crossbars (or anything that can mount with bolts). It's made from TPU and acts as a small amount of cushion between metal parts while also stabilizing the bolts. There's also a cage for square 20x20mm T nuts that goes into my particular crossbars, an Amazon Basics cheapie set.

Now I want to make versions for different vehicles. I've had a Cherokee and WJ in the past but of course never thought to measure anything.

Please post your vehicle, year or generation, and the rail width and height. I prefer metric but imperial is OK.

A sketch or picturing showing the profile would be great but it's difficult to design something that fits exactly. It took me 6 or 7 tries to get an exact match for my Odyssey. So the universal ones will probably just be a simple rectangular opening for now.

My 4th gen 2014 Honda Odyssey rails are 49mm wide and 30mm high

This is my Makerworld page for the bracket. Currently just has the Odyssey version https://makerworld.com/en/models/3169853-roof-rack-crossbar-adapter-for-4th-gen-odyssey

Was sleeping on a cot but had these mattress toppers sitting around so built this. All in about 60 bucks at the hardware store for platform + nail gun nails and screws I found around the house. Also bought a pelican case at Costco for 160. So a solid build for around 200 bucks to keep my truck organized. (Old setup at end)

I'm Portuguese and I know the Portuguese coast is very beautiful. But I advise anyone who can hike the Picos de Europa and pass through the Cantabrian Sea coast to do it!! Absolutely gorgeous. (P.S. Campsites are full at this time of year, so make a reservation if you want a spot.) I hiked in the wilderness, always respecting nature. Happy trails to all! It was a wonderful two weeks.

I've had a LifeSaver Jerrycan 20000UF since 2022 and, before getting into what's broken, I should probably start here:

I really like this thing.

We've used it camping, boating and around the house. When our daughter was on formula, there was even a stretch where we were using the Jerrycan six to eight times a day because we trusted the filtration and liked having that water available.

I'd buy the Jerrycan again.

But there's one part that has now failed on me twice.

The tap.

The original eventually came apart and dumped water. At the time, I didn't think much of it. Things break. I ordered a replacement tap for around $20, installed it and moved on.

Then the replacement failed while we were camping.

Same basic failure.

This time I found several tiny pieces of plastic around the Jerrycan, which made me curious enough to take the tap apart and figure out what was actually happening.

What I found

Inside the tap is a spring-loaded actuator/plunger assembly. Around the center stem are several very small molded plastic tabs that appear to retain that assembly and keep everything where it belongs.

Those little tabs appear to be the weak point.

I found at least three broken pieces after the failure.

Once enough of those tabs break, there doesn't appear to be much left mechanically retaining the spring-loaded assembly. The tap can separate and, if the Jerrycan is pressurized, the water that was supposed to stay in the can ends up somewhere considerably less useful.

Usually the ground.

I'm not an engineer and I'm definitely not claiming I've diagnosed the root cause from two failures. But two taps breaking at what appears to be the same retention point was enough to make me curious.

I also don't think I've been putting an unusual amount of pressure into the Jerrycan.

I normally give it a few pumps. Just enough to get good flow.

It may stay pressurized overnight or occasionally for a couple of days while we're camping, but I'm not pumping it excessively. The most recent failure happened overnight when temperatures were only in the low 70s. One of the previous failures happened indoors.

There is one thing the original tap experienced a lot of, though.

Cycles.

When we were making formula, we could operate that valve six to eight times every day.

That got me wondering whether the failure has less to do with one big event and more to do with what happens over time.

Repeated valve cycles. Constant spring pressure. Internal water pressure. Plastic fatigue or creep. Stress concentrated around the base of some very small molded tabs.

Again, that's a theory, not a diagnosis.

So naturally, I tried fixing the dead one.

At this point the original tap wasn't doing me any good broken, so I figured it was worth experimenting with.

I drilled through the center of the actuator and used a screw to mechanically capture the assembly instead of asking the remaining plastic tabs to retain the spring. I reused the original spring, put everything back together and tested it.

Surprisingly, it works pretty well.

To be clear, I'm treating this as an experimental backup. I'm not recommending everyone with a Jerrycan grab a drill and start modifying equipment used for drinking water.

If I were going to rely on the repair long term, I'd want the final hardware to be corrosion resistant and appropriate around potable water.

But the experiment did make me wonder whether the retention method itself could be approached differently in a future version.

A retaining clip or ring. A mechanically captured stem. Stronger or differently shaped tabs. Maybe even a replaceable valve cartridge.

There are probably a dozen better ideas from people who actually design these things for a living.

And credit where it's due.

I reached out to LifeSaver and their customer service has been excellent.

I explained what happened, provided information about the failure and they DHL'd me a replacement system at no charge. They also indicated to me that they're aware of an issue and working on a solution.

That's exactly the kind of response that makes me want to keep supporting a company.

The replacement appears to use the same general internal geometry, so now I'm genuinely curious to see how this one holds up over time.

I'm still a big fan of the LifeSaver Jerrycan. After taking the tap apart, though, I can't stop thinking about how much responsibility is being placed on a few really small pieces of plastic.

I'll add photos of the teardown, broken tabs and my experimental repair so you can see what I'm talking about.

If anyone else here has had a LifeSaver Jerrycan tap fail, I'd be really interested to know where yours broke.

And if there are any product or mechanical engineers here, I'd love to hear how you'd approach retaining this assembly differently.

Sometimes version 2 starts with something that small.

I went to hunt down a trail at the glacier this weekend, sounds like theres some old mining equipment and cabins I missed so I'll have to plan another trip. Anyways, heres the setup so far!