4X4 MOTORHOMES

[TARDIS_TIME_TRA]

I don’t know where to post this request, so here it is. I would like to suggest that a new category be added to the selection list for recreational vehicles. This category should be 4X4 Motor homes. It should include all 4X4 motor homes As, Bs, Cs, B+, C+, and Truck campers. It would be interesting to see what these folks are doing with their vehicles, where they have traveled, what problems they have and how they solve the problems. We spent 3 days at Overland Expo 2012 outside of Flagstaff AZ this past May. This is a whole segment of motorhomes with a wealth of information that most of us might be able to tap into. Please consider this request. Attached are photos of some of the vehicles that would be interesting to hear from, I'm sure there are more. Dave & Holly Fox The Tardis Time Travelers.



4X4 CLASS B 4X4



4X4 TRUCK CAMPER (SLIDE-IN UNIT)



4X4 TRUCK CAMPER (SLIDE-IN UNIT POP-TOP)



4X4 TRUCK CAMPER (SLIDE-IN UNIT SLIDE-OUTS)



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-1



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-2



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-3



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-4



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-5 (EARTHROAMER)



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-6 (CP CAMPER)



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-7 (THE TURTLE EXPIDITION)



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-8 (EARTHCRUISER)



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-9 (UNIMOG)



4X4 EXTREME MOTORHOME-10 (GLOBAL X VEHICLES)



4X4 SIBERIAN TIGER



4X4 BENGAL TIGER (THE TARDIS)

[garyhaupt]

The 4 wheel go anywhere stuff was engaged to get out of the area where the top shot was taken, the Exstew River...that can be seen in the video, which was shot the day before the `high` water was forded. I had engaged on the river bank where we were camping just to be sure of my footing.

While I was working for the NPS in the Mojave, I was sent on a two day 4 wheel drive course and one of the key pieces, is to engage before it`s needed.

The bottom shot was in Utah and I had it engaged to be on the safe side. That soft sandy stuff.

And yup, the boat carrier rack can be seen in the 2nd and 4th shot. That black bar coming down the rear corner is the chain housing and then you can see the top bars that a boat would rest on.


Gary Haupt

[pnichols]

Great 4X4 Class C shots Gary! They're about equal to many I've seen in the TC forum - but with a lot more comfort while you're camping.

I'm curious - was the 4X4 capability of your rig needed to get to all four of those spots?

BTW, don't you have a boat carrier on the coach's roof?

[garyhaupt]

Just to add to the pic collection.



Fording seep water....


http://youtu.be/FhANZhUG6WE


















Gary Haupt

[pnichols]

Perhaps some pictures are worth a thousand or more words. I guess what I'm advocating is a forum for those of us who might want to visit drycamping areas where one winds up having to do such things as this in an affordable, run-of-the-mill, non-expedition motorhome:



Here's some examples of non-extreme camping spots and touring areas where we have wound up at by going offroad with our 2X4 motorhome - which could open up all kinds of topics for dicussion in a "Motorhomes Offroad" type of forum:

forum:







This next photo was taken from our motorhome on the valley road in Monument Valley that is not recommended for RV's - it was no problem for our rig and permitted us to have the comforts of a bathroom and air conditioning along as we got some spectacular photos up close of the formations - but it did require us to have the confidence to do it primarily from previous experiences.

[Tiger4x4RV]

pnichols - Nice list. I've done them all plus fording a bunch of rivers and streams. However, I don't really consider that stuff "extreme." You could do most of it in a high clearance SUV with 2WD.

If a route involves lockers, winches, and/or airing down, then probably it is getting extreme. The folks who do that kind of stuff don't like it when an RV shows up doing it, perhaps because they need to justify the huge expenses they've incurred to modify their vehicles. 🙂

[garyhaupt]

I kinda think that the term 'extreme' is being misinterpreted, some. There really aren't that many places in the continental US to be doing any 'extreme' off-road rv'ing. Alaska likely has a bit more space for that. In northern BC, where I live and spend a lot of my time in rv, there is not a lot of 'extreme off road stuff'.

In fact, I can only think of a couple times last year where I was in that environment. I do, however, use the 4 wheel capabilities frequently to get in and out of places safely.

None of that really matters tho, as far as the OP's suggestion. I think it has merit, although ultimately, I'd be surprised if it flew.


Gary Haupt

[pnichols]

IMHO, "offroad" does indeed need a specific definition appropriate in a non-expedition 2X4/4X4 small Class A, large Class B, and small Class C offoad forum context.

With respect to our small Class C motorhome - and since so few folks take them offroad for any definition of the term - I consider "offroad" for our rig to be:

- Driving on a soft surface road,

WITH

- a smooth surface

OR

- a washboard surface

OR

- a rutted surface


AND/OR

- a tipped surface

AND/OR

- a surface with inclines and declines

AND/OR

- a rocky surface

AND/OR

- a surface with occasional dips from flash flooding

AND/OR

- a surface with areas that can be rendered temporarily impassable after a flash flood

AND/OR

- a surface passing by occasional rock overhangs that may be concern for motorhome heights greater than 11 feet

AND/OR

- a surface passing by occasional trees with overhanging limbs that may required pruning on the spot in order to proceed

AND/OR

- a surface with a width such that passing another vehicle on it may require driving onto existing or non-existent road shoulders.

We have taken our motorhome on roads with most of the above characteristics (not all on the same road at the same time!) in order to get to specific areas for general exploring, hiking, rockhounding, ghost town hunting, photography, bird watching, fishing, and of course for just plain drycamping. These are similar to what the TC folks do with their rigs, but just a bit more mild.

[Tiger4x4RV]

In my 21 years of driving a small 4x4 Class C, I've logged many miles of off-pavement driving, but I do not go "off-road." I think that "off-road" is a term usually used incorrectly in these forums. Most truly off-road activity is illegal unless you are in a sanctioned vehicular recreation area and sometimes even those have restrictions. Stay on established roads and those spectacular view areas we love to visit will have a better chance of being there for our grandchildren.

I've been hanging out with the TC forum folks since joining RV.net. Reasons: nice people and great trip reports. My Tiger CX is TC-sized; in fact, it is smaller than many TC's. The TC folks accept me pretty well, and I make sure to pay them back often by posting trip reports of my own.

[garyhaupt]

Tiger4x4RV wrote:
Gary,

Expedition Portal, http://www.expeditionportal.com/, is not affiliated with rv.net.

It seems to be for the really hardcore folks. I do not belong to it. I'm happy here.

Tiger4x4RV

Thanks for the link..and while I will go and scout around it some, that site really isn't applicable to most from here, I don't think. If a Forum could just be for anyone that enjoyed the more extreme side of rv'ing...that might garner a lot of interest. The Moderator would need to be pretty flexible, so as to encourage anyone that had a story to share or a way to do things, from the extreme side of rv'ing. Suspensions, comms, foods, fuel, water, repairs, tires, power..and not find the post moved to another Forum because it involves food or tech stuff..as long as it applied to an extreme rv'ing. Prepping, or routes...and if this was to come to pass, I'd say any info shared would have to be 'factual/actual', not just a shopping list of stuff no-one can afford.

I'd like to see this.



Gary Haupt

[burlmart]

I would enjoy seeing C class RVs from a rugged angle along the lines of what they do in TC forum pictured travelogues.

Don McL wrote:

Handbasket wrote:
Really doubt there are enough here, aside from the pickup camper folks who have their own forum. As far as I know if one doesn't count them there are four 4x4's represented here. And since you post such pic-heavy posts that take forever to scroll thru, I won't be back to this thread. Sorry.

Jim

"forever" is longer than that.

i like the pic's

don

" 'forever' is longer than that. " ...priceless!

I'm pretty sure most all of us would love more pics.

[TARDIS_TIME_TRA]

Fellow RV’ers, I am relatively new to RVing and this forum. I was trying to add to the already great RV Net forum by suggesting an additional category of RVing. What the category is called doesn’t matter to me (Extreme RVing, 4x4 RVing, Motorhomes Off-road, etc). I was thinking that there would be a lot of good information we could all share amongst the group, and open up new possible RVing opportunities for all of us. I added all the photos to give everyone some idea of what else is out there, and there are many more. Sorry for the pic-heavy post, but it only takes a few second to scroll thru them or skip them all together. The topics listed by” PNICHOLS” sound to me like a good start for addressing problems & fixes. I look at Class A, B, C, & Truck Camper, Beginning RVing, etc, to find out what other folks are doing, where they are going, fixes they are going thru, all in the hopes of eliminating problems before they happen to me. Off roading brings a whole new set of things to consider. A lot to think about before you leave the hard pavement for the back woods. Dave & Holly Fox The Tardis Time Travelers.

[pnichols]

EMD360 ... you are one of the very persons I had in mind as I wrote my "Motorhomes Offroad" forum suggestions above!

To address some of your responses:

1) Truck campers are an RV, but they are not a motorhome. Besides, why should TC folks have all the fun ... we motorhome folks can too ... but many of us may not know it until the right forum comes along to help educate and inform us.

2) I'm thinking of offroad motorhome "adventure destinations" in places that the expedition 4X4 type motorhome crowd would not be interested in because it would be too easy for them - but at the same time tough and interesting for the common short Class A, larger Class B, and short Class C - in both 2X4 and 4X4 configurations.

5) "Constantly fix" is not what we do because of what I have learned over the years slowly about the degrees of carefulness one must go to when offroading with our motorhome. There's a lot of things for me to both learn and possibly share in the type forum being suggested.

6) & 7) Arizona has many of the exact type of situations I have in mine ... so does Utah, Nevada, Eastern Washington, Oregon, Canada, Mexico, etc..

The boondocking section is not specific enough for us motorhome owners so as to learn of the special issues of a non-expedition motorhome when used offroad. Much of the boondocking section refers to the unique issues that the towables experience when drycamping and boondocking.

[EMD360]

pnichols wrote:
I'd prefer a more open forum category titled "Motorhomes Offroad".

Interesting idea, you can find some of this in the Boondocking forum.

This approach would open up the discussions to include the whole offroad spectrum for motorhomes ... EXCLUDING truck campers, tow trailers and 5th wheels.

It seems most of the off-road folks use truck campers so excluding them would be limiting.

Topics could cover such areas as:

1) Owner built 2X4 and 4X4 motorhomes to be used offroad - build topics

Owner built and modified RV's are always interesting!

2) Bought 2X4 and 4X4 motorhomes to be used offroad - owner modifications and added equipment topics

These are so costly and the "adventures" seem to approach extreme backpacking stories. Climbing all 7 mountain ranges for instance. Taking an RV across Africa. I guess that would not be a forum I would be that interested in, but maybe the extreme folks?

3) How to drive a motorhome safely and reliably offroad

Slowly and with emergency supplies like an air compressor etc.:h

4) How to camp in a motorhome offroad.

Silently, and with as little light as possible.:Z

5) How to maintain a motorhome that is used offroad

Constantly fix the damage that you do to it! Cracked a faucet connection on our last trip and will be replacing our steps that were caught on a rock on a 2x4 road, after we lost the training wheels along the way--and buying new training wheels too. Rats.:E

6) Offroad camping destinations that are considered to be 2X4 motorhome accessible

Arizona is one!

7) Offroad camping destinations that are considered best traveled to only in a 4X4 motorhome

Definitely Arizona, but I'm sure there are lots of spots in other states that we can't go in our RV.

Probablhy a forum like this would get off to a slow start, but pick up steam eventually as more folks became interested in trying it with the advice of others in the forum who have done it. For instance, we take our MH offroad but with no real forum to talk about it much.

Post to boondocking, it is slow most of the time! 🙂

[pnichols]

I'd prefer a more open forum category titled "Motorhomes Offroad".

This approach would open up the discussions to include the whole offroad spectrum for motorhomes ... EXCLUDING truck campers, tow trailers and 5th wheels.

Topics could cover such areas as:

1) Owner built 2X4 and 4X4 motorhomes to be used offroad - build topics

2) Bought 2X4 and 4X4 motorhomes to be used offroad - owner modifications and added equipment topics

3) How to drive a motorhome safely and reliably offroad

4) How to camp in a motorhome offroad

5) How to maintain a motorhome that is used offroad

6) Offroad camping destinations that are considered to be 2X4 motorhome accessible

7) Offroad camping destinations that are considered best traveled to only in a 4X4 motorhome

Probably a forum like this would get off to a slow start, but pick up steam eventually as more folks became interested in trying it with the advice of others in the forum who have done it. For instance, we take our MH offroad but with no real forum to talk about it much. 🙂

[VA-Apraisr]

Lots of options on 4x4 campers & motorhomes....a section for this topic would be fun to keep up with! :B