Building a new "adventure vehicle" or I guess, my retirement exploration vehicle.

[redneck_billcollector]

More photos, to put it in perspective, the Gladiator next to mine in the photo has a 3 1/2 lift with 37 inch tires. On the interior photo the tent is not deployed, when it is I will have around 9 ft head clearance inside with the bed pushed up. I got a brake upgrade while up there with the Power Brake kit. Once I get the truck home all that needs to be done is install my heavy duty, larger volume Diff Covers, Diff Breather tubes, some USV & 12 v outlets in the cab along with a bar, install both a CB and a GMRS. After I figure out what gears I might want, I will regear soon down the road and might upgrade the front drive shaft due to the 3 inch lift. I will be picking her up next week.

 

[Gadestroyer74]

That is slick right there. You’re gonna have one excellent overlanding vehicle

 

[redneck_billcollector]

That is slick right there. You’re gonna have one excellent overlanding vehicle

Already planning a fall Pink/Coho salmon trip to Minnesota and a spring Rio/Merriam's trip to Oklahoma and Colorado in the vehicle.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

A couple of more photos, will be driving it around the mountains later this week in N. Ga. NC and Tenn. Probably going to run by the Jeep Invasion in Pigeon Forge. I was going to pick it up this week, but at the last moment I decided I probably needed to upgrade my brakes before I hit the mountains with it so I had them put on some Power Brakes from South Africa they are a beast of a brake and are made for heavy vehicles that spend a lot of time offroad, I have some items going on it week after next once I get off the road. A snorkel, ARB Diff Covers which are larger and heavy duty, Diff Breather Tube risers, some USB & 12v outlets in the cab and some communications, a GMRS and CB. I will be adding additional lighting for the trails after dark soon too. The only thing left will be to upgrade my drive shafts and maybe regear, depending on how the 4.10s handle the weight. That 270 Awning is going to come in handy as will the shower cube. 

 

[redneck_billcollector]

I am also presently putting together a "camp" bar using a Pelican Case so I can carry some of my favorite Scotch and Bourbon (and maybe a bottle or two of wine for the meals) along with glasses and other sundry bar tools with me to have a nip or two on those cold nights (or warm ones for that matter) while in camp. I mean, what is a long day on a trout or salmon stream without a touch of Macallens 18 yo single malt to end the day?

 

[Gadestroyer74]

It looks great ! Well thought out and done

 

[normaldave]

"I spy"...a Dickinson propane heater.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

"I spy"...a Dickinson propane heater.

You would be correct.

 

[John Cooper]

Awesome looking ride!

Wish we were going to the Jeep Invasion, but Mom takes first precedence.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

It looks great ! Well thought out and done

I am 62 years old and I started "dreaming" of something like this since I made my first trip to Alaska as a teenager old enough to set out on an adventure. I have explored, hunted, fished, prospected (and for a while trapped fur and predators) while living out of vehicles my whole life, well at least since I was old enough to drive. I have designed in my mind's eye the perfect vehicle for what I wanted to build since I first thought about this. After years of sleeping in tents, in truck beds and on sleeping platforms built within my vehicle I know what I want.

As true options for what I wanted started to hit the market they were just too much money for my budget at the time or there were always short comings in the vehicles available when it came to reaching the places where I wanted to go. And then in 2019 the Gladiator Rubicon hit the market. I knew then I was going to own one, having owned at the time a JKUR (four door Wrangler Rubicon) I knew what they were capable of doing off road. I Started scouring every source I could find for "camper options" and I stumbled upon Alu Cab. Sadly, they did not make them that fit the Gladiator at the time, but rumor had it a model was in the pipeline. I looked at all the options, and taking my experiences, I knew what I wanted.

I thought out the vehicle build, starting with the upgrades I needed to do with my base vehicle, the suspension, extra fuel tank, ample battery power for "in cab" accessories', etc....and purchased a new Gladiator Rubicon and started the build. There is one item that just hasn't been designed yet for my truck, that is a rear bumper with a tire carrier that will work with the camper and still allow towing, however there are some in the design pipeline out there. Many of the options I chose are from either Australia or South Africa where off roading is more than just a hobby and since the Gladiator is a relatively new vehicle, I had to wait on the various engineers to make what I wanted.

As for the "in house" mods for the camper, well, new ones are hitting the market place every week as the Alu Cab Canopy Camper gains popularity, so that will be a work in progress probably for the rest of my life......An inline water heater from Australia is one item that will soon be installed (gotta have hot water for showers) along with more molle panels and other storage options, I am also looking at various StarLink options for my extended trips into the wilds (Alaska, the Yukon Territory, the North West Territory, Labrador, Baja, etc...). .

 

[redneck_billcollector]

Well, I picked up my truck and got to test it out for a few days in the mountains. My thoughts and first impressions both positive and negative.

Positives:

The suspension, it is great and handles the weight with no issues off road, to include some rather technical sections on some of the trails I rode on. I had to fiddle with the shock tuning to get it just right at first, but once I found the "sweet spot" it felt really good on both the highway and the trails.

The Power Brakes, they handle the added weight very good, almost too good. It took some getting used to, you think about braking, and you do. Very little pressure is required on the brake pedal, and it will stop you on a dime. There was no heating at all with the disc on the trails where you would feather brake a good bit. I am impressed. The disc did not heat at all on the road either, I drove through the Smokey Mountains NP twice in one day and checked them at both ends and there was no heat at all. I could smell burning brakes on other vehicles in the park.....but then again I was seeing people ride their brakes the whole way through the park and I reckon they do not know how to down shift and use their transmission. These Brakes are made in South Africa for Rally vehicles (offroad, heavy racing),

The Auxiliary Fuel Tank, it was nice to be in the middle of nowhere and see that I had a fuel range of 30 or so miles and hit the switch and 15 minutes later to have a range of over 200 miles. That is going to come in real handy when I head out west and not have to worry about Jerry Cans or Roto Packs.

The Camper itself, well, it was nice, very nice! Takes about 1 minute at most, to have it set up or break down. That is without using the awning (which takes about a minute to deploy and a minute and a half to pack up), which, in the N. GA./NC mountains when you are dispersed camping, there are few places where you have the space to deploy the awning. In the FS Campgrounds I rode by, I could have deployed them, but with this vehicle, why would I stay in a FS Campground if there is dispersed camping? Now, the heat was a pain the first night (the southern Appalachians are apparently having a record-breaking heatwave), but I stopped at the Auto Zone in some small town and purchased two oscillating fans that are 12v powered and ran them up in the sleeping compartment and they did just fine.

Off road performance of the vehicle as a whole, well, it got me where I wanted to go without any issues. Low 4wd worked great, and all the little automatic gizmos that they put on the new Rubicons, worked great with no issues. Fortunately, I did not come across any sections where the size of the vehicle with the camper added was an issue, though I am sure I will in the future, especially in the Southeast. I did get into areas where I saw some full sized 4x4 trucks not being able to get into on my trail riding, they were bottoming out, and I helped on get out of the situation he was in with my winch and a couple of snatch blocks, I guess my added weight came in handy in that particular situation.

Off grid power, well, with two 100 ah AGM batteries for the truck and a 100ah Lithium-Ion battery for the camper coupled with a 200w solar panel I had all the power I needed. I never got below 12v on either the Truck batteries, and from what I could tell, on the camper battery I stayed at 90% to 100% the whole time. Apparently my 73qt fridge/freezer, the house lights and fans that I purchased use very little power, and the solar panel tops it off rather fast when the sun is out. The RedArc control system really works good, when I used my winch helping out a person on the trail, the alternator was not stressed and the RedArc control system shut the draw off of my batteries when I was using it. The isolator never lets my cranking battery get below 11.8 and that keeps all worries away about a dying starting battery.

Negatives:

The most obvious one is my gearing. I am going to need to regear with the added weight and the 35-inch tires. The truck did not want to hit 8th gear no matter where I was driving, to include the interstate. When I regear, that should address that issue, along with another negative which I will discuss next. I am going to talk with a tech later today or tomorrow and determine whether I want to go 4.88 or 5.13.

Gas milage, well, I averaged between 12 to above 13 mpg, with the best milage actually in the mountains. When I regear, from what I understand I should pick up a couple of mpgs.

Space, well, it is only a 5-foot bed so what did i expect? The camper actually offers a good bit of space, but as most know, you can never have too much space. Storage is something I will probably be playing with in this vehicle until I either die or the vehicle dies. On the bright side, a lot of my space was taken up by the tailgate being in my backseat, now that it is unloaded, I should have a lot more storage in the vehicle itself. I was hesitant to put anything on top on the tailgate due to not wanting to scratch it.

WeBoost, I cannot figure it out, simple as that. I would show a bar or two and my phone would still not work. I am going to find someone who knows about these gizmos and get them to show me what I have done wrong.

Overall impression:

I love the setup and I know it will open up a lot of new adventures for me in the future. Here are a few pictures I took of it in the woods, for some reason I did not take many.....One last thought, it is a great way to meet strangers, wherever I stopped people wanted to ask me questions about the rig. In Blue Ridge, Dahlonega, Helen, Clayton and Cherokee NC people approached me. I even deployed it for a group of people in Dahlonega who wanted to check it out.

 

[Buck70]

Excited to follow.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

I do not know how to post videos on here, I am gonna give it a try. https://www.facebook.com/1801413405/videos/pcb.10218518223385784/839579504192112

 

[John Cooper]

Me personally, I would gobwith the 5.13 gearing.

I think you would like it better, that's what I will be going with on my TJR when I regear.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

I talked with an expert today, he is going to hook it up to some computer and take readings while driving next week and I am going to make my choice then.

 

[Triple C]

Well done and well played! Love it!!!

 

[redneck_billcollector]

Well done and well played! Love it!!!

Thanks, I am planning a trip to the Arctic Ocean for next summer and will be chasing Coho & Pink Salmon in Minnesota in October and if my dog is up to it, she is old like me, I might chase a Ruffed Grouse or two. I am at the age where I can cut back on work and still do some stuff and looking at full retirement in the next 5 or so years or earlier depending on how the market acts.

 

[redneck_billcollector]

Short term additions (over the few weeks to a month or so)

I will be adding 4 DC and 4 USB outlets in the Cab of the truck next week along with a bar built for utilizing ram mounts on the dash. I also have an AEV snorkel that will be added next week along with Diff Breather Tubes and larger and heavier Diff Covers (holds more diff fluid, braces the axles and protects the Diffs from rock damage.)

I will be adding a molle panel down the middle of the front seat on the ceiling for mounting a GMRS and CB radios (I already have them) as soon as the molle panel I ordered gets here. I will be getting a Blue Ridge "Attic" for over the back seat for storage of light gear like jackets. I will probably order a molle panel for the interior rear window. I am also getting a trail cam and trying to find a couple of cams to mount on the side mirrors to cover the blind spots when lane changing with all working out of the rear-view mirror which has no use with the camper.

As stated earlier I will be regearing as soon as I figure out which ratio I want.

Additions over the next year.

I am probably going to purchase an Adam's Two-Piece front driveshaft. I will be adding another roof load bar and another 200 W solar panel. The new solar panel will be needed because I have come to the conclusion, I am going to want StarLink Mobile, and it averages a draw10 amps an hour power requirement which is going to probably require me to add another 100 ah Lithium Ion Battery to be devoted to that. If I need to, after I check the draw, I might upgrade my alternator. Lastly, I will be playing with storage options, both in the cab of the truck and in the camper, and I will be doing that forever.

I am sure after my first long term trip in October I will be wanting to do other things with the vehicle that I just do not know I need yet. My goal is to build a vehicle that I can travel all over North America with to explore, hunt, fish, prospect or whatever other outdoors activities I want to do in my so called "golden years". I am also talking with some friends who do vehicle based exploration for a living and looking at options for down the road to winterize it, battery blankets, block heaters, etc.....I plan on seeing every corner of N. America in this vehicle before I die.

 

[Throwback]

I wish I still had my 85 Toyota 4x4 I’d have spent the Covid years doing a full body off restoration

 

[roperdoc]

Nice job! The Alu-cab looks like a great choice. I am setting up a k5 blazer for similar adventures, but I'll have to build my own camper, ala Zoomad. I will incorporate a fair number of the Alu-cab features. I'll be watching your thread for more ideas and inspirations. Enjoy your trip and take the old girl bird hunting while you have the time with her. It will mean a lot to you both.