My Cybertruck experience after 2 Weeks, +6400 Miles and over-landing adventure in Utah

[RM Rilke]

That has been my plan for a bit but now I think I am going to make a radical camper setup. Similar to the Space Campers "Cap". If I can get a straight setup for leveraging the rack mounting points, I think I can pull it off. From now on, I will crawl the trails if I'm overlanding. No more high speed stuff or dirt or dunes donuts unless the truck is empty.

I’m very interested in this. What Material are you planning to use? I’m playing around with something like the cap, but with the addition of a straight up pop roof and canvas similar to a four wheel camper. I don’t love the hinge idea on the space camper vault design. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I have a four wheel camper now. It shouldn’t be that difficult to make something, but I’m wondering if you have figured it out. . I’m surprised that so far none of the camper makers have jumped into the game. There are so many small brands, it’s a matter of time. I live in Utah so I’ve been overlanding forever. How was the dust intrusion into the bed? Maybe a slide in is the way to go. Looks like you had a fun trip. Cheers.

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[DrShah]

Hello everyone,

I picked up my Cybertruck on March 4, and here are some of my thoughts.

After 15 days and driving 6,465 miles (drove it locally in the Miami area for about 300 miles and three days later I was on my way to Utah for an overlanding adventure) and with fresh BFG K02 tires, I had an unforgettable experience. The Cybertruck is both a large vehicle and nimble. It drives extremely comfortable but it is also very capable crawling over harsh terrain including very rugged rocky trails, dirt, mud, and sand.

Unfortunately for some people, if you are bothered by having others looking at you and approaching you to ask questions, you're in for a surprise. While we were in public transited areas, the attention was constant. We were only not getting photographed or recorded while we were out in the desert, forests or canyons. In the city the Cybertruck is a constant attention magnet. Even on the highway we noticed most people that had passengers and even some single drivers were constantly capturing images of the truck.

In our case, because of the things we do, this is ok. I am the founder and president of our local officially partnered Tesla owners club, and one of my main goals is to help educate people about all things EV and Tesla. So the attention demanded by the Cybertruck just makes our mission easier.

While on the trails, the truck demonstrated a lot of capability. We did green, blue and even some red trails in Moab. It was impressive to say the least. I would compare it gladly to my old 80s Jeep days without hesitation.

We also drove from Utah to Texas to visit friends near Starbase and did one round of driving around the rocket building facilities.

Overall it was a fantastic trip. But now I need to upgrade a few things to make my next trip even better. So I am seeking for some help or advice from someone that has already done the things I am trying to figure out.

I have two things that interest me the most. I was able to set my brand new Starlink High Performance dish on the Cybertruck dashboard as a test and I live-streamed several drives from the road and it was fantastic. But I want to install it on the roof using the wedge it comes with (similar to the way Tesla had them on the RC prototypes), which happens to make the dish be perfectly leveled. But the problem is that I can't find a way to leverage the roof rack mounting points. The studs are too short for anything other than the Tesla-branded racks which are out of stock. So I want to make my own. If anyone here has done a custom rack-like installation, let me know which stud extenders you used. I can't find any that fit.

I also need to leverage the frunk and roof wires for electric mods, and I don't know where to find a step-down device for the 48V wires. All the accessories I found that I want to use are 12V and the converters I have found so far, fall short. I will fry them as soon as I turn the power on. Anyone with details on how to use those electrical connections, please let me know. The information on the Cybertruck manual is vague to say the least.

One more thing if anyone has already purchased the following three things from Tesla (together). I want to make sure they all fit at the same time. The Tesla tent, the spare tire kit and a set of three storage bins (out of stock at the moment).

I may not get the tent and build my own camper kit, similar to what Space Campers is working on, but I am undecided. We did travel adventures even before having all our EVs (Teslas) so I have a lot of experience adventuring across the country. But the level of fun we have now has been multiplied. It's amazing, and I look forward to many years ahead of fun.

More details will be provided online as I download all the footage captured during this trip. Not sure if it is ok to mention my content channels here, but some of you may already know where I publish my content. If anyone that wants to know, asks, I can respond. But my handle is the same almost everywhere.

Cheers!

Your friend,

Rafael

Updated with spotted photos by @QuantumGlen

Your pics look great. I work in Miami and heard from friends there are a few CTs on the beach, hoping to see yours running around the Magic City. I am patiently waiting for mine. Hope to join the local Tesla club!

 

[TesLatino]

Your pics look great. I work in Miami and heard from friends there are a few CTs on the beach, hoping to see yours running around the Magic City. I am patiently waiting for mine. Hope to join the local Tesla club!

Awesome. Feel free to join our club. Membership is free and you can join at teslaclubsouthflorida.com

Cheers!

 

[kpanda17]

guys and gals, KO2s are ok, but I prefer BFs more modern KM3s in the 35" truck tire

 

[TesLatino]

I’m very interested in this. What Material are you planning to use? I’m playing around with something like the cap, but with the addition of a straight up pop roof and canvas similar to a four wheel camper. I don’t love the hinge idea on the space camper vault design. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I have a four wheel camper now. It shouldn’t be that difficult to make something, but I’m wondering if you have figured it out. . I’m surprised that so far none of the camper makers have jumped into the game. There are so many small brands, it’s a matter of time. I live in Utah so I’ve been overlanding forever. How was the dust intrusion into the bed? Maybe a slide in is the way to go. Looks like you had a fun trip. Cheers.

I am at a very early stage of the design. It's so early that I am still researching. I haven't built anything yet. I would love to build something that looks like the cap that opens straight up rather than another triangle tent. But maybe I'm ok with it not even opening, as long as it can convert from sitting to sleeping. I don't need to stand up.

Dust intrusion was insane. It got everywhere inside the bed in Moab. Once I cleaned it up a bit after I discovered it, I used a plastic cover to minimize it. We need to probably do an insert that is isolated from that.

 

[TesLatino]

guys and gals, KO2s are ok, but I prefer BFs more modern KM3s in the 35" truck tire

Cool. I prefer the K02 for now. The 3s are too new and the 2s seem to have better rock ejection triangles. The cool thing is that we can pick one, try it, and change in the future. Cheers!

 

[kpanda17]

Cool. I prefer the K02 for now. The 3s are too new and the 2s seem to have better rock ejection triangles. The cool thing is that we can pick one, try it, and change in the future. Cheers!

i agree, diff stokes
BFG has not discontinued the KO2s
Good with both
btw " BFGoodrich introduced the Mud-Terrain T/A KM3, its fifth-generation off-road tire, globally in June 2018. "
been out for years

 

[TesLatino]

i agree, diff stokes
BFG has not discontinued the KO2s
Good with both
btw " BFGoodrich introduced the Mud-Terrain T/A KM3, its fifth-generation off-road tire, globally in June 2018. "
been out for years

Ha! I thought you were talking about the new 03s. My bad.

 

[TesLatino]

I'd love to meet up once I get mine from West Palm Beach! Thanks for sharing!

I don’t know if I already responded to you, but we have a meetup in April 27. I am taking over the DelRay Beach Tesla service center 10am-1pm with the club. Chris “Dirty Tesla” and Justin “Bearded Tesla Guy” are joining me at the event. I have all the details at the club site at teslaclubsouthflorida.com

 

[g7bupw9z]

I don’t know if I already responded to you, but we have a meetup in April 27. I am taking over the DelRay Beach Tesla service center 10am-1pm with the club. Chris “Dirty Tesla” and Justin “Bearded Tesla Guy” are joining me at the event. I have all the details at the club site at teslaclubsouthflorida.com

Oof, a Cybertruck meetup in April, huh? Dang, at the rate Tesla's been delivering these things, I probably won't even have my rig by then!

But you know what they say - if you can't beat 'em, crash their party, right? Think there's any chance I could still show up, even without the truck? I promise I'll make it worth your while - I'll bring snacks, I'll give the Bearded Tesla Guy a freshly trimmed beard, heck, I'll even offer to be the official meetup photographer.

Just imagine the epic group shots I could get - rows of Cybertrucks shining in the Florida sun, their proud owners beaming from ear to ear. And then there's just little ol' me, off to the side, snapping away with my phone. I may not have the truck yet, but I'll make sure everybody else looks good!

So what do you say, can I still join the festivities? I'll park my boring old Y next to all the Cybertrucks and live vicariously through your drives. Heck, maybe I'll even learn a thing or two before I finally get my hands on one. Just save me a spot in the front row, okay?

 

[ideaXfactory]

Did you figure out where the dust main entry point was?

 

[TesLatino]

Oof, a Cybertruck meetup in April, huh? Dang, at the rate Tesla's been delivering these things, I probably won't even have my rig by then!

But you know what they say - if you can't beat 'em, crash their party, right? Think there's any chance I could still show up, even without the truck? I promise I'll make it worth your while - I'll bring snacks, I'll give the Bearded Tesla Guy a freshly trimmed beard, heck, I'll even offer to be the official meetup photographer.

Just imagine the epic group shots I could get - rows of Cybertrucks shining in the Florida sun, their proud owners beaming from ear to ear. And then there's just little ol' me, off to the side, snapping away with my phone. I may not have the truck yet, but I'll make sure everybody else looks good!

So what do you say, can I still join the festivities? I'll park my boring old Y next to all the Cybertrucks and live vicariously through your drives. Heck, maybe I'll even learn a thing or two before I finally get my hands on one. Just save me a spot in the front row, okay?

It’s not a Cybertruck-only meetup. Everyone is welcome. At the rate things are going, I think we’ll have a larger crowd than I was trying to pull. Fun is guaranteed.

 

[TesLatino]

Did you figure out where the dust main entry point was?

Ha! There are multiple ingress points. The bed breathes from the top of the tailgate, the bottom where it hinges and probably the back between the cabin and the bed since when you pressure wash the bed, you can see water coming down by the middle of the truck. It is not vacuum tight and the fine sand of Moab gets everywhere.

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