SVO ....Small Vehicle Overlanding

So what have all the XUV people been doing lately?
 
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Ive been busy the last several months. Any time off I get I just lay in bed to mentally recover...
 
The latest "look" my car has, I want to make it look less like a crossover and more like a hatchback, so I might be lowering it alittle with bigger wheels for the next couple of years as a lifted 1st generation Tucson with small wheels just looks weird (I will upload a pic).

The first 2 pics were taken September 28th 2019.


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This just looks weird to me (235/60-17 / 28.1 x 9.3" tall tires with a 2" suspension spacer lift).

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Going to be getting out with some other OB people this weekend, im super excited.Ill be sure to post some photos.
 
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Well the start of the day was a little rough, snow, lots of sliding and a missed turn. But we got some sun and it was near perfect. A few of the guys on the run commented about the capability of the old Escape...
 

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Joey83 said:
The latest "look" my car has, I want to make it look less like a crossover and more like a hatchback, so I might be lowering it alittle with bigger wheels for the next couple of years as a lifted 1st generation Tucson with small wheels just looks weird (I will upload a pic).

The first 2 pics were taken September 28th 2019.


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This just looks weird to me (235/60-17 / 28.1 x 9.3" tall tires with a 2" suspension spacer lift).

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How do you like that floor lift? I don't have a tall enough garage for a full size lift :( But have been eyeballing a few lifts like that one. Would be great if I could find something like a half height two post lift.
 
I think what this thread has come to define as a small vehicle is more in line with the cross over SUV. But really its all about the under represented and underestimated.
 
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Downs said:
How do you like that floor lift? I don't have a tall enough garage for a full size lift :( But have been eyeballing a few lifts like that one. Would be great if I could find something like a half height two post lift.
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It's not my floor lift.
 
So Im starting to think about doing a dual battery set up for my Escape. The problem comes with that I dont want to put it in the back, I plan on sleeping in the back of the Escape so my mattress and sleeping bag will take up the cargo area (this is due to equal parts of cheapness and laziness, lol). I plan on putting my gear on a roof rack. As there is no extra room in the engine bay I started to think about where to mount a dual battery. Im thinking if I move the spare tire up to the roof rack I might be able to make a platform that will mount in the area for the spare tire and figure something out there (its mounted under the rig at the rear). The other idea I had is to make a battery box with a quick connector (like on a winch multi mount) and place it in the passenger front foot well and just run wiring through the firewall and mount the other side of the quick connector to the bottom side of the dash and mount an issolator switch to the battery box, this may work as my camping will just be me and the dog. Which ever rout I go the batteries will more likely than not be a deep cycle AGM battery so I can mount them on their side if need be, or if mounted in the cab so I wont have the potential for hydrogen build up from the charging and discharging process of a lead acid battery. Just wondering what my fellow XUV peeps are doing and hoping to just bounce some ideas around.
 
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Luis Merlo said:
Perhaps "Gel" deep cycle....less fumes, etc and come in a variety of sizes...a small solar panel/ charge controller to keep it topped up ?
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Yeah I was thinking of getting a marine optima (the blue top). Im honestly not sold on the solar idea, its not very effective from a cost benefit stand point in my opinion. Also for most of my trips I may not even need to charge my second battery. All that my life right now really allows for me is single night trips, and all that I would be running is a small speaker for music, lights, and a fan to keep the air inside of the Escape circulating. I would just pull the battery and hook it up to charger when I get back home.
 
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Lifted the rear of my Rav another 3.7". Technically it is about 5.8" over stock, but with my ~250lb of hitch / bike rack / daily gear it sits around 4.5" over stock. Before, my lights were always pointed too high and I was always getting flashed. Now it is perfect and gives me lots of wiggle room for loaded-down road trips (in which case I'd be replacing recovery gear and tools with luggage). It would be pretty ridiculously high without anything in there, though, so I may eventually settle on like 4.5" of lift, plus airbags. I am accomplishing this with varying thickness of spacers. Once I settle on a final solution, I'll probably mold some solid spacers.

Pictured it is sitting 2" above stock up front, 4.3" above stock out back, on 30.5" tires.

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That thing is awesome, Samurai pickup...
 
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