Picking an Adventure Rig – Another Rig

There have been many occasions where Craig, Derek and I have recommended that you travel in a group while in the back country.  Ideally, that would mean more than one vehicle, not just more than one person.  I enjoy offroading with clubs and groups but I am a big supporter of offroad adventures as a family activity.  Some clubs can become like family, but the reality is that large group dynamics frequently result in tension among the members.  I’m also not a fan of traffic jams on the trails.

One way to achieve the overall goal of getting more seating and cargo space is by adding another vehicle.  All the previous options that we’ve looked at in this blog series have focused on expanding the capacity by using a larger vehicle.  Simply adding another vehicle would accomplish the goal as well as provide a number of other benefits.  Anyone who has served in the military may be familiar with the phrase, “two is one and one is none.”  This adage is also a common among race teams because it is a great way to accomplish the redundancy necessary to make it home safely.

While I’m not really looking to explore the merits of what a second adventure rig would be, I am going to jump into the various advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

• Provides necessary seating and cargo space
• Supports safe vehicle recovery from event more situations than with a single vehicle
• Truly involves my wife as a critical member of the team because she’ll be the other drive…at least for the next 8-9 years till my oldest daughter can legally drive
• Adds another option to daily driver pool
• Provides redundancy of systems and spare parts
• Another vehicle to modify

Disadvantages

• Another vehicle to move during PCS (Permanent Change of Station in military terms) season
• Another vehicle to maintain/modify
• Roughly doubles the fuel cost for each adventure
• Two vehicles always requires two drivers

As I mentioned in previous posts, the reason I have a flat bed trailer to tow my XJ is so that my various cross-country moves can be accomplished by a single driver.  The Suburban does take a bit of a hit to the MPGs when towing but there is still an overall savings over driving two vehicles.  If I add a third vehicle to my personal fleet, them I’m back to driving two vehicles every time I move.  This moving idea may seem like it shouldn’t be that big of a deal because, how often does someone actually move?

Here’s a sneak peek into military life.  In mid-2004, my family moved from Idaho to Maryland.  At the end of 2004, we moved to Texas.  Two years later, we moved to California.  By the end of 2007, we were back in Texas.  Mid 2008, we moved to Virginia and then overseas to Korea for a few years.  The Army only paid for the storage of one vehicle which meant that I had to come up with a three year vehicle and trailer storage plan.  After finally moving back to the United States, I drove across half the country just to pick up my stuff and move it to upstate New York.  And of course, I’m actually just a few months away from another move from New York to Kansas.  That makes seven moves in ten years.  So yea, moving vehicles and trailers is something that needs to be considered.

I’m sure you know what is required to keep your offroad vehicle running; now imagine doubling your maintenance efforts.  Ideally, the second vehicle would share components so that fewer trail spares would need to be carried, but if that isn’t the case then that really blows out the maintenance requirements.

When planning adventures, cost is always a factor to consider since I don’t have a money tree growing in the backyard.  Fuel costs are one of the biggest expenses because these offroad vehicles are generally thirsty vehicles.  Please excuse me while I lead you through some math.  If you plan for a 500 mile trip in a vehicle that gets 14 MPG, that trip will require 36 gallons.  36 gallons at $3.85 per gallons will cost a total of $142.45.  Operating that one vehicle for this trip (not including maintenance expenses) will work out to $0.29 per mile.

If you are driving two vehicles that get 14 MPG then that same 500 mile trip will require 72 gallons.  Everything doubles and your cost per mile goes to $0.60 and the whole trip will cost $285!  Add in the cost to maintain these vehicles and this “another vehicle” course of action becomes rather costly, very quickly.

The last point to discuss is the requirement for two drivers.  Right now, my kids are far too young to drive.  That means that my wife and I would always be behind the wheel.  I have found that it is very helpful to have someone in the passenger seat to assist with grabbing snacks and drinks while cruising around.  It is also extremely helpful to have that spotter available and ready to hop out and check things out.  My wife has spent a bit of time driving offroad because, as we’ve discussed previously (check out episode 20), but I know she prefers to be the co-driver/navigator.

So that’s a lot to think about and consider.  What are your thoughts on adding an additional adventure rig to the fleet?  What vehicle would you choose and why?

I haven’t had much personal experience with vans so I’ll be looking for some great input from you, if you have some insight. There was an occasion where I rented a minivan for a Hawaiian vacation and my kids loved it – it may have been their favorite thing about Hawaii, sadly. I wanted to rent a Jeep but there’s just no way the four of us and luggage would fit into a JK. I wilted a little every time I put the key into the ignition of that minivan. What we’re talking about now is not a minivan – not even close. I’m talking about a full-size 4×4 van!

Photo courtesy of exploringelements.com

After following the adventures of Bryon Dorr with Exploring Elements, I have learned a great deal about the pros and cons of van life. Bryon’s adventures have shown that it’s easy to live comfortably with the space in a full size van. The ability to run the creature comforts on shore power or a combination of solar and battery power makes living the middle of nowhere a comfortable endeavor. I have also seen photoraphic evidence of the “results of a large van digging itself a van sized grave” in the sand along the Mojave Road. So while the comforts and space of a full size 4×4 van are appealing, I feel as though a lot of concessions must be made in the capability department.

Photo courtesy of exploringelements.com

Photo courtesy of http://www.ujointoffroad.com/

Let’s go ahead and run down the pros and con’s of a full size van.

Advantages

• Easy pass through from sleeping area to seating area
• Plenty of room for creature comforts
• Has the possibility for lots of seating
• May be able to tow my XJ on a trailer
• Could serve as a daily driver if needed
• Kids would love it

Disadvantages

• Low break over angle
• Poor visibility
• The layout of the drive train in the engine bay makes them more difficult to work on
• Most likely would not have enough interior sleeping space for whole family without adding a RTT or pop up section on top
• Did I mention that it’s a van?  My wife hates vans. I’m not particularly fond of the van silhouette either.

Photo courtesy of http://www.ujointoffroad.com/

I’ve already received a few messages that have been encouraging me to look closely at the benefits of a van travel.  What are your thoughts on using a van as the basis for adventure travel?

Some options for full size 4×4 vans come from:  Sportsmobile, UJoint Offroad, Agile Offroad, and Quigley.

As I mentioned during the previous post, I already have a Suburban in the garage and it has been used for camping in the past but not to its fullest extent.  The Suburban is my wife’s daily driver and it is the only two-wheel drive.  The fact that its only two-wheel drive has prevented me from investing any time or effort into building this vehicle up for adventure travel.

This particular Suburban has captains chairs in the second row which means that the third row seat must be installed in order to meet my family’s minimum seating requirement.  There is still a significant amount of cargo space behind the third row seat however, a lot less space than would be available if the third row could be removed.

Part of having kids means hauling additional people around.  A large SUV with a modular storage system would provide a great deal of passenger seating and cargo hauling versatility.  I’ve already learned a few lessons from my storage system in my XJ and I could build a better system in the future for the Suburban. A large SUV will not provide enough interior sleeping space for two adults and three kids.  A camping trip with the whole family would require some kind of external shelter solution.  I’m very comfortable with the process of tent camping but I am very interested in adding a roof top tent (RTT).  I’ll discuss the RTT option more in the future but my main concern about camping with a RTT is that you have to break down camp whenever you want to drive somewhere.

One of the best things about experiencing the Vermont Overland Trophy was being about to see how different types and sizes of vehicles perform over the same terrain.  I was able to easily maneuver my Jeep XJ through tight spaces with relative ease while guys like Team Daily Driver suffered significant body damage and numerous destroyed tires on the Ford Excursion.  I suspect that the same fate would have existed for a similar size vehicle such as a Suburban or full size truck. With patience and experience comes greater capability but there will always come a time where you just have to pick a different route or know when you can’t go any farther.  This is the same reason that you don’t see very many full size rigs on the Rubicon Trail.

So let’s get down to listing the advantages and disadvantages of selecting a large SUV as the adventure rig.

Advantages:

Photo from ExpeditionPortal.com forums

• Versatility of seating and cargo configurations
• Easy pass through from sleep area to seating area
• Can pull the XJ on a trailer
• No need to buy a cover for sleep area
• Comfortable space for road trips and daily drives

Disadvantages:

• No drop down tailgate (most likely)
• Not sufficient interior sleep area for the whole family
• Long wheel base
• Very heavy
• Overall large size impacts maneuverability

The large SUV option has a very familiar feel to what I’m already used to driving. Some expectation management would allow me to be happy with maneuverability and route selections.  I’d love to hear what you think about the large SUB options that exist on the market and how you think they would perform offroad.

Photos from http://dirtroadtrip.com/trips/vermont-overland-trophy/ and ExpeditionPortal.com forums