trails & car/truck camping
 

with no international travel in for the foreseeable future, the camping/outdoor scene has exploded

rs outdoor subforum is pretty dead and some of the facebook groups are quite elitist/toxic/nimby so thought we start a mature discussion here

diesel heaters, sleeping setup, portable power, budget or bougie, what worked what didn't, let's see 'em

https://i.imgur.com/2y2bxEL.jpg

currently trying to mount fuel can to spare tire..ideally undercarriage bash plates and front recovery pts this summer but sadly almost everything here is catered to jeeps/runners so debating to source them from australia/middle east or also pay out of the ass for local fab

Sir, no overnight stay at iona :p

packed up by 9pm, just wanted to leave without bug bites for once lol

Sold my Silvia and Civic Si this past two years. Ended up getting a Tacoma to do just this. The Dog loves it
Stopped modding cars for sometime now but I think this has spark the hobby back up.

https://i.imgur.com/AAAmoRR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rMRjurz.jpg
Got a buddy heater and its perfect for heating up tent before and after bed.

is that a pop-up toilet or you rigged up a shower system?

I cant believe the number of people that have picked this up as a hobby. The first time I heard the "overlanding" term was probably 4 or 5 years ago. And until atleast 18 months ago it was still pretty niche. But in the last 12 months especially I can't even fathom how much it has exploded.

It makes me happy seeing more people get out and appreciate this amazing region we live in. But this past summer I was also left me with a number of disappointing moments which made me wish all the stupid people had stayed home. If you do decide to venture out this summer, do so responsibly. That statement comes with a number of factors:

1. Tell people where the fuck you are going. And give them a return date.

2. Have comms (GMRS, HAM, Land Mobile, Cell Booster, SAT Phone, Sat Communicator, etc). Any one of those devices can save your life.

3. Be respectful - this has a lot of aspects to it, like not littering, packing out what you pack in, not being an asshole, etc. But chief among them is just use good judgement.

4. Careful with fire (watch the forestry and government websites, if there is campfire bans stick to them), and just use good judgement around fires.

The list goes on, but I'll try not to get too preachy.

This is my setup from last year:

https://i.imgur.com/lNLVyCh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qxI6Pgf.jpg

Looking at a 2008 GMC Sierra (this was my old work truck, so it is equipped with all the flashing lights, and all that jazz). In addition I'm running a Land Mobile radio for all the LAD channels and RR Channels. I also have a HAM Radio for communication with other wheelers or my party. Running a We-Boost cell booster.

Truck itself has a Titan tank which stores over 200L of fuel, and the tool box/tidy tank combo stores another ~300L. Other than that I just bullet proofed the suspension with beefy kryptonite stuff, and Duratracs, and I could get most any place I wanted.

Rack setup was pretty basic, Thule Xportster with a couple rigid scene lights, and a Dog House RTT I've had for a couple years.

Anyone looking at RTT's, stay away from shittybuilt, their tents are junk, my old one barely made it through 3 years. This Dog house tent is marginally more expensive, but way better quality.

I just sold my GMC yesterday. Got a 2017 Ram instead:

https://i.imgur.com/o6LOCKI.jpg

Most of the same gear is going to be going on the new truck. But looking to build this one out way further.

https://i.imgur.com/svRszeR.jpg

This is a Prospector XL, 3" lift, widened fender openings, 40" tires, etc.

I'm looking to build something simillar, except utilizing a Carli Lift kit instead of the AEV lift. But same 40" tires, same fenders, 4.88 gears, Detroit Lockers, etc. This has been in my head for atleast 4 years, but now I'm just saying fuck it and going for it. lol

This was my old setup:

https://live.staticflickr.com/7317/1...e967a178_k.jpg

100l Diesel fuel tank, built in water tank, 2 spares, fridge, fully security caged rear, hidden safe, double suspension in the rear, front roll cage, 4 jerry cans, compresser etc.

We did 6 months in Africa then shipped it back to Vancouver and made a profit on the vehicle. I would have kept it, but we had three vehicles and one parking spot.

Now I have a house, and two little kids, so I'm starting again with a 4runner.

I'm excited about the Ineos Grenadier though. If that comes at a decent price the 4runner may have to go!

Using it as a pop up cover for toilet setup we have. Could also make it into shower if we ever need one.

“Over landing” the fancy term for Toyota owners with no previous camping experience whatsoever lol jk

In all seriousness don’t go buy a propane heater and kill yourselves from sufication in your tent. Back when my family used to do a bunch of camping/fishing trips this happened on two different occasions to two different couples staying nearby us

Pretty cool to see everyone's build. This hobby is definitely getting more and more popular.

I'm looking to get a cheap off-roader to hit the trails with and go "over landing". Anyone have experience with first-gen Nissan Xterra's?

Does it count if I took a lowered MS3 on a 4WD/AWD recommended trail and went camping?

anyone who planned and went through with game driving has my respect lol

did you ever had to use both spares when compressor + patch etc. had no chance?

i seriously looked into pre-facelifted 1st gen, actually not that uncommon in manual..i think if fuel consumption was just a bit better for the power and if it came from japan (think pajero), it would've been #1 contender

read this few days ago: sounded the alarm they're not gonna be affordable for long

https://www.hagerty.com/media/market...se-catches-on/

if it didn't break your axles FeelsGoodMan

Definitely have a lot to learn myself with 4x4ing. But taking every step I can to be respectful of the land leaving no trace and staying as safe as possible.
Garmin inreach, ham radio receivers.
For propane heaters, I only turn it on briefly before bed to change and its stays off for the rest of the night.
Considering a diesel heater upgrade at some point.

Originally started looking at trucks because I needed something for home Depot runs after buying a house.

Camping was a big part of summer when I was growing up. Load up the old Vanguard on the bed of the '79 GMC, and hitch up the 16' boat and travel for 6 hours to a lake in the interior or to the island for fishing. (Overheating on the coquihalla just added to the experience)

When the girlfriend/wife came along we'd do the whole car camping in tents or the bed of pickup.
With the kid and the F150 we decided last year to finally to move up into a trailer:

https://i.imgur.com/JBrf2ss.jpg?1

Whatever you get for Satellite communication, make sure it operates on the Iridium network, and not the galaxy network. I run an actual satellite phone (for work, not necessarily for play, but it sits in my pickup, and an emergency is an emergency).

Propane heaters, i've run one of those buddy heaters, they do a good job of safety, they are supposed to shut off if oxygen gets low, or if they tip over.

The diesel heater thing is great, if you have a diesel truck. If you aren't running a diesel truck, the additional pain of carrying another type of fuel I could see as becoming irritating. I mean I'm already carrying mixed fuel for the chainsaw, if then I had a gas truck, and I carry extra fuel for the truck, and then more diesel for a diesel heater that would be crazy.

I had an espar heater installed in my GMC, and I have a webasto heater waiting to be installed in the new Ram, they are fantastic, because they come with a timer, so I get up and go to work often at around 5am or 5:30am. So I have it programmed to flip on at 4am and it heats both the motor and the cab, and when i hop in an hour later I cruise in comfort. I know that sounds stupid for vancouver, but when you are up north in the yukon or even prince george or whatever, it's fucking awesome.

on the GMC I wanted to add an additional outlet and see if I could route it up to my RTT, but the heat loss from where it was mounted underneath the truck all the way to the tent would probably be really bad.

I wish I didn't have to, but I sold this:

https://i.imgur.com/K7awPNO.jpg

bought this:

https://i.imgur.com/kNsfHO5.jpg

got it to here so far:

https://i.imgur.com/mKJIeWT.jpg

Also modded the rear seat lowers to be quickly removable for more space to sleep inside. The kids are still really little so it's currently intended as a day trip offroader that I might occasionally sleep in the back of. Once the kids get a little older I'll get a RTT for it. The main thing is to start using it and see what you actually find yourself needing. A buddy of mine has spent the last 4+ years getting fridges and batteries and all this overlandy stuff but never gone anywhere yet.

I know nothing about Jeeps, but why did you trade it for an older one?

Probably because it’s not a Mercedes underneath. Lol. Sad to see it go myself.

Nah the Mercedes stuff was the good part, it was all the garbage electronics from Chrysler that were the weak point. I switched to the older Grand Cherokee for a few reasons:

- I no longer needed it to double as a daily driver and family road tripper, so I didn't need the power of the diesel
- With COVID I was barely driving it, so I'll let someone else take the depreciation while my income is cut. The older one meanwhile is severely underrated and the cheapest offroady Jeep you can get
- I wanted a cheaper offroader I didn't have to worry about damaging, destroying, or abandoning if need be. I don't beat on it needlessly, but I could push the red one off a cliff and it'd cost me less than one crunch to the transmission in the grey one
- The red one is much simpler to work on and I have very little wrench time with 2 small kids. Parts are also much more readily available and I don't have to wait for them coming from Europe.
- I didn't trust the grey one, the electronics failed me multiple times. The immobilizer hated all the keys and wouldn't crank for a day, and then was fine. I scared the 4WD system on a slippery hill and it disabled the lockers (along with like 20 codes). 4 low is selected electronically. You cannot fully disable the traction control, and when you have it mostly off, it yells at you every 5 minutes. If it left me stranded by myself it wasn't the end of the world but with the wife and small kids in tow it's not so easy to wait hours for a tow truck.

I miss the grey one a lot, the power from the Merc turbo diesel was nuts, the lockers will definitely be missed, and I had done a lot of maintenance and upgrades using quality parts to make it about as good as it could be without getting into really big money. On the plus side no longer having lockers and gobs of power means I shouldn't be elected to pull people out as often :lol

The tires held out really well. We did also carry a patch kit but it never came to that.

On two occasions we had to replace a tire valve so it was nice having a second spare (and a high lift jack). The second spare really just gave us confidence to not change plans and find a place to fix the tire. We'd just do it at the next town we were stopping at.

We blew one rear shock but since they are doubled (at the back) it held on until we could find parts.

We also melted one tail light (no idea how) and smashed another. It was handy to have two extra tail light assembles because in places like Zimbabwe there is a police check point every few hundred KM or so, and they test everything. They are super friendly about it though.

We also only had to use the Jerry cans once when the station we scheduled our stop at was totally out.

^ i carry extra motor oil and a single wiper blade but maybe brake fluid is more important :pokerface:

meme: would a filthy casual be okay with a handheld like kenwood? probably dont need the range with additional antenna

more info? i intend to have rear seats out spring/summer but it'd be nice having a quick release flexibility

^ whichever fluid you don't bring is the one you will need.

Here's the guide I followed for the seat, though it's pretty straightforward. The rear seat lowers flip forward on a hinge that has a long pin as a pivot. You drill that out and replace it with lock pins or clevis pins. Flip seat, pull pins, seat comes out. I imagine it would work for any vehicle with a similar setup.

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f310...oom-wj-608241/

You will have a blast with the WJ. The straight 6 from Jeep is legendary. They run forever and are simple to work on. You also won't miss out on lockers since you have open diff's on your Laredo. Putting lockers for both front and rear are pretty straight forward and inexpensive. Add to that a small quality lift some 32 inch tires and you are pretty much set.

This is my GF's 2007 Pilot, I bought her some Falken Wildpeaks and we've taken it to places I'm sure no other pilot has been before. Great car on the highway, FSRs, and light wheeling. We camped with it over 15 times last year, lot's of day trips up Squamish River Valley, Harrison to Boston Bar, great car:
https://i.imgur.com/3YqiMqq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bEB8Fkk.jpg

As good as it is, she wanted something more interesting. I just won an auction in Japan for this 2000 Toyota Hiace KZ106. Should be here in the next couple of months. 2" lift and tires soon to follow:
https://i.imgur.com/hhxXyzb.jpg

I've actually been looking into this more and I love how there's community here.

My 1st pick was the 4Runner but dealing with the Yoda tax seems a bit crazy. From time to time there's Lexus GX470s that popup but generally pricy as well. I'm still on the hunt but I kinda want to get a 2nd gen Touareg TDI. Not looking for anything crazy, just mild lift and tires.