Rocklander - The New Off-Road Term For 2025

[85_Ranger4x4]

Speaking of campers.....

Does anyone know what a typical fiberglass and aluminum camper shell weighs for a 6-foot Ranger bed?

7' fiberglass would have to be a 2-300 pounds pretty easy. It's a bear to move.

 

[Curious Hound]

And... if it wouldn't fit into a single bucket...

View attachment 134006

There is a story how I ended up with two over priced yeti loadout buckets... but i won't bore you all with the details.

The man has Yeti brand 5 gallon buckets. Most of mine have the name of some Sheetrock mud company on the side.

Sheesh!

 

[Shran]

7' fiberglass would have to be a 2-300 pounds pretty easy. It's a bear to move.

I'm guessing 200 at most. My wife has a fiberglass topper on her '95 and the two of us have taken it (and a bunch of other similar toppers) on and off several times. With two of us it's pretty easy, one on each side. Metal toppers are even lighter. I can do those by myself, just crouch down in the middle and lift it up on my back. We did a metal utility topper too, that had a big tool box on one side and it was heavy but we did it.

I can confirm that the hard top on a Jeep YJ is a LOT heavier than any Ranger topper I've dealt with. So there's that.

 

[bobbywalter]

sitting here.....gobbling down some godfathers heading down flaming gorge....

super rock gland ramping...maybe

 

[Uncle Gump]

The man has Yeti brand 5 gallon buckets. Most of mine have the name of some Sheetrock mud company on the side.

Sheesh!

I know...

I didn't want one until I seen my neighbor use his everyday.

It's over priced... but its a bad ass bucket.

 

[Snoranger]

i prefer hotel rooms

They’re a little harder to drive over a mountain pass… even after a night of drinking.

 

[Snoranger]

Those turns alone on Corkscrew would have been super difficult. Then through in the downhill grade. Shew wee. That would have been a pucker situation for sure. Like it wasn't already hahaha

I told you I had a solution for that involving 2 winches and hydraulic outriggers to drag the trailer around to where you need it.

 

[Curious Hound]

I told you I had a solution for that involving 2 winches and hydraulic outriggers to drag the trailer around to where you need it.

Steering axle on the trailer

 

[Jim Oaks]

Steering axle on the trailer

 

[sgtsandman]

You guys crack me up.

I'm simply talking about a new off-road term I've been seeing and hearing, and some of you act like it's a bad thing that's going to divide the community. It's just a term. Your rock crawling rig can still be an off-road rig. I don't understand the mentality that it can only be one thing and can never associate with anything else.

Sometimes people come up with terms to try and describe what they built or are building. I don't think it has anything to do with getting clicks.

To me, most rock crawlers get hauled to wherever they're going to play. I feel like few could drive across the country to get there. If you built a rocklander, then to me you probably built something that you can not only rock crawl with, but travel across the country in and camp put of.

@Robertmangrum.rm you mentioned trailers and Hard 1, imagine how much fun you would have had dragging a camper across Cinnamon Pass, across California pass and then down through Corkscrew to where we stopped for the final restroom break. LOL

Speaking of campers.....

Does anyone know what a typical fiberglass and aluminum camper shell weighs for a 6-foot Ranger bed?

I think Eric's rig is the closest to what you are describing for a rocklander. He might actually be pretty much there, as long as he keeps his engine cool.

If the frame on my utility trailer was properly built for those trails, I could probably manage to get the thing through there in one piece since it does have the proper hitch to negotiate those kinds of trails. That would be the biggest I would be willing to attempt doing it though. There is a reason most off road trailers built for trails like that are tiny. Tires on those things are nearly as big as the trailer is. Of course, most of the vehicles seen pulling such a thing are Jeeps that probably couldn't handle much more than that anyway but need more storage room than what a Jeep has to offer.

On bed caps, fiberglass ones without a reinforced roof are about 150# - 200#. Ones with a reinforced roof are about 250# - 300#. The both of the ones on my Rangers has a reinforced roof and are quite heavy. When I had the green fiberglass cap on the 2011 that didn't have a reinforced roof, I could move it by myself, but it was a work out.

Aluminum ones, from my memory are quite light, even the ones with a built in rack. Maybe 70# - 80#. One person can move them easily.

The roof load capacity isn't all that great in off road conditions, but if you are just looking for something to cover the bed, it should work for you. From my notes, the rack on the 2019's cap is rated for 220# on road and about 146# off road. So, if you wanted to mount solar panels up there, you could do it. Possibly some recovery boards as well. 146# adds up quick. Since you were asking about a 270* awning before, it could handle that. Shipping weight for the LTE is 31#. The next size up (LT) is twice as heavy but covers more area.

 

[Snoranger]

That’s too easy to build… I can put together remote hydro steer trailer axle from just the stuff I have in my garage.

 

[sgtsandman]

Steering axle on the trailer

Who's riding in the trailer to handle the steering, @Robertmangrum.rm ?

 

[bobbywalter]

you want walking beams for trail use trailer

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I think Eric's rig is the closest to what you are describing for a rocklander. He might actually be pretty much there, as long as he keeps his engine cool.

If the frame on my utility trailer was properly built for those trails, I could probably manage to get the thing through there in one piece since it does have the proper hitch to negotiate those kinds of trails. That would be the biggest I would be willing to attempt doing it though. There is a reason most off road trailers built for trails like that are tiny. Tires on those things are nearly as big as the trailer is. Of course, most of the vehicles seen pulling such a thing are Jeeps that probably couldn't handle much more than that anyway but need more storage room than what a Jeep has to offer.

On bed caps, fiberglass ones without a reinforced roof are about 150# - 200#. Ones with a reinforced roof are about 250# - 300#. The both of the ones on my Rangers has a reinforced roof and are quite heavy. When I had the green fiberglass cap on the 2011 that didn't have a reinforced roof, I could move it by myself, but it was a work out.

Aluminum ones, from my memory are quite light, even the ones with a built in rack. Maybe 70# - 80#. One person can move them easily.

The roof load capacity isn't all that great in off road conditions, but if you are just looking for something to cover the bed, it should work for you. From my notes, the rack on the 2019's cap is rated for 220# on road and about 146# off road. So, if you wanted to mount solar panels up there, you could do it. Possibly some recovery boards as well. 146# adds up quick. Since you were asking about a 270* awning before, it could handle that. Shipping weight for the LTE is 31#. The next size up (LT) is twice as heavy but covers more area.

Thinking about mine it is a foot longer obviously which I think gets it an extra set of windows. Plus we have all the weird stealth bomber shapes on the top for the bump up.

I could see 250 pretty easy.