Goal: simple day to day life, small(ish), offroad capable – a Jeep Gladiator build

[Speric]

With all this in now:

The build is DONE!

We are optimizing some small things here and there while packing the truck for a trip, but other than that, it's done for now. We are going to use it for a while now and then optimize what needs to be optimized. But I'm done for the time being. Worn out as well by this build.

One of the most impressive buildouts I've ever seen on one of these. Nice work!

 

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One of the most impressive buildouts I've ever seen on one of these. Nice work!

Thank you!

 

[cug]

Here are some more impression photos.

Storage for two camp chairs, easily accessible:



Rear door table space, this is where we'll cook most of the time, easy reach to the outlet for induction cooking or heating water. Easy access to filtered water:



And the passenger side with mosquito netting installed, not very nice looking, but practical:

 

[cug]

So, navigation is also sorted. Offline maps for Maps.me downloaded for the upcoming trip, OsmAnd offline maps downloaded and iOverlander data in the categories that interest us converted and imported.

This is a zoomed out view of a part of our travel area.



And when zooming in, it shows more detail:



Primary navigation will be OsmAnd since we are likely offline for long stretches of the trip. Secondary/backup is Maps.me. And iOverlander2 as offline data backup.

Overall, lots cheaper and significantly nicer than a Garmin Tread. And much more flexible since I use the iPad for reading and other data as well.

 

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And prepping for a trip …

 

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And just in case, if you see this:



That's us ...

Had some stickers made. ;-) The website will get better over the next few weeks if/when I have some time and quiet to work on it. Most of the build stuff will also be there, along with tips and tricks and pitfalls to avoid.

 

[cug]

And a few impressions of the rig in action:



Same place, different perspective:



At the Arctic Circle:



And even fiurther North:



The way back was nasty:



And the result of this nastiness:





Airing up the tires after the Dempster. We went down to 20 psi in the front and 26 in the rear to soften the corrugations a bit and to roll easier over sharp rocks. It worked, we didn't get a flat tire, although I doubt we would have gotten one with highway pressure since we have strong mud terrain tires on the rig.

We did see a lot of folks with tire punctures and two cases where the tire had completely disintegrated from the wheel. Helped some folks out by patching their tire and generally stopped and offered help. Most were still on the first flat, so didn't need much help yet ... ;-)

 

[cug]

And what do you do right after leaving the Dempster? Cleaning the car ...









Ugh ...



Making sure everything stayed dry:

 

[cug]

A quick recap of stuff that works, and stuff that doesn't. Not a comprehensive list, just some thoughts that come to mind.

What works:

• RV like interior: friggin awesome to have in bad weather or with tons of mosquitos around; the seating and the tables have been incredible for time in the camper before going to bed when it was cold and wet outside
• Electric cooking: what a revelation, I absolutely love it; would NEVER go back to propane or other fuel for this type of travel
• 12V Travel Oven: again, awesome; put food in, run for 60 to 75 minutes while driving, have hot food ready
• Bed and Froli system: small, but workable; the Froli bed system is great since I'm a sidesleeper
• Webasto Heater: great to have in temperatures around 5 degree Celsius (40F) and rain
• Teraflex Suspension: I doubt it's properly balanced front and rear, but overall the suspension is handling the task rather well
• Falken Mud Terrain Tires: We ran 20 psi front, 26 rear (cold pressure) for the 1800km (~1120 miles) of gravel and mud on the Dempster and had zero issues
• Diesel: averaging 10.4 liters per 100km or 22.6mpg
• Maxtrax: We've used them mostly for leveling the truck while at camp, works a treat
• Having a toilet inside: great when you have to go at night and it's windy and rainy outside or when you are in bear country and have seen Grizzly bears of alarming size not too far off
• The sink: I absolutely love having a sink with running water inside the camper for cleaning stuff or myself before heading to bed
• The water filter system: We've been cooking and drinking from our water tank without any issues, refilling at visitor centers or camp grounds

What doesn't:

• Bear container for trash: Not worth the hassle; everybody keeps their trash in the campers/cars/vans/... we've put our trash into bins every day or two; the bear container is way too much hassle to open/close, especially when covered in Dempster dirt
• Split space between truck and camper: The base concept is just idiotic for this type of travel. Having to go out in mud and rain to either get to the truck or the camper cabin is nasty. Not being able to just drive away, without leaving the camper, if there is a problem in a camp spot is not great. Always forgetting something in the front, when we are in the back, or in the back, when we are in the front is shit when it rains. I can't understand people who travel long term with this particular setup. It might work with a bigger camper on the rear, but not with the small AluCab.
• Setting up the awning when it rains: The main problem is, that you can't open the tent when the awning is deployed, you have to deploy the awning, then add that stupid little flap over the rear door to not get rained on right at the entrance to the camper or where the table is; it's basically impossible to get out of the car, deploy the awning, then open the rear door and THEN open the tent; stupid.
• The AluCab tent and side windows: when the whole camper is closed down, it isn't properly dust and waterproof. Not much is coming in, but a little here and there. Not too happy about it.
• Rear seat storage: we are relatively organized and it's still an absolute pain in the ass to move stuff around either for cooking or between driving and sleeping, or just to get to things. Part of this is due to the "two distinct spaces concept" and part of it is that we have stuff in Zarges and FrontRunner boxes in the rear seat area. Just too much hassle to get to things.
• Rear door layout: next time, I'll do it less cluttered, meaning less stuff to clean

Somewhere in the middle:

• Space in general: the whole thing is tiny; we don't have trouble packing all our stuff, but then there is little space for either getting to something (truck) or adding ourselves to the space (camper); I wish I had more space; I could live with the space if we had camper and truck cabin as one space, not two separate ones (think Land Rover Defender or Toyota Troop Carrier with a roof conversion)
• Rotopax fuel containers: They are pain to clean, are prone to expand or leak a bit on pressure/temperature/altitude changes; I would go with a NATO can next time; the Rotopax work, but aren't what I hoped they'd be

Conclusion so far

Nearly everything we have thought about works as we hoped (furniture, bed, door, heater, water, most storage, tables, electrics, ...). Nearly everything we didn't think about has been a pain the ass (truck vs. camper space, handling of stuff in bad weather).

Overall, I would not recommend this kind of setup for the travel we do right now. It's absolutely doable, but if the weather turns bad or the mosquitos want to grab you and carry you off to feed to their families, it's just not practical and gets annoying VERY quickly. A Defender or Troopy with a roof conversion is better and a dedicated build that combines truck and camper cabin together as one unit is worlds better. And for trips with less offroad focus, just get a damn Sprinter or other van, it's in a different universe in terms of quality of life without getting as big as one of these houses on wheels that Americans seem to love so much.