What does your ideal (under 3,000 USD) expo build include? (2 Viewers)

[Beej]

Hey folks,

What ought one think to include in an expo build? I read a lot of builds and of course they're personalized to taste but there's also a large range of budget and skill and its less clear what people are most focused on.

I'm curious what the common denominators are; what are the essentials?

There's stuff storage, sleeping accommodation, comm and nav supplies, electrical, water and fuel storage, navigation and recovery stuff.

If we start with some average skills, no welding equipment and roughly $3000, what do you make sure a truck is equipped with for, say, a 1 month excursion through an average terrain (assuming no crazy rocks or mud) with reasonable access (within 1 day's hike) to civilization in the case of catastrophic failure (broken axle for some reason)?

Let's say the truck has steel front bumper with winch, double swingout rear bumper and sliders. A mild lift and good tires. Otherwise, its completely stock.

Disclaimer: I will not build your ideal truck and blame you when i dont like it. I'm just interested to see what people prioritize. Also, I realize $3000 is a tight budget; again, looking for the essential priorities.

Here's mine:

Stuff storage: $475
Drawer system; immediately throw out rear seats and put in two drawers. One drawer is recovery items and trail spares.

Sleeping: $300
Drawer system doubles as sleep platform; put some mat down, sleep sack, truck end tent fits over the tail gate

Comm and nav: $700
Truck mounted HAM and antenna. Handheld HAM. Integrated GPS head unit with offline maps. Garmin gps as backup and route tracker. (maybe rent a Sat phone)

Electrical: $650
Lights in front bumper, 1 rear spot light, switches for lights, dual battery system

Water and Fuel storage: $75
Jerry cans on rear swingouts; 1 water 2 fuel

Food storage: $500
Fridge and drawer space.

Recovery: $300
Hilift; 30 ft chain, 30 ft strap, shackles, tree saver, snatch block, ax, saw and shovel

There. $3000 spent. Looks like I have overlooked actually purchasing trail spares but maybe nothing bad will happen

 

[half k cruiser]

Here's my list based rated from highest to lowest priority based on the amount of comfort and convenience these items have provided me...
1) Nice seats. The most used thing in my rig by far.
2) Inverter. You can go way overboard on this, but the basics are a pair of 110 outlets and some usb charging ports. Tablets, laptops, charging stations, all can be running off of this while your driving. Trust me, its an even better mod than it sounds.
3) Nice stereo. If your running the miles, you may as well have something that connects up with your phone for some spotify action.
4) GPS . Nice to have, not necessary if you know the lost art of reading a road atlas. I like the portables because I can swap them from vehicle to vehicle.
5) Storage.
6) Trail comms if you travel in groups. I bought a simple 2m back in September and it was awesome for communicating to my buddys portable.

 

[Hiace4wd]

Just bring a jerrycan of water, a jerrycan of fuel.
Also throw in a mattrass for sleeping and spent the remaining $2900 dollar on fuel and food!

A standard Landcruiser already gets you to most stuff anyway.

Although I must say, I'm a bit spoiled too:

- Compressor fridge ($600?) and so second battery

- GPS: $3 -> buy a dashboard phone holder. Just download Open Street Maps on your smartphone. If you want backup for GPS and navigation, throw in an old smartphone you might have lying around

- Recovery: $300? Buy a simple handwhinch (with cable) a 20 meter strong rope, buy these blocks you can strap to the wheels.




Man, we used a BJ45 to go through Asia, so we had to prepare a bit. And it went quite well, but we took to much stuff.
Now we have kids and a 4x4 van, so more space but I'm always pushing hard to bring less or make everything really compact and small.
But if we were with the two of us again planning on a big road trip, I would do it differently than last time.

Just a Landcruiser, definetely no roofrack on it, just some stuff on the back (jerry can and small recovery stuff).
Some simple storage facilities inside but in such a way that you can still sit inside and also make a bed.
Small cooking platform, camping chairs, and go.
I would probably not even buy a Landcruiser but buy a 4Runner. A 4Runner is a bit rare here in Europe, but even still it does not have the high prices of a Landcruiser and cheaper to run.

 

[Beej]

This thread is quickly getting cool

 

[NM Frontier]

Sounds like you already have a good plan but here is my .02 after builing up and using my 80 for many years now, some is a little devil's advocate.

It all depends on where you plan to travel so keeping that in mind:

If we start with some average skills, no welding equipment and roughly $3000, what do you make sure a truck is equipped with for, say, a 1 month excursion through an average terrain (assuming no crazy rocks or mud) with reasonable access (within 1 day's hike) to civilization in the case of catastrophic failure (broken axle for some reason)?

Remember to keep it simple, drawer/sleeping platforms are cool but add a bunch of weight and in most cases besides a pick up, removes your seating.

For NAV, no need for a gps if you have a smart phone, Hema Explorer or Gaia app will set you back $25. You can download off line maps.
Don't forget about the licence for the HAM, or just a SPOT or InReach for emergencies, cell phones work almost any where in the US from a high point. This eliminates more extra wiring.

Fridge for sure, well worth the investment.

Dual Batt. depends on how you travel, if you camp a night and move on the next day then no need for a second batt. just pick up a lipo jump box for emergencies. Save the weight and extra wiring a second batt will ad to your factory system.

Recovery stuff is tough, since you plan on never using it. Make sure you plan on getting the rest of the stuff you will need to use your high lift safely. For most overland tire changes the factory bottle jack is way safer. Just make sure to plan your recovery gear around the terrain you plan to travel, no need for a bunch of winching equipment if there are no trees or you travel alone and a set of sand ladders might suit you better.


Don't get me wrong I love equipment and gear but time and gas money will take you way farther then any of the best kit.

 

[dare]

My setup is pretty simple. I have a MWB and do quite a few trips in it. I'm pretty happy with my setup, from parked to setup we're taking around 4 minutes, most of which is waiting for the mattress to pump up.

This is from an Australian perspective where it's hot and there can be hundreds of KMs between towns. Things to cost more here too. Our style of camping is generally pretty remote area and we almost never stay the same place for more than one night.

Camping gear type stuff.

$70 tent. It's a mesh tent with a poly fly so it's nice in all weather.
$30 double air mattress + a spare one. The mattress is a tight fit in the tent so it doesn't need to be pegged down.
$100? sleeping bags/pillows/sheets. We have a cheap arse set of sleeping bags and a -5°c rated set which covers all temps pretty well.
Fridge, I got a quality one at $1200ish but a $600 would do the job. It's just strapped to the floor so no slide or anything. To me this is one of the great things that makes travel easier and would be my first accessory to a touring vehicle.
$50 12v oven, worth its weight in gold. People complain they're slow but I think they aren't getting enough power to them, mine is very fast.
$25 gas cooker with spare gas cannisters.
$40 camp chairs + table/stool thing. Almost never use the chairs but they're great to have. Table/stool thing gets lots of use.
$50? worth of cutlery, pot and pan, plastic plates ect.
$15? Water, we get those 32 packs of water bottles and stash them behind the passengers seat. We also have a 15l emergency water stashed away. Enough to fill the radiator with plenty to spare.
$10 sand pegs
$5 yoga mat, great for climbing under the car to check things out or sitting on the beach with.
$20 worth of garbage bags, toilet paper, wet wipes, sponges, stuff like that.
$50 Rechargeable LED work light, LED lantern, power bank, little battery powered radio.
$already had? Luggage cases, we strap these on top of the drawers, ones gets clothes and so on, the other gets dry foods ect.

Car stuff.
$100 Light Bars, I have one long distance one and 2 small spreads. They perform great for the money. Well ahead of any quality brand halogen or HID driving lights I've had before.
$500? Second battery setup inc wiring to inside of car, fridge would be pretty pointless without it.
$200 Recovery kit and hand winch. This all lives in places I can get to it without opening doors.
$120 air compressor, big twin cylinder one. Obviously needed for offroading. Also use it to pump the mattress up.
$50 tyre repair kit, complete with rope style plugs, radial patches, spare valves, stems and caps.
$??? Drawers, car came with. I run one drawer full of tools because I use them day to day in my farm work and the other drawer with cooking stuff, compressor and some other bits and bobs. We cut out a bit of ply that sits on top of the larger drawer and that was out table for making meals ect.
$10 Shovel
$?? Axe, already had.
$10 Jumper leads
$120 quality spare wheel bag, great for all your rubbish and storing spare oil (doesn't matter as much if they leak).
$70 pair of hand held 2W UHFs. Good for car to car comms and anything that will get much further than that is $$$$ in Australia and needs a license.
$100 navigation. Paper maps, GFs crappy old GPS (which actually has almost all offroad tracks on it) and phone apps for anything greater than that.
$?? Stereo, car came with it. Don't really use it much but I understand it's important to others.
$?? LED strip lights inside the car, came with the car.

Coincidentally that's AUD$2945 with my $1200 fridge. That's US$2254. You could do it cheaper using cheaper stuff or scrounging. Eg the daul battery system could easily be less than half the price with a smaller or second hand battery with a second hand/diy tray and a basic solenoid. You could also do it much more expensive with a smart charger and fancier battery.

There's probably some stuff I've forgotten. EDIT: Maxtrax (were a gift) fist aid kit $40, tyre deflater $20? Edit again, the tyre deflator came with the recovery kit.

There's also some other stuff I'd like. I'd like to get an EPIRB so if things really do go wrong somewhere remote then we could be saved. One of those little lipo jumper packs would be sweet, most of them double as power banks and torches anyway. I could always spend more on lighting, though there's only so many $20 leds you can fit! You can always go bigger or better with tents but I'm happy with ours, it goes up in seconds, it's small enough that you can put it anywhere and it packs up tiny.

I think it's far from necessary (depending of the person...) but I'd like a standalone offroad gps. Lots of our travel is out of mobile reception and you generally don't know you need/want the maps until you're there. With the area we cover it's not viable to download all the maps. To me, having all the satellite maps would be more valuable than the topo but no one seems to supply that yet.

If you're on a budget I think the prep for leaving is also important. For our big trip away we cooked a s***load of meals and froze them in the fridge and cooked them in the 12V oven. Not only does it save you money but after driving for 6 hours and doing a big hike somewhere the last thing you feel like doing is cooking. It saves space and rubbish too.

I agree with NM Frontier, nothing gets you further than fuel in the tank.

 

[4Beast]

I like this challenge, and I'm interested in the comments! Just out of curiosity, when you guys say "hand winch" are you talking about a come-along type of thing, which usually are like 2 ton capacity, or is there something else manual that I'm not aware of that could actually pull my three and a half ton 100 series?

 

[dare]

My hand winch is one of these. Whilst I'm pretty confident it wouldn't pull the car out of a good bogging it could be used to tension a snatch strap, pull a car off an obstacle, drag a tree off the track ect.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4-Ton-Ha...706881?hash=item5b212e4ec1:g:Ay0AAOSw-0xYO47W

It fits perfectly down the side of my drawers over the wheel well, with the roll bar there it's an awkward shape that isn't useful for much else and you can get it out without opening any doors.

 

[Output Shaft]

1. Full length roof rack. Don't leave home without it.
2. Sun shades with support poles.
3. 2nd full size battery
4. Solar panel
5. Diff locks front and rear. Don't leave home without them.
6. Double size gas tank. 48 gallons.
7. The ability to carry at least 12 gallons of water minimum.
8. Some recovery gear. Shovel. A sledge hammer can come in handy too busting through a non trail to avoid tire punctures.
9. Jacks. Jack pads. Some blocks of 4x4 wood. The more the merrier.
10. Ability to dismount repair and mount a tire in the field.
11. Small tent, cot, comfortable chair is extremely important.
12. As much propane as you think you might need.
13. 12v RO WaterMaker if near ocean and away from water sources... along with all the crap it entails to actually be able to use it.
14. Lots and lots and lots of storage containers filled with non perishable dry foods.
15. Handheld GPS that you can hike with.
16. Good portable AM FM/shortwave radio
17. Little snack foods that you enjoy. Very important. Don't underestimate the importance of enjoyable food. It's extremely important on long trips in the wilderness. Bring spices that you enjoy. Few people derive pleasure eating rice & lentils every night for years on end. I would know.

 

[4Beast]

My hand winch is one of these. Whilst I'm pretty confident it wouldn't pull the car out of a good bogging it could be used to tension a snatch strap, pull a car off an obstacle, drag a tree off the track ect.

4 Ton Hand Winch Puller 2 Hooks 4x4 4WD UTE Truck Power Tool Hoist Car Trailer | eBay

It fits perfectly down the side of my drawers over the wheel well, with the roll bar there it's an awkward shape that isn't useful for much else and you can get it out without opening any doors.

Thanks Dare, that's what I would call a come-along (is that local slang?) but I haven't seen an 8,000# capacity one before. I'm pretty strong, and I think that if I was sufficiently motivated (read stuck in the wilderness) I could probably do a lot with that! Can't beat the price for that kind of insurance.

 

[half k cruiser]

Almost forgot, get a Trasharoo if you have a spare tire. They are worth so much more than the $45 price tag from Amazon. Uses obviously include trash, but also works great if your camp gets wet at night and you don't want to store all that wet gear in your truck the next morning. I loaded mine so full down in Arkansas with wet stuff that I thought for sure it would break the stitching that held the straps on. It rode like that for 100's of miles sagging and hanging from the tire carrier. You can also throw your recovery gear in there if you like to keep it on the exterior of the vehicle.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Here's a heavy duty hand winch, if you're set on one....More Power Puller - Hand Winch

I use mine around the farm.

 

[Beej]

@4Beast what's your ideal build? Post it up!

 

[Patineto]

Survival training school, free if you are in the 'business' but essential to survive with out almost nothing..

 

[4Beast]

@4Beast what's your ideal build? Post it up!

Well, I feel like a bit of a poser posting my suggestions without ever having the experience in overlanding for a few weeks or a month, but I guess i appreciate your curiosity. I plan on taking a trip to NC to do some unsupported camping with a buddy in March, so I have been thinking about this a bit and come up with some ideas:
1. Jerry cans for fuel and water, probably 2 20l each (10 gallons of fuel is only about 130 miles (less overland) with my truck, and if you get turned around and need to backtrack, I feel like it could go quickly, and i'd always want more water than I think i would need, even if I'm not going to use a camp shower or something.
2. CB radio. I probably won't want to get a Ham, or the necessary certifications, so it would be more to talk with my friend on the trail.
3. Expo fridge. I was thinking of a 63 quart Edgestar, which seems to provide decent value and do what i would need it to. Nothing against the higher priced more fully featured ones, but I think I need basic and rugged.
4. Rooftop tent. I've been using a tent that attaches to the rear of my rig (so i sleep in the cruiser and store things in the tent, but can keep the rear open), but frankly with the ladder and spare tire swingouts it's a total pain, and i really want the ease of putting it up and down to move sites every day or two.
5. Storage. Rather than pony up a lot of money for a good drawer system, I was thinking of using these boxes: Amazon.com : MTM ACR5-72 Ammo Crate Utility Box with 4.5" Deep, Medium, Dark Earth : Sports & Outdoors. Again, I may report that this was the worst idea in the history of man after my first trip, but I'm trying to create value and a $600-1,000 drawer system doesn't seem like that for me when four of these costs $70 (and two stacked is the approx height of the rear seats when folded, maybe that would be useful?). Anyway, i want everything in those, food, spares, tools, recovery gear etc, i hate s*** rattling around. May look into foam padding too.
6. Tools, including recovery equipment. I'll probably bring more than I know how to use, as even if i don't know how to do something, maybe someone else can. There are limits, of course, i'm not going to bring a damn MIG welder or something! I may bring the generic set of recovery treads, like Maxtrax.
7. Dual battery. This seems pricey, but good piece of mind. I would definitely want this with the fridge, and if I'm running a winch. If i get really crazy, a solar panel to recharge the battery, i am a big fan of redundancy, and the 100W ones seem to really be coming down in price. I may (MAY) be able to do the necessary wiring as well!
8. Compressor. Wouldn't have to be a really fancy one. Seems like a good idea as you'll need to air down on some trails, or god forbid you puncture a tire after already being onto your spare. Obviously you'd need the ARB tire repair kit and the knowledge of how to use it.
9. GPS and hard maps for redundancy. May use a cheap tablet and downloaded maps, but either way a hard map and compass seem like cheap insurance.
10. Awning. For a couple hundred bucks they seem like a great way to add extra covered space away from the rain or the sun, and cooking in the rain just blows.

other s*** includes the usual camping stuff, a couple propane stoves, cooking pans utensils (everyone has their own preferences, I'm a cast iron guy, even though it's heavy), camping grill, knives, axes, shovels, etc. lots of various sized rope or paracord, a bunch or ratcheting tiedowns and bungees (never know when you will need them), waste bags, bug spray and sun screen, flashlights and batteries, saw, etc. etc.

i already have a Hi-lift and a roof rack, so i didn't include that.

Your ideas seem great, although I'm sure most of it will be more expensive than you budget for, cause that's the way this stuff goes (like good Spectre Jerry cans are like $100 a pop, so that kind of s*** adds up fast). Also, I can't seem to find a way to get a good dual battery setup for less than like $500 (with the battery) but I haven't looked as hard as i could have yet. Anyway, i'm sure i'll add to the list and make adjustments as i go, as will you, i'd guess; people have their own sets or priorities, some people want a $200 camp coffeemaker, but I'm a tea drinker, so that's not a priority for me!

 

[Hiace4wd]

I actually went from a dual battery system (start+leisure) to a single battery for both purposes. Usually this ends like a disaster with either poor starting (fridge drained the battery) or dead battery in no-time because a normal starter battery is not a deepcycle / traction battery.
But I have an Optima Yellow Top which is good at both tasks (cyclic as well as starting) and so I figured I could do with one. I configured my solar charger to not deplete the battery to much, and I already tested this. When the solar charger cuts off the load (at around 11.7V) I still have a 1000CCA from the battery and it starts with one rev of the starter motor.
It also means my battery capacity is not that big with the current setup. However, I have a 175W solar panel (which is a bit too big), basically I never have to worry about having too little charge.
Solar panels are cheap, 100W is $120 dollar I would say.


About the handwhinches, there are two sides to the story of weight:
- cheap handwhinches for $40 or so, saying 3 ton. But thats only rolling weight with no resistance. (much the same like cheap tiny 12V winch with sigarette plug)
- lifting weight, which is good. But people tend to seek a too high weight.

I got a Tirfor style (popular and very good here in Europe) whinch and it was rated at 3200kg. This meant I could lift up my van with everything in it, vertically up. Who uses that? And the thing was so huge and heavy, it won't make recovery easy.
Now I have decided to go for a 800kg Tirfor which is usually enough, and then take some winch rope with a snatch block in case I need to double to strength. The 800kg winch is nice and tiny to bring along and it will do the job.
Please note that these Tirfor winches and others are actually tested at something like 4 times there rated weight so they are very safe, and they also have thick core inside the steel cable (with less bending radius!) so they are pretty though. And then they have a safety pen that breaks before anything else does.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I don't think I have $3000 invested in camping gear. Sorry, expo gear.
Most of my stuff is second hand or inexpensive to begin with.

I guess the single most expensive items are the HAM radio, IMHO if you travel solo essential, and the GPS.
We do have a fridge, Edgestar open box deal. Not nearly as useful as I thought it would be since we did without for so many years.

 

[Hiace4wd]

But why do you guys not use your telephone as a cheap GPS device? You can have very detailed map material on your phone, and you can put it on your dashboard with a cheap holder. I use it with OpenStreetMaps (app called OSMAND on Andriod)

 

[Beej]

Telephone makes a good cheap GPS but I find something solely dedicated to be more reliable. Plus you can track you're route.

 

[Hiace4wd]

It is probably more reliable yeah, and you have them handheld and waterproof for walking as well. But typically your phone does the job well and is much easier to use.
With OSMAND you can add a track which you can follow but you can also log your route. And free maps. But there are also other alternatives.

I'm thinking to put a tablet on my dashboard, so I have like a 10inch navigation device with a lot of detail. And then as a backup have everything on the phone too.