If you love the thought of doing some extended exploring and camping along seldom traveled desert trails, forest roads or other off-the-beaten path destinations, but aren’t quite sure of the ideal setup for that kind of travel, you’re not alone. Each year thousands of people visit RV shows and overland expositions and many of them are simply overwhelmed by the choices of off-road vehicles, campers, rooftop tents and accessories that are on the market.
With more people than ever venturing forth to explore the outdoors, in everything from massive Unimogs to motorcycles – and everything in between – it can be hard to figure out what your ideal camping and exploring vehicle is going to look like. For most people, cost can be a major deciding factor, as it was for us.
What is Overlanding, Really?
The most common kind of “overlanding” involves taking what you need to survive for several days along and traversing a land route to a destination, sometimes in places where there aren’t even any roads to drive on. The scope of this pursuit ranges all the way from crossing deserts in Africa and Australia to exploring off the beaten path places closer to home.
For us “overlanding” might be a ten mile out and back trip to a campsite on a four wheel drive trail somewhere in the Southwest. Perhaps the route is a bit longer, like driving from Boca Chica, at the bottom of Texas, to Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean in the Northwest Territories of Canada – a route we’re planning to travel this spring, while taking as many backroads as possible.
“Overlanding” really is whatever you decide it is.”
A Truck Works For Us – Yes It’s a Full Sized One
What may be a practical overlanding vehicle for some areas may not work as well in other places – Unimogs are a case in point.
We love to travel to off-the-beaten path locations across North America with a couple of rescue dogs to find secluded dispersed camping spots. We don’t own a fancy overland expedition rig or even a tricked out truck-bed camper setup. Our slightly upgraded 4×4 Ford pickup truck works just fine for most places we’d want to go. Is it as good a vehicle for overlanding as some? Well, no, it’s not. There are many others that would do better on more “technical” trails, but it’s what we own and it holds all of our dogs and gear.
While mid sized vehicles are typically better suited for narrower and trickier trails, consider that lots of the US Forest Service vehicles are full sized trucks and they do just fine in many of the places we like to explore. That being said, the price we pay for comfort is having to forego some narrower and steeper trails, but still we manage to safely traverse many of the popular overland routes. There is no “one size fits all” vehicle for overlanding, no matter what you may hear, just the one that works for you.
When considering what kind of camping vehicle you need, you should take into consideration how long you plan on being away from civilization, what time of year you’ll be traveling, the weather, and what level of convenience you require. What, you say…you want a hot shower?
One big reason we like having a full-sized truck is that when fully packed we’re not overloaded, which is safer overall. Many small sized overland vehicles can quickly become overloaded with gear, reducing their fuel economy advantage and over-stressing the engine and chassis. Adding an overlanding trailer can help, but then you’re pulling something and suddenly twice as long on the trail.
Smaller vehicles can sometimes go places we can’t, so for us there’s somewhat of a tradeoff. On the flip-side, they aren’t always as pleasant to drive on the long stretches of highway that are also sometimes a part of “overlanding” and they can’t carry as much gear. We do enjoy our full sized vehicle, but for most folks though, a mid-sized four wheel drive vehicle, such as a Toyota Tacoma, Jeep, Ford Bronco, Toyota Land Cruiser, etc., will be the most versatile choice for all sorts of trails.
Knowing Your Vehicle’s Limits and Yours As a Driver
While we do love to leave the pavement behind, we’re not really into hard-core trails, where our daily driver is likely to sustain major damage, or where we might end up stranded and have to spend a fortune getting extricated. It’s best for off-road vehicles to travel in pairs, and since we don’t always do that, we tend not to go any farther than we’re capable of hiking out from!
Sometimes we do push ourselves past our comfort level just a bit, but we mostly stick to trails rated between 1 and 5 on the Adler Publishing System.
There are several trail rating systems in use, these are just a sample of a couple of the ten difficulty levels used by a popular off-road trail guide publisher.
A Level 1 Trail: Described as “Graded dirt trail but suitable for a normal passenger vehicle. Normally with gentle grades, fairly wide track, and very shallow (if any) water crossings.”
Taking it Easy On The Trail – We enjoyed reading Sean Gorman’s article on Expedition Portal, Overland Driving 101, in which he stated a truism that we’ve also discovered, albeit sometimes the hard way.
“Driving slow and controlled is hands down the easiest way to go farther and break down less.”
Regardless of what vehicle you choose for your overlanding adventures, knowing how to drive it more mindfully, along with using proper techniques, is essential to success.
Skills such as knowing how to “choose a good line” in rugged terrain, proper winching techniques and knowing how to work with a spotter are all just as important as what kind of vehicle you end up driving.
Hey, That’s Us! – Right Here In The Upper Middle Somewhere. 🙂
A Level 5 Trail: Described as: ” High-clearance 4WDs are required. Rough, rutted surface, rocks up to nine inches, mud and deep sand requiring experienced driver, 18 inch stream crossings are expected. There may be traction problems on steep sections & shelf roads with steep drop-offs or tight clearance (for an SUV width vehicle) between rocks or trees.”
Everyone has their own comfort level, and a sometimes even a level 3 trail, such as the Shelf Road (south of Cripple Creek CO) which has a steep drop-offs, may be more than some drivers or passengers can deal with. Whatever vehicle you choose, try not to drive it on any trail that is beyond your abilities as a driver and the capabilities of the vehicles.
A Level 10 Trail: (Just bad. Really, really bad.)
For more info on how to choose a trail that’s best your your vehicle and abilities, see the article The Best Guides For Choosing Off-road Trails
A Vehicle With Four Wheel Drive Is Highly Recommended
One good thing to remember when leaving the pavement on your off-road camping adventure is this: You may not need four wheel drive and high clearance to get there, but you just might need it to get back home.
On one of our camping trips, we drove about 30 miles up an easy level 2 road into BLM land in New Mexico, crossing several dry arroyos along the way. The summer monsoon rains came in while we were camping, and when we left out the way we’d came in, we found several of them to be full of standing water.
Between the muddy bottom and water about two feet deep, we barely made it back across. Foolishly we hadn’t checked the weather, and we were traveling alone, with no other vehicles to help pull us out if we got stuck.
We made it back to the highway after a few tense stream crossings, but having four-wheel-drive and a bit of extra clearance (along with a winch) is the only reason we did.
Locking Differential
This feature is very useful. Many trucks and SUV’s come equipped with positraction, or limited-slip differentials which keep both wheels pulling at some level or another when in mud, etc. Locking differentials take this one step further by preventing any slip at all.
Wheels need to turn differently (hence the word differential) to go around corners, so the only time a locking differential is used is when you really need 100% traction. They do help greatly on some surfaces and steep inclines, but are not necessary for casual off-road travel on easy to moderate trails.
Note: Many 4×4 vehicles have only a rear locking differential. Front lockers are a very useful upgrade for more serious off-roading.
Other features you may need for more serious off-road travel include a winch, high clearance, larger tires, recovery gear (tow straps, shovel, traction plates, etc.), as well as some training on how to use this gear safely.
Length, Approach Angle, Breakover Angle and Departure Angle
The length of your vehicle can be a determining factor in which offroad trails you can safely traverse. Some high mountain passes in the Rockies feature switchbacks where some longer wheelbase vehicles may have trouble making a three point turn. (This is a consideration we must take into account when overlanding in our full sized truck.)
The approach angle is the maximum angle a vehicle can crawl up without the front bumper dragging, while the departure angle is the maximum it can descend without the rear bumper dragging. Breakover angle is the maximum angle that a vehicle can drive over without the object touching the bottom of the chassis.
Its calculated using ground clearance (from lowest point on chassis, like those lift kit bolts you didn’t cut off) and wheel base. A calculator for it can be found here. Our double cab Ford 4×4, even when lifted and with 34″ tires, doesn’t score as well as our Jeep, which is why we don’t take it to the same places.
Examples of Breakover, departure and approach angles for two different vehicles:
Ford F-150 Raptor (2022 model) – Approach 33.1 degrees, Breakover 24.0 degrees, Departure 24.4 degrees.
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (2022 model) – Approach 44.0 degrees, Breakover 37.0 degrees, Departure 27.8 degrees.
Width of Jeep Rubicon Compared to Ford F-150
The width of a stock Jeep Rubicon (without mirrors) is 73.8″ and the width of our Ford F-150 is 79.9 in. There are times on some trails where being 6.1″ wider can be an issue, which is why we avoid extremely narrow trails in our truck.
Truck Bed Campers, Rooftop Tents, Vans, So Many Choices!
Truck Bed Campers: As part-time travelers on a budget, owning a truck bed camper is not really an option for us right now. Our half-ton truck simply can’t handle the weight of most of the rugged truck bed campers on the market, so there’s that. Even if it could handle the weight, (Four Wheel Campers makes some nice light ones), we don’t have a place to store it when not on the vehicle, so we’d have to rent space, costing even more.
Rooftop Tents: These have come a long way in the past 10 years, and for people with smaller SUV’s, rooftop tents also allow for carrying more gear in the vehicle, since the tent is already attached to the roof. In hot areas the extra airflow that you get by being up off of the ground can make sleeping more comfortable. Right now, a small rooftop tent hits the sweet spot for our current camping needs.
Four Wheel Drive Camper Vans: Going far beyond rooftop tents, there are many nice, custom four-wheel drive camper vans on the market, but we’re not anywhere close to being in that league yet. While they’re a great way to go for extended exploring, their larger form factor and top-heaviness makes them ill suited to some off-road trails.
Small Travel Trailers – Some of the off-road camping sites we visit are accessible by boondockers, or RV’ers who find free camping spots on BLM land and national forests. We’ve came across folks in small travel trailers such as pop-up’s, (YouTuber Slim Potatohead), far off the blacktop. We’ve also seen a few folks who realized they’d too latte that they had taken their non off-road trailer a bit too far. Flipping your axles, or raising the trailer height, along with adding better off road tires, is recommended before taking a small trailer off the pavement, and you should know the trail well beforehand.
Overland Trailers. These rugged off-road trailers are hugely popular, especially for those with small to mid-size SUV’s. They allow you to carry more gear, free up space in the vehicle for your family and pets, plus feature rugged construction that can withstand off-road travel. The Highland Expedition Outfitters (HEO) T3 is a neat little rig with an onboard tent setup, and costs about $7,500.
I love the idea of having your water, food, etc. all stored securely in the trailer, plus having a rooftop tent that’s easy to set up, but we’re not quite ready to go that route. Storing an overland trailer is an issue for us, as well as the lack of mobility that a trailer burdens you with. You can’t always turn around in some places with a trailer behind your vehicle, even a small one. Lots of folks do just fine with them, and one may very well work for you.
Our Current Setup
Our Ford F-150 has had a 3″ lift kit installed along with an adjustable Fox shock system and 34″ tires and two full-sized spares. For sleeping it has a Roam Adventure Company tent on a rack over the bed. A slide-out in the truck’s bed helps us access cargo, since having the tent over the bed limits access. A small Dometic 12 volt fridge, placed where the center console used to be located – between the two front seats – keeps our stuff cold. Two 100-watt solar panels and a deep cycle battery power our gadgets, including the fridge. We cook on a small propane camp stove and use big locking plastic storage containers as our pantry.
Accessories and Upgrades We’ve Made To Our Full Sized Truck
- 34″ Nitto Ridge Grappler tires with 2 full sized spares
- Fox 2.5 adjustable coilover shocks and spacers (2.75″ lift)
- Full RCI skid plate for engine, transmission and fuel tank
- 12,000 lb Smittybilt winch (fits in front hitch receiver or rear one)
- Red Rock ground anchor – for when there’s nothing to tie a winch line to.
- AGM Starting Battery, 100 Ah Lithium House Battery
- Removed rear seats to make extra sleeping area (for dogs – and sometimes humans).
- Removed center console, added Dometic fridge
- Roam rooftop tent
- Drawer system in bed for storage
- Added slide-out cargo rack to bed for easier meal prep and gear access.
- GMRS and HF Ham Radio
- Rooftop rack for 2-100 watt solar panels
- Removed interior carpet, replaced with rubber mat and spray-on bed liner.
Final Thoughts On Choosing A Vehicle For Camping
Whatever vehicle you choose ultimately depends on your unique situation. Can you afford a third vehicle or can the one you own be modified for off-road camping? Do you want to go on more technical trails? How many people or pets will you be taking, and for how long? Where will you store the food, water, fuel and gear that you’ll need?
These are all questions you need to ask before shopping for your next camping vehicle, or making one out of a vehicle you already have. It may be that your current ride, with beefed up tires and suspension, could then go most of the places you want to travel, without spending a fortune.
To help you make the right decision on items such as vehicles, rooftop tents, overland trailers and other rigs, try to visit one of the Overland Expo events. There you can check out the myriad options that are on the market, for everything from rooftop tents for small cars to tricked out overland vehicles.
