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The evolution of Jeep Travel for Us

wibornz

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We started our Jeep travel with an RV. After a year of that, it just wasn’t it for jeep travel. The RV was great when traveling with horses, but we hated being in campgrounds with the jeep

Jeep Wrangler JL The evolution of Jeep Travel for Us 93A25B6D-8034-499D-9E73-6B5E0ABA867C


we switched to a small off road camper and had a balk with it. We have camped many months straight in this set up and towed this camper 48,000+ miles all over the US and parts of Can

Jeep Wrangler JL The evolution of Jeep Travel for Us 9DDA1214-ECC5-4FAC-875F-D684D03E29B9

Now we are back into a tent. Mind you we only plan to do a few days at a time with the tent, and any long term off grid the camper will be back in operation.
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191185

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What brand tent is that? Is it specifically made to work with the jeep, or did you just modify a regular tent to work?
 

MrMischief

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What brand tent is that? Is it specifically made to work with the jeep, or did you just modify a regular tent to work?
Looks like a Rightline Gear brand to me. If I'm correct, it's a SUV tent, not specific to the Jeep, but should work with most SUVs.
 

Bulletbill

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I planned on taking several long trips out west in the Jeep after I retire in two and a half years.

I have been following your adventures for sometime and based on your trips it has prompted me to consider purchasing a small camper like the one you have been using.

If you don’t mind me asking, out of curiosity what prompted the swap to the tent?
 

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DwnSth

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I'm impressed! Would love to see some trip reports or favorites. Don't think we could do long trips without the motor home.
We do a bit of both. For long trips the motor home is basecamp and we may run out a few days at a time in the jeep and our Gazelle tent. Looking at a small cargo trailer since space is a big problem having two 120 lb. dogs. Every trip for us is a bit of a compromise in some way. Can we take both jeeps? Do we take the MH and tow a jeep or just drive both jeeps? Do we bring the truck and trailer a jeep? Somewhere there is a perfect solution but for now the options will have to do :)
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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What brand tent is that? Is it specifically made to work with the jeep, or did you just modify a regular tent to work?
I bought it off Amazon and it is made to attach to a vehicle.


SUV Tent, Sleeps Up 4 to 6 Universal Car Awning SUV Camping Tent, Waterproof PU2000mm Car Tent, SUV Tailgate Tent Sun Shelter for Camping, Outdoor Travel https://a.co/d/73YD5c3
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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I planned on taking several long trips out west in the Jeep after I retire in two and a half years.

I have been following your adventures for sometime and based on your trips it has prompted me to consider purchasing a small camper like the one you have been using.

If you don’t mind me asking, out of curiosity what prompted the swap to the tent?
We still will use the camper. This year, we have rented a 5th wheel on a lot east of Yuma Arizona and will use the 5th wheel camper as a base camp and wheel from there. Therewas no reading rot tow the camper over 4,000 miles to use it a handful of times. We will only camp a couple days at a time before we return to the base camp. I have $325 into the tent and the Deep Sleep mattress. The savings from not towing the camper to and from Wellton Arizona from Michigan easily pays for the tent andmattress.

We are planning on towing the camper to Alaska from Michigan in mid June. We will attach the tent to one side of the camper for extra space and to make it better when the weather is unfavorable.
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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I'm impressed! Would love to see some trip reports or favorites. Don't think we could do long trips without the motor home.
We do a bit of both. For long trips the motor home is basecamp and we may run out a few days at a time in the jeep and our Gazelle tent. Looking at a small cargo trailer since space is a big problem having two 120 lb. dogs. Every trip for us is a bit of a compromise in some way. Can we take both jeeps? Do we take the MH and tow a jeep or just drive both jeeps? Do we bring the truck and trailer a jeep? Somewhere there is a perfect solution but for now the options will have to do :)
Here is my trip report for 2022. We wheeled all the western states in except for Idaho.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...alaska-and-back-three-jlur-and-campers.85316/


This is my trip report for the next four or five months.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...t-for-four-or-five-months-of-wheeling.106151/


Then if all goes well we will head forAlaska in mid June.
 

STW

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...The savings from not towing the camper to and from Wellton Arizona from Michigan easily pays for the tent and mattress...
Just curious about towing campers: sounds like towing yours reduces mpg a lot? I assume that's because it's a regular standup camper-trailer that is significantly higher than the Jeep. Or maybe it's the weight. It would be interesting to know if a teardrop trailer has the same impact on towing costs, or perhaps any trailer that is not taller than the Jeep.

I drove a couple thousand highway miles early last summer to do trails in the Canadian Rockies (1k miles each way, there and back), and I wondered how much of a hit the hard-shell roof top tent would be, and if that would make me look for alternatives. To my surprise, the RTT was super easy to travel with and I got good gas mileage all the way.

Not mentioning RTTs to recommend them to you--you no doubt know all you'd need or want to know about RTTs with your road/offroad trip experience. Your example of trying several modes of Jeep travel over time, and moving steadily to simpler, lighter modes interests me. Tear-drop trailers and RTTs are likely two other alternatives Jeep travelers have on their list as they evolve.
 

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Just curious about towing campers: sounds like towing yours reduces mpg a lot? I assume that's because it's a regular standup camper-trailer that is significantly higher than the Jeep. Or maybe it's the weight. It would be interesting to know if a teardrop trailer has the same impact on towing costs, or perhaps any trailer that is not taller than the Jeep.

I drove a couple thousand highway miles early last summer to do trails in the Canadian Rockies (1k miles each way, there and back), and I wondered how much of a hit the hard-shell roof top tent would be, and if that would make me look for alternatives. To my surprise, the RTT was super easy to travel with and I got good gas mileage all the way.

Not mentioning RTTs to recommend them to you--you no doubt know all you'd need or want to know about RTTs with your road/offroad trip experience. Your example of trying several modes of Jeep travel over time, and moving steadily to simpler, lighter modes interests me. Tear-drop trailers and RTTs are likely two other alternatives Jeep travelers have on their list as they evolve.
I tow a tiny 5x8 "teardrop" trailer. total loaded weight comes to about 1,500lbs. MPG drops considerably. Towing will reduce MPG no matter what. Tent camping is the simplest/cheapest. My trailer is not taller than my jeep. It will also depend what setup you are running with your Jeep. Lifted jeeps with large tires are not the best for towing. But even a stock jeep you are gonna be spending lot more on gas while towing. Traveling under 65MPH helps a lot to keep the cost down.

The comforts of sleeping in the trailer are well worth it for me to take the MPG hit.
 
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wibornz

wibornz

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Just curious about towing campers: sounds like towing yours reduces mpg a lot? I assume that's because it's a regular standup camper-trailer that is significantly higher than the Jeep. Or maybe it's the weight. It would be interesting to know if a teardrop trailer has the same impact on towing costs, or perhaps any trailer that is not taller than the Jeep.

I drove a couple thousand highway miles early last summer to do trails in the Canadian Rockies (1k miles each way, there and back), and I wondered how much of a hit the hard-shell roof top tent would be, and if that would make me look for alternatives. To my surprise, the RTT was super easy to travel with and I got good gas mileage all the way.

Not mentioning RTTs to recommend them to you--you no doubt know all you'd need or want to know about RTTs with your road/offroad trip experience. Your example of trying several modes of Jeep travel over time, and moving steadily to simpler, lighter modes interests me. Tear-drop trailers and RTTs are likely two other alternatives Jeep travelers have on their list as they evolve.
towing the camper usually cost me about 3 miles to the gallon. I love our camper. We set us a base camp then do our wheeling and hiking from the Jeep. We can also leave the tent set up and detach the jeep from the tent.

I am not a fan of RTT. We wheel difficult trails and the tent on the roof changes the center of gravity to high for my comfort level off road.
 
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adahl

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I tow a tiny 5x8 "teardrop" trailer. total loaded weight comes to about 1,500lbs. MPG drops considerably. Towing will reduce MPG no matter what. Tent camping is the simplest/cheapest. My trailer is not taller than my jeep. It will also depend what setup you are running with your Jeep. Lifted jeeps with large tires are not the best for towing. But even a stock jeep you are gonna be spending lot more on gas while towing. Traveling under 65MPH helps a lot to keep the cost down.

The comforts of sleeping in the trailer are well worth it for me to take the MPG hit.
A friend is looking at buying the same from the Tiny Camper Company. She has 2-door stock 2008 JK Wrangler X. What does she need to consider to ensure she can tow safely?
 

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A friend is looking at buying the same from the Tiny Camper Company. She has 2-door stock 2008 JK Wrangler X. What does she need to consider to ensure she can tow safely?
Total weight of the trailer and tongue weight should be within specs. Electrical trailer brakes make a massive difference when towing with a 2 door. Be safe and drive slower than usual.
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