Got the Tundra out quick Camp Trip

GhostRunnerTundra · 2026-03-12T04:32:37+00:00

Since modifying my truck I’ve learned a lot about what actually affects MPG and what doesn’t. Some of the changes surprised me quite a bit, so I figured I’d share the real world numbers I’ve seen so far. For reference I’m running 35" tires with a lift. When I first picked the truck up from the dealership (lift installed but still on stock tires), I was seeing around 22 mpg highway and roughly 17 mpg city. Once I moved up to the 35s, the drop was honestly smaller than I expected; about 2 mpg on the highway and roughly 2 mpg in the city. Using rounded numbers that put me around 20 highway and 15 city. Where things really changed was once the bed rack went on. With the rack installed, my highway mileage dropped all the way down to about 12.5 mpg and city to around 10 mpg. I later added the MOLLE panels and some gear which actually helped a bit — bumping it up to roughly 13.5 highway and 11 city. My guess is that filling in some of that open space helped the airflow slightly. What really surprised me though was comparing with a friend who lives nearby. Our trucks are almost identical — same lift, same 35s, similar overall weight — the only real difference is he runs a full camper shell instead of a bed rack. He showed me his numbers and he’s getting about 16 mpg highway and around 13 mpg city. The explanation I’ve heard is that bed racks create a low-pressure pocket behind the cab that traps turbulent air and increases drag, while a camper shell smooths the airflow and acts almost like an extension of the cab. Point being, if you drive a lot it’s actually something worth considering when deciding between a rack and a cap. I average around 20k miles a year, and the difference in fuel cost between the two setups would honestly be around $2–3k annually for me. Hopefully I will get the chance to run the full cap option for my Xtrusion XO Skeleton rack here in the near future. Would love to hear if any of you have seen similar MPG differences between a rack vs cap vs nothing setup on your rigs. My Buddy running a full Cap on his rig The Ghost with the Bed Rack installed complete with molle panels The Ghost straight off the dealership lot

TrailJustin

Member

Yesterday at 8:46 PM

Went out this weekend with my parents in law, wife and baby for a quick camp trip. We end out outside of Union Valley Reservoir here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern, CA.

The trip ended pretty quickly due to my wife being sick earlier in the week. Then me coming down with the same sickness on Thursday and come Saturday morning even the baby started to get it. So what was supposed to be Friday - Sunday trip ended up being just a quick one nigher for use.

The camp spot was not too hard to get to. Had a great overlook of some mountains and was filled with animals surprisingly. Saw deer track, coyotes, and heard turkeys in the morning. The Turkeys were real surprising as we were at 4700ft elevation which I have never heard turkeys up that high.

We were camping in the new to us Taxa Outdoor Tiger moth trailer which is pretty awesome but we have a lot to talk about when it comes to this thing that needs to be upgraded. Look at the build thread below.

Thread 'Taxa Outdoor Tiger Moth Trailer Rebuild Thread'

Mar 10, 2026

This is the opening post. I bought a trailer! Now let me start with I tested the Second Wind Flight XL trailer with my wife and newborn and it is awesome. Having a trailer with a dog and baby at this season is life is certainly the way to go for now. From there the search was on.

I was able to find a used Taxa Outdoor TigerMoth for 4k. The inside was in outstanding condition and he said he only used it a couple times. The outside is showing some wear from being stored outside but it nothing we can't resolve.

From here there is a few things we need to resolve on the build...