4Runner Stealth Camping Affordable Setup
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2024
- Here is our breakdown of a light stealth camping / boondocking setup for 5th Gen Toyota 4 Runner. This is the most budget friendly and fully functional setup we came up with (under 2500$ total including external upgrades)
It's the perfect way to travel the country without worrying about booking hotels (and save money) all you need is to find a safe camping spot for the night and you are good to go! We traveled like this up to 2 weeks at a time during our national park road trips.
Please like / subscribe and don't hesitate to comment with any questions or suggestions!
Follow our official Instagram: @say_adventures
Sorry for the wind noise in some parts of the video!
Thank you for watching!
Sarah & Alexey ✌
Here are the Amazon links to all of the products that we love:
Foldable Mattress - amzn.to/3JatFC4
Sleeping Bag - amzn.to/402AAnG
Privacy Covers Material - amzn.to/3TgmQnc
Window Screen - amzn.to/3yGnuku
Lantern - amzn.to/3JEM9Mv
Portable Fan - amzn.to/3JkcCNZ
Hulkman PowerBank - amzn.to/3yCobLw
Urinal - amzn.to/3ZF6M0N
Bear Spray - amzn.to/3JHfaYf
Machete - amzn.to/3mP2LbA
Chapters
0:00 intro
0:45 benefits of this setup
1:00 How to find campsites
1:36 set up description
2:13 external upgrades
4:15 diy privacy panels
5:37 our fave urinal
5:50 rechargeable fan
6:10 hulkman power bank
6:33 rechargeable lantern
7:04 personal protection
7:33 diy 4Runner sleeping platform
8:24 diy 4Runner custom mattress
9:34 sleepingo sleeping bag
10:10 seat removal for storage
10:43 outro
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Finally a video for people who aren’t/can’t spend 1000’s
Yes! That was our goal exactly!
What do you mean? Just get a cheap $3,000 rooftop tent.
😂 and solar panels for another 2000$
@@sayadventureswhere are you finding solar panels for only $2000? I guess being in Honolulu shipping jacks the cost up for me
@@J.Young808 we were just joking not really sure how much solar panels actually cost but I’m sure it’s pricey!!
Nice to see a practical build for somebody who’s not gonna drop $20,000 into modifications
Thank you! That was the point!
Great 4 Runner conversion tips for boondocking! In almost 50 years of camping experience, we have rented rv's, done tent camping, considered buying a teardrop trailer and/or a rooftop tent. But, after much thought and experiencing different types of camping modalities, my wife and I enjoy boondock camping like you all do. We enjoy dining at local restaurants and eating light meals at our boondock campground. We don't have a problem roughing it, but we maximize our hiking trail time by boondock camping this way. Thank you for sharing your tips and keep your videos coming!
Thank you for sharing your experience! We love boondocking!
Hey guys by far the best affordable way to camp in the 4runner I have seen! Thanks for the great ideas
So glad it was helpful for you!! We had to refine what we use through trial and error and several road trips across the US. We have so many great travel hacks that we have discovered that we’re excited about sharing! Thanks for the positive feedback!
Great job and I love the low cost smart choices you advise. It’s all about value
Thank you! And yes even if you on a limited budget it’s still possible!
My wife and i do this all the time in our Patriot. Got a mattress that fits perfect in the back. We also have the tent that connects to the back but we rarely use it. Taking off to do some boondocking etc is so nice after a hard weeks work to just get away from it all. Our province is full of old woods rds and abandoned places, so we hit up google maps find cool places and hit the road.
Yeees! We started a few years back with just local camping for a night or two here in Tennessee and loved it so much, now every year we do 2 week road trip when we travel all the way across US using our set up and stopping at all kind of amazing places and sights! Road trips is the best travel experience ever in our opinion!
Y’all are amazing!! Thank you so much, I’m inspired to do this for my 4Runner now😁
Thank you and good luck with everything!
Very cool. So, I have my '21 Runner, lifted it, bigger tires, and am now ready for a platform and camping gear. Great video
Thank you! Good luck on your adventures!
Thank you for this vid. I just bought my 2014 4 runner and plan on some weekend road trips.
You are welcome Rebecca! Congratulations!
WOW!! This was what I was looking for. Thanks guys!! ❤
You are very welcome!🙏🏻
That is fantastic , I have a 2001 FurRunner❤ Love the window covers Love how other people are using The same items and things that you are also using.
Thank you! A lot of stuff is universal and can be applied to most of SUVs and ever cars!
We are new to camping and these are really helpful tips! Thanks!
Awesome! Glad this helps! Have fun camping!
Excellent! Thanks for the tips! I just got my 2021 4R and hope to join the party soon!
Thats awesome! You are welcome!
One of the best 4Runner sleeping systems I’ve seen! Great job. I take out the seat bottoms in mine also and place an 8L Action Packer (full of gear) on the floor to level it out.
That’s a great idea! We just put our backpacks there! I got to look into those storage containers you talking about. Thanks!
Awesome! Very helpful! Thank you guys for useful information!
Glad it was helpful!
Amazing video wish I had seen yours first, sending my expensive stuff back now! Thanks so much 👍
You are welcome! Glad it helped!
So we used your video to find a mattress to fit our 05 4runner. Went with a different brand. It still works great!! Keep putting out videos made for people who are not ready to spend $$$$ for some simple weekend trips. Thank you!
You are welcome! Happy to hear it helped!
Outstanding video! Really well done setup. Subscribed immediately!
Awesome! We appreciate you!
What a super helpful video for my travels !
Thank you! We are happy it helps!
thanks guys!!! just got a 2023 4runner
Congratulations!!
Awesome video guys. Super helpful for people who send most their money on other hobbies, yet still have an overland vehicle and would like to go overlanding and camping. Adding some timestamps on the video to look over it for particular things would be dope
Exactly how we feel too! And absolutely will be learning how to add time stamps to videos today! Thanks so much!
Also planning on adding more detailed content into the products that we’ve used and other affordable tips we’ve learned on the road! Learning as we go!
just getting into this, silly I never thought of just removing the seat, that's going to free up space when doing my next trip! Awesome video guys!
You are welcome! Glad it helps!
I have the same setup in my first Gen sequoia. Good idea on the screen for the windows!
Thank you!
Enjoyed your video. Y’all and i are thinking the same as far a cost goes. Have fun on your next adventure.
Thank you! We wish we had guide like this when we were figuring it all out!
Great video, I’m trying it next week for first time!
Awesome!! Good luck!
great ideas, especially the back seat removal
Thank you! Easy and very helpful
This is so helpful. Thank you so much!
You are welcome! Glad it helped!
Great video! Thanks.
You are welcome!
Awesome great work!
Thanks a lot!
Thank you for great info guys!
Our pleasure!
Good Luck with your site ! Great job !
Thank you!
so cool, makes perfect sense
Thank you!
Yay.. I just subbed! Appreciate y’all & the info. you’ve shared. Cute couple 💞
Thank you! Glad it was helpful! More content coming soon!
I love this video! Thank you so much! Subbed
Thank you! We appreciate it!
Great video!!!
Awesome video good work. Nice to see a setup that’s probably under 1k$ all in. Always find those videos with people having the price of the 4runners in extra camping equipment.
Absolutely! There are tons of videos like "Look at my 20 thousand camping set up!" It's cool to watch and if you have that kind of money go for it but we had different approach with limited budget in mind so we thought to share our set up! Glad it helps!
Awesome video! Thx for sharing
You are welcome!
Cool vid guys, thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Very nice very simple not over the top overlanding stuff. My kind of overlanding
The best way to do it!
Great video!! Please keep posting vids!!
Thank you! Will do!
Very cool and minimalistic which is how I’m trying to approach. “Living” out of my 2018 named Virginia Madison (a song by my favorite band Strung Out) or V as I typically do lol, I keep a pack with 2 weeks worth of work clothes, a small duffle with a couple pairs of pants, a few shirts and socks, a hiking shirt, and couple pair of running shorts and shirts, a 65L Yeti cooler for food and more storage, running shoes, hiking shoes, and work boots. Sleeping is with large half of back seats down and a Nemo Quasar Inflatable sleeping pad, a sea to summit sleeping liner for summer and a 30 and 15 degree Mountain Hardware sleeping bags (I like the option of using back seats still). When I go to surf, hike, snorkel, or backpacking, I have a separate packs set up in a storage unit near my job which I can just grab and go for all SoCal has to offer. Almost blacked out windows except up front for tint which is awesome. I found your leveling kit and tire set up informative as that will be my first big upgrade soon. Thanks 😎🤙
Glad you find it helpful! Thank you for sharing your set up! ✌🏻
This is great!
Thank you!
This is great! Thank you! And I love the simple platform! I need one of these! I'm curious what tired you have?
Thank you!
Tires are General ATX 275/70 r17
Be aware those will require at least 2inch lift and little wheel well plastic cover trimming!
@@sayadventures Good to know! Thanks!
Great video thanks !!!
Happy to help! You are very welcome!
Really nice , thx sharing!
You are welcome!
i like this because you're utilizing what the 4runner already offers, rooftop tents are cool dont get me wrong but i'd much rather sleep inside one too cause of animals, bugs and obviously people can be crazy, and this route would save me so much money for things i'd rather spend the money on like a draw out canopy and bigger tires lift etc, good video thanks
You are welcome! Roof top tents could be cool for sure but they are very pricey and when it comes to noise, animals and protection from elements nothing beats inside of a truck! Plus if you too hot or too cold there is always ac/heat available at the touch of a button!
Cool video thanks
Just found your channel. Looking forward to more content!
Thank you! We have few things planned for a near future stay tuned!
I've used the Coleman 8-gallon storage bins (black with gray lids and red snaps) in the space behind the front seats to provide additional support for the mattress. When you move the front seats all the way forward, two of these bins fit right into that space perfectly and at the right height. Plus you have extra storage available. When you're ready to travel, move the bins into the back of the 4Runner and move the front seats back to their proper position for driving.
Thats a great idea! Thank you 🙏🏻
@@sayadventures Sorry, I meant Rubbermaid, not Coleman.
This is awesome
Thank you!!
Cool…. Like it!
Thank you!
Great video thanks
You are welcome!
Great informative video for those of us starting new and don’t have xtra😊 $$ for dedicated build.
Thank you! That was a whole point of this video! 🫶🏻
Thank you for this, I am waiting for the redesign 4Runner to buy one I looked at the used market for one of these and my gosh it’s so expensive. I want a trd off road premium.
Great choice! That's one we end up going with. And yes 4Runner hold their value for a long time which is a beneficial to you once you own one!
Well done!
Thank you!!
Best video. What exactly I was looking for esp for the 3" adjustment platform and the bed.
Thank you! Good luck on your adventures ✌🏻
Forget about the “Save Money” factor, I friggin love those rims!! I just got a 4Runner ORP and I wouldn’t want the “Upgraded Black Alloy” rims even if they didn’t cost me anything extra, love the silver rims!!
Lol the Hulkman is awesome!! Best portable jumper starter IMO.
Thank you!
Yes those are pretty sweet rims!
You may also want to consider a button installed on the inside of the hatch to allow you to open the hatch from the inside. It's a game changer. Ground the #24 gray wire on the door ECU (under the hatch panel) through a momentary button and you have your opener.
Thanks for a suggestion! Thanks great idea! We usually climb out of rear doors to get out lol
Awesome thanks
You are welcome!
Good video!!
Thank you!
This is a great video! Thank you for sharing. What size are the tires?
Thank you! Tires are General ATX 275/70 r17.
Great, great video. Thank you. By the way what color is your 4 Runner?
You are welcome! I believe its called metallic gray!
I really like the 4 Runner. The wife and I are selling our camper after next summer. And we are going to go with one vehicle for traveling. I want the 4 runner and I hope we can put bigger tires and lift it if we need to. I know they only get either 479 or 497 miles per tank, I would get 2 smaller tanks to put in roof basket.
With off road tires and fully loaded with all camping gear we normally get about 350-380 miles out of full gas tank (a lot depending on a speed and a type of roads you travel also)
We usually like to bring extra 5 gallons with us especially if we camp somewhere remote.
Nice set up.
Thank you!!
good video guys, keep it up, where do you guys go to bathroom when you're sleeping in wilderness? do you take your needs in nature or you have a portable toilet ?
Good question! Depends where we stay if it’s dispersed camping in a wild you can do it all outside just make sure you walk away from the camp! 😄
If we staying somewhere close to civilization or an actual campsites there are usually bathrooms available close by. And we also have portable urinal that you can use right in a car!
Cool bed!
Thank you! We love this set up!
Great video! Did you go with the spacer leveling kit or did you change the shocks and struts? Also what size tires did you go with?
Thank you! It is spacer leveling kit! And tires are 275/70 r17
Appreciate this so much thank you 😊 and what size is the mattress? I'm getting my 4runner in about a month and want to order ahead
Thank you! We got link for a mattress in video description. For a 4Runner you want full size and you have to trim a little to fit wheel wells!
Awesome
Thanks!! 🙏🏻
Really like your smart affordable choices BUT am wondering if I can do any hutch mounted add-ons?
Absolutely! There are so many different things you can add to your tow hitch we did not really find any to be a necessity for our camping needs. And also they do get pricey.
Nice looking rig! What leveling kit & 1” rear lift did you use? Also could you tell me what tire and size you have. Love the look
Thank you! It’s a rough country leveling kit comes with 2in for the front and 1in for the rear. Tires are General ATX 275/70 r17.
Great video thanks! What size tri mattress did you guys get?
Thank you! I believe we got full size 6inch thick one!
Great setup. Hope to see more vids. Subbed. My biggest mistake was 4 inch thick cheap topper for mattress.. every night I feel my platform and sleeping on it gets worse everyday. Cold weather turns it into paper thin lol😂.. glad I found your channel.. if you can, please advise where or what parts used for raising the truck please :)
Thank you!
6 inch mattress is definitely way to go. Even with two people sleeping we don’t feel anything underneath it’s definitely worth upgrading!
As far as a lift kit we went with rough country 2 inch leveling kit (about 150-200$) it’s basically just spacers for your struts it’s definitely great budget option versus swapping for a new shocks and struts it get expensive fast!
@@sayadventures thank you very much. I’m gonna check it out
Interesting. I have been debating between 4” or 6” thick tri-fold mattress. It sounds like people with real world experience are telling me that 4 inches is a big thumbs down 👎
@@JoeBuck-uc3bl im a bigger dood and the 4 inch was crap, then when it was cooler temps, it became paper thin on its own lol.. next one will be 6 firm .. hifive
Do you have plans or a write up on your platform or parts you used? That platform is really cool! Looked like it was hinged in?
Yes platform itself is 3/4 thick plywood cut to:
43 W by 41 L
2x4s length is 36 secured to piece of plywood with regular exterior screws. (2x4 placed evenly apart) and wrapped in carpet we got cheapest one from home depot. No hinges. Fully removable. Hope that helps!
awesome
Thank you!
Question with your set up. Once you put your mattress down, where would all your camping supplies go? Fridge, chairs, clothes, stove, etc. I guess inside, you would have the 2 front seats available. I don’t think everything could fit though.
Yes as you said we utilize front seats and foot well also. Stuff that is weather proof and also large items like chairs, foldable table, water containers etc we store on top of the car in roof basket!
Super cool. What do you do for cooking (fridge, stove, etc)? And what about for water? I sleep in my 80 series Land Cruiser as well and have done everything myself.
So this video shows what we call a minimum set up we typically use that when we travel and camp close to a city or small town with food/water available. However when we go camping in a mountains for multiple days or in a middle of nowhere we pack much heavier including water storage containers, extra gasoline, butane stove, insulated coolers, portable shower etc. We are planning to make video in a future for primitive camping in a wild! It’s definitely bit different set up!
@@sayadventures Sounds good. Take a look at mine to see if it sparks any ideas and if you have any questions about it.
Awesome we will definitely check it out! Thanks!
Oh, I forgot to say...I love your "Don't Be A Prick."
Best shirt ever 😂
Absolutely love y’all’s 4Runner!!! Your wife is absolutely gorgeous brother!! Y’all are cute together and look like a great family! Love the black multicam btw lol my Viktos Overbeach shoes are black multicam and my Sidecar 2.0 holster is black mc. You can’t see anything that’s in black mc. It’s just that good camouflage! lol
Anyways, all jokes aside, love the truck. Only thing is change is the wheels. I’d put the TRD Pro wheels on it or something similar and the nitto ridge grapplers are excellent tires and not loud at all. The red badging looks great too. Never seen that. I’ve got all the black badging as my 2021 4Runner TRD ORP w/ XP Predator Pkg in midnight black metallic, so it came with the blacked out badging and the Heritage grill. I like the platform y’all made to have under the mattress, but I don’t think it would work for mine. Mine came with the slide out tray….would it be possible to make the platform work with the sliding tray?? This is my first 4Runner so not too familiar with them honestly. Good stuff brother. I’ve sub’d to y’all’s channel!! Take care!
God bless~
Thank you! I considered TRD Pro wheels and nittos set up it was just little too pricey. So for now just gonna utilize stock rims maybe consider upgrading whole set up once I’m done with those tires. To be honest I’m not sure about slide out tray you might have to do some modifications. The goal for platform was to reduce 3in gap between seats and a trunk space to have completely flat surface.
@@sayadventures yeah the seats are slightly higher than the rear without the tray. Think with the tray I’ll just be able to put the mattress right on top of it and just lay with our feet towards the rear hatch & that’ll put most of the weight over the seats. Idk that’s still a ways out.
Yeah the wheels aren’t cheap. I was looking for the TRD Pro suspension kit to raise the front and mitigate some of that braking dive, but that’s definitely not cheap. Tryin to catch someone that’s upgraded their pro and buy their own suspension off of them. Probably be the cheapest. Probably just go with the billstein “coilovers”. They’re great shocks and probably the cheapest route.
Yes that’s probably would be a smarter option! As far as a platform goes.. I would say get a good mattress we have a link for ours in a description and just try to sleep on it a few times and see if you notice any difference our first year we used blow up mattress and some cheap neoprene gym pads to level it up 😂
@@sayadventures yeah I would’ve probably considered air mattresses, but my childhood was filled with those horrible monstrosities they dare to call a mattress. Yeah I’ll check that out. Appreciate it!
@@KendrasEdge757 So IS it level with a slide out tray? (since you probably have tried it many times by now). I don’t have one, so I have a leveling platform as well. So I was curious if it’s TOTALLY flat with the tray, or if is just MORE level yet not totally level.
Nice video. What about your roof rack? What kind is that? Thanks.
Thank you! It’s Rola vortex roof rack.
Great video? How do you handle your bathing concerns?
We use 24/7 gyms to get a workout and a shower!
I’m really interested in making a platform like the one you guys built. Would you happen to have the dimensions of the quarter inch plywood aswell as the 2x4’s? (L x W)
Yes sir!
For the plywood we used 3/4 inch thick with this dimensions:
43 W
41 L
2x4s length 36
Hi, very nice suggestions and tips. I will definitely be doing this. Any chance you can put links to the items mentioned? Thanks
Hey thank you so much! We actually are in the works making an amazon list so we can recommend the products that we love for you guys! So stay tuned 😃
We got all products linked up in description they all should be clickable in 24hr or you can copy and paste it!
@@sayadventures Thank you!
What size is the mattress? Full size or ? Great video and thank you for your great ideas.
Thank you!
It’s a full size you just have to do little trimming around wheel wells.
@@sayadventures thank you! I appreciate the response. My son and I are doing more camping this year and your video has helped a lot. Take care and God bless you guys.
@kennygp2004 thats awesome! You are very welcome!
Great video. I'm in Atlanta. Maybe we'll bump into each other in the trails.
Thank you! That would be cool!
I’d love a video on how you make $ and travel - I’m trying to figure all of that out myself 😊
Both of us working normal 9-5 jobs. Traveling is definitely more of a hobby for us that we both love (hopefully one day we can make money doing that thats the dream!)
We do have video planned when we gonna talk about how we afford traveling so much and tips and tricks doing it on a budget so stay tuned!
Where did you get the red TRD off Road over lay emblems on the sides near rear windows?
You can buy them on ebay I just painted mine with res plasti dip
Planning to get a 4 runner w the sliding deck,
Your video is one of the most thoughtful car set up,
Good for the country side, rest are or parking lot,
Agreeing that if you like it or want it, go for it, but IMO there is no point of adding a lot of bulky stuff outside of an already bad mpg vehicle (most car YT set up) and make it less aerodynamic and efficient, and carrying everything but the kitchen thing, return home and spent a lot of time cleaning your gears or setting up again for the next trip,
You guys can pretty much go from work to a trip in a heart beat,
Well done, Subbed, makes sense!
Thank you so much man! Yes our 4 runner is our daily driver so we did not want to go too crazy nor have tons of money to throw at it. But we had to 2 things in mind affordability and functionality and I think we accomplished it pretty well! With this set up we still getting 18-20mpg on highways and about 17 on interstates! Whole set up takes about 30 min of packing and unpacking and even less with two people doing it.
What if you took the back seats out completely, then built a platform under that part instead, then you can have storage under it.
It is sure possible there are even full kits you can buy online (pretty pricey though) and few TH-cam videos how to built it yourself (does take time and materials and you have to be handy) it is more of a permanent solution so if you don’t need back seats at all do it!
I’m ready for a new vehicle. I decided to wait for a 4Runner hybrid which might come out in 2024 or 2025.
Yes I have read about those. Gas savings definitely going to be beneficial!
We've slept in our vehicles a few times with an air mattress. The only downside is pumping up the air mattress and leaving all of our bags,boxes, and fridge outside ☹️
With our set up most of our stuff goes to the front seats at night and anything that is weather proof (camp chairs, folding table etc.) we keep in the roof basket!
What size mattress did you get and how did you order it in a 6” option? I only see a 3” option.
It should be an option on Amazon to select size and thickness! At least it was when we got it!
What leveling kit y’all used? I’m got a similar setup for my V8 4th gen SE, original owner I bought from had just replaced XREAS and can’t justify taking it off for a lift kit.
Not sure about 4th gen but mine was fairly easy to install I did it in about 4hr with a help of a friend. Leveling kit is from rough country its 2 inch for the front and 1 inch for the rear. (It’s basically just suspension spacers) It’s affordable and you don’t need to new shocks or struts. Hope that helps!
@@sayadventures 🙏🏼 will see if they got one for mine.
Awesome video
I couldn't find a link to the basket tho?
I am not sure if amazon has any look up rola low profile roof basket find beat deal you can!
Awesome thanks.
One more question
How do you guys have the spacer (custom wooden frame thing) hooked under the bed?
@@sayadventures
@cruzinthruspace its just 2 2x4s spaced evenly attached to 3/4 plywood platform give you just enough lift to be completely even with rest of the trunk!
@@sayadventures so awesome appreciate the quick reply!
You are welcome 🙏🏻
How many inches did you cut your center matress pad and it's on sale right now
Hey hey! We actually did not measure it exactly. Kinda eyeball it and cut sides until it fits between wheel wells!
What is the make of your roof rack?
Its Rola low profile roof rack!
You should get window visors for privacy and air.
Yes! I keep thinking about ordering those but keep forgetting to do it 🤦🏻😂 thanks for reminder!
To add to that, I stuff a foam between the window and visor, allows fresh air at night while keeping the tiny bugs out. Win win
Thats a great idea! We got to try it!
What size mattress did you get?? Is it full? Thanks so much! :)
Yes full size! You are welcome
@@sayadventuresAs a follow up are the seats that fold up easy to take out? Trying to attack this project this weekend!
@xXSeriousSeriousXx very easy just two bolts at the bottom and whole sit comes out!
Wheel size? Have you installed wheel spacers?
275/70 R17 It’s biggest size you can run on stock rims without problems. You can do spacers but not necessary. We have 1.5 inch installed and we had to do some mild trimming of wheel plastic guard. Hope that helps!
What size tires did you upgrade to?
Tires are General ATX 275/70 r17.