Lately, it seems as though we have gotten slightly carried away with the rigs that we own. We love moto-riding, exploring and traveling in the camper, and we’ve recently found out that we love the van life. We also have the ultimate around-town rig – a 2007 Ural Moto w/ a sidecar – that we pin as Hank’s. Whether you’re adventuring in a 2018 Tacoma with a sweet truck bed camper, a 40 ft fifth wheel camper, or an old Subaru station wagon and camping gear, there are endless ways to get out and explore the incredible world we live in.
Adventure Rig started as a way for us to connect with like-minded individuals who had questions about and interest in traveling in an RV. We’ve always felt as though we are approachable, knowledgeable, and experienced and hope that no matter what, we continue sharing our passion for travel.
Our first rig was a Dodge dually with a truck bed camper and enclosed trailer – which we embarked on a ski trip to Alaska with. After the truck bed camper, we spun 180° and purchased a 41′ Aluminum Trailer Company toy hauler living quarters fifth wheel. With a large (but never large enough) 12-foot separate garage and huge living area, for us, this RV was an apartment on wheels. We had some great adventures in it but we realized over time that it was just too big, especially for traveling to ski destinations in the winter. We learned a valuable lesson with our ATC trailer and it is this: If your rig is holding you back from traveling and doing the things you love to do, it is not the right rig for you.
With a lot of time researching and going into the buying experience knowing exactly what we wanted and didn’t want it, Tyson then found our current rig, which is a 2016 XLR Hyper Lite 27 HFS. It is the perfect combination of garage and living space. Overall, the length of our trailer is 30 feet. Nine feet of the trailer is the garage. We have the Extreme Weather Package because we use our Hyper Lite throughout the winter.
We are happy to have a slide in the living area, which is a u-shaped dinette and adds quite a bit of floor space. We love that the trailer is still usable and livable even with the slide in. For us, we are not always in areas or environments where we can have the slide extended and so that ruled out a lot of bumper-pull toy haulers when we were initially looking.
One change we made to the garage was removing the electric bed (a full-size bed that essentially slides up and down in the garage and when not used it rests below the ceiling). Using the same mounting points and the electric and raisable mounts, we built a large shelf. The frame of the shelf is angle iron and we bolted a sheet of plywood to the angle iron to make a platform. We can now store gear on the shelf, and it essentially makes the garage a bi-level space. We also mounted two mountain bike racks on the shelf so we can have our dirt bikes on the floor level and mountain bikes (and gear) on the second level. This is a conversion that we absolutely love and don’t know what we would do without it.
We have a Planar Heater installed in our XLR and we couldn’t be happier. If you travel in your rig in the winter, this investment is absolutely worth every dime. We never use the onboard propane heater and there are a lot of benefits to going with a diesel heater (like it produces a drier heat). You can read more about our heater here.
Another product that we feel we could not live without for the trailer (ok that’s a little bit dramatic but seriously, once you go this route you will NEVER go back) is our Pit Bull Motorcycle Trailer Restraint Systems. These restraint systems make traveling and/or hauling motorcycles so easy! Our packing time has been immensely cut down because of these.
We tow our XLR with a 2015 Dodge Ram 3500 longbed SRW pickup. The switch from the dually to the SRW proved to be an upgrade we were really happy about. After selling the fifth wheel and reducing our trailer weight, we no longer felt the need for dual rear wheels. We also went with an automatic transmission and there’s no denying that it’s just easier to drive. We’re now buying 4 tires instead of 6 and when you have a lot of tires in your life, it’s nice to be able to save *a little*.
Recently we acquired a 2016 Dodge Promaster Van that we had a friend build out for us. The end goal is to sell the van but we have really enjoyed using it on a few short trips. Even though we have always made fun of #vanlifers, we can totally see ourselves owning our own personal van in the near future. We apologize for always giving the Vanlifers a hard time, we want to be you.
The motorcycle category for us seems to be a little outrageous when we spell it out on paper but, like skiin’ different pow skis, there is a need for different motos. We have two KTM Adventures – a 2006 640 and a 2007 990 – and these bikes, man we’ve had some really fun trips on these bikes. Being self-sufficient and camping off of motorcycles is an adventure unlike anything else. We also have dirt bikes and these are what we use for slayin’ single track or exploring trails in the mountains of Colorado or deserts of Utah. Tyson rides a 2013 KTM 500 XCW and I ride a 2018 Beta Xtrainer. Hank rides a 2007 Ural and let’s be honest we know that’s why many of you are here.
Literally, as we write this our head spins with maintenance lists, registration costs, insurance bills, and it often times seems overwhelming to have so many rigs. However, *and that is a big emphasis on however* the places we explore, the things we see, the memories we make, and the experiences we create are worth it all. If you can cultivate a life in which you are able to spend time in a rig, in any rig, exploring corners of the world, places close to or far from home, we truly believe that you will be fulfilled in your findings.
We don’t write this page with an attitude of look how much cool shit we have, but instead, we like to share what works for us and the rigs we’ve found to be the most beneficial for our adventures. What works for us may or may not work for you. The opportunities are truly endless!
Also, I just gotta say it – your feet will get you to some pretty damn amazing places.
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