Dont pick on the new guy.

[dhawkins556]

Alright, so I am new to this page and new to the whole concept of "Overlanding". I love being outdoors, and have since I was a child. I've been camping plenty of times when I was in the Scouts, and in my adult life too. I have never thought about using my vehicle to supplement my camping experience, until finding this site. I live in south Louisiana, which can be obnoxiously hot in the summer, but we already have a trip planned for a weekend once fall hits. We have a camp about 45min from home which is where we camp. We love the river there and the small amount of woods, but it is mostly sand, which can be a pain.

My main question is about vehicle modification.

I have a 1999 Ford Explorer XLT 2wd...

What would be the first modifications y'all would make?
Would a 2wd handle what I need it to?

I will be getting a tent that connects to the open rear hatch, my wife is out on a RTT

Thanks y'all!

 

[CountryHandyMan]

Not knowing what you hope to accomplish it's hard to say if 2wd will work for you. A person get get a lot of fun out of a 2wd with cautious driving. I'm in Maine and have covered many a mile in the Great North Woods in a 2wd Ford Ranger with a cap. I always believe tow hooks and a nice strap are the first things to add, even more than off-road tires. Anything can get stuck, without a solid way to get pulled out none of your stuff is going anywhere.

Good luck, happy trails

 

[dhawkins556]

Not knowing what you hope to accomplish it's hard to say if 2wd will work for you. A person get get a lot of fun out of a 2wd with cautious driving. I'm in Maine and have covered many a mile in the Great North Woods in a 2wd Ford Ranger with a cap. I always believe tow hooks and a nice strap are the first things to add, even more than off-road tires. Anything can get stuck, without a solid way to get pulled out none of your stuff is going anywhere.

Good luck, happy trails

Sorry, I guess I should have covered that lol. I am too scatter-brained.

I will not be bouncing over rocks, or looking for a good mud hole. Just need to get too and from campsite, whatever that my entail.

What sort of hooks would you go with? And how would you go about mounting them?
What kind of strap/s would you look for?

 

[Hilldweller]

2WD can get you pretty far if you have good tires and drive well.
But, if you're on sand, it would be good to be with a buddy, have recovery points, a kinetic recovery strap, good bow shackles, etc.
If you're a solo adventurer, a new bumper with a winch would be a good investment.

There are a number of good threads about basic recovery gear, first aid kits, upfitting, etc. Dig around a bit and you'll get dozens of points of view...

 

[CountryHandyMan]

Well, I prefer a good snatch strap, they differ from a tow strap. A snatch strap will stretch a little during a hard pull, it'll cushion the vehicles involved. A tow strap behaves like a chain, if someone is yanking on it it's violent and sometimes dangerous. Expect to pay a bit more for quality (I paid $73 this morning for an ARB brand strap from 4x4 Group Buy with shipping) avoid the Walmart ones with the metal hook ends.

For tow hooks, a Reese style trailer hitch works great in the rear. Don't hook onto the ball, instead push the loop on the strap into the tube and use the hitch pin to hold it. Even better you can buy a shackle mount that goes in the hitch.

For the front, that's more tricky, perhaps the factory 4x4 hooks will bolt up on your 2x4? You'll have to do some Googling I guess as I've never even seen a 2wd Explorer.

 

[east_tn_81]

Hello and welcome. Overlanding do sent just to be by vehicle it can be by foot, bike, boat, or what ever. If you are going to use your vehicle and it is 2wd I would make sure I have some recovery gear like what was said earlier some hooks, shovel, maybe some traction mats, and a snatch rope. Look at Bubba rope for a recovery rope. I would also check out http://www.explorerforum.com/ for some ideas on modes and hooks. They are a great resource. Good luck.

 

[PJorgen]

I camped for years in a 1994 2wd Explorer with no problems. Never got stuck and never needed recovery gear. Just bring along a healthy dose of common sense and be prepared to turn when the road/trail gets questionable.

 

[rayra]

Camping with vehicle, an awning of some type. Vehicle-mounted chuck wagon food prep areas are nice too. Built in water storage and dispensing gear. Vehicle-integrated hot shower. surf-fishing -style rod holders on the front bumper. Vehicle-mounted fish-cleaning station. Roof-top solar insolated hot water tank / shower. Roof rack mounted utility / area lighting for use in a campsite. All sorts of power inverter flavors and connectors and aux battery for powering all manner of devices.

 

[harryc]

The main thing driving on sand 2wd or 4wd is to let your tires down. Start at 18 psi. If you're still struggling, try 15, then 12. Take it slow as so you don't roll a tire off the rim, and don't forget to reinflate when you're back on the highway. Back in the 70s it was common for people to take 2wd sedans onto the beach here. Crossing the dunes was a struggle, but low tire pressure and maintaining a steady speed did the trick.