MH or TC - Which is better to get into the Boonies?

We've taken our 40' motorhome on good gravel roads for boondocking, including your state of Colorado. It just depends on what kinds of roads you're thinking of going. We towed a Jeep so once we were set up we used the Jeep for exploring deeper into the boonies.

Typical maintained forest service road I would just take your small trailer, small class C should be fine also. Done this plenty of times.

4x4 TC for overland and primitive unmaintained roads or jeep trails such as the above pictures. You will give up some convenience such as smaller holding tanks etc.

Everything in life has trade offs. For myself I would rather have a small Class A to camp in and a 4 wheel drive car/jeep to explore. The A will have more FW capacity which is the limiting factor for dry camping. A small A will also have have more storage in general, better suspension , leveling system and more CCC.

I vote for a low profile small "Class C type" 4X4 rig - such as a 4X4 Tiger on a SRW (not a dually) 1-ton chassis with no lift above what's needed to clear larger than stock diameter tires.

TC's have too high of a center of gravity when taking into account the placement of their heavy items such as batteries and tanks. A Tiger has a lower center of gravity, as it's heavy items are mounted down closer to the truck's frame. To make matters worse, some 4X4 TC's are even put onto unnecessarily high lifted trucks. Gross frame lift is not necessary - large tire diameters are what's necessary so as to gain suspension/drive system clearance while at the same time keeping living area weight center of gravity tucked down low as possible.

Also, twisting of the living area structure is a no-no. The living area should be isolated from any truck frame twist so that the living area floor is maintained in a plane. Some Tiger models offer this isolation and some don't.

Note that some Earthroamer models are mighty tall rigs ..., with a lot of heavy construction up there in the air.

The best would be a something like a s-10 4x4 with a small pop up camper. You could go almost anyplace. But I wouldn't have enough room or comforts for what would work for me. Now 40 years ago. Perfect!

Don't forget to look under your choice of vehicles....

Most motorhomes, class C and B have a mess of pipes, tanks, valves etc
jammed up in under the chassis in all sorts of manner and positions.

Image yourself mired up to the axle or in a rockpile with all that stuff
buried and being ripped off as you either get towed or winch yourself out...

woodhog wrote:
Don't forget to look under your choice of vehicles....

Most motorhomes, class C and B have a mess of pipes, tanks, valves etc
jammed up in under the chassis in all sorts of manner and positions.

Image yourself mired up to the axle or in a rockpile with all that stuff
buried and being ripped off as you either get towed or winch yourself out...

The above is outstanding advice!

Also...for most reliable off-highway boondock exploring and camping:

First, look all along the outside bottom edge of the exterior sidewalls of any Class B or C you're considering to see how high they appear above the ground - you want this wall ground clearance as high as possible. However, this ground clearance can be increased after you buy the rig by installing taller than stock tires all around (include replacing the spare along with the larger diameter running tires).

Second, bend down slightly and again look all along the bottom edge of the coach's exterior sidewalls of a Class B or C you're considering to make sure that you don't see any coach components hanging lower than the edge of these walls. No plumbing, tanks, tank valves, battery boxes, built-in generators, etc., should be visible below the edges of these walls. This condition may be difficult to meet, but it's very important that the coach be built this way.

Our 24 foot Class C meets these requirements "by pure luck on our part", because I wasn't aware of what to look for when we bought it. I later changed to tires that are taller than stock. We take our Class C off highway to boondock explore and camp, but do so picking our way along very carefully, very slowly, and of course only in dry weather.

There's no comparison to camping way out under the stars among nature with all the comforts of home along! (This opinion is coming from an ex backpacker. :) )

Yes, Nichols, stuff hanging down underneath gets in the way when you are taking that two-track down to the trees near the river's edge. Here is a rare pic of my Truck (1/2 of a Truck Camper) sans the Camper part showing my new high load rated steel wheels and new 315/75R16, 35", 3860 pound rated AT3 tires. The rear 10"wide wheels are custom made by Stockton Wheel with a stupid high load rating (the wheel hub is 1/2" plate) and keep the rear axle weight on a wider track during those annoying side hills.


The truck has a nominal 3" lift, front and rear. Anyway, the only things hanging down under there are a pair of pigs and Jeanie's step. Also, with the camper part on, the truck sits more or less level.
This setup is still not recommended with two humans and two large dogs, but it will get you down and back up the two-track.

As a trailer guy who routinely takes his trailer into some fairly rough places, there is no doubt that a truck camper can get into places that I can't reach with the trailer.

But there is a counter-argument: it is not so easy to take the camper off a truck and put it back on. We almost never see campers sitting on a campsite on the legs, without the truck. So the real question is whether the truck camper (as a unit) can get you where you want to go.

That is one reason why we opted for a small trailer: we put the trailer into a reasonably remote "base camp" and then use the truck as our exploration vehicle. We take the truck to really rough trailheads, places that most TCs would not go -- too narrow, too slanty, too many overhanging branches. (Jefe is an exception -- there is no place he can't reach.)

Bottom line -- there is no unquestionably-right answer to the OP's question. The answer depends on what you intend to do once you arrive at your campsite.

Dan is correct; there is no perfect answer. I'm looking at the larger picture of a boon docking and traveling mobile domicile. It's the travel/touring part I like about a TC. We can park our 20 foot rig in a regular parking place with impunity in the city or on the road and even stealth camp (layover) when the conditions are right since the TC does not change shape or look like someone is camping. When it's time to move you simply fold up the steps, close the door and drive off. And, BTW, we never take the jacks when on the road: just a reminder that I am the King of the Jacks-Off. They are left at home so there is no chance or need to off-load the camper. Our concept is much closer to a narrow, short, a bit too tall, 4WD Class C as the camper part rarely comes off. I've always thought Dan's boon docking trailer solution was a good one with a lot of options to take it or leave it.
jefe