HELP! 2 Door Overlander - Am I foolish to think it will work?

[Old Guy]

I take it all back, if that's Overlanding, you need more than a 2dr!

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[DustyBronco]

You can overland on two wheels, certainly you can do it with two doors.

 

[rlynch356]

for examples - many of the Land Rover Defender 90 owners like myself use our rigs for what is now called overlanding.
I usually just call it camping but whatever.

I just use an OZ tent, have a fridge, shower and other stuff for multiple day trips away from civilization when I go camping on the trails.

Once you start doing this a while you realize that less is more, and you start chucking stuff you don't use.

My normal load out is the oz tent, cot, sleeping stuff, fridge, 1 front runner wolf box of food, 1 Wolf box of spares, tools are in a internal side load space locker, 2 recovery gear bags. 5 gal jerry can for water, my shower system (if going for 3 days or so) in a wolf box, small set of kitchen stuff in another 1 wolf box.. So in total 4 wolf boxes, 2 bags and my clothes is what I take. It all fits neatly strapped down in the back with room for a medium sized dog right behind the front seats. Roof load is tent and jerry can for water. If I am going far from gas stations, another jerry can of fuel but thats pretty rare. I am contemplating getting a drawer system, which would move the contents of the kitchen and spares wolf boxes and the recovery gear bags into it, freeing up more load space inside but its a nice to have, not a necessity. it's all quick to pack right now and organized.

The 2DR bronco looks to have even more room in the back with the rear seats out than a Defender 90 so should be plenty of space.

 

[MoabRox]

Hell man, people been camping in rigs smaller than the door since people had cars.

2/4 man tent, cots, food, water. Get a roof rack and basket if you need more stuff. Camping (overlanding now), is not that complicated. Seems like people get stymied if they cant fit the largest fridge in the rig now. I was looking at car fridges couple days ago. Damn this Overlanding is tough. smile.

Speaking of fridges.... Check out ICECO 12V refrigerators (icecofreezer.com). Excellent fridges in a variety of sizes, and at very reasonable prices (especially compared to the well known "Overlanding" ones).

I used to make fun of them, but after spending a weekend camping with a friend who has one, I bought one. It's great not having to worry about running out of ice and I can pack a whole lot more food into it (compared to a Yeti style cooler with similar exterior dimensions). You'll definitely want to upgrade your battery, though, to an AGM combination style, or better yet (if you have room), install a second deep cycle battery. Batteries is a whole other topic.

 

[Old Guy]

Looks good. I am more of a Coleman cheapo plug in guy, who wants his drinks cold on the way to the hotel.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

I’ve survived and thrived for 28 days along the continental divide trail with this bike and whatever I could pack into the bags... one of the best experiences of my life

A two door bronco will be luxurious for any adventure and shit I will need to carry..

What kind of bars are those? They look like a cross between moustache bars and traditional drop bars. Cheers!

 

[Rebel Bronc]

To answer the original post, the concept has been around since the original Bronco. It’s been the blueprint for adventure since I was a wee lad.

 

[BroncoJay]

What kind of bars are those? They look like a cross between moustache bars and traditional drop bars. Cheers!

Drop bars with “aero’ bars attached to hold bar bags that hold my sleeping gear...
Bike is made by Salsa cycles

 

[Roger123]

I've searched the interwebs to find pictures or other threads on the concept of a 2 Door Overlander (Not a lot of help there). I understand the space limitations, but I'm still in lust with the look of the 2 door. I currently do not do any off-road driving, although I do ride along with friends. I am planning on starting off-roading with my Bronco and learning the ropes as I go. My question, is when I've learned how to properly and safely off-road, will my new 2 Door be able to accommodate an overlanding camping lifestyle? (1-2 Adults, if my wife decides to join) Being able to primitive camp while on the trail and move along to a new trail the next day is appealing to me. I love to set a vacation time with no destination finalized, just see how things go along the way.

I can afford a Badlands 2 Door with Mid, but the 4 Door stretches the budget too much, so I would likely need to go to a 4 Door Black Diamond with Mid and do a lift later down the road. I mentioned that I don't actually do off-roading now, am I better having fun with the 2 door and trying to make it work, kick the can down the road and look at the 4 door when I've decided that the limited space is too much to deal with? Or do I just bite the bullet and go with a 4 door now and have a great looking rig that will also accommodate my future needs?

Two weeks a year overlanding, camping, whatever you choose to call it, is about 5% of your overall use of the vehicle. Is looking at the car 95% of the time and saying, man, I wish it was a 2 door worth the 5%?

I camp out of my GC and the biggest disadvantage I'll have with the 2 door Bronco is not being able to sleep in it. I sleep in my GC about 4 nights/ year in the winter (more in summer) and REALLY like hitting the remote start and warming it up inside as well as being able to cook without getting out of the car in poor weather. Not as big of a deal in summer as I can just as easily tent camp. So I had to ask myself, self, is 4 nights a year worth getting a car that you're not in love with the other 361 days a year? Answer for me was absolutely NOT!

I'm a motorcycle traveler as well and have learned over the last 20 years to significantly reduce my "stuff" as has been suggested in many posts above. I did a 40 day trip in '16 and spent 30 nights in my tent while living out of my saddle bags. Every town in the US now has a Dollar General and you can get a TON of stuff from them, no need to pack days of food/ other "stuff" as you can always get what you need. I'd stop at a store before finding my camp site (many wilderness camps) and pick up a few items for the evening (mainly beer, LOL) and have a wonderful supper.

A small REI camp chair, small camp table, Jet Boil stove, some collapsible pots, pans, bowls, cups, etc. is all you need.

Most people are not going to travel for more than 5 days "overlanding" and not stop by a store, hell, you'll need gas every day or so anyway, right?

Now, having said that, yes, I'm sure there are some HC off-roaders packing everything including fuel for a few weeks but I don't think that's what the OP is looking for anyway.

 

[TiredOldMedic]

It really depends on how much gear you intend to bring. People go backpacking for a week or more with the gear they can carry on their back. That amount of gear will easily fit in a two door. If you want an RTT, fridge, generator, multi-burner stove, chairs, other luxuries, etc, for a family of 4, even a 4 door will be short on room.

My wife and I motorcycle camp. We fit everything in this bag. All lightweight backpacking gear. It weighs around 60 pounds.

 

[gimlithepirate]

So overlanding has come to mean a lot of things, which makes your questions tougher than it should be. For me, overlanding means driving on dirt or primitive roads and specifically camping in places you can't get to without at least 4x4. The distinction between overlanding and offroading comes from whether you go looking for gnarly obstacles like most 'ffroaders do, or if you just use 4x4 to get to interesting places.

With that definition in mind, for 1-2 adults a 2 door bronco will make a fantastic overlander in whatever trim you buy. Honestly, the BD is going to be a great overlanding setup. The rear locker will get you out of trouble (always important when you are hours from pavement), and the metal protection will keep you safe. BL is geared more towards people who go looking for trouble. To really use the totality of the BL's capabilities, you are going to need to specifically seek out trails that use that. So from a capability standpoint either a BL or a BD will go overlanding. Heck, a lockerless base will do most of the trails around Durango and Silverton in CO, except for Poughkipsie Gulch. So don't sweat BD vs BL if this is your first 'ffroader.

Now, onto the more relevant question of can you fit gear in a 2 door. That is an unequivocal yes. A great overlanding setup is a good old fashioned tent with bags and pads, a 12 volt fridge or cooler, some folding chairs, a roll up table, water, food, and cook gear. I have 2x of the small yellow and black bins from Home Depot that fit most of the cook gear and camp sundries in, with a third for food. Pack wise in a 2 door, fold the back seat down, stick the fridge in the back, put drinks in a layer across the back seats, and then your three bins on top of the drinks. If you want to get really fancy, get you some water bags, and hang them from the sides of the back seat.

I don't think overlanding with 3-4 is really feasible with a 2 door bronco (much to my chagrin) unless you pull a trailer, but for your use case, I would totally go with a 2 door.

 

[jwoobs]

I've camped in Olympic NP out of a rental car and an REI 2-person tent.

I did the same in Utah with a Jetta. Some nights I just folded the rear seats down and slept in the trunk.

Those were both great trips, and the fact that I was out there in a NP sticks with me way more than the fact that I had to rough it and eat a lot of beef jerky. I think you'll be happy overlanding / camping in whatever vehicle you choose. If anything, get the 2dr Black Diamond mid, and put the excess $$ towards traveling.

One parting thought, you can always pack less sh*t into a 2-dr, but you can't make a 4 door pretty.

 

[Roger123]

One parting thought, you can always pack less sh*t into a 2-dr, but you can't make a 4 door pretty.

Keyboard ruined when coffee spit onto it from laughing so hard.

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