Roof Rack + Snorkel = Overland?

SDG

Caught the Bug
Guess I'm not really into extended off-road adventures and never wheel into the night. I mean holy hell, $10-13k will get you staying at a ton of nice hotels and for years to come. If anything, at that price, I'd be looking at a trailer as at least with it, I can completely remove it from my Jeep. But then, that's just me.
For sure!

A friend of mine is looking at one of these. Made by hand in Oceanside CA. You can get the top of the line one for 15ish. Can sleep 2 or 3 inside, and 2 on a RTT on top, has a full galley and a ton of options.

https://bearteardrops.com/trailers/the-apache-trailer/
 

NFRs2000NYC

Caught the Bug
Guess I'm not really into extended off-road adventures and never wheel into the night. I mean holy hell, $10-13k will get you staying at a ton of nice hotels and for years to come. If anything, at that price, I'd be looking at a trailer as at least with it, I can completely remove it from my Jeep. But then, that's just me.

One of the main issues I have with my wife when we go out wheeling, is her hatred for everything in between the actual adventuring. For example, we stayed in telluride, but wanted to run say cinnamon pass....it is nearly a 2 hour drive to the trailhead, and when you finish the trail, it's almost a 3.5 hour drive back to telluride. At the end of the day, it's a pain because you are tired, just want to relax, etc....so it would be awesome if after the trail, you can just pull up somewhere quiet/scenic, pop the roof, make dinner, and admire the sunset. With us, it's always watching the clock to make sure we are heading out in time to make it back at a reasonable hour, etc, and it severely cuts in on our enjoyment. This has happened many times over (on every one of our trips) to the point where I myself am tired of having to "get back to town" so for us, I think it provides an excellent solution. The speed of deployment and packing up is also a big draw. If I lived out west I could see a trailer making sense for me, but living where I do, I never take my hardtop off anyway, so it's not an issue for me that it's always on. I do however fully recognize that it isn't for everyone, and others might find the cost a bit tough to swallow.
 

fiend

Caught the Bug
Except when you take the tent off you still have a gay bulky roof rack.


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As a practical matter, would you really take the RTT off? Heavy as hell, and where would you store it? That’s the issue I see with RTTs, especially on a JK. You need a 100+ pound Gobi or similar rack to support a 100+ pound RTT, all essentially permanently installed. Mileage and COG all screwed up every day, for something you might use once or twice a month. No thanks.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
One of the main issues I have with my wife when we go out wheeling, is her hatred for everything in between the actual adventuring. For example, we stayed in telluride, but wanted to run say cinnamon pass....it is nearly a 2 hour drive to the trailhead, and when you finish the trail, it's almost a 3.5 hour drive back to telluride. At the end of the day, it's a pain because you are tired, just want to relax, etc....so it would be awesome if after the trail, you can just pull up somewhere quiet/scenic, pop the roof, make dinner, and admire the sunset. With us, it's always watching the clock to make sure we are heading out in time to make it back at a reasonable hour, etc, and it severely cuts in on our enjoyment. This has happened many times over (on every one of our trips) to the point where I myself am tired of having to "get back to town" so for us, I think it provides an excellent solution. The speed of deployment and packing up is also a big draw. If I lived out west I could see a trailer making sense for me, but living where I do, I never take my hardtop off anyway, so it's not an issue for me that it's always on. I do however fully recognize that it isn't for everyone, and others might find the cost a bit tough to swallow.

I think one of your main issues is that you're driving around in a Jeep that's far from being as comfortable as it could be. This is the case with most "overland" type Jeeps, they carry way too much shit and their suspension system rides like shit and so they tend to drive crazy slow and cover very little ground. Among other things, this will beat you up and make you feel really tired. Now, imagine for a minute if you could drive 4x faster or more and more comfortably than ever before. You could cover A LOT more ground for everything in between and spend A LOT more time at the cool places you want to see. Another issue you might want to rethink is staying at the same place twice. In your example, it would make more sense to start in Telluride and then end up in a place like Silverton. If you do that, your day won't be as long or at least, it won't feel as long being that you'll get to see and do a whole lot more. Of course, this is to say nothing about your ability to stay in historic hotels and learn more about what brought people out to these towns in the first place. NOT that I've got anything against "camping" mind you - just trying to put some perspective on things.
 

Xhisors

New member
As a practical matter, would you really take the RTT off? Heavy as hell, and where would you store it? That’s the issue I see with RTTs, especially on a JK. You need a 100+ pound Gobi or similar rack to support a 100+ pound RTT, all essentially permanently installed. Mileage and COG all screwed up every day, for something you might use once or twice a month. No thanks.


Honestly, I use a shop crane to take my RTT on and off so its not to difficult but it takes ~15-20 minutes to get off. I then store it with a hoist in the garage so its out of the way. You do need a good rack like the gobi, AEV, or Rhino backbone system to support it and really thats a look some really don't like at all. I like the Rhino backbone system more than the Gobi but didn't want to drill into my top. Being able to take the top off and still have the RTT with me still is a nice perk. Thats really the only advantage of the gobi w/ RTT vs the UM.

I don't notice Mileage loss on the trail. Freeway is another story but meh.
 
But if I go fast my shovel, axe, ammo cans, sand ladders, water jugs, gas cans, high lift jack, floppy hat holster, pull pal, trasharoo, (I could keep going) will squeak and rattle to loud.

But when questioned I’ll pull the safety card and be pretentious as I over explain why I only go 3 mph off road.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
But if I go fast my shovel, axe, ammo cans, sand ladders, water jugs, gas cans, high lift jack, floppy hat holster, pull pal, trasharoo, (I could keep going) will squeak and rattle to loud.

But when questioned I’ll pull the safety card and be pretentious as I over explain why I only go 3 mph off road.

:shock: You talked to that guy before too :cheesy:
 

Xhisors

New member
But if I go fast my shovel, axe, ammo cans, sand ladders, water jugs, gas cans, high lift jack, floppy hat holster, pull pal, trasharoo, (I could keep going) will squeak and rattle to loud.

But when questioned I’ll pull the safety card and be pretentious as I over explain why I only go 3 mph off road.

:cheesy::cheesy::cheesy::cheesy::cheesy:

Truth.
 

longarmwj

New member
Overlanding: the art of spending more money to go less places with less room in your rig.

But hey, you get to wear floppy hats
 

Xhisors

New member
Overlanding: the art of spending more money to go less places with less room in your rig.

But hey, you get to wear floppy hats


Haha I saw a shirt on amazon similar.

"Overlanding with a Jeep: The process of going nowhere specific in the most inefficient way possible and taking all day to do it."

your comment reminded me of it. :cheesy:
 

Brute

Hooked
Guess I'm not really into extended off-road adventures and never wheel into the night. I mean holy hell, $10-13k will get you staying at a ton of nice hotels and for years to come. If anything, at that price, I'd be looking at a trailer as at least with it, I can completely remove it from my Jeep. But then, that's just me.

queets 3.jpg queets 1.jpg

I agree...if you're going to spend that amount of money, it might be better spent invested in a trailer..
 
I think one of your main issues is that you're driving around in a Jeep that's far from being as comfortable as it could be. This is the case with most "overland" type Jeeps, they carry way too much shit and their suspension system rides like shit and so they tend to drive crazy slow and cover very little ground. Among other things, this will beat you up and make you feel really tired. Now, imagine for a minute if you could drive 4x faster or more and more comfortably than ever before. You could cover A LOT more ground for everything in between and spend A LOT more time at the cool places you want to see. Another issue you might want to rethink is staying at the same place twice. In your example, it would make more sense to start in Telluride and then end up in a place like Silverton. If you do that, your day won't be as long or at least, it won't feel as long being that you'll get to see and do a whole lot more. Of course, this is to say nothing about your ability to stay in historic hotels and learn more about what brought people out to these towns in the first place. NOT that I've got anything against "camping" mind you - just trying to put some perspective on things.

IMG_4566.JPG
Eddie you won’t get this without staying there overnight



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Sharkey

Word Ninja
Bumping this thread too. I have a feeling it might be useful when the Gladiator crowd starts making its way here. ;)
 

Brute

Hooked
I’d like to see someone photoshop a pic of Bill Murray strapped to the front of a Gladiator yelling “I’m fucking overlanding”...
 
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