Awesome and congrats! Please post photos of your adventure in the trip reports section. Things are finally starting to pick back up in the forums now that we addressed the DNS issue that practically killed all activity on here.
***New Member Introductions***
- Thread starter OTG Ben
- Start date
Awesome and congrats! Please post photos of your adventure in the trip reports section. Things are finally starting to pick back up in the forums now that we addressed the DNS issue that practically killed all activity on here.
GreenGrenadier
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2024
- Messages
- 10
Thanks! I'll post when we get back.
DTAdventure
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2024
- Messages
- 5
Hi there,
Been a subscriber for the trail guides and I am in the FB group as well, but did not know there was a forum until I saw Ben posting about potentially planned group runs in fall.
I am Christoph, and I am located in San Diego, North County. I previously had a 2022 Ford F250 Tremor with a Supertramp camper on top of a flatbed. I sold that rig earlier this year and I am waiting for my new rig to be fully built. It's more an expedition vehicle, definitely not a rock crawler and I am planning to travel mostly off-road and work from the road.
My new rig will be ready later in September. I am planning an extended maiden voyage (from Colorado) through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and then loosely work my way south following the 101.
Been a subscriber for the trail guides and I am in the FB group as well, but did not know there was a forum until I saw Ben posting about potentially planned group runs in fall.
I am Christoph, and I am located in San Diego, North County. I previously had a 2022 Ford F250 Tremor with a Supertramp camper on top of a flatbed. I sold that rig earlier this year and I am waiting for my new rig to be fully built. It's more an expedition vehicle, definitely not a rock crawler and I am planning to travel mostly off-road and work from the road.
My new rig will be ready later in September. I am planning an extended maiden voyage (from Colorado) through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and then loosely work my way south following the 101.
Welcome to a world void of shit posts (that'd be the metaverse)! I've been looking at the Supertramp for some time. Did you by chance create a youtube video about it... did your rig have a Sherptek flatbed?
DTAdventure
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2024
- Messages
- 5
Thank you for the welcome. No, I had a highly customized Mits Alloy flatbed. The Sherptek did not provide the sealed storage you want when traveling offroad (or in general). Initially, I wanted a Bowen Customs, but their lead times are insane. That is why I went with the Mits. Great product, but it sits too high on a truck and I had my off-road shop lower it so that the camper sat at a lower height. The Supertramp is fantastic for part-time travel or a vacation, but very limiting when trying to go full-time. I was also an early adopter (unit #51) and discovered a lot of shortcomings. A lot of my findings helped the Supertramp crew to make the camper better.
I do have a camper tour on YouTube, but want to be considerate here and not SPAM the forum. If you search for @dtadventure4x4 on YT, you will find it.
I do have a camper tour on YouTube, but want to be considerate here and not SPAM the forum. If you search for @dtadventure4x4 on YT, you will find it.
Good to know @DTAdventure I'm curious, where did you feel there were shortcomings with the Supertramp in terms of full time living? I've got a house and family, but I have some longer trips planned, but nothing like 6 months on the road. And thanks for the info re: Sherpatek. Sealed storage is an absolutely must for the places we go.
DTAdventure
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2024
- Messages
- 5
The Supertramp is great for adventuring, sleeping, and having some comfortable protection from the elements when going on a 10-day trip for vacation. Where it fails is as follows:
Seating/Dinette: No matter where you put the Lagun table, it will always be in the way in one way or the other. It looks great in the tour videos where a single person rotates it around, out of the way, etc. But in a real life scenario it will be in the way unless you are the single occupant.
Electrical: The original DC to DC charger and MPPT solar controller were completely undersized. They made some improvements following my suggestions, but you still have to spend money on optional upgrades if you want to use the AC or run Starlink and some other things and have the ability to recharge the batteries properly.
Storage: Again, in the tour videos it all looks great. Plenty of storage - which is true. But no matter what you may need, you cannot just simply open a cabinet door and grab it. You will always have to remove pillows, lift the bed, and so on. For a week-long trip this is not a big deal, but when you want to spend extended time in the Supertramp it becomes old and cumbersome quickly - especially, if you are not alone. OEV has started to offer some upper cabinets now which is a great addition to their campers. I have the feeling Supertramp will follow suite on that as well. I am adding the shower setup here under storage. The shower is technically easy to set up - especially, when it is just you inside the camper. But with more than one person it can be challenging. If you want to use the toilet at night (or whenever inside with the door closed), you either have to open the storage section it is in, remove the pillow, lift the cover and then either open the toiled or lift it out and place it somewhere. I placed it in the corner at the door on the pillow so that I could take it easily in the dark, put it on the floor and use it. If you try to remove the pillow and open the storage in the middle of the night, you will be fully awake by the time you use the toiled. This is really just for when inside and mostly at night. During the day, I always go outside for #1 and if it is not too cold and nobody around, I take the toilet outside and go #2 while enjoying the scenery.
Living space: If you spend time inside the Supertramp on cold nights or rainy days, it is very cumbersome to move around due to reasons mentioned above. But you also do not have a good space to put your wet boots and a wet jacket. Or if you have a larger size dog it is difficult as well. For a week during summer or the warm weather season where you enjoy the outdoors it is all good, but for longer term I did not like it.
Customization: The technical side of the Supertramp is actually fairly easy to upgrade from an access perspective. Of course it is not cheap, but having access to all the electrical or plumbing is very convenient when making upgrades. The living space itself is much more difficult. When I visited Supertramp in Colorado I looked at the living space and pictured where I would mount a foldable table top to make a desk and a few other things. The counter/cabinet walls however are actually super thin. Not something I inspected when I was there. I simply assumed that it should be easy to do. Same thing with drilling holes into the walls to attach things to the walls. It is not possible in most sections of the camper. It is composite material and unless the specific section has stronger material composition or support inside the wall, the Supertramp team recommends not do it. So, I could not install a monitor stand or a foldable table top or a shelf or whatever. I made assumptions and I should have checked, but you see all those van conversions, camping trailer conversions, and and and - it looks so easy to do and then you find out the hard way you can't.
Unfortunately, when you buy a camper (any camper) it is hard to think of all these things and scenarios, and test them out or picture the more cumbersome tasks when inside a truck camper. In larger rigs it is less an issue, but with a slide-in it is easy to fall into the trap. I am "complaining" from a high level. I am picky, but my use case is for longer term travel at a time and I did not expect this - so, my frustration is probably a bit higher. I pictured myself doing work and other things and it is not enough.
The Supertramp is of high quality. I did not have any issues. Everything worked while I had it. It is comfortable and beautiful. There is a great team behind it. They are trying hard and they are listening to their customers. I definitely pushed the boundaries a bit haha
Seating/Dinette: No matter where you put the Lagun table, it will always be in the way in one way or the other. It looks great in the tour videos where a single person rotates it around, out of the way, etc. But in a real life scenario it will be in the way unless you are the single occupant.
Electrical: The original DC to DC charger and MPPT solar controller were completely undersized. They made some improvements following my suggestions, but you still have to spend money on optional upgrades if you want to use the AC or run Starlink and some other things and have the ability to recharge the batteries properly.
Storage: Again, in the tour videos it all looks great. Plenty of storage - which is true. But no matter what you may need, you cannot just simply open a cabinet door and grab it. You will always have to remove pillows, lift the bed, and so on. For a week-long trip this is not a big deal, but when you want to spend extended time in the Supertramp it becomes old and cumbersome quickly - especially, if you are not alone. OEV has started to offer some upper cabinets now which is a great addition to their campers. I have the feeling Supertramp will follow suite on that as well. I am adding the shower setup here under storage. The shower is technically easy to set up - especially, when it is just you inside the camper. But with more than one person it can be challenging. If you want to use the toilet at night (or whenever inside with the door closed), you either have to open the storage section it is in, remove the pillow, lift the cover and then either open the toiled or lift it out and place it somewhere. I placed it in the corner at the door on the pillow so that I could take it easily in the dark, put it on the floor and use it. If you try to remove the pillow and open the storage in the middle of the night, you will be fully awake by the time you use the toiled. This is really just for when inside and mostly at night. During the day, I always go outside for #1 and if it is not too cold and nobody around, I take the toilet outside and go #2 while enjoying the scenery.
Living space: If you spend time inside the Supertramp on cold nights or rainy days, it is very cumbersome to move around due to reasons mentioned above. But you also do not have a good space to put your wet boots and a wet jacket. Or if you have a larger size dog it is difficult as well. For a week during summer or the warm weather season where you enjoy the outdoors it is all good, but for longer term I did not like it.
Customization: The technical side of the Supertramp is actually fairly easy to upgrade from an access perspective. Of course it is not cheap, but having access to all the electrical or plumbing is very convenient when making upgrades. The living space itself is much more difficult. When I visited Supertramp in Colorado I looked at the living space and pictured where I would mount a foldable table top to make a desk and a few other things. The counter/cabinet walls however are actually super thin. Not something I inspected when I was there. I simply assumed that it should be easy to do. Same thing with drilling holes into the walls to attach things to the walls. It is not possible in most sections of the camper. It is composite material and unless the specific section has stronger material composition or support inside the wall, the Supertramp team recommends not do it. So, I could not install a monitor stand or a foldable table top or a shelf or whatever. I made assumptions and I should have checked, but you see all those van conversions, camping trailer conversions, and and and - it looks so easy to do and then you find out the hard way you can't.
Unfortunately, when you buy a camper (any camper) it is hard to think of all these things and scenarios, and test them out or picture the more cumbersome tasks when inside a truck camper. In larger rigs it is less an issue, but with a slide-in it is easy to fall into the trap. I am "complaining" from a high level. I am picky, but my use case is for longer term travel at a time and I did not expect this - so, my frustration is probably a bit higher. I pictured myself doing work and other things and it is not enough.
The Supertramp is of high quality. I did not have any issues. Everything worked while I had it. It is comfortable and beautiful. There is a great team behind it. They are trying hard and they are listening to their customers. I definitely pushed the boundaries a bit haha
DTAdventure
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2024
- Messages
- 5
Regarding the flatbed in your case, make sure to measure everything. I was shocked to see how tall my rig was when the camper was installed on top of the flatbed. I had 1.5 ft. of space between the truck roof and the bottom of the camper bed overhang. That creates a lot of sway or trouble when off-camber. It also slows down the truck a lot, and your MPG goes to shiizzz.
I had the flatbed lowered, lost some storage along the way (which was fine) and that made it so much better. I will attach a picture of before and after below. If I would do it again, I would go with a Bowen custom bed or someone that makes custom beds and really optimizes it for your truck. No off the shelf flatbed like a Mits Alloy. Great flatbed, but way too high above the frame.
I had the flatbed lowered, lost some storage along the way (which was fine) and that made it so much better. I will attach a picture of before and after below. If I would do it again, I would go with a Bowen custom bed or someone that makes custom beds and really optimizes it for your truck. No off the shelf flatbed like a Mits Alloy. Great flatbed, but way too high above the frame.
Thanks for sharing Cristoph @DTAdventure
Looks like you were also running the Carli Pintop setup, which I also have. Did you feel like once you added on the camper, you were getting more body roll than expected? I feel like I need stiffer front springs, but not an option with Carli...
Looks like you were also running the Carli Pintop setup, which I also have. Did you feel like once you added on the camper, you were getting more body roll than expected? I feel like I need stiffer front springs, but not an option with Carli...
DTAdventure
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2024
- Messages
- 5
Correct. Carli Pintop with the 2.5" lift. I ran the Carli XHD leafs in the rear + added a Helwig sway bar. The rear was the body roll problem. Keep in mind that Carli makes the ride softer and you may even lose some weight capacity because of that. Softer, more comfortable ride but with a trade-off. Once you add that much weight it is difficult to find the right balance between comfort and stability. Carli can custom tune the shocks for you - it is just not offered "off the shelf".
I forgot what his name is, but there is a guy at Carli that has been in a few of the CJC Offroad videos. I think his name is Dan. He seems to be around in forums as well. May be worth hitting him up and talk custom tune (or talk to CJC). CJC does not sell the XXHD (3500lbs) leaf springs without custom tune on the shocks. So, it is definitely do-able.
My new rig has the XXHD. I am skipping the sway bar for now. Need to take the rig off-road first when I get it in September to see how good the ride is. I did not mind the sway bar at the other rig. It reduces the clearance, but is easy to remove if really becoming an issue.
I forgot what his name is, but there is a guy at Carli that has been in a few of the CJC Offroad videos. I think his name is Dan. He seems to be around in forums as well. May be worth hitting him up and talk custom tune (or talk to CJC). CJC does not sell the XXHD (3500lbs) leaf springs without custom tune on the shocks. So, it is definitely do-able.
My new rig has the XXHD. I am skipping the sway bar for now. Need to take the rig off-road first when I get it in September to see how good the ride is. I did not mind the sway bar at the other rig. It reduces the clearance, but is easy to remove if really becoming an issue.
Hello all,
I'm Fred, currently living in Portland, OR with wife Laura and two Aussie-based dogs. I'm pretty new to Overlanding (with a capital "O"), but I've driving around on crappy roads and camping for forty-something years now. In my younger days, I spent a year dirt-bagging in a Subaru wagon, bashing around the West, plus innumerable weeks and months on various trips, bound for climbing or mtn. biking or backpacking and just generally getting off-grid.
My current usual haunts are the Eastern Sierra, Trinity Alps, and southeastern Oregon.
My rig is a 2016 Subaru Forester, gently lifted and re-sprung, under-armored, and topped with a Roofnest Sparrow tent I'm not crazy about. Glad to be here!
I'm Fred, currently living in Portland, OR with wife Laura and two Aussie-based dogs. I'm pretty new to Overlanding (with a capital "O"), but I've driving around on crappy roads and camping for forty-something years now. In my younger days, I spent a year dirt-bagging in a Subaru wagon, bashing around the West, plus innumerable weeks and months on various trips, bound for climbing or mtn. biking or backpacking and just generally getting off-grid.
My current usual haunts are the Eastern Sierra, Trinity Alps, and southeastern Oregon.
My rig is a 2016 Subaru Forester, gently lifted and re-sprung, under-armored, and topped with a Roofnest Sparrow tent I'm not crazy about. Glad to be here!
Hello folks my name is Dennis (MTROVR) and I just joined! I live in Truckee, CA, so I have many trails up here to explore. I'm a long time Land Rover fan and just purchased a new Defender 110 (English spouse had something to do with it). As a long time Mountain Biker I loved exploring trails to find exciting locations, so I plan to do the same with my 4x4 family now. Hoping to join some events in my area soon as I move from day tripping to overloading. Nice to meet you all!
Dusty_Mayfield
Trail Grom
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2024
- Messages
- 3
Howdy. My name is Geoff and I live just north of Santa Rosa in Northern California. Recently an idiot driver ran into my pick up truck while my son was driving. This unfortunate event forced me to have to buy a 2021 Toyota 4runner SR5 premium. I’ve had my eye on 4runners for a long time, but never had the opportunity to buy one until now. I stumbled across this website while looking for remote campsites. Just last weekend I was able to experience the lost coast in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. I saw three lighthouses, camped Usal Beach and A.W. Way campground, and drove back through the avenue of the Giants.
Welcome to the OTG family @Dusty_Mayfield ! If you're looking to join one of our group runs, definitely keep an eye on our events page! How'd you like the hike to the lighthouse? Did you find the truck-in-a-tree on the drive out to Mattole Beach?
Hello. Returning member. Was a Patreon back in May 2020 when I had my 1st sprinter van. Covid complications lead to selling that van and avoiding OTG. 
Some of the best family memories are trips we made in that van - Baja, Utah, and Vancouver Island where some of my favorites.
The itch can't be denied, and I'm back in the market for a van again, and an active subscriber to OTG. Hopefully have closed on a van, and if all goes well will be picking it up in ~2 weeks. Will share pics if/when I get it.
I live in Santa Rosa, CA
Some of the best family memories are trips we made in that van - Baja, Utah, and Vancouver Island where some of my favorites.The itch can't be denied, and I'm back in the market for a van again, and an active subscriber to OTG. Hopefully have closed on a van, and if all goes well will be picking it up in ~2 weeks. Will share pics if/when I get it.
I live in Santa Rosa, CA
Hello. Returning member. Was a Patreon back in May 2020 when I had my 1st sprinter van. Covid complications lead to selling that van and avoiding OTG.
The itch can't be denied, and I'm back in the market for a van again, and an active subscriber to OTG. Hopefully have closed on a van, and if all goes well will be picking it up in ~2 weeks. Will share pics if/when I get it.
I live in Santa Rosa, CA
Welcome, but I should probably say, welcome back! I've been thinking of doing a big Van Island trip in 2025. What'd you think of your time up that way?
Good day everyone,
I joined otg a while ago now.
But I couldn't introduce myself. (because I'm hopeless when it comes to tech)
At least I can follow the marked route on the Gaia map.
My wife and I live in Moab, I've been doing this for a lot of years now, but I'm still not an expert.
I don't have a cool new vehicle, but an old Ford van, and old jeep cherokee.
I joined otg a while ago now.
But I couldn't introduce myself. (because I'm hopeless when it comes to tech)
At least I can follow the marked route on the Gaia map.
My wife and I live in Moab, I've been doing this for a lot of years now, but I'm still not an expert.
I don't have a cool new vehicle, but an old Ford van, and old jeep cherokee.