Getting down to construct the “final ultralight” 4×4 camper for all seasons and all terrains, Canada’s Tufport has outdone itself with a glossy, wood-free composite camper that ranks among the many lightest accessible. The rugged new Overlander suits the complete spectrum of American market-dominating pickup vehicles, from the midsize Toyota Tacoma that makes overlanders swoon to the full-size Fords, Rams and Chevys that prime total automobile gross sales yearly. The camper weighs nicely beneath 1,000 kilos (454 kg), whether or not you select to go together with the best in a single day sleeper shell or go for a completely kitted mannequin with kitchen, dinette and bathroom.
It looks as if Tufport has been intently watching the glossy, light-weight composite campers rolling out from the likes of Scout and Loki considering, We will try this. The actual fact it was concurrently inundated with buyer requests for a devoted camper made the green-light that a lot simpler to flick.
Tufport first chilled its toes within the experimental waters by partnering up with Utah’s Wasatch Overland to make its present Journey fiberglass service our bodies into simple-but-functional campers. It prolonged that partnership by creating a devoted off-road pickup camper within the brand-new Overlander. Tufport builds the single-piece fiberglass composite physique, and Wasatch Overland fills it out with a comfortable camper inside.
Tufport has lengthy prided itself on constructing light-weight, industrial-strength industrial service our bodies constructed to hitch their equally rugged base vehicles out into every kind of harsh working situations, and it guarantees much more strength-to-weight for the Overlander.
The ruggedized corners appear like they may be a part of that beefed-up development, the kind of integrity-boosting reinforcement you see in one thing like a Eurobox cargo crate, however they’re truly there to assist easy out airflow and make the Overlander much less of an mpg-killer. The Overlander will not slip via the air like a Lightyear photo voltaic automobile, thoughts you, however with the massaged aerodynamics and a base weight beginning at simply 750 lb (340 kg), the gasoline stops ought to appear rare in comparison with these taken when muling round heavier, bigger one-ton pickup campers.
One draw back to all that weight- and drag-shaving: The Overlander stands just below 5 ft 5 inches (1.7 m) tall inside, making it too quick for a lot of the inhabitants to face upright. So campers might want to get used to sitting and crouching. However the purpose was to strike a steadiness between livable inside and light-weight, low-sitting drivability. Towards that finish, its 67-in (170-cm) whole exterior peak is almost 8 inches (20 cm) shorter than the fixed-roof Scout Yoho midsize truck camper.
The Overlander can be one of many lightest pickup campers accessible, and provided that lighter fashions just like the Scout Tuktut and RoverKing Capra are concentrated across the Ford Maverick or midsize fashions with 5-foot quick beds, the Overlander may simply be the market’s lightest alcove camper for pickups with 6-foot+ beds. Particularly, it is accessible at launch for midsize vehicles with 6-foot beds and full-size vehicles with 6.5-footers.
A 750-lb weight may need you anticipating an empty hunk of uncooked fiberglass inside, however the entry-level Overlander “Extremely-Gentle” has a pleasant, spherical sleeper bundle that features screened and tinted home windows, an Ecoflow energy station with 100-W photo voltaic panel, inside dome lights, a settee bench that transforms right into a 40 x 72-in (102 x 183-cm) double mattress, a Maxxair fan, and an R22 insulation bundle developed for year-round tenting.
That base bundle makes the Extremely-Gentle far more of a correct camper than the essential, empty Journey cover that beforehand served as Tufport’s leisure mannequin and required a couple of choices and just a little after-sale DIY like to make it work something like an precise camper.
On the different finish of the lineup, the flagship 900-lb (408-kg) Coast-to-Coast mannequin comes with all of the options of the Extremely-Gentle and provides a dual-bench dinette that converts to a bigger 55 x 72-in (140 x 183-cm) double mattress and a bring-your-own-stove galley with stainless-steel sink and 26.5-L water tank. It additionally contains an ordinary 86-L Indel B fridge, upgraded Redarc electrical system with 200-Ah battery, and optionally available Dometic transportable rest room.
The Overlander Extremely-Gentle checks in at US$24,500, as listed by Wasatch Overland, with the Coast-to-Coast mountain climbing the bottom worth as much as $33,800. These costs are line with opponents just like the Scout Yoho at $23,400 and the Wilderness Vans Vary R1 at $39,125.
The mid-tier Sea-to-Sky Overlander ground plan appears a little bit of an anomaly. At $33,600, it is solely $200 cheaper than the Coast-to-Coast, but it surely’s outfitted in middle-of-the-road type, dropping the convertible dinette, customary fridge and optionally available rest room. That looks as if greater than $200 value of worth, although it does have an extended kitchen. It then combines the identical 40 x 72-in convertible sofa-bed configuration because the Extremely-Gentle with the Redarc electrical system of the Coast-to-Coast and an accessible 45-L Dometic fridge. However for the additional two payments, we would lean towards the Coast-to-Coast 10 out of 10 instances.
One fascinating choice accessible throughout the lineup, the $1,800 above-cab extension platform works as a cargo retention wall on the trip and drops right down to create a correctly sized alcove mattress. Different choices listed by Wasatch Overland embrace an induction cooktop, a diesel heater and a roof hatch.
Tufport will debut the Overlander at Overland Expo Mountain West in Colorado this August. Hopefully it’ll have the inside accomplished and door open by then.
Within the meantime, try the Overlander’s first sea-to-sky Tundra-top journey within the 3.5-min promo under – nonetheless no inside footage, although.
Tufport Overlander Street Check with Wasatch Overland!
Sources: Tufport and Wasatch Overland