The Tar Heel Outdoorsman

If you're a bit too much into gear, like me, let me show you a relatively cheap and easy way to organize and store all your stuff.  And maybe it'll even allow you a nice platform to sleep on during your outdoor pursuits, when even the dirtiest "roach motel" with a haze of perpetual cigarette smoke is miles away, or if the Holiday Inn isn't in your budget at the moment.   There are companies that make these type of truck bed storage systems, such as Decked, etc.  However, this is a cheaper, and simpler alternative, though maybe not perfectly waterproof or perfectly thief proof.  Still though, it's better than an open truck bed, with gear and tools and spent shotgun shells and Hardee's biscuit wax paper from an early morning wood duck hunt and who-knows-what-else strewn about in a homogenous mix and you can't find whatever it is you need that's somewhere in there.   If you're into gear, there's also a further chance, like me, you enjoy testin...

I'm a strong believer in learning how to do things yourself.  And I'm a strong believer in understanding, at least a little bit better, how your stuff works, especially something you rely on, like a vehicle or an outboard motor.  It's cheaper (as long as you don't mess anything up . . . ) and you gain confidence.  The suspension on my 2012 Tacoma was starting to sag.  Years of boat hauling (including multiple trips from North Carolina to Maine), as well as my putting on a camper shell and carrying around too much gear, was taking its toll on the original suspension after 180,000 miles or so.  After bottoming-out a few too many times driving over dips in the road, I made my decision.     So after probably too much research, I pulled the trigger on a full Old Man Emu suspension , made by ARB in Australia.  (Get it HERE ).  It's not a "lift kit," per se, but instead a whole new suspension---new front coil springs, new shocks in front and re...