Off Pavement?

[Cliffhanger]

Great advice and photos. They look like the kinds of places I'd typically go. I like your squeak solutions. I suspect you'll miss that extra floor space moving from the 170 down. Another trade-off - to get the better agility. Whatever I get I think it's likely I'll be lifting it at least a bit.

[teck13]

Hey Cliffhanger. The process of just looking was fun. It was kind of a goof at first. My wife joked we could get an Airstream and park it in our yard as a sculpture and even rent it out for a little income. I had never really considered an RV and the only one I had ever been inside of is my brother’s 36 foot long motorhome. But my wife’s half joking idea lodged in my brain. Last September my wife and I went and looked at Airstreams because we were both intrigued with it’s design. They are very cool inside and out but really stupid money. And then I figured out more stupid money to buy a truck to tow one. It dawned on me to look at stand-alone motorhomes. Serendipitously an RV show was happening near where we live so I went to that. Talked to whole lot of good folks. Toured various sized B vans and Class C’s too. My wife loved the Leisure Travel Serenity inside, and so did I. But i realized being in one, navigating it in Bay Area traffic would be stressful. Won’t fit in some National and State Parks. Also quickly realized a Class C has very limited ability to get to trailheads so that reduced the hunt to Class B vans. About the same time I got a job in the South Bay. The commute from the East Bay is only about 60 miles but takes 2.5 hours because of the awful traffic here. I came up with the crazy idea that maybe I could park a small van at the campus overnight one night a week and facilities approved it. So all this conspired to limit my search to Class B vans. Then I went through many different Class B vans in dealer’s lots. I narrowed it down to the Revel and the 4X4 Roadtrek Agile. Per my previous post, the Revel was just too bare bones and the Agile is claustrophobic and has a very old fashioned looking interior. On this forum I kept reading about the Travato and decided I better check one out. Walked into a K and knew that was the floorpan. Loved it from second one. Guys like Scott reassured me a Travato can capably traverse most dirt forest service roads with Sumos and careful, slow going. So I am literally sold, our K should be delivered in about two months now. I share all this just to encourage you to begin the search journey. It will be fun figuring it out and it will become obvious which camper van will be right for you. None hit everything - for me that would be a 4X4 Travato KL but that does not exist - at least yet. So pick your most important criteria and compromise on some others. Cheers.

[teck13]

Originally Posted by Cliffhanger

I expect most of my travel will be solo but I expect I'll have a companion along for parts of the trip as they're available. As far as cooking, I'm not very creative, or interested, in that department and have been wondering about that. It's time consuming and a bother. If I didn't get weak, I wouldn't bother with food. It's one thing to fast food for a 10 day trip and entirely another for so long on the road. Restaurants would get expensive and waist expanding. One of my other pass-times is running. I'm planning to run road races around the country. They're usually on Saturdays. Look around an area for a week, run the local race and then head down the road to the next town with a run.

“When they are available” made me smile. I know if I was solo for most of my Travel and uninterested in cooking (oh how I wish that was more the case) I would have been all over the Winnebago Revel. It has 4” of extra clearance over a two wheel drive Sprinter. Plus low range, hill descent, etc. Bed is comfortable for one, a little tight for two. Bathroom is serviceable. Not as large as a Travato’s but bigger than a Roadtrek Agile’s. Keep in mind it is a cassette toilet with pros and cons. Diesel engine will deliver great mpg too as you travel from town to town for runs. When I enquired about the Revel, the wait for one was one year however. The demand for 4X4 Sprinters far outstrips supply. The other issue for me is that the the new 2019 Sprinters will be launched this Fall. It will be a while before Winnebago adapts the build to the new model but I never recommend purchasing the last year of a platform unless there is something about it you just have to have. The diesel won’t work if you head south though.

[teck13]

Knit, I concur, great pictures. Photos like yours inspire me because those are the kinds of roads I like to travel down and knowing a B (especially a longer wheel base one) can make it is reassuring. In our search we looked at the Roadtrek Adventurous CS. I liked it better than the Agile, the bath in particular was just enough bigger to be functional and there seemed to be space for a large dog - especially if we removed the third captain’s chair. It, like all the MB Roadtrek vans is available in 4X4. In the end the openness, rear bath, and over all feel of the Travato worked best for us. I frankly don’t understand why Roadtrek doesn’t slightly modify a 4X4 Agile and offer an “adventure" version. More outdoorsy materials/cabinets, loose the big wardrobe to open it up in the back, include a sturdy bike and or roof rack, more rugged tires. Price it right and they’d have a wait like the Revel. Again, inspiring photos, thanks for sharing.

[Viperml]

Cliffhanger,

I know several people have done what you are thinking about using this company.
4x4 Van Conversion kits
This company is an expert when it comes to these types of things.

Check out their youtube videos.

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[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Knit

....My rule is to never drive someplace I don’t think I can back out of. ...

+1 with a caveat: backing gets old really fast, especially if you throw steep hills into the mix.

I've got a property 800 meters into the woods on an old private logging road. Before I improved my tract, I had to drive in and back out, because there's no way to turn a 23.5 foot van on what is essentially a 10 foot road. You don't want to be backing out of any distance routinely - it's just too much, and this holds true whether it's a one-time trip or somewhere you visit routinely. My improvement job was scoped to allow the van to turn around and drive out of this place.

[Knit]

Teck13 - my wife and I travel with a 65 lb lab mix. I built two spots for the dog. One is a plywood platform that fits over one the 2nd row seats and a platform that fits between the seats. Both can be removed to restore seating and access to original configuration.

[Cliffhanger]

Just to clarify. My intentions do not include picking up companions along the way! More of a scheduling issue. I did some looking, online, at the Travato. I loved the enhanced bathroom space. However for me, I think it takes up too much valuable space, I'd rather have more storage and more versatile use of that rear door area and put up with a smaller cassette sized BR.

[teck13]

Originally Posted by Knit

Teck13 - my wife and I travel with a 65 lb lab mix. I built two spots for the dog. One is a plywood platform that fits over one the 2nd row seats and a platform that fits between the seats. Both can be removed to restore seating and access to original configuration.

One happy dog.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Knit

I’ve taken my 2013 RT RS on many maintained gravel roads and some unmaintained ones. It’s on the Sprinter 3500 dually with the 170” wheel base. Thousands of off pavement miles. A few times in inches of snow. And many miles of desert washboard the locals call Nevada highways. Dry lakebeds. Death Valley. Black Rock Desert and places in the Southwest.

It’s mostly worked fine. My rule is to never drive someplace I don’t think I can back out of. A few times I’ve backed up a couple of miles when a road got too sandy or I decided too rough. The Sprinter has taken us many remote and rough places. But it’s for sure not a high clearance 4wd. I pay close attention to not getting in situations where I can get caught with the center of the Sprinter across a hump. And I go slow over rough washboard type roads. For example I drove all but the last couple of miles down Hole in the Rock trail in Escalante National Monument. Drivers in lighter 4wd and SUVs were often going 30 mph. I probably went half that speed. But I made it to the same place most turned back. But I had a well equipped camper van to enjoy while I was there.

I’ve also spent extensive time to de-squeak the RV with different types of foam, spring cords, Velcro and towels. Basically anything that can rub or vibrate is treated in some form. Lots of effort into sound deadening.

I get it that not everyone like the appearance of the Roadtrek. But it all mostly works. Great bed. Working bathroom with shower. Electric fridge. Propane system for cooking, space heating and water heating. And to run the generator for the occasional microwave or AC use. 200w solar feeding two 220 ah agm 6v batteries. Always enough to make things work overnight. Not all this stuff is needed on short trips, but is great to have on long trips. In East Texas right now where it is mid 90’s with high humidity. I’ve spent more than a hundred nights in the Roadtrek in the last two years and maybe 5 of those nights had hookups. It is really nice to be able to plug in when AC is needed overnight.

Someday a higher clearance shorter wheelbase 4wd Sprinter is in my future. But our current Roadtrek Sprinter has been a stud and a good value. I’ll bet I spend more on the new Sprinter than I have into the current one.

OK- I'm reading this correctly...you take this off road?? And, how did you manage to get all that solar panels on your roof... my 2012 has a TV antenna and some other stuff just behind the window area.... seems like your TV antenna must have been relocated?

I just had new KONI FSD shocks installed.. along with anti-sway bar and tracking bar...
Maybe you have a complete air suspension??

And, may I ask how many miles are on your rig...did you acquire it new?? And, if you have the original suspension?? Probably not??

[Belzar]

I have a Sprinter 4x4. The extra few inches of clearance makes a big difference and 4x4 can help in loose sand and snow. Its a rugged vehicle and gets me down some rough forest roads. But, a van is not a good choice for off road or even really rough and deeply rutted roads. Its too high (10 feet with MB high roof), too wide, too long, too much hanging over back wheels and too long between front and rear axle. And, its too heavy to be easily winched out of a tough spot (my unit weighs over 10k lbs fully loaded.). A truck based camper may be a better choice if rough riding is your goal.

[carlooliver]

Originally Posted by Cliffhanger

I am brand new here but have been looking into Class B units for several years. I love their compactness and mpg's. They have everything I need except, possibly, the ability to go where I want to go. I travel quite a bit and use the interstate and other highways to cover many miles. But, most of the places I want to get to are, at best, at the ends of rugged rocky switchedbacked or muddy roads. At worst, they are challenging, in places, to my Jeep 4wd. When I look at the ground clearance of an RT, I imagine parts being torn off by potholes and rocks. To be sure, these units have the benefit of added storage placed low to the road surface. But, am I right to think these Class B's are really only usable on more civilized paved surfaces? I've seen a few 4wd units but even they look pretty low slung. I'm a reasonably civilized guy, but I also have a need to escape from civilized touristy places. Any suggestions on how I can get to those remote trail heads?

We had the same dilemma about the clearance on the typical Class B's. We ended up buying a new Roadtrek Zion in 2016. On our first 2 week trip our we past by several road we wish we felt comfortable driving on, but in the end we were more worried about everything else on the interior falling apart than the clearance. Even avoiding those roads we came home with lots lots of duct tape holding drawers in place and so many squeeks that we decided the overall quality of the build out and the Ram Promaster didn't work for us and wouldn't take us where we wanted to go. We sold it (after 5 months) and bought a used Sportsmobile on the Sprinter Chassis 2WD. It had good clearance and didn't have lots of stuff hanging off the bottom, build quality was fantastic, no squeeks at all, the drawers and cabinetry we super solid. We love it so much we ordered a new Sportsmobile 4WD built on the Sprinter Chassis, ours is on the 170 wb, but if you can squeeze into the 144wb you will have a super agile vehicle. The only down side is the wait, mostly because of the lead time on Sprinters, ours took 18 months. Sportsmobile also sells pre-owned. Good luck!

[Cliffhanger]

You give an excellent summary of the ClassB limiting factors. I think, like you, I would benefit from the higher clearance just to get off the highway. After that 4wd would be optional though beneficial. I'm accepting that these rv's just aren't set up to go much rougher. The Sportmobile mentioned by Carlooliver does sound like it would get me farther. But, I am fearful of asking the price and mpg's.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Cliffhanger

You give an excellent summary of the ClassB limiting factors. I think, like you, I would benefit from the higher clearance just to get off the highway. After that 4wd would be optional though beneficial. I'm accepting that these rv's just aren't set up to go much rougher. The Sportmobile mentioned by Carlooliver does sound like it would get me farther. But, I am fearful of asking the price and mpg's.

My Subaru Outback is way more off road capable.

[Knit]

Roadtrek RS1:

More like off pavement than off road.

I have a stock 2013 Roadtrek RS on the 3500 chassis. No changes to suspension. Michelin LTX tires. Bought new. Now has 40k miles.

Solar was provided by Roadtrek for free as a buyer incentive coming out of the recession. Dealer installed. I recall that they did an antenna change shortly before I bought it.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by Knit

Roadtrek RS1:

More like off pavement than off road.

I have a stock 2013 Roadtrek RS on the 3500 chassis. No changes to suspension. Michelin LTX tires. Bought new. Now has 40k miles.

Solar was provided by Roadtrek for free as a buyer incentive coming out of the recession. Dealer installed. I recall that they did an antenna change shortly before I bought it.

I have 41,000 miles on my 2012....new Koni FSD shocks, antisway and trac bar.... made a huge difference.

[carlooliver]

Our used Sportsmobile Sprinter was about 60K (in late 2016) It was a 2013 model with 30K miles. This was a really good deal, and we did a few small modifications to make it work for us. Our new Sportsmobile Sprinter 4x4 170wb with every thing we ever dreamed of inside and outside was $135K, a ton of money, but we're confident it will take us where we want to go and will last. We also loved being able to customize it to be exactly what we wanted, and leave out things we didn't care about, TV's etc.

[Cliffhanger]

I think you have my dream RV carlooliver!

[Keithmaryq]

Class B's are great...but sounds like you need a good truck camper to handle the conditions you described...not a hard side as they too can be too top-heavy.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Keithmaryq

Class B's are great...but sounds like you need a good truck camper to handle the conditions you described...not a hard side as they too can be too top-heavy.

A low roof Sprinter or Transit with 4WD and Sportsmobile pop-top would be similar to a pickup truck with soft side pop-up truck camper.

P.S. Nice van carlooliver!