GEN 2 Building an overland Raptor

[vr4henry]

Put Snugtop VX on today. Like the cap, but lowered the rear enough I think Deaver +3s are in my near future. Also the ******* installers refused to wire loom the 12v lines on the frame rail after I confirmed they would at the beginning. Just loose wire zip tied. Jesus H. Christ.

 

[OLI62]

Looks damn good. Wish Snugtop would sell their caps down here.

How much does it weigh?

 

[vr4henry]

Looks damn good. Wish Snugtop would sell their caps down here.

How much does it weigh?

I had them add the "sportsman package" which is ~40lbs of reinforcements for a total of ~250lbs I'm told. (I haven't weighed it)

 

[grancuda]

Here's our set up. Midwest Expedition Outfitters in Tulsa, OK made our custom rack from plans I drew up. And they helped us with the install of it and the ARB Roof Top Tent. Have had it since October and am planning our third big trip with it.

 

[Bluehinder]

Very cool thread. Sub.

 

[srad711]

Where is that? I am in CT and find it extremely difficult to find any good place to go off road. I have a 2017 Raptor and a 2016 4runner with RTT. Did a winter camping trip this past December up to Cabot Trail Nova Scotia. Any help is appreciated.

---------- Post added at 05:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 AM ----------

I am not sure that there are trails that you cannot fit a raptor through, that are legal for 4 wheeled motor vehicles to pass through, as long as you don't mind scrapes and pin stripes. If you are talking about single track dirt bike trails or snowmobile trails, sure. But most 4 wheel legal trails should be passable. Example: I go rock crawling in the north east where Class VI roads are pretty narrow like this and I have no trouble fitting the Raptor, or any other big vehicle through:







The Raptor can get through all of these, albeit with significant pin striping. Sure, there is no denying that width and long wheelbase are detriments, but there aren't too many trails, even up here where trails are narrow, that are too small to fit a raptor through.

Overlanding or expedition travel is a lot easier and a lot more forgiving. The trails / dirt roads you typically travel on while overlanding are much wider. Like this:





So width, size and weight are even less of an issue when overlanding. Except for the silly Wranglers, every one of the vehicles in this photo is a really good overlanding vehicle, and none of them are small or light. Speaking from experience, the Raptor can do everything any of these vehicles can do, easier.





Point I'm making is that the Raptor can most definitely handle overlanding. Would it be easier to drive something smaller and narrower? Of course. But you'd have to stop 3 times more often for gas, and will have significantly less space and comfort.




The reason the old classics are thin have more to do with the time they were built than a conscious design choice. All cars and trucks back then were smaller and thinner. And believe it or not, there are so many cars that are better suited to modern overlanding than those oldies. Power output, inverters, space, aftermarket support, lights, comfort, ruggedness, range - all more important for successful overlanding than having triple lockers. I'd take my 36 gallon tank and 500+ mile range, and storage capacity over being narrow and underpowered while out in the Maine wilderness in the middle of winter.

Where is that? I am in CT and find it extremely difficult to find any good place to go off road. I have a 2017 Raptor and a 2016 4runner with RTT. Did a winter camping trip this past December up to Cabot Trail Nova Scotia. Any help is appreciated.

 

[xxaarraa]

Where is that? I am in CT and find it extremely difficult to find any good place to go off road. I have a 2017 Raptor and a 2016 4runner with RTT. Did a winter camping trip this past December up to Cabot Trail Nova Scotia. Any help is appreciated.

---------- Post added at 05:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 AM ----------




Where is that? I am in CT and find it extremely difficult to find any good place to go off road. I have a 2017 Raptor and a 2016 4runner with RTT. Did a winter camping trip this past December up to Cabot Trail Nova Scotia. Any help is appreciated.

Go to exploringnh.com....

 

[sobiloff]

I wanted to overland my diesel F-250, but mechanical concerns had me trade it in on a '17 Raptor. Now I'm back to square one setting up the truck.

Rooftop tents on SUVs seem to be de rigueur, but my idea of overlanding involves setting up base camp somewhere and then riding our motorcycles from there into the harder/more interesting stuff. Or—if the weather's crap, or the mood strikes—exploring in the Raptor. I don't want the truck permanently weighed-down with a roof-top tent, fridge, galley, etc. I want to play hard in the truck and the bike, then come back to camp for a nice hot shower, a hot multi-pot meal, and heat or A/C to temper extreme temps. So maybe I'm just a camper and not an overlander, but I still need to know all the same vehicle recovery and preservation skills overlanders benefit from.

I've been thinking of getting one of the Leitner Designs headache racks, sliding drawers (Bedslide, Decked, etc.) to provide some additional secured storage, and then an adventure trailer (I dream of a Bruder, but more likely something like a Conqueror).

First, though, I've been stuck on getting a good front bumper with winch. Rogue Racing might have something that meets my needs, but I'm still trying to see pics of their winch model and get further details.

 

[ovrlnd]

I've got the Leitner rack sitting here just waiting to be installed on my truck. Really nice quality and you can't beat the versatility. If you're doing drawers, be sure to check out Ainley Kennels. They gave me a really good price on a custom two drawer unit with a slider on top and even a 20 gallon water tank. I decided to wait for now to see how we use the truck but I think the price for all that was under $2000.

 

[racerjb]

I wanted to overland my diesel F-250, but mechanical concerns had me trade it in on a '17 Raptor. Now I'm back to square one setting up the truck.

Rooftop tents on SUVs seem to be de rigueur, but my idea of overlanding involves setting up base camp somewhere and then riding our motorcycles from there into the harder/more interesting stuff. Or—if the weather's crap, or the mood strikes—exploring in the Raptor. I don't want the truck permanently weighed-down with a roof-top tent, fridge, galley, etc. I want to play hard in the truck and the bike, then come back to camp for a nice hot shower, a hot multi-pot meal, and heat or A/C to temper extreme temps. So maybe I'm just a camper and not an overlander, but I still need to know all the same vehicle recovery and preservation skills overlanders benefit from.

I've been thinking of getting one of the Leitner Designs headache racks, sliding drawers (Bedslide, Decked, etc.) to provide some additional secured storage, and then an adventure trailer (I dream of a Bruder, but more likely something like a Conqueror).

First, though, I've been stuck on getting a good front bumper with winch. Rogue Racing might have something that meets my needs, but I'm still trying to see pics of their winch model and get further details.

Just get and adventure trailer...keep all the camping gear,RTT, water, and bikes in trailer ...have fun with driving the raptor or riding the bikes offroad while the trailer stays as base camp...don't need a 20K trailer