CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
Help me plan out an overlanding rig...
- Thread starter campfire
- Start date
Was just going to say this. Probably the best compromise.
Yes. Somehow I knew you'd be thinking along the right lines.
I'm not looking for camper amenities, but I would like camper space. And, yes, in this area a tall rig is just a liability, no matter how I slice it. Even on some of the roads, I wouldn't want a tall camper. Crisp point is a perfect example. My Saturn made the trip, but I wouldn't take a CCLB with a camper through there. Winding road with low tree branches...it's just not the place for an RV of any type.
I've been around expedition portal, but I've been conscientiously avoiding it this year because the overload of ideas was getting me too wrapped up in dreaming up hard-to-implement schemes. I gotta get the truck reliable and functioning before I get deep into accessories.
The popup idea is fine. But, basically, the only reason that I would abandon my original Suburban plan is if I can get baby maintenance integrated into the vehicle (to cut down on stopping time). Aside from that, the Suburban fits every need quite nicely. People fit. Bed fits behind the 2nd bench. Stuff fits. It may not be jeep-sized, but it's not hard to drive or to fit down a winding road.
Lawrence suggested installing one of these in place of the small section of the middle bench seat. It just might do the trick.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MIIPKI/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_oW8qxb0V7025V
It was pretty nice. All the camping stuff stayed in the trailer, so packing was a snap. We could pretty much just hook up and go.
The Burb was lifted with 33's, you'd be surprised where I was able to take that thing. With wife and 3 kids. lol.
Yeah, I'm not buying a custom camper. I'm looking for a bed, toilet, shower, and cooking. The last 3 can be easily done outdoors with compact equipment that fits in my Saturn. Having it inside may be nice, but heavy and unwieldy is not my aim, nor is winding up with an RV. This mostly just needs to be a waterproof tent.
LWB truck is exactly the same amount of floor space as my Suburban, but the Suburban space is more configurable and carries more people. And more useful in daily life. The only gain there is that a camper can be taller. Tall is nice, but not worth losing the seating space. Unless I integrate seating into the camper, which costs me more of the space back there.
I'm not sure that tradeoff is any better than just rebuilding the Suburban.
Kids certainly could happen, but I'm not interested in a 5th wheel. Those things hardly fit into campgrounds. I'm looking to get off the beaten path in ways that 5th wheel trailers just don't work. And parking the camper at a site and doing short wheeling trips isn't what I have in mind, either. I wanna camp my way out to Colorado and then camp my way back. Like I'm doing now, but off road.
Trailer is nice for folks that have a stationary base camp. But that hasn't been my traveling model so far.
Yes, room for more kids/friends/visitors in the future is a must. If it wasn't, I'd stick with last year's plan and we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Fact is, travelling with any amount of women and kids takes a buttload of space. A trailer is the way to go. If you don't want to do that, then put a roofrack on a Burban and get a lot of tents. lol.
Part of the reason that I'm wanting to find a K20 is so that I can have a 4wd square, and have the ability to throw the Alaskan in it and go. (Or at least that's what I'm telling myself)
And honestly, the only reason that I want a 4wd, is for aesthetics, since I've seen 2wd 3/4 ton pickup trucks get to some pretty nasty places, as long as they have good tires and weight on the back. But 2wd trucks look dumb with a 4 inch lift.
And honestly, the only reason that I want a 4wd, is for aesthetics, since I've seen 2wd 3/4 ton pickup trucks get to some pretty nasty places, as long as they have good tires and weight on the back. But 2wd trucks look dumb with a 4 inch lift.
I plan on some sort of easily deployable custom tent on my crew cab. Much the same could be easily done on the suburban
I'll add some perspective from somebody that has camped out of Larry's K10. That rig is perfect for two people of average size. I'm not average. I fit, but it's cozy with him and I in there. It's way better that roughing it on the ground but it does have some drawbacks to Campy's needs. No on the fly access to the living quarters. When you do stop, it's packed with the outside gear on the floor so you can't just open the door and go in. Larry's got the system down, so stuff we need access to quickly is packed last so it's a quick reach to get. Stuff not needed is further in. For what Larry's intended purpose is, it is perfect.
I think the Sub is the best bet if a trailer is off the table. Lots of cool Suburban overland builds over on Expo. Not sure if I would be hung up on being able to use the potty on the fly though. Maybe a kiddie potty for the girl, but an adult using one in a Burb would be odd and potentially smelly for the whole truck. Sleeping quarters is the main focus to the burb. Don't plan on cooking inside since it's too small. Larry does not cook much in the K10 camper due to the smells it can create like fresh caught fish. He'll warm up some green chili to smother our steaks with or similar. I made potatoes last year in it, but at least you can stand to do it. The standard mode is to cook outside. It is camping anyway. Things can be built to have easy access to the cooking gear at the rear so set up is quick and you won't stink up where you sleep. We all know the burb can be made to wheel without much effort. Shoot it would do fine stock on dirt roads to minor trails.
Personally, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an original 4wheel pop up Blazer camper. Had a trade of my 75 top and windshield set up 2 years ago for one and the guy flaked out and sold the whole truck. The 4wheel popup is a much smaller package to wheel vs a Chalet. Since it would be just for me, I'd reconfigure it to my needs. The stock counter, sink, stove and rv fridge would go bye-bye. The heater would stay, but the room freed up by the counter could be used to create a convertible sleeping platform down low. Reason being, I'm a little big to sleep on the cab-over bed. That would be re-purposed for storage. Cooking would be outside as would bathroom activities. I would be able to close the top down and crawl through the front and go Still that setup would be smaller than Larry's K10 camper so adding the wife and the kiddo to the mix would make things really cozy. Probably wouldn't be a big deal until the kiddo gets bigger.
I think the Sub is the best bet if a trailer is off the table. Lots of cool Suburban overland builds over on Expo. Not sure if I would be hung up on being able to use the potty on the fly though. Maybe a kiddie potty for the girl, but an adult using one in a Burb would be odd and potentially smelly for the whole truck. Sleeping quarters is the main focus to the burb. Don't plan on cooking inside since it's too small. Larry does not cook much in the K10 camper due to the smells it can create like fresh caught fish. He'll warm up some green chili to smother our steaks with or similar. I made potatoes last year in it, but at least you can stand to do it. The standard mode is to cook outside. It is camping anyway. Things can be built to have easy access to the cooking gear at the rear so set up is quick and you won't stink up where you sleep. We all know the burb can be made to wheel without much effort. Shoot it would do fine stock on dirt roads to minor trails.
Personally, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an original 4wheel pop up Blazer camper. Had a trade of my 75 top and windshield set up 2 years ago for one and the guy flaked out and sold the whole truck. The 4wheel popup is a much smaller package to wheel vs a Chalet. Since it would be just for me, I'd reconfigure it to my needs. The stock counter, sink, stove and rv fridge would go bye-bye. The heater would stay, but the room freed up by the counter could be used to create a convertible sleeping platform down low. Reason being, I'm a little big to sleep on the cab-over bed. That would be re-purposed for storage. Cooking would be outside as would bathroom activities. I would be able to close the top down and crawl through the front and go Still that setup would be smaller than Larry's K10 camper so adding the wife and the kiddo to the mix would make things really cozy. Probably wouldn't be a big deal until the kiddo gets bigger.
What do you have in mind? I've thought about deploying a tent out of the barn doors, but haven't followed that train of thought very far.
Good thoughts. Using a short bed or a K5 isn't likely. As already stated, I think it would be cramped.
We're set up for 100 percent outdoor tent camping, so I'm not hung up on camper amenities. I'm interested in things that reduce little kid potty stops. Otherwise I'm happy with the platform that we have.
Another consideration, we often head out with vague plans, figuring things out as we go. More than once we've arrived at 10pm with no place to stop for the night and have gone through the headache of setting up camp in the dark, in a place we didn't like. We've even wound up at fleabag hotels in the effort to get a few more nighttime miles behind us. If I could simply pull into the nearest Wal-Mart or rest area, this would be a whole bunch easier. Some places don't welcome campers, but anyone can park a Suburban at wally world.
A Suburban is universally useful, whether you are camping or not and as the family grows, you can throw an RTT on top or add a trailer.
Call me weird, but I think about this stuff a lot. I've looked several times for pictures of a regular pop-up camper grafted onto a pickup truck and have never found it, so it must be harder than it sounds. I bet the way to do it would be with a on a flatbed/no-bed truck. With a quad-cab, that pushes you to a short camper, but dual bench seats also = dual beds. With some creative floor pads you could sleep 3 kids up in the cab. I'm actually thinking about buying a pop-up camper and putting a taller frame under it, with some wrap-around tubes for corner protection. If you know where you want to camp, most places are accessible with something like this, even with a stock 4x4 tow rig. If your main goal is exploration, being self-contained is better because wherever you end up out of daylight/stuck/lost you can just settle down for the night. If your trailer is back at camp somewhere...
I like the idea of a utility bed truck (like the red one in the dunes last weekend) with a large RTT on top. The open center section could hold bikes, kayaks or could contain an extra fuel tank (plumbed in) and a fresh water tank (with 12V RV pump). You would build your kitchen into the compartments on one side and have like a fold-out shower, etc on the other. The idea is that all your gear is accessible on the outside without rummaging through the vehicle all the time and setup time is reduced. Wouldn't it be cool to have a side door that is your refrigerator? But as a double cab, it could get pretty long. And of course it could be heavy.
Call me weird, but I think about this stuff a lot. I've looked several times for pictures of a regular pop-up camper grafted onto a pickup truck and have never found it, so it must be harder than it sounds. I bet the way to do it would be with a on a flatbed/no-bed truck. With a quad-cab, that pushes you to a short camper, but dual bench seats also = dual beds. With some creative floor pads you could sleep 3 kids up in the cab. I'm actually thinking about buying a pop-up camper and putting a taller frame under it, with some wrap-around tubes for corner protection. If you know where you want to camp, most places are accessible with something like this, even with a stock 4x4 tow rig. If your main goal is exploration, being self-contained is better because wherever you end up out of daylight/stuck/lost you can just settle down for the night. If your trailer is back at camp somewhere...
I like the idea of a utility bed truck (like the red one in the dunes last weekend) with a large RTT on top. The open center section could hold bikes, kayaks or could contain an extra fuel tank (plumbed in) and a fresh water tank (with 12V RV pump). You would build your kitchen into the compartments on one side and have like a fold-out shower, etc on the other. The idea is that all your gear is accessible on the outside without rummaging through the vehicle all the time and setup time is reduced. Wouldn't it be cool to have a side door that is your refrigerator? But as a double cab, it could get pretty long. And of course it could be heavy.
Yeah, wifey liked that utility bed a bunch. Being a dually it also was about 7' wide instead of 6'. More space, but heavy, long, and wide isn't a great combination off-road.
The camper- flatbed idea sounds like what Wade runs.
I have found, after much thought and research, that I do want a pop-up slide in camper. I need to reduce overall height. I do require a toilet, and a shower. I also want heat and ac. There are plenty of campers here for sale, but none have fit my needs. I am waiting till the right one "pops up" .
I will go off road with this truck. Nothing too crazy, as I have a rig for that. But 4x4 would be needed, and some ok ground clearance.
.I will go off road with this truck. Nothing too crazy, as I have a rig for that. But 4x4 would be needed, and some ok ground clearance.
