Truck vs SUV for Overlanding! Pros & Cons of each!

Artfuldodger

Senior Member
I often wonder why some prefer trucks and others SUV's. It looks like most of the Utes(trucks) they use in Australia are flatbed farm style trucks. But some do have "tubs" as they call them.
Looking at a Reddit discussion, the biggest complaint for a truck is that dust gets in and all over your stuff even with a camper shell.
I would probably use what I already have if I was just getting into the hobby. Maybe go to one of them Overland get together's or meets.
 

normaldave

GON Weatherman
I have a 2wd van. Have gone through the research of a 4wd conversion. Expensive and difficult since few if any suspension parts directly swap from the truck chassis.due to van body/frame rails are different than truck, at least Fords... About $25K turnkey for conversion.

4wd converted vans become very heavy and top heavy when fully loaded and converted. Coolness factor is hard to beat though.

Trucks more plentiful and better supported with aftermarket parts. Pretty much ready to go in terms of 4wd platform. Flatbed offers modular, base platform that supports a multitude of build out options.

For me it depends on where you are going ~80% of the time. Is it worth spending and building to conquer the remaining 20% extreme travel destinations?

I settled on a reliable 4wd daily driver, with a cargo trailer conversion with better ground clearance that can go on most any forest service road. That gets me most anywhere I want to go, setup my base camp, then take the 4wd tow vehicle out solo for the difficult spots then return.
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
It really all depends on how you build your truck. If you keep the tailgate, yes you will have dust. I have the Alu Cab Canopy Camper and it is completely sealed, the only dust I get is what comes in on me. I am typing this from the north woods of Michigan where I am presently camped in my vehicle. I chose to use the Jeep Gladiator Rubicon for the vehicle due too the fact I knew I was going to get the ACCC and that particular truck is the most offroad capable truck available on the US market. There is a thread about my build in "all things motorized" sub-forum. The Alu Cab Canopy Camper is made in South Africa and is becoming very popular in Australia now that there are a couple of dealers there.

415780126_10218983682061960_582011745875125430_n.jpg
 

transfixer

Senior Member
In my mind it would depend on where I intended on going ? I used a Ford van for years as a camping/deer hunting vehicle, 2wd, with Gumbo mudders on the rear, skinny truck tires on the front, plenty of weight over the rear end with a bed and supplies and tools, I went places 4wd trucks went, just no deep swampy mud, red mud roads, kaolin roads, logging roads all were no problem, I had chains/straps, and a come a long if I needed them.
For camping in the fall and winter a van suited my purpose I could pull up at camp if it was raining, and simply go to the back and go to sleep, set up camp the next day, if it was cold, fairly easy to keep the inside warm, ( it was insulated)

I now use a 4wd crew cab pickup, I carry just as much tools and supplies, but don't sleep in the bed of the truck, I'll use a tent , or if situation allows pull a small camper .

The short SUV's are great if you're going into the mountains with a lot of creek crossings or a lot of ravines you'll need to cross , as they're less likely to get hung up in the middle, but you can't carry as much stuff with you in those
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
I have a 2wd van. Have gone through the research of a 4wd conversion. Expensive and difficult since few if any suspension parts directly swap from the truck chassis.due to van body/frame rails are different than truck, at least Fords... About $25K turnkey for conversion.

4wd converted vans become very heavy and top heavy when fully loaded and converted. Coolness factor is hard to beat though.

Trucks more plentiful and better supported with aftermarket parts. Pretty much ready to go in terms of 4wd platform. Flatbed offers modular, base platform that supports a multitude of build out options.

For me it depends on where you are going ~80% of the time. Is it worth spending and building to conquer the remaining 20% extreme travel destinations?

I settled on a reliable 4wd daily driver, with a cargo trailer conversion with better ground clearance that can go on most any forest service road. That gets me most anywhere I want to go, setup my base camp, then take the 4wd tow vehicle out solo for the difficult spots then return.
It all depends on where you want to go. I love getting into places most others will not attempt for fishing, hunting, camping and just plain ol' exploring. I built my truck to handle those requirements, plus offering an easy to deploy and comfortable to live out of. As I type this, I literally just pulled in from a week in the north woods chasing salmon and lived out of my truck for just over a week, staying in a Cracker Barrel parking lot while on the road and then in remote, dispersed campsites in the Manistee/Huron National Forests chasing Chinook and Coho Salmon. I have had my build just over a year now and have hunted turkeys in New Mexico, grouse in Minnesota and chased salmon in Michigan while living out of my build, not to mention fly fishing all over the Chattahoochee, Pisgah, Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests.
 
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redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
I often wonder why some prefer trucks and others SUV's. It looks like most of the Utes(trucks) they use in Australia are flatbed farm style trucks. But some do have "tubs" as they call them.
Looking at a Reddit discussion, the biggest complaint for a truck is that dust gets in and all over your stuff even with a camper shell.
I would probably use what I already have if I was just getting into the hobby. Maybe go to one of them Overland get together's or meets.
This is the closest event of any size for those of us in GA. There is one in Tennessee, but it is nowhere near as large vendor wise or class wise.

https://thesaveexpo.com/

I have been to a number of expos and actually was an exhibitor for one dealer at the Moore Expo in Missouri this past spring. If you plan on building a vehicle, the very first thing you are going to want to do is determine the places you want to explore. Lots of items and vehicles that are popular out west simply do not work in a lot of the places available in the east to explore, camp, hunt and fish.

I have been building and utilizing vehicles for what is now called overlanding since the 1970s and have traveled about half of Canada and 49 of the 50 states in vehicles I have built for this type of adventure (I haven't shipped a vehicle to Hawaii, I just rented there). If you are going to mainly be solo, there are a lot of options out there that work really well and can get you anywhere you want to go.

I have done it all, Roof Top Tents, interior sleeping platforms, tent camping or as it is called in Australia "swag" camping and finally settling on what I have now. Out west trailers are rather popular, but they are not so popular in the east simply because our trails are narrower and, in many places, just hard to get even a small trailer to.

A jeep Wrangler is ideal for the solo person, and I have lived out of them for weeks at a time in the Rocky Mountains and all over the Appalachians from Maine to Alabama. They are probably the best street legal vehicle for getting you into out of the way places and there is so much aftermarket supp436255496_10219334955003564_161084223276775482_n.jpg461820466_10220263568938332_6719939088456096089_n.jpgort out there for the Wrangler crowd you can find basically any set up you might like to build.DSC02859.JPGDSC02863.JPG393118574_10218896773169292_3652924293771709232_n.jpg435957432_10219325767493882_9028186342503380631_n.jpg
 
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Robust Redhorse

Senior Member
I will opt for an SUV.

I have a Toyota Landcruiser and a Lexus GX.

I like:
- the lack of dust
- the ability to get to the driver's seat at night without getting outside
- the ability to put full-length fly rods in them without taking them apart
- the ability to let them run all night long with heat in cold weather (if necessary)
- the ability to completely stretch out in them to spend the night (the GX needs a little modification, but it's easy)


I also have a large RAM truck, that is great for towing, but I don't want to put a cover on it, because of the lack of visibility and it's turn radius.
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
I will opt for an SUV.

I have a Toyota Landcruiser and a Lexus GX.

I like:
- the lack of dust
- the ability to get to the driver's seat at night without getting outside
- the ability to put full-length fly rods in them without taking them apart
- the ability to let them run all night long with heat in cold weather (if necessary)
- the ability to completely stretch out in them to spend the night (the GX needs a little modification, but it's easy)


I also have a large RAM truck, that is great for towing, but I don't want to put a cover on it, because of the lack of visibility and it's turn radius.
I have a sleeping platform in my Wrangler that I can stretch out it, did a 2/3 rear seat delete. There are plus and minuses, in my Gladiator camper, I can stand up at 6'2" and not be able to touch the roof with my bed lifted. It is good for changing clothes in and using the toilet when in areas where others might be. As for heat, I have a propane heater/fireplace made for the yacht industry. This photo was taken while sitting up on my full-sized bed watching Youtube with my fire blazing down below, it got down to the mid-low 30s that night and I had been wading and casting to salmon all day. That heater has kept me toasty on a couple of nights where it got down to about 0F last winter and I can run it all night for about 4 or so nights before I need to maybe fill up my tank. I have only run it all night 2 times, most nights it gets toasty and the camper in insulated really good and I end up turning it off before I go to sleep.

The second photo is how the inside looks when it is not loaded with stuff, though I can fit everything in stackable boxes on one side and still have a lot of room to change or do whatever other business I have to do. That is a 13-gallon water tank that is baffled along with a water pump in case I want to take a shower outside (I have a shower cube mounted outside). That is a 73 qt fridge/freezer against the bulkhead and there are drawers and cubbies for storage on the left-hand side of the camper. The camper is not "deployed" in the second photo. Not to mention I can take just about any trail around, I won't go rock crawling, but I have been on some real sketchy, white-knuckle trails. 461770773_10220278340187604_67237536561337353_n.jpg366532277_751675780303087_3899627243726240610_n.jpg
 
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Artfuldodger

Senior Member
Cool, thanks for the info., it's all quite interesting to me. In relation to balance I was looking at the Dual Sport motorcycles and all the trails they have like from Georgia to Mexico. I guess Overlanders use some of the same trails that hobby uses.
Most of the guys that do it discuss the pros and cons of say a 450cc vs a 650cc. A 450 would handle the actual trails better but the 650 would handle the forest service roads and highways better.
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
Cool, thanks for the info., it's all quite interesting to me. In relation to balance I was looking at the Dual Sport motorcycles and all the trails they have like from Georgia to Mexico. I guess Overlanders use some of the same trails that hobby uses.
Most of the guys that do it discuss the pros and cons of say a 450cc vs a 650cc. A 450 would handle the actual trails better but the 650 would handle the forest service roads and highways better.
I saw a couple of guys doing the Dual Sport bike gig have to get air-lifted out of Gunnison National Forest a few years back, they had a rather bad wreck on Tin-Cup Pass Trail, (but then again, I have seen Jeepers have to get airlifted out there too on Black Bear Pass). It looked like they hit a set of "steps" on the trail going too fast. I do see a lot of Dual Sport bikes out there and since I have ridden street bikes (Harleys) my whole life and Harley has now come out with a dual sport bike I have thought about getting one, but I think that interest is one that my age, I am 63, has probably made it impractical. Plus hauling all my fly fishing and hunting gear on one would be a little tough......If you have a lot of offroad motorcycling experience it does look like it would be fun.
 

Swamprat

Swamprat
For some dang reason I now want to get a Alu Cap for my Tacoma and explore

Good thread and enjoyed RNBC thread of building his jeep. Lots of good info and he gets you past what works or doesn’t based on his experience.
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
For some dang reason I now want to get a Alu Cap for my Tacoma and explore

Good thread and enjoyed RNBC thread of building his jeep. Lots of good info and he gets you past what works or doesn’t based on his experience.
If you like to explore, hunt, fish, camp and even prospect they are great. As with everything there are compromises. You trade luxury that some want for size, weight and ability to reach hard to get to places. They allow you to get to pretty much every place you can with the vehicle you mount it on. They are popular on the Tacoma and there are a lot of guys on YouTube with them on Tacoma Trucks. I am a big guy and a Solid Front Axle fan, only owned one IFS vehicle in my life. My ideal build would have been on a Series 70 Land Cruiser P/U but alas, those are hard to come by in the States with less than 3 or 4 hundred thousand hard miles already on them and even then, they are rare. Since I am no fan of established campgrounds, this was an upgrade for how I used to camp on my adventures, plus it opens up the world of Cracker Barrel and Bass Pro Shop parking lots for a night's rest when traveling down the highways and byways of our Great Republic. It is a secure place to sleep without any worries of anyone being able to get in. The problem with vehicles for this type of recreation is that everybody wants the perfect rig, once you learn there is no such thing, you can then build the best rig for your objectives, just like fishing boats, no perfect all round fishing boat and you will have compromises.
 

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
For some dang reason I now want to get a Alu Cap for my Tacoma and explore

Good thread and enjoyed RNBC thread of building his jeep. Lots of good info and he gets you past what works or doesn’t based on his experience.
Here is a Taco with one for an idea of how they fit. They make fitment kits for every generation Taco if I am not mistaken. I toyed with the idea of a Taco, but I am a large guy, and I often find myself on a couple of thousand-mile road trip to get where I am going and I simply felt too cramped.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
I still really struggle with understanding the advantage/thought/purpose of the tent on top of your truck that you have to climb up a ladder into instead of just setting it up on the ground like normal folks, thereby freeing your vehicle up to be a vehicle if it's needed? It's worked for me for nearly 60 years.
 

longrangedog

Senior Member
I still really struggle with understanding the advantage/thought/purpose of the tent on top of your truck that you have to climb up a ladder into instead of just setting it up on the ground like normal folks, thereby freeing your vehicle up to be a vehicle if it's needed? It's worked for me for nearly 60 years.
Bears
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
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