Pickup, SUV or Time For Van Life?

Pickups will likely always be the most popular vehicles for the local hunting and fishing tribe but I tend to venture far and wide so personally, I never seem to have enough indoor dry cargo space, especially when I’m traveling overland on extended overnight road trips. In my case, besides fishing gear, I’m also usually hauling photography and often sensitive astronomy gear that ride better, or at least with more peace of mind, in the back of a Suburban; a vehicle that transforms from family wagon to gear hauler with the rear seats folded flat. With the seats down flat, the Suburban provides long bed pickup size floorspace capable of hauling a ton of gear.

If you want to avoid borrowing trouble, it helps to eliminate things you worry about. I’ve found leaving things you care about in the bed of a truck or on an open trailer provides a chance to worry every time you stop and leave your vehicle. It only worsens on overnight adventures and I’d rather get a good nights sleep if I’m on a road trip.

Overall the Suburban has been a great daily driver. As time nears to think about a new vehicle, I try to honestly evaluate my needs. Besides optics, I’m often hauling motorcycles, mountain bikes, kayaks and a ton of other gear including heavy tools required for endless DIY building projects. Rarely a week passes without the need to tow something but rather than extreme heavy duty loads where a pickup is usually the best or only option, the majority of my towing needs are common outdoorsman; hauling a vintage Airstream, fishing boats and utility trailers down the road.

Recently as the year came to a close, and voodoo tax math came into play, I started looking for a new vehicle and went through the pros and cons of a truck vs SUV. Somehow in this sensible process that usually starts with me wanting, but eliminating a pickup and choosing a large SUV, I decided it would be a good time to build out a multipurpose cargo van to serve as my toy, tool and vintage Airstream hauler.

Here are some videos that feature vans built for various purposes.

TouRig Bruce Banner Sprinter Build


Dingy Toy Hauler


Good Toy Hauler video but turn off the lame music. Inside configurations start about a minute in.

Heck just buy my camper for less than a new 1 ton and call it good.

Going to be a bear. Be a grizzly

https://earthroamer.com/

" A well equipped LTi will generally come out to a final price in the $650,000 – $700,000 range." " The price of an EarthRoamer HD is $1,700,000 plus options" .

I’d go used..... but a Grizzly is a Grizzly

That's a sweet looking Prevost.


The EarthRoamers and similar store bought offroad rigs are great if you need that much capability and don't mind spending the cash. I'm more of a DIY guy and enjoy the building process.

Yeah, I've owned it for 10 years and counting. . Time for something else.

Do you guys have to pay property taxes on those things?

No but the vehicle registration fees were a killer 10 years ago.
Seems like well over $10,000 when I bought. At 40,000 lbs. Yearly Texas Tag moola is a pita also.

Van life fo sho...



Bring A Trailer

We park our home where we want to, in a central location, and then use the UTV for running around everywhere!!

Hey, to each his own. Vans are the “it” things right now. Like most everything, advantages but also disadvantages. Me, I just can’t roll with a van.

I saw a post on reddit yesterday about people overlanding in a prius. That makes even a van look cool

As my Momma would say, “Well that’s just silly.”

Get a boat...........sail or house.......and anchor out. If youre going to stay in the USA........


MAn a good place is the Fort Myers Yacht Basin...........on the Caloosahatchee river.........you can anchor out.

TXGUNNER308 - In my youth I started with a cheap truck and sleeping bag but after experiencing a few overnight storms and having gear stolen from the bed of the truck, I traded it for a cargo van I used as a moto-hauler for race weekends. The van wasn't nearly as cool as the truck but it was great when it was raining and I had company... For a short time after I stopped racing bikes, I had a VW camper. Loved it but it was slow, hot and really couldn't tow anything so I sold it and yes, I wish I still had it...


Blank - Sweet view. Lot to be said for living with the freedom to roam...


Stealtherest64 - Agree that's a cool life - One of my business partners has a cat on the other side of the state. Makes for the ultimate office with a view...

I get it, I’m an f250 guy with camper shell and a MSR reactor stove.

With that said as I get older the creature comforts begin to call. I’ve looked at some of AT overland shells like the summitt, and similar style brands.

I just can’t see a van being more off road worthy then a truck. Lots of base model option for camper shells like the hawk that you could also finish out.

The Adventure Trailer Toppers you mentioned look awesome. Regarding off road capabilities comparing a van to a truck, it comes down to how much capability do you really need. Likewise, you have to seriously evaluated how much towing capacity you need.

If you do need off road capability, the good news is you can now buy either the Sprinter and Ford Transit in 4x4 or at least AWD versions directly from the factory without having to do expensive conversions. That said, I purchased the Sprinter over the F-250 or Suburban specifically because I needed more indoor cargo space than either provided. When I evaluated my personal needs, tall interior space for hauling motorcycles and big tools cross country was more important than serious off-road capability.


On the downside, driving the cargo Sprinter compared to a truck or SUV in big city traffic is likely going to take awhile to get used to. That’s because you can only visually see forward at best 180 degrees as everything in the rear 180 degrees is a giant dark blind spot. Frankly it feels more like flying IFR because you can’t see anything coming up besides or behind you without using instruments.

Thankfully the technology is really impressive. Radar sensors alert you so you know if someone is in your blind spot, plus it has lane assist, collision avoidance, blind spot assist, traffic sign assist, adaptive cruise control and 360 degree cameras, but - and this is a big but, you just might need an IRF rating or have lots of Pitts flight time to be comfortable driving one. Also, Lord help you if the technology fails… At this point until I get more accustom to it or at least until I put in a rear side window, I think I’d be inclined to call a flatbed to come get me if the tech failed.

Before Red Bull made it fashionable for aerobatic pilots to fly monoplanes, I often had to explain to non-aerobatic pilots why I switched from a biplane to a monoplane. My standard answer was to explain landing a Pitts was like driving down the freeway 90 miles per hour at night with the hood open… The cargo van is a very similar experience… You can add windows but lose some of the stealth factor so it’s a trade off.

and its still a ford, correct?

and its still a ford, correct? a short work and play trailer behind the suburban sounds good

Paid my property taxes today.

I have a Transit 3/4 ton and a Frontier pickup and I always take the van anywhere I go unless there's a need to tote something taller than the roof of the van...no comparison on comfort, roomy cabin, and ease of functioning, camping, hunt/fish/joyride + toting lengths to 12' (with some jockeying) behind lock and key (fob) in the cargo area as opposed to the pickup's bed which sucks to even climb up in if you're me or the like......it also sits up a good bit higher, handles better (to me anyways), and has a way greater view...

How does this apply to the OP??? I mean really, it is just PC for christ sakes.

Squirrel!

I've been doing the trailer thing with the Suburban for years. It's worked great, especially around this region. I never really had an issue until I had to start going cross country several times a year. Pulling the Airstream and still wanting to bring motorcycles and other tools and toys that I didn't want to leave in the bed of a pickup on overnight trips or exposed to the weather were the main reasons I started looking at a van. That said, I'm really glad I got one while I could. No telling how much longer the voodoo tax breaks are going to be around.

Thanks for the insight. The easy access you mention getting into the cargo area is a real thing. I damaged my heel constantly getting in and out of a lifted truck a few years ago.

No kidding...

https://www.torsus.eu/