Off-Road Campers

[wibornz]

Quick update, it's ready! 5am tomorrow we depart for Kentucky! I plan to do a whole write up / review later but for now here is a preview of it during the last stage of the build.

That is frickin sweet looking. I look forward to reading your review.

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[alksion]

Many of the National Parks out west in Bear territory will not let you camp in a soft sided camper. Just an FYI.

Including RTT on top of a trailer?

 

[FLTrailRider]

Many of the National Parks out west in Bear territory will not let you camp in a soft sided camper. Just an FYI.

They removed that temporary restriction back on July 16, 2018.

Other than Yellow stone where else are the pop up campers not permitted?

 

[wibornz]

They removed that temporary restriction back on July 16, 2018.

Other than Yellow stone where else are the pop up campers not permitted?

West Glacier, MT – Effective immediately, camping at the Many Glacier Campground will be limited temporarily to hard-sided camping. This means that tents, sleeping hammocks, and soft-sided campers will not be permitted until further notice.Jun 28, 2021

With just a little bit of research, I have found that the restrictions come and go due to bear activity. So if you are using a soft sided camper, and you plan to stay in a National Park, you should check before you arrive.

Note this is not the same with National Forest.

 

[MaineBumpkin]

We survived our trip to Kentucky (3 days 14+ hours driving) and the new camper towed like a dream (we took my RAM).

My nephew is going to do a write up about the whole topic of our migration to a teardrop, vendor selection, build time, etc. (DrivinVibin) so I don’t get into that but I did a review of the Vega XT on our shakedown trip this past weekend.


One thing I don’t share is my brake controller issues. I found a Kurt Echo on FB Marketplace for $150 (for Jeep), synced it, tested it, adjusted it and the morning of our departure it died. I called Kurt and the said ‘yep, sounds like a bad controller’. I towed without it and to be honest, I barely noticed the camper was there. Obviously I plan to replace it but now I’m a bit gun shy about the Kurt Echo.

 

[cmb396]

We survived our trip to Kentucky (3 days 14+ hours driving) and the new camper towed like a dream (we took my RAM).

My nephew is going to do a write up about the whole topic of our migration to a teardrop, vendor selection, build time, etc. (DrivinVibin) so I don’t get into that but I did a review of the Vega XT on our shakedown trip this past weekend.


One thing I don’t share is my brake controller issues. I found a Kurt Echo on FB Marketplace for $150 (for Jeep), synced it, tested it, adjusted it and the morning of our departure it died. I called Kurt and the said ‘yep, sounds like a bad controller’. I towed without it and to be honest, I barely noticed the camper was there. Obviously I plan to replace it but now I’m a bit gun shy about the Kurt Echo.

Really enjoyed your review, and episode 1 of a 1 one episode series!! lol
We're in a similar boat. Have a 37' 5th wheel, but looking for something small and versatile to do quick weekend trips and overlanding. I have looked at these, and being in WV, they are about the closest builder to do a custom build.
We're not ready to ditch our 5th wheel bc our boys are still 11 and 14, and longer trips in a tent is tough.
Thanks for the review!!

 

[MaineBumpkin]

Really enjoyed your review, and episode 1 of a 1 one episode series!! lol
We're in a similar boat. Have a 37' 5th wheel, but looking for something small and versatile to do quick weekend trips and overlanding. I have looked at these, and being in WV, they are about the closest builder to do a custom build.
We're not ready to ditch our 5th wheel bc our boys are still 11 and 14, and longer trips in a tent is tough.
Thanks for the review!!

Thanks, it was fun to do and hopefully it can help someone else thinking about the move. We are headed out on another trip soon so I may do a short follow-up. Maybe this time I'll take the clothes off the line and tidy up the camper a bit I'd say you have a few years left where the 5er will come in handy, we tell our kids they can sleep in the Roam awning on a cot (if they want to hang with us) but it's not bug proof. The owner of Cedar Ridge is very accommodating and he's willing to work with the client on 'ideas'. This may be more difficult as he grows but for now there are advantages to working with a smaller company. WV is much closer to KY which also helps!

 

[cmb396]

Thanks, it was fun to do and hopefully it can help someone else thinking about the move. We are headed out on another trip soon so I may do a short follow-up. Maybe this time I'll take the clothes off the line and tidy up the camper a bit I'd say you have a few years left where the 5er will come in handy, we tell our kids they can sleep in the Roam awning on a cot (if they want to hang with us) but it's not bug proof. The owner of Cedar Ridge is very accommodating and he's willing to work with the client on 'ideas'. This may be more difficult as he grows but for now there are advantages to working with a smaller company. WV is much closer to KY which also helps!

Looking forward to the next review if you do one. Cedar Ridge is def on the short list. Really like Mission Overland and Offgrid, but dang they are pricey!! Going to check out an opus lite and 2 to see how well that works. Not sure I want to go canvas route?
Have even looked at several NoBo and Geo Pro, but they are what they are and have doubled in price as of late. Thought about going that route just to see how much use it will actually get? There's quite a bit of primitive areas in WV that do not need a dedicated off road trailer to get to on trout streams we like to fish, but too small to get the 5th wheel in. I'm past my tent days too! lol
Did a 4 day overland tent trip with the jeeps and my friends 2 mos ago, 3 nights in a tent and 2 weeks to get all the aches and pains gone!!

 

[MattMc123]

Another vote for the Taxa Cricket. Wife likes a little more comfort. Put a lock and roll hitch on and it tows great. Solid axel and have taken it down a few harder trails but noting too extreme. For what we do so far so good. Solar is great and the upgrade LiPo batteries give us plenty of power.

Just be ready to give tours of your set up.

 

[OMTBiker]

Here is our Taxa Cricket, picked it up on July 24th and started the build for solar, etc. This is about as bad as the Jeeps for taking money.

200ah of lithium, 100w fixed panel on the roof with another 200w portable, automatic transfer switch, switched out to Lithium compatible power distribution panel, Victron solar charge controller, Victron BMV-712, and 1000w pure sine wave inverter.

 

[Charmagne]

If you decide to swap out or what you ordered didn't meet your expectations - have a look at the OPUS. Fantastic off-road capability and comes in various configurations. We have an OP2 and love it - sorry, not pictured with the jeep (two door can't tow it). https://www.opuscamper.us/2-sleeper/

 

[MaineBumpkin]

Hello everyone, we finally took our camper on our big trip. It was so good we are seriously thinking of moving South and West. I did an update focused on the camper and our experiences off-road. Re-gearing is now at the top of the list.

 

[Encino Stan]

"upgraded" to the Sol Dawn Rover, extremely nice trailer but came with some major downsides (for me at least).

@OMTBiker, what didn't you like about the Sol Dawn Rover? We've been shopping for a trailer since covid, and are leaning toward that one.

 

[OMTBiker]

@OMTBiker, what didn't you like about the Sol Dawn Rover? We've been shopping for a trailer since covid, and are leaning toward that one.

For us it was not being able to have it at the house and having to store it (HOA), having to setup and take down the dinette table was a pain after a while. Storage space is ok but not great. It is a wide trailer at 102" (right at the legal width in most states) which was stressful in tight constructions zones.

 

[north53overland]

Finally got around to finishing the details and fabrication for the QuickPitch metal box ensuite. Whiel it was mounted to the trailer before our April trip, due to the side twist/torsion against the slide, it would tip and looked very unsupported. Despite using 250lb slides, slides are design to take force up and down for drawer weight with 1 slide per side, not support 25lbs of metal twisting it. So I had a 10" x 44" x 1/4" aluminum plate cut from Innovative Welding. With that, I drilled 14 holes in it to mount to the side of my 80/20 aluminum roof rack system. From there I used the 2nd slide, drilled out the locking mechanisms and then mounted both slides to the plan and both slides to the back of the box. I used neoprene bonded washers along with 1/4-20 x 1/2" button cap nuts and bolts and a locking washer to fasten the slides to the QuickPitch.

Below are some photos and here is a link to it in action: QuickPitch Quick-en-Suite Metal Box Unit custom slides

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