Overlanding Options for Newb

This is a topic I know very little about, but I'm getting to the point where I'd like to do more truck camping than I've done in the past. I was going to post something in the "Freeze Your Tail Off" thread, but didn't want to hijack it. I spent 5 days last week camping with a buddy in a pop up camper, exploring some Utah back country and out of state national parks. Needless to say, I had a blast and I'd like to do more. This is also something I've been thinking about for a year.

The limiting factor for this is my odd truck, which didn't occur to me when I bought it. It's a 2021 Ram, 5th gen 1500, with the insanely short 5'7" bed. I've actually thought about replacing the truck to get something more compatible with this new direction, but I really enjoy this truck and it fits my needs well, except for this camping thing. It sits on 32" Falken ATs and has a factory rear locker. I have added a leveling kit and rear airbags, which is basically a 2" lift. BTW, it pulls my flat deck with Jeep incredibly well. I realize it is a bit big for some trails that Gladiators get through.

I've been considering 3 options, and unfortunately budget is a major factor. For any of these I would like the solution to be removeable, in case I needed the truck for truck things. 1st option would be a pop up camper, but because of my bed length, anything newer is way out of my price range. I think I could fit an older 6.5' model, but would need to figure out a way to extend my trailer tongue or hitch length to pull my Jeep. Second option, a fiberglass topper with a custom, home built, diagonal sleeping platform. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos and have a pretty good idea of how I could outfit one to work. 3rd option, a bed mounted, rack system with a RTT. What ever I decide, I need to be able to pull my Jeep with whatever configuration I come up with.

I'm open to suggestions and recommendations.

FWIW, I think I'm going to go down the road of the truck camper at some point. May or may not opt for a 6.5' bed on my next truck.

RTT on a @notajeep type bed rack would work very well in my opinion. Weld a rack up with some square stock and tie it to your in bed tie downs with turnbuckles. Gladiators only have a 5' bed. 3rd option and I understand where you're coming from. I built the rack so I could tip it up, drag it to the tailgate of the truck, then lift the half of the load or whatever into the back of the truck. Tighten the turnbuckles, and boogie. (really, you may need a box with some gear--in those two boxes pictured, my sleeping bag and pillow in one box, the other box has a bag with a backpacking stove, Rubicon style toilet seat with bags, and I think my backpack with clothes and personal items in it) Removal of the rack is the opposite as install.






To me, the bonus of the RTT is if it turns out you're not as much of a camper as you thought you were, your investment isn't massive AND it's applicable to MANY other platforms where a camper shell is pretty specific. If you sold the RTT, you're left with a bed rack that you welded up. RTT sold to the Tacoma or Gladiator dude that bought it.


Also worth considering (let's call this option #4) is a Springbar type tent in the back of your truck? Something that's sturdy and sets up/tears down quickly. I get why you don't want to do that but there's also some advantages there. Keep the setup simple, tent, cot sleeping bag, pillow and you're a quick hitter for setup or tear down. Kind of a base camp. Also it's kind of nice not to have the top heavy of a camp setup in the bed. You're probably not doing anything too crazy with the 1500 but we know you.

For how I like to roll, option 2 or 3. With my personal strong preference being #2 because a RTT would never work for me. I'm not any kind of overlander either though. I just like to go exploring and car camp along the way. And my preferred way of doing it is the least popular of any, and actually disqualifies me from being even a small "o" overlander.

I like ground tents for when the weather calls for a shelter. And I like much better just throwing out a cot under the stars when the weather permits.

@notajeep @mbryson style rack I think would be the way to go if you can stomach a RTT.

- DAA

I’ve got both the Springbar and a RTT and I’m not sure I’ll ever use my Springbar as often as my RTT, now that I have it. The RTT is limiting, though. It has to go everywhere with your truck.

DAA said:

For how I like to roll, option 2 or 3. With my personal strong preference being #2 because a RTT would never work for me. I'm not any kind of overlander either though. I just like to go exploring and car camp along the way. And my preferred way of doing it is the least popular of any, and actually disqualifies me from being even a small "o" overlander.

I like ground tents for when the weather calls for a shelter. And I like much better just throwing out a cot under the stars when the weather permits.

@notajeep @mbryson style rack I think would be the way to go if you can stomach a RTT.

- DAA

Click to expand...

I'm going this route for any camping I'll do in the future. I don't camp enough to have a significant investment in gear. It's stuff I already have so no real cost. All of my junk would fit in the two boxes pictured under my roof top tent. No weight high in the bed (that really wasn't a factor with the RTT setup) like a camper.



I was not nervous about my truck here related to the bed weight. I was nervous about the bank giving way. Not sure you'd do this in the 1500?

I'm the reverse of Hickey. I have an RTT and I have a couple different ground tents, and I'll opt for the ground tent over the RTT pretty much every time I don't just sleep in the back or under the stars. A newer RTT might change the flavor, but mine is an older style that takes just as long as a ground tent to set up. Additional cons: all that weight up high, plus needing a ladder, plus no room to stand up. I just like a good ground tent better in almost every situation.

If you go with a shell over the bed, maybe look at something like @TRD270 has on his Gladiator. It leaves the bed of the truck open for truck bed things, but gives you standing room and stretches over the cab to give you length to sleep.

Kevin B. said:

A newer RTT might change the flavor, but mine is an older style that takes just as long as a ground tent to set up.

Click to expand...

Okay - I'm picking on the extremes here. Not all RTT's are the same and for sure not all RTT users are the same.

But, I am not exaggerating. I have, on multiple occasions, had my ground tent and all sleeping arrangements setup, my table, my chair, had the coals lit for my charcoal grill. Sitting there sipping a beverage and puffing on a cigar waiting for my coals to get hot to grill my ribeye, watching some RTT weenies still trying to "level" their rigs.

Far more times than that, I have been eating my ribeye watching RTT weenies still trying to get their shit in the right pile.

I'm not making that up.

- DAA

DAA said:

Okay - I'm picking on the extremes here. Not all RTT's are the same and for sure not all RTT users are the same.

But, I am not exaggerating. I have, on multiple occasions, had my ground tent and all sleeping arrangements setup, my table, my chair, had the coals lit for my charcoal grill. Sitting there sipping a beverage and puffing on a cigar waiting for my coals to get hot to grill my ribeye, watching some RTT weenies still trying to "level" their rigs.

Far more times than that, I have been eating my ribeye watching RTT weenies still trying to get their shit in the right pile.

I'm not making that up.

- DAA

Click to expand...

I didn’t spend much time leveling my rig each night, but I did have the off-road screen up as I pulled into camp each night. That screen shows the tilt angles, so I guess that was a big help? Our first few nights were a bit clunky getting setup, but we found our groove eventually.

@TRD270 definitely has the ultimate setup, but it’s also not easy to remove from the truck.

Like Marc mentioned, I also didn’t really feel that weight up high like I expected to, and mine is one of the heaviest RTT’s out there. 205 lbs for the tent and another 125 for the rack.

It’s definitely gonna come down to personal preference, as you can clearly see in this thread.

Another option you may consider is getting a hard trifold tonneau for your truck and sleeping under it. A good pad and a good sleeping bag and you’re golden.

If you end up with one of the vehicle-mounted options, my opinion is that you don't need to spend a lot of effort on leveling. Just get it somewhat OK and it will be better than an equivalent ground tent would be. 🙂

I have seen a couple setups where they mount the rack of the RTT on the front of the trailer. Then park the front of the rig under the rack/RTT. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Option 5(?):

I’ve thought about tracking one of these down; I’ve got a GM shortbed, and while I technically fit laying down, it’s not comfortable; a couple extra feet would be more than enough. Plus, it’s a super quick setup, and not always advertising that I have a thousand dollars of overland stuff mounted to the top of my truck with a few cheap bolts.

I have thinest hard shell tent anybody ever made permanently mounted on the fj. But I happened to fall into a dump cheap new cvt hardshell tent. So I bought a new thule adjustable bed rack on ksl for pretty cheap. Haven't used this one yet. we will see.

Johnny Quest said:

Option 5(?): View attachment 178551

I’ve thought about tracking one of these down; I’ve got a GM shortbed, and while I technically fit laying down, it’s not comfortable; a couple extra feet would be more than enough. Plus, it’s a super quick setup, and not always advertising that I have a thousand dollars of overland stuff mounted to the top of my truck with a few cheap bolts.

Click to expand...

These suck, I had one. Sold it a few years later after having it in the way. It was tough to set up, had to take it down every time you leave camp and it never sealed very well.

ID Bronco said:

These suck, I had one. Sold it a few years later after having it in the way. It was tough to set up, had to take it down every time you leave camp and it never sealed very well.

Click to expand...

I haven't used one, so I cant provide any first hand feedback, but you mentioned having to tear down every time you left camp- how is that different than any other vehicle mounted solution? You’ve gotta pack up a RTT if you’re going anywhere too.

Thanks a lot for all of the great input and suggestions. You definitely gave me a lot to think about. I already have a nice Springbar tent, along with some smaller 3 person tents, and may start with those. I would like something that I didn't have to set up every time, but recently time is much more available than extra resources. Thanks again.

I will chime in here. I have the largest SmittyBilt RTT. Literally, I have have slept myself, my wife, my son and my grandson in it. If my grandson wasn't so wiggly, it wouldn't have been too bad. The biggest problem with a RTT is my old man prostate. Even camping normally, I hate getting up to pee in the middle of the night. Add a ladder to it and I really hate it, but, you do what you have to do. Mine sits on a rack on a F150 with the 6'6" bed. I had the shorter bed on my last F150 and that's why I have a longer one now. I too have a leveling kit but I have almost a 34" tire on it. Don't remember the metric size, anyway, it has a factory locker on it. My son has a Tacoma with a bed rack and we just move the tent where ever it needs to be at the moment. Right now its hanging from the ceiling of my 16' high garage. The tent spends most of its time on the Tacoma.

Having a physical popup camper would be nice so you can get out of the elements and sit at a table and cook inside, have another bed, etc, etc but, storing it is another deal. I like being able to hang mine from the ceiling out of the way and its not stored outside.

I do like the RTT for the cost and the space it takes up. I only spent a few nights in it this year but my son probably spent 20 nights in it.

As far as 1/2 ton vs Gladiator or Tacoma, an F150 will never go where one of those will go because of size but then, you can't beat the larger size of the 1/2 if you are not going places that a full size truck shouldnt be. My son says he wants my F150 when I am ready to unload it because he would rather have the room.

To be honest, the pictures below is where the RTT works the best for me. My grandson and I love to use it on the Xpedition. This is Logan Peak when we had that big storm last year. There was a river running through camp and never go wet at all during the storm.

Johnny Quest said:

I haven't used one, so I cant provide any first hand feedback, but you mentioned having to tear down every time you left camp- how is that different than any other vehicle mounted solution? You’ve gotta pack up a RTT if you’re going anywhere too.

Click to expand...

It's not different, I don't have an RTT for the same reason. It's just my experience. I can set up a ground tent faster than I could that one and I can leave it and go fishing without packing it up.

I have to say I love my wedge camper. I can crawl into my fart sack about 30 sec after pulling into camp. I don’t get crazy leveling, but do as Hickey pointed out pull in with my off road gauges up and just park when it’s mostly level. If I’m feeling froggy I’ll throw a rock or two under a tire.

It takes me about 2 min to put it away. And that’s probably actually longer than it really does. One of the first times I used it I had to get up early to meet Kevin a little further down the road. I wasn’t even hustling and I was on the road 15 min from when I crawled out of my bag. And I hadn’t figured out how to pack it away fast yet.

My favorite part is camping places I normally “couldn’t” in a tent. I’ve stayed many places on very rocky uneven ground, no way to stake a tent or even have flatish ground to lay on. If I have room to park I can camp.

As mentioned by Russ, also enjoy it in bad weather. At least 3 nights in it I’ve been in horrible down pours and hail. All around the truck I had inches of standing water, would have been miserable and wet in a tent. But I was perfectly dry.

Yeah it’s basically a permanent fixture of my Gladiator because it would be a huge pain to take off and on. But it doesn’t cost me that much in MPG and it’s literally ready for me to camp at a moments notice which has led to me camping a lot more than I have in the past. Literally throw food and water in and hit the trail. My bedding and gear just lives in the truck because it’s secure and protected from the weather.

Another vote for ground tent. Went out a few years back with some friends that had a RTT. We would base camp and then go exploring and come back. I was able to unload all my junk I didn’t need and leave it in the tent and be ready to go in minutes. They had to nearly pack everything up to get ready to go and when we came back, setup all over again.

I was jealous of the padding they had though. Until I started bringing cots and better sleeping bags.

Stuck with tents because of the simplicity.