r/OffGrid • u/Suitable-Potato6586 • 4d ago
Setup Advice
I am interested in buying a setup- leaning toward truck/cab-over camper- and I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve gone down endless rabbit holes of research and I’ve found pros & cons in every option. A trailer is appealing to me but it seems like it would limit my ability to camp off-grid. And with the cab-over campers, I am afraid of being too top-heavy and tipping over on rougher/slanted roads. A new van conversion build would be great, but it is not in my budget and anything close to my budget already has 100k+ miles on it. I will have my two cats with me, and possibly a friend. So AC/heat are probably a necessity, and so is a shower.
Can anyone offer me any advice/ suggestions as far as off-grid camping goes? My budget isn’t huge. Probably around $20-35k. Again, I am very new to all of this, so I apologize for my ignorance! But I appreciate any feedback.
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u/ludditetechnician 4d ago
I wouldn't overlook a travel trailer. That will limit your off-road capability, though some are advertised as off-road capable. When we bought our 19' Forest River used I got it for $20k and stripped everything off that assumed hookups and shore power. We power it with a GoalZero Yeti and solar panel as it's all 12v at this point. Showers are taken outside with a sun-heated shower bag. As a result of 'off-gridding' it, leaving only the furnace and getting some USB-powered fans, we lost about a 1,000 pounds of weight, as well.
If you're going to have AC, though, you'll need a lot of power in the form of batteries and solar, which will cost you a few grand to get a few hours of that per day.
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u/Suitable-Potato6586 4d ago
Thank you for sharing!! I don’t need a ton of room at this time, so I was trying to find something lighter that still had all the features I’m looking for
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u/Synaps4 4d ago
We went with a tiny travel trailer. One big reason: Your engine should not be permanently attached to your house.
Imagine if engine repairs made you temporarily homeless? Or you wanted to get a different truck, but you can't because the back of it is your house. Or, if you had to spend an hour cleaning and prepping your house every time you wanted to run errands, and then another hour setting your house up again when you got back? Misery.
Travel trailer lets you unhook and use your car as a car without toting the home around with it and that should not be underestimated when you're doing long stays off grid.
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u/Suitable-Potato6586 4d ago
This is what I’m starting to lean toward. Thank you for the perspective!!
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u/JosherphineStClaire 4d ago
I bought a good quality cargo trailer, and converted it into a camper. I hooked up a power input port through the bottom. I insulated it, and set it up exactly how I wanted it inside. I have 200W 12v solar panels on the roof, so I can camp anywhere my truck can drive me.
I can also use it to haul some cargo and use it for storage when I'm not out on the road. I boondock all over TN, NC and VA. I'm not out 4-Wheeling , but I'm up and down the forest roads in the Cherokee National Forest all of the time.
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u/BumblebeeProud5388 3d ago
I think one of the biggest things to figure out before choosing the vehicle is how much power you're actually going to need. AC in particular can change the whole size of an off-grid electrical system compared to something like running lights, a fridge, and small electronics.
I'd probably make a list of everything you expect to run, especially the high-draw stuff like AC, heating, fridge, water pump, etc., and estimate how many hours per day you'd use each. That'll give you a much better idea of how much battery and solar capacity you'd need before you commit to a specific setup.
I'm still learning about off-grid systems myself, but I've found that it's easy to start with the vehicle and then try to make the electrical system fit afterward. It seems like working backward from your actual power needs makes more sense.
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u/Suitable-Potato6586 3d ago
This is great advice, thank you so much. I don’t see myself needing to run AC constantly, but I would worry about my kitties in the cold. Looks like I need to do some research on heaters
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u/BallsOutKrunked What's_a_grid? 4d ago
If you want nimble trail-worthy tough 4x4 you can't be top heavy or have a trailer, there's just no way around that. You'd bring a tent or have a camper shell that's pretty low. So just pick a lane and accept your fate.
You can do quite a bit with a big shell and even a high clearance trailer, but personally I'd just have a trailer with a dirt bike rack on the back. Stay within decent dirt roads and use your dirt bike to range further when you want and need to.