5 Overlanding Vehicle Modifications I'll Never Do To My Rig Again...

If you haven't seen/listened to last week's episode, check it out here (podcast: podcasters.spo...) or here (KZbin: • Top 5 Vehicle Modifica... ) because it was the 5 things I'll ALWAYS do to my overlanding vehicles going forward.
In this episode, I'm going to talk through the 5 vehicle modifications I've learned better than to do after 5 years of trips. Watch the full episode and drop your comments below for what you think you would never do to your overlanding vehicle.
Here are the things I mentioned in the episode to make finding them easy:
Here's my new roof top tent: openroad4wd.co...
And here's the similar, but less expensive tent (under $2K): openroad4wd.co...
Naturnest roof top tent: amzn.to/3O2GCl0
Here's the other variant of the tent with the awning just off the back if you prefer: amzn.to/3O2tw7a
RC Killa Supension for 3rd Gen Frontier from All Dogs Offroad: www.alldogsoff...
I'm also trying something new with KZbin memberships. It's a simple way to support the channel if you'd like and you get early access to all the videos plus some other fun perks. If you're interested, click on the "Join" button below to see how it works!
A huge thanks to my featured partners:
Going to MOORE Expo this year? Click here and use code ALLTHINGSO10 for 10% off your tickets: bit.ly/423cH1u
ICECO Fridges (the best fridges for the money, hands down-Use code ALLTHINGSOVERLANDING for 12% off your order): icecofreezer.c...
Kenda Tires (my favorite tires for the last 10 years): bit.ly/3YSwrlh
REDARC (all kinds of trick power management solutions): bit.ly/3x4KiaA
Northology Adventures (sign up for their FREE monthly magazine and check out their events!): bit.ly/3jvJG7J
Click here to join the Patreon community (and hop in the 24/7 Discord!): / allthingsoverlanding
Click here to get patches or stickers: allthingsoverl...
For a full list of my gear, check out this page for quick reference links: allthingsoverl...
Looking for budget light bars, rock lights, and LED strips for your rig? Check out Nilight and use code ATO for 5% off! bit.ly/38xBkMf
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[@calcustom5026]

I have a Classic defender 110 with OME lift, 35's, snorkel, limb risers, extensive lighting, full roof rack, Rtt, awning, snorkel, front and rear winches, full front/rear/underside armor, swing out tire and cargo carriers, dual battery system, 10 gallon plumbed water tank, built in cabinets, etc... it has everything I've ever wanted in a rig. I almost never use it. I also have an LX570 on 33's with a simple cargo drawer and drawer fridge that can act as a bed platform when I fold the second row seats down. Other than that and an air system it's a totally normal daily driver, but if I want to go on an adventure I toss my kampkeeper and power station into the back. It does everything my defender does for significantly less effort.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Definitely pros and cons! Depends on how often you go, what your needs are, where you go etc. the longer I’ve done this the more I just kind of want simple and easy, 😀.

[@timsilva1944]

As a single man I'd suggest a truck with a long bed and a cap. Make a bed platform with storage underneath. It's so easy to pull over, move a few things and sleep. No mucking around with any tent and unless you're over 6 foot, you can close it up in adverse weather or to keep insects at bay. Sure some dust can get in, but it's nothing compared to the alternatives.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

That’s a great setup.

[@juhoukkola2306]

As someone who owns OBS F150 with long bed, I was very confused why it would be an issue if someone is over 6 foot and tries to sleep there. Then I remembered that bed sizes are not the same as those were in the 90's. Even the short bed on F150 was 6 1/2 foot...

[@johnsanchez1619]

Thanks for the tips! I agree with what you have shared. I recently added a RSI EVO Adventure SmartCap to my F250, love it!

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Those things are sweet, congrats!

[@VanWo]

Totally agree on the bed rack deal..... on my new truck I'm going Diamondback with rack on top. Also 100% support the no drilling cutting shit, I've regretted that everytime.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who regrets drilling holes in things, :D.

[@kenmcdougal97]

New sub. I was in a catastrophic T-bone accident 3 years ago with the settlement I bought a alu cab canopy camper for my new tacoma I turn 60 years old this year I didn't want to break a leg climbing down a ladder at 2am to pee lol

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Haha, those are great! I'd get one if I could afford it, :D.

[@ambulingadventures-stan1050]

Excellent content ... just sold my 4x4 ambulance and now looking for a truck set-up. Good info. Thanks for sharing.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Thanks and welcome! Ambulance builds are sweet. Good luck with the new build!

[@jonnewbury3482]

Don’t sleep on Harbor Freight lights. I’ve had great luck with them. Aux beam from Amazon has done well too. Do they beat my Baja Designs no but they have their use.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Good call out. I've never run the Harbor Freight lights, so good to know they're decent!

[@dadventuretv2538]

Great vid and excellent advice. I agree with all of it. Couple of points in addition that I would make to people as the follows: -rooftop tent - the two most important factors are weight and the mattress. I am currently running a Centauri RTT that was $2300 and is just as good as the name brands once I replaced the OEM struts with their stainless steel ones- $120 -auxiliary lighting - ask yourself if you really need it at all? Are you really going to be offloading in the dark? If so, by all means get it. But I see so many people with them that never ever off-road in conditions where they need them. If that’s where you want to spend your money that’s fine, but from a practical standpoint, so many people can do without them. -on the topic of lighting, do spend the money on a quick and easy to set up camp so that if you are pulling into camp in low light conditions, you can get it out and put it up easily. I use and highly recommend the Devos light ranger 1200. Absolutely one of the best investments you can make, especially the motion sensors and extra battery. -suspension don’t do a spacer lift system. Bite the bullet on your suspension and do it right with a good suspension lift that corrects the geometry, it will make everything about your vehicle better. I am running the AEV dual sport suspension lift on my jeep gladiator Rubicon. It was about $2300 plus install which I did not do myself. It is well worth the money as it is actually designed to handle the weight of overlanding vehicles. Truck drives like a dream both on and off road. -Bed racks- 100% completely agree with you. Other than a weight savings if necessary, I really do not understand them. I went straight with the Alu-Cab canopy with a rooftop tent and could not be happier. Having a closed in bed also allows me to store about 80% of my off-road and camping gear in there along with all of my mountain bike gear, including my mountain bike, 24/7 so there is very little packing to do for a trip. I literally could live a couple of nights out of my vehicle as is without even packing anything else. As to canopy plus RTT versus a camper with a pop-up top like an aluminum-Cab Camper, aside from cost difference, it all depends on your use. If you are going to be carrying a lot of stuff like toys like mountain bikes, or things like that in the bed, I find the canopy plus RTT works better (you can attach things to the roof so you can pack from the roof down as well as from floor up, plus being able to access from sides is key- half of my gear pack and get out from the side and very rarely ever have to crawl inside and can avoid needing those heavy bed slides). If you’re solely going to be using it to stay in or will be doing long trips over multiple nights, camper is a great thing because it allows you space to hang out, get out of any bad weather, and many like the Alu-Cab have a built in heater. -Perm Drilling- agree 100%. There are so many options to avoid drilling- from products that use factory bolt locations to SeaSucker mounts. Check out MORryde Jerry Can mount- I just ordered and stoked to have a low down, equally weighted on both sides way to carry water that uses stock bolts to mount.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

This is all amazing stuff. Thanks for taking the time to share all that!

[@dadventuretv2538]

@@AllThingsOverlanding this is such a fun hobby and we all are learning from each other’s experiences.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

@@dadventuretv2538 For sure!

[@starchman5071]

Great content.love the intro.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

:D Thanks!

[@ohhailkingbobby1073]

Lots of things I wished I hadnt done as well But we live and we learn Bedrack was one of the most annoying things Hardly any access to the sides so I switch it up

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Yep! Always good to improve over time. I look back at some of the earlier things I did and I'm definitely loving the constantly improving set up now a days.

[@znovosad555]

I think a very big common misconception is that everyone needs big rooftop tents and the expensive trailers, and just sinking money. Normal camping supplies work well. Performance is everything first IMO as a newbie. The only new piece of camping equipment i want is a swag/cot instead of a ground tent. Rooftop tent just wouldnt work for me.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

It's definitely not for everybody and there are a lot of options out there. I was a hammock camper for years before moving to an RTT and I do miss the lightweight and simplicity of that setup compared to the new one, but man can I set up and tear down way quicker with the RTT, haha. Does better in winter with a diesel heater too, but that's just my preference.

[@znovosad555]

@@AllThingsOverlanding i think for me personally the simplicity that the cot/swag provides while also retaining easy setup and comfort of a RTT is whats drawing me to it. But ground tents im getting tired of lol. Backpacking setups are only so good after some time. I will say if doing a lot of stopping, and moving thats certainly nice to setup quickly and breakdown quickly. Theres also tons of cheap camper options many dont consider if thats the route they go that can be upgraded with suspension/tires, etc. Not everyone needs a patriot. Definitely very underestimated options out there many dont consider

[@812Taco]

Content is cool, im ok with the intro 😂

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Noted. 😂

[@JTube571]

Seen a few videos recently on the TopOak RTT that sells for $1300 and it's getting pretty good reviews. I have somewhat committed to sleeping inside my Pathfinder as I find RTT's as a whole to all be extremely overpriced, but the TopOak unit has me considering one. My only issues are that I don't want it on top of the vehicle at all times and it would be nearly impossible for me to put it up and take it down all the time. And I'm not sure I want all that weight up high while I am doing harder trails.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

I've heard good things about the Topoak. I like the bump out on the back. The gamechanger for me with the Openroad is the extended height of the footbox. That has made sleeping so much more comfy. Totally understand the conundrum of having the tent on all the time. I've always left mine on 24/7 but there are some downsides for sure.

[@Vanguard_Spartan_00762]

Have you looked into a luno life air mattress I have a 13 Subaru Crosstrek and I got one for my car it has air up cubes that go in the back passenger foot well and match the height of the back seats when layed down and the air mattress is custom fit to go door to door across the back seat and dips in around the rear tire humps and continues straight back to the hatch and it’s made with a thicker material than normal air mattress I love mine I spent a week sleeping on it when me my dad and uncle took a trip from Texas to Missouri to visit family and camped out in the state parks my brother and I slept on it the whole time comfortable it has a split down the middle so you can only air up one side and have some gear next to you or both sides and have different firmness on either side

[@JTube571]

@@Vanguard_Spartan_00762 One of the best parts about the 05-12 Pathfinder is that all the rear seats fold perfectly flat and give a nice level place to sleep. I have looked into a different mattress and will likely pick one up soon. There's a company based out of Phoenix (where I live) that makes one I want to try.

[@Vanguard_Spartan_00762]

@@JTube571 hellyeah support your local business

[@jaketruman6816]

Content is cool, I love the into

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

😂😂😂 Thanks!

[@scibi.71]

4 roof top tents in 5 years at 1600 bucks is more expensive than my alu cab that I have had for 6 years.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Not when you sell them for almost what you paid for each. RTT’s hold their value pretty reasonably well and sell quickly. But an Alucab is sweet too!

[@scibi.71]

@@AllThingsOverlanding Well, I've had two cheaper ones and their is a difference, quality is just better all round.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

@@scibi.71 I bet!

[@Luggynug]

And here I was hoping we'd get a solar panel attached to your hood to pay homage to the Xterra. 😉

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Haha, I've matured a bit in the last 5 years or so, lol. Not much though.

[@Luggynug]

@@AllThingsOverlanding 😆

[@JTube571]

@@AllThingsOverlanding I think they make some now that use adhesive?

[@Holden-McGroin]

Taller shackles are not stressing your leaf springs, it’s all the weight you added to the rig.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

True. The weight definitely impacts it.

[@dadventuretv2538]

I have no idea why KZbin did strikethrough. Lol.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Haha, I didn't even know you could do that! You broke it, :D.

[@merlinmech2552]

Drilling holes in a Nissan might actually increase the value...If you want bigger tires, and are buying new, buy one that already has them.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Eh, buying a truck just based on bigger tires that otherwise doesn’t meet your needs doesn’t make a lot of sense. The midsize truck is perfect for everything I wanted and I bought the top trim (Pro-4x) so there weren’t any bigger tires available. Switching to a whole other vehicle just for bigger tires seems like overkill. 🤷

[@robertherrmann4823]

In most cases you get what you pay for. In most cases..

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Agreed.

[@OverlandingPhotographer]

So what you’re saying is that you’ve never bought high quality stuff and you wouldn’t suggest anyone else buying it either 😂

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Pretty sure that's not what I said. I think I said I would recommend buying higher quality stuff in certain categories, but there are some where it's unnecessary to spend a ton when the cheaper options are very similar.

[@bobbyd5608]

You dont spend thousand of dollars on rooftop tents, yet you''ve had 5 great cheap tents in the last 5 years. Sounds like thousands on top of thousands. Sorry but I find your suggestions a little convoluted.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Well, they're just my opinions so the hope is that they help others make up their own minds about stuff. You also have to keep in mind that with each of those RTT's, I learned something and then sold it for somewhat close to what I paid (they hold their value fairly well so if you use one for a year or two and then sell it for $200-400 less than you paid for it, you get most of your money back). Would I buy the same tents again, knowing what I know now? Nope, which is why I'm sharing what I've learned and what works for me. Thanks for watching though!

[@superchargedx8058]

Content is cool, I hate the intro

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

Good to know, 😂

[@OverlandUnderground]

I agree, if it’s long enough that I skip it every time it might be too much😂

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

@@OverlandUnderground It's like 20 some seconds! :D Also, remember that more often than not, the person watching the video has never seen one of my videos before which means this is my only shot to show them what the channel is about so they can decide if they want to subscribe, haha.

[@OverlandUnderground]

That’s true. It’s probably different for those of us who watch all of your videos.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

@@OverlandUnderground Haha, sorry! 😀

[@Bobbydell]

The loud inhale was distracting.

[@AllThingsOverlanding]

I’ll try to hold my breath next time.