Good vehicle set-up for extended travel/CAMPING?

[Saskwatchian]

A smallish car can work surprisingly well if you are by yourself and creative in your sleeping/storage situations.

I spent 2 months living in a Peugeot 306. What made it doable was the fact that the rear seats could be completely taken out and the passenger seat could be slid all the way up to the dash. That left enough room for a camping cot on one side with a 40L water jug filling the footwell and holding up the head of the bed.

Then it was big totes keeping things organized on the other side along with a geared 26" unicycle all the regular camping gear (tent, chair, table, cooking stuff, etc), a couple weeks of food, extra fuel, water, etc.

The little car got pretty decent fuel economy and got stuck places FWD cars were really not meant to go.

I would have liked something larger but my budget was about 10% of yours and it worked surprisingly well. I only really used the tent when I was planning on staying somewhere more than two days. Small vehicles work but they need enough usable space. If I couldn't remove the back seat the tent would have gotten a whole lot more use.

The major downside of using the small car other than lack of room was the fact that it was not intended to continually travel rough roads with that much load and I blew out the shocks somewhere in the first 6000km of outback touring. If you have the money make sure you upgrade the suspension to handle the loads you are going to be carrying.



Now in the pipe dream section I am looking to buy an old diesel Land Cruiser and replacing the roof with a flip-top like a rooftop-tent. it won't be as fuel efficient but won't get stuck as easily driving up a dried up riverbed and have tons more room.

[freebeard]

Well, when you do, put the hinge half-way between the front and back bumpers so the hinged part is supported by the front of the roof and you can have swing-down legs into sockets on the front bumper. Done right, you could drive with the thing up. Entry at the front or rear.

[Saskwatchian]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Well, when you do, put the hinge half-way between the front and back bumpers so the hinged part is supported by the front of the roof and you can have swing-down legs into sockets on the front bumper. Done right, you could drive with the thing up. Entry at the front or rear.

My thoughts exactly.

Something sort of like this but with a more "covered wagon" type of tent ontop should not to too hard to build. And instead of the hinge at the windshield it could probably be over the B-pillar on a Cruiser.



To the OP, if you want more ideas for an offroading tourer just google "overlanding" lots of cool ideas, mostly from Australia and South Africa.

[freebeard]

Cool. The example your show puts a lot of the weight on those two legs.

That things got to be —what— 14' long? I guess it seats four and sleeps four.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by aardvarcus

It would be nice to have a shower and toilet to maximize the camping and minimize the hoteling, remember 1 night in a hotel can buy an awful lot of gas.

That's a good point. It's not so good to spend more than 5 days without taking a bath.

[Saskwatchian]

Most of the weight is supposed to be held by the tension in the tent fabric, which makes for a lot of stress on the hinge area but not as much on the little support rods.

Bush showers are easy, whether you use a bag, a bucket or one of these systems.

Of course heat exchangers aren't as eco as solar showers but they are damn nice to use.

[Miller88]

It was suggested earlier - but what about a Transit connect? They're pretty cheap (dealers can't seem to sell them).

Other than being a bit underpowered and not the most aerodynamic, I imagine it would get pretty reasonable mileage? With a hitch, you could build one of the eco devices like newer tractor trailers have installed.

[yogiyoda]

Thanks for all the insights!

A little more info on the situation. First, I'm 6'3". So sleeping in the back of most vehicles including the Ford Transit Connect would be kind of tight. But the Transit Connect is definitely in the running as an affordable gear hauler. As is the new Nissan NV200 which has a little more cargo length.

Second, I don't feel comfortable "stealth" camping. I'm okay with the occasional stay at a rest stop or a Walmart that allows it. But don't want to stay anywhere where I'm not wanted. Also, as a solo traveling 6'3" man pushing 40, I want to limit the "creepy" factor as much as possible. So that's a factor against panel/cargo vans.

Couple questions:

First, what are the thoughts on an used Toyota Highlander Hybrid with cargo box and bike rack? From what I read Toyota hybrids can run the A/C for long periods of time without running the gas engine. This would be very useful for those times I may need to stop to plan; make phone calls; take a nap in hot weather; or the occasional overnight. (I'm thinking about just leaning the drivers seat all the way back on these sleep occasions.) Also, seems like with a hybrid it would be easier to leave electronics in the car to charge when needed.

Second, would a roof top box really give such a drastic hit to mpg? I'd try to limit top speeds to under 60 mph when the box was in place.

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by yogiyoda

Thanks for all the insights!

A little more info on the situation. First, I'm 6'3". So sleeping in the back of most vehicles including the Ford Transit Connect would be kind of tight. But the Transit Connect is definitely in the running as an affordable gear hauler. As is the new Nissan NV200 which has a little more cargo length.

Second, I don't feel comfortable "stealth" camping. I'm okay with the occasional stay at a rest stop or a Walmart that allows it. But don't want to stay anywhere where I'm not wanted. Also, as a solo traveling 6'3" man pushing 40, I want to limit the "creepy" factor as much as possible. So that's a factor against panel/cargo vans.

Couple questions:

First, what are the thoughts on an used Toyota Highlander Hybrid with cargo box and bike rack? From what I read Toyota hybrids can run the A/C for long periods of time without running the gas engine. This would be very useful for those times I may need to stop to plan; make phone calls; take a nap in hot weather; or the occasional overnight. (I'm thinking about just leaning the drivers seat all the way back on these sleep occasions.) Also, seems like with a hybrid it would be easier to leave electronics in the car to charge when needed.

Second, would a roof top box really give such a drastic hit to mpg? I'd try to limit top speeds to under 60 mph when the box was in place.

I don't know that a trailer is more so fuel efficient than a roof box, but for how useful it would be, I would go that way, first. Your panel van comment made me laugh, I was thinking about that while reading this

[UltArc]

some more ideas: I hate to just post a link, but I am not familiar with posting images.