Before you build
What owners wish they'd known.
Smart is the essentials at a lower cost.
Tires & Suspension
All terrain tire, 265/70R17 standard load. 14/32 tread, three peak snow rated, with a 65,000 mile tread warranty.
Glovebox sized inflator for topping off tires and airing back up after a trail. It clamps onto the battery, and comes with a pressure gauge, an LED work light and a brass twist-on chuck.
Recovery & Safety
Traction Boards
X-Bull Gen 3.0 Recovery Traction BoardsTire Repair
ARB Speedy Seal Series II Tire Repair KitNote: Boards and a tire repair kit handle almost anything. Skip the winch early, it's the most regretted buy.
Satellite messenger that pairs to one phone over Bluetooth for two way texting and SOS on the Iridium network. Runs over 200 hours a charge, IP68 to 1.5 m for 30 minutes, MIL-STD 810G for shock. Needs a monthly plan. 5.3 oz.
Sleep & Shade
Adjustable-height bed rack for full-size and mid-size trucks, towers that clamp to bed tracks with HD crossbars sliding into them, rated 300 lbs moving off-road and 500 on-road. Trucks without factory bed tracks need Yakima's Bed Track Kit, sold separately, and fitting that kit is the involved part of the install. Crossbars come in 55, 60, 68 and 78 inch widths, and the QuickChange towers let the whole rack come off in minutes once the tracks are in.
Entry-level softshell for two to three with the mattress included. 600D ripstop polyester with polyurethane impregnation on anodized aluminum poles over a 1 inch aluminum and polyurethane sandwich base, opening to 95 by 56 inches with 51 inches of headroom. 118 lbs.
A fabric panel that pulls out from a roof rack for shade beside the vehicle, 19 by 9.8 feet. It is polyester with a blackout coating, and it clamps to crossbars using the T-slot, U-bolt, and round bar brackets in the box. 25.9 lbs.
Power
Power Station
EcoFlow DELTA 2 Portable Power StationNote: No wiring and no install, you can pull it out or top it off at home. The catch is capacity, run a fridge hard for a few days and you'll be chasing sun or a plug.
Storage
Two full length drawers under a load floor for the 2015 and up F-150, rated 2,000 lb on the deck. High impact polymer resin co molded to a steel subframe, weatherproof, with an optional keyed lockset.
Food & Water
Single burner stove that runs on an 8 oz butane canister or a 16.4 oz propane bottle, 8,000 BTU. Metal body with an enamel steel drip pan and non slip rubber legs, fuel not included. 13.5 by 11.2 by 4.4 inches. 3.3 lbs.
Single zone fridge freezer, 45 liters, that cools to 0 F, rated 55 W and 0.347 kWh a day in the maker's lab test, on a Secop compressor with three stage battery protection. Runs on 12/24 V DC or 110 to 240 V AC, with a 5 year compressor warranty and 1 year on the rest.
Slide that fits the ICECO VL45, VL35, 45Pro, JPPro and APL35 fridges and extends 52.7 inches at full pull, with four tie down straps included. 28.1 by 18.4 by 2.62 inches closed. Mounting screws are not included.
Note: On the open-bed Smart build the fridge rides exposed on a locking slide. A quality 12V fridge handles rain and dust fine, and the Decked drawers keep the rest of your gear locked and dry. Add a fridge cover or cable lock for dusty or high-traffic spots.
Drinking water for camp, 5 gallons in a tall, slim HDPE can. BPA free, with a flexible pour spout that stows inside the can when not in use.
Lighting
Lantern on folding legs that runs on its 2,600 mAh rechargeable pack or three AA cells when that is flat. 250 lumens, 24 hours on high and 150 on low on the pack, 18 and 120 on alkalines. Dimmable, rated IPX4, with a USB port to charge a phone. 12.1 oz.
Looking for camping accessories?
Owner-recommended gear that rounds out your setup.
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