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How to Set Up a Vehicle for Overlanding & Off-Grid Camping

*This article is property of and was originally featured on REDARC. It has been repurposed with permission for use by etrailer.com.

How Experienced Overlanding Aussies Set Up Their Vehicle for Off-Grid Travel

As we all travel differently, requirements will vary from user to user when setting up a rig for overlanding and off-grid camping. Whether you set up a 50' RV-style bus or a sedan with a trunk full of camping gear, it really comes down to meeting your personal requirements.

In our case, we were looking at setting up a vehicle for a North American adventure. We knew three months of living in a vehicle would be a long time. Not only did we have a budget to work with, but we also wanted the flexibility to camp wherever we wanted (like we do in Australia), and not simply be restricted to campgrounds and RV parks.

So we needed to consider a few basic things when setting everything up:

Shelter: How would we escape the elements (sun, wind, rain, and possible sub zero overnight temperatures)?
Cooking: How would we store food and keep it fresh for weeks on end, and what methods would we use to prepare meals?
Water: How would we store water, and how would we use it for drinking, cooking and bathing?
Storage: We needed to store a range of things: clothing, food, cooking utensils, tools, and basic camping equipment as well as cameras, computers, and personal effects. They all needed to be kept out of the weather but still easily accessible.

With the help of some friends, we purchased a 2010 Ford F-150 four-door pickup and a 2007 Palomino slide-on pop top camper, which we modified slightly to ride on the back of the F-150.

The F-150 was stock standard and would need some minor modifications to the rear suspension to carry the extra load. Other mods included additional 12v power outlets for a reversing camera, power outlets for GPS mapping programs, power to run a chest fridge freezer, and an inverter for charging camera batteries. Lastly, we needed a number of USB 12v outlets for phones and tablets on the go.

Photo provided by REDARC

Modifying the Camper Trailer for Off-Grid Travel

The Palomino camper met our basic requirements and came with some storage. It had a bed, 12v propane fridge, 12v propane furnace, gas water heater, some 12v lighting, a 12v pump for the onboard water tank, and plumbing. The previous owners had clearly set it up to suit their requirements for camping at campgrounds. For instance, they’d hook up and connect to the local water supply and 110v electricity through a converter, which took the 110v power and converted it to 12v power. This was one area that needed to be changed to suit our requirements.

Photo provided by REDARC

Based on our requirements, here’s a list of our modifications:

Added 2 x 75 A/hr lead acid batteries
Added a REDARC BCDC charging solution
Rewired the camper with suitably sized cable and fuses for charging and powering accessories
Added additional 12v fused power outlets
Added a suitable inverter for charging batteries and operating 110v appliances
Added a low watt draw microwave that could be powered by the 12v batteries and inverter
Added a chest compressor style fridge freezer for extra food storage
Added a 12v display gauge to see the status of voltage in the battery circuit

Our aim was to have everything functional with a minimal amount of effort. Having the 12v power on demand would make long periods of vehicle-based travelling very comfortable and would overcome many obstacles of living in a vehicle on the road.

We knew these modifications were going to give us a setup that would allow us to stay unplugged and off the grid for a minimum of two weeks before needing to restock propane, water, and food supplies.

With our Ford F-150 and truck camper now equipped and ready for the adventures ahead, it was exciting times. We were ready to take off in search of North American adventures.

Catch you next time.

Grant & Linda

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