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Overland build

hendersonc047
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Mike GMC Enthusiast

Mike GMC

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It's interesting to me that folks are building these trucks for "overland" use.  20 years ago we just called it 4 wheeling.  I've built a Wrangler and 2 Cherokees for offroad use, but we would almost never see full size trucks out on the trails.  They were handicapped by their width and length.  The approach, break over and departure angles were bad unless they were so high that they became unstable on side hills.  Even full size Broncos and Blazers were rare.  It would be really cool to see the capabilities of these trucks when properly built.

 

 

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hendersonc047
hendersonc047

So, I have had this truck for about 3 years and I have finally started doing some modifications to it. I pretty much just stayed on social media too long and followed a whole bunch of outdoors members

Madcow2020
Madcow2020

The sponsor (fiancé) bought me this today as wedding gift. She told me I need a place to put all my tools to build the truck and her Jeep. God I love that women. Can’t wait until the wedding next week

Madcow2020
Madcow2020

You can’t take it with you in the end. Enjoy life and the outdoors with friends and family. At some point one has to decide what the memories you create are worth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatal

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P&Yhntr New Member

P&Yhntr

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Skeeters are attracted to CO2. Dry ice in a styrofoam cooler with holes in the lid placed 10 yards or so is supposed to attract them to it instead of you. Not sure how well it actually works.


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Get yourself a couple of thermacells. You can buy them at most outdoor stores. I do a lot of early season deer hunting in swamps and refuse to enter the woods without one. They work!


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P&Yhntr New Member

P&Yhntr

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Skeeters are attracted to CO2. Dry ice in a styrofoam cooler with holes in the lid placed 10 yards or so is supposed to attract them to it instead of you. Not sure how well it actually works.


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Get yourself a couple of thermacells. You can buy them at most outdoor stores. I do a lot of early season deer hunting in swamps and refuse to enter the woods without one. They work!


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P&Yhntr New Member

P&Yhntr

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Off topic, sure.  But next weekend we are headed up to a state park in MS, and the skeeters will be out for blood.   We rented a cabin but the boys want to truck camp.  Any safe/effective products out there best for keeping them (mosquitoes, not the boys) out of the camper shell so we can camp with the shell/tailgate open?

Get yourself a couple of thermacells. They work great. I have done a lot of early season hunting in the swamps in Louisiana and refuse to go in the woods without one.


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WesternMike Enthusiast

WesternMike

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It's interesting to me that folks are building these trucks for "overland" use.  20 years ago we just called it 4 wheeling.  I've built a Wrangler and 2 Cherokees for offroad use, but we would almost never see full size trucks out on the trails.  They were handicapped by their width and length.  The approach, break over and departure angles were bad unless they were so high that they became unstable on side hills.  Even full size Broncos and Blazers were rare.  It would be really cool to see the capabilities of these trucks when properly built.
 
 



Your bang on, but its more or less a challenge we try to present our selves I suppose.

I’m going for the bigger clearance with an 8” King suspension lift so I will have to stay away from steep banks. Where I take my truck it mostly needs clearance Imposed to driving up steep banks; so works well for my application.

I get my truck done up then the wife wants a Jeep rig done up so we will also have a dedicated off road rig when all is said and done. Soooooo much more can be done to jeeps!

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Penguin VII Enthusiast

Penguin VII

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@Mike GMC There is a difference between overlanding and trail trucks. As you stated full size trucks are challenging as they are basically terrible in every way on most trails. However trail trucks are normally built to do trails and it's not uncommon to see them trailered to a trail. Overlanding trucks are more about going long distances in rugged terrain while living out of the truck. You don't see any of it in the north east really outside of a few parts of VT/NH/ME, even so it's not really the area to do it. Mostly a western state thing. Usually it's a rather small lift (2-3") with 33" or so tires. MPG becomes something you want to consider when traveling long distances off road and camping in the middle of nowhere.

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Mike GMC Enthusiast

Mike GMC

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Your right about trailering the really hardcore rock crawlers.  That's not what we did.  The vehicles I showed above were driven daily as well and used off road.  We frequently did overnight camping/4 Wheeling trips as well as some longer ones.  We once did a trip to Utah to run the Hole In the Rock trail on both sides of Lake Powell.  I could be missunderstanding what overland is, but it sounds a lot like what we used to do.

 

Yes, I actually drove that Wrangler on 36" swampers daily for a couple years.

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Jon A Senior Enthusiast

Jon A

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2 hours ago, Penguin VII said:

@Mike GMC There is a difference between overlanding and trail trucks.

Yes, big difference.  The best offroad trucks would be terrible for overlanding and even the best overlanding rigs aren't going to be nearly as good offroad as a trailered offroad park toy.  There is obviously quite a bit of overlap and the terms do get confused/misused often.  Part of that is probably because so few people have the time or money to do either all the way in either direction so even while building their trucks geared toward one theme or the other, they aren't really built far enough to be considered "serious" for either.

 

As far as full sized trucks, it really depends upon the terrain the owner is interested in.  Heavily forested trails are often simply too tight for a full sized truck to work well (or at all on some trails).  But in more open country size is less often an issue and the ability to haul more stuff can be an advantage.  The Toyota Tundra has a big following for overland builds and there's nothing it can do the GM's can't, but they do have more aftermarket support for overlanding goodies.

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Mike GMC Enthusiast

Mike GMC

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So where do you overland?  Are you blazing trails where no vehicle has gone before, or are you on established trails, fire roads, old mining roads or what?  Most places we went, it was illegal to leave the established path.

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Jon A Senior Enthusiast

Jon A

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Personally I don't do any real overlanding, but do study builds for ideas that might work for me.  While it would be fun, taking "vacations from the world" for weeks or months at a time just isn't possible for me right now and I have other requirements from my truck that a good overland rig wouldn't do well.

 

Here was my Trailblazer when I got done with it: 

 

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PICT0343.JPG

 

 

The platform certainly had some limitations but we got by with it pretty well for a while.

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WesternMike Enthusiast

WesternMike

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Sleep out of my truck through mountains in western Canada.. simply stunning views as you can litterly back up to a remote lake, open the tailgate.. and sleep away.

No better feeling than waking up on a calm summer morning overlooking a lake with birds chirping. Try it, you’ll thank me!

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