(My TRS-3 2021 Ford Ranger FX4 parked in front of the Skyjacker booth)
WHAT IS OVERLAND EXPO
The Overland Expo was launched by Roseann and Jonathan Hanson in 2009. The idea of the expo was germinated by these two along with a group of like-minded friends who wanted to promote conservation and responsible overland travel. They worked hard to provide a unique platform where adventure travel enthusiasts could come together, buy and sell gear, swap stories, and plan their upcoming adventures.
Lo and behold, the Overland Expo was born.
The first Overland Expo West was held in Prescott, Arizona, and was attended by nearly 1,000 people. It featured visitors and adventure travel equipment and gear businesses from the local overlanding industry. It also offered training and educational sessions from leading experts.
Since its inception, the expo has grown exponentially over the years into one of the biggest and most unique niche event series in the United States. In 2021 the Overland Expo expanded and offered the Overland Expo Mountain West in Loveland, Colorado.
Today Overland Expo describes itself as:
“Overland Expo is the world’s premier event series for do-it-yourself adventure travel enthusiasts, with hundreds of session-hours of classes for 4-wheel-drive enthusiasts and adventure motorcyclists, inspirational programs, speakers & trainers from all over the world, the Overland Film Festival, roundtable discussions, demonstrations, food, and a large expo featuring several hundred vendors of adventure travel equipment, camping gear, bikes, vehicles, and services.”
OVERLAND EXPO MOUNTAIN WEST STATISTICS
If I’m going to drive to a show, I want to feel like it’s going to be worth the trip. So how big is Overland Expo Mountain West? Here’s the statistics from this year’s show:
- 18,000+ attendees
- 50% of attendees were new to Overland Expo
- 347 registered exhibitors
- 75 presenters, trainers, and VIPs
- 63 attending media
- 28 staff
- 295 classes, seminars, demos, activities, slideshows, and films; totaling 308+ session hours of instruction
- Attendees descended on Loveland, CO from 49 states! The highest in attendance were Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, California and New Mexico.
- International attendees came all the way from Australia, Chile, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands and Canada!
MY (OUR) EXPERIENCE:
For 2025 I planned a weeklong adventure in Colorado for our Vagabond group that would end at Overland Expo Mountain West in Loveland. We arrived around 12:30 PM Friday afternoon and were assigned to a camping area right inside the camping entrance to the left. We later found out that this was an Exhibitor Area and wasn’t meant to be camped in, but it turned out to be a great spot.
There’s a lot to see and do at Overland Expo, so the first thing you should do when attending is look at the schedule to see what programs are being offered. If there’s something that you’re wanting to learn for your next adventure, Overland Expo probably has a program for it. There’s also a really good chance that if you look at the schedule, you’ll find a topic that will spark your interest, and you’ll go home having learned something new. Heck, they even had a class on Borders, Checkpoints, and Bribes.
Check Out: Overland Expo Mountain West Education Schedule 2025
I dropped in and checked out a class on winching You can never have too much knowledge.
Some classes were held inside, some were held outside in a tent, and some were held out in the open such as the winching class.
There’s stuff for the kids too. TRAXXAS had a display of their RC trucks as well as a large obstacle course for kids to drive around on. They also had RC vehicles that you could purchase, and I saw a few of them being driven around in the camping area. If they would have had a Ford Ranger or a Land Rover, I probably would have given in to the temptation to buy one.
Walking around the Expo you’ll find well over 300 exhibitors demonstrating and selling products that you you’ve either been wanting or didn’t know you wanted. Often at a discounted price. There are also quite a few exhibitors giving stuff away. Duluth Trading Company had a wheel you could spin to win hats, shirts, underwear, and can holders.
As we checked out the exhibitors, we were drawn to the Ford Ranger Raptor at the TrailRax tent. TrailRax offers roof racks and storage solutions. Their Ranger Raptor was riding on a set of Maxxis Razer AT tires and featured an Alu-Cab shell, iKamper roof top tent, and Baja Designs LED off-road lights. A really cool touch was the custom graphics that replaced the Raptor logo on the bed with ‘TRAILRAX’ in the Raptor font.
Overlanding trailers have become popular, and it seems like everyone these days has a roof top tent. I myself still use a ground tent for the advantages that it provides, but that didn’t keep me from being drawn to the numerous roof top tents that were available. The more I look the more I want one. I would have gladly taken home the one from Sterling Adventure Company.
Below are just a few of the campers and roof top tents that were available:
I think everyone that goes to a show like this has a short list of things floating around in their head that they’d buy if they could find a good deal. For me it was winch rope and a 4-way tire inflation / deflation system. Looking through the numerous vendors I ended up in the tent of 4×4 Colorado. They had the inflation system I wanted at the best price and told me that if I found it cheaper anywhere else, they’d match it. Sunday before we left to go home, Eric and I ended up back at their tent to buy a few things and they had LED lightbars for $25.00. I don’t need another LED lightbar, but they were $25. How do you pass that up? Seriously. Eric and I both bought one. That’s Eric below holding his.
TriPod Torch was another one of those things that you didn’t know you needed until you saw it. This portable vertical fire pit easily disassembles into a small bag making it easy to carry and takes up far less room and weight than a traditional propane fire pit. Kevin bought one and put it to use as soon as we got back to our campsite.
Mothy Offroad had their Ford Ranger Tremor at the Expo showing off their solar rack. The design allows for a second solar panel to be stored in a case under the first panel and slide out when needed.
The Ranger was also well equipped with an RSI SmartCap, ARB rooftop tent, ARB winch bumper, winch, Hi-Lift jack, and an ARB snorkel. Mothy removed the air ram on the snorkel and replaced it with an ARB pre-cleaner to filter out the dust before it gets to the air filter.
LandMoto out of Cleveland, Ohio was there letting people test drive their Scrambler electric dirt bikes. These bikes will go 70 MPH and have a range of 40 miles with the 2.2 Max kWh battery (bike weight 198 lbs) or 110 miles with the 5.5 Max kWh battery (bike weight 230 lbs). They also sell a street version of the bike.
Since these bikes are quiet, they would be a great way to get out into nature without scaring the wildlife away.
Gyeon car care products were there with a pretty sick Porsche Cayenne SUV. A Porsche at an overlanding event? Yep. Did you know that Porsche holds the record for the highest elevation driven by a vehicle? On December 2, 2023, racing driver Romain Dumas set a new world record at the peak of the west ridge of the Ojos del Salado volcano in Chile, piloting a significantly modified Porsche 911 running on eFuels to 22,093 feet above sea level. This is not that car, but still pretty cool.
My new favorite SUV may very well be the INEOS Grenadier. They start at $75,000 and for another $50,000 you can get one with portal axels like the one seen here. When you sit in the driver’s seat your greeted by switch panels on the console and ceiling that make you feel like you’re in an airplane, and it comes with the option of driver and passenger sunroofs on both sides of the ceiling panel.
SAND SHIP DISCOVERY
Patty Upton was at Overland Expo with her 1966 CJ-5 named ‘Sand Ship Discovery’.
The 1966 CJ-5 Jeep was built by Kaiser Corporation. Patty Upton says that because her late husband Loren was a “desert rat,” he christened her Sand Ship Discovery, with “Discovery” referencing one of Captain Cook’s 18th-century vessels.
Sand Ship Discovery’s specifications include: a stock “Dauntless” V-6 engine, electric fuel pump, Racor fuel/water separator, two regular fuel filters, four-speed T-98 transmission, standard front axles, free-floating rear axles, and standard locking front hubs.
According to Patty, her late husband Loren—standing 6’4″—raised the Jeep’s hard roof by four inches so he could easily see out of the windshield. Additional modifications include: high-strength drill-steel pipe bumpers with a 2.5-inch inside diameter (front and rear); Firestone radial tires (31 × 10.5) on 15-inch rims; a 9,000-lb. Ramsey power take-off winch with 100 feet of 3/8-inch cable; full-length side pans to protect the underside; a roll bar; and two additional 12-gallon fuel tanks under each front seat, bringing total capacity (including the rear tank) to about 44 gallons. Other upgrades include a roof rack that attaches to the Jeep’s right side and doubles as a 7-foot by 4-foot table or bed with adjustable legs, as well as interior modifications for in-cabin sleeping.
Equipment carried under the hood or on the vehicle included: a Wyeth-Scott two-ton come-along hand winch, spare tire, Hi-Lift jack, jumper cables, pick, shovel, axe, three pulleys, snatch blocks, assorted shackles, and side-hill adjusters.
Not only did Sand Ship Discovery earn Patty and Loren a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the first all-land crossing of the Darién Gap in a single vehicle, she also carried them for a total of 58,000 miles on a five-year journey—north-to-south in the Americas and south-to-north from Africa through to Norway from roads end to roads end—around the world entirely on land.
FORD RANGERS AT OVERLAND EXPO MOUNTAIN WEST
I’m a Ford Ranger guy, so I’m always on the lookout for Ford Rangers. I know there are far more Ford Rangers that have been modified for camping adventures and overlanding than what’s represented at Overland Expo. I really admired the creativity of the 1987 Ford Ranger 4×4 at the show and will be doing a feature article on it in the near future.
FORD BRONCO’S AT OVERLAND EXPO MOUNTAIN WEST
Speaking of Ford Bronco’s, here’s some of the Bronco’s we saw in attendance at Overland Expo Moutain West:
OTHER COOL VEHICLES
I may drive a Ford Ranger, but I appreciate a good build and a good vehicle, regardless of the brand. Here’s a few other cool vehicles that I saw:
The Volkswagen Vanagon with the Westfalia camper option is still the most compact and coolest adventure vehicle ever made.
This British Forces Land Rover was way back in the corner of the Expo and probably overlooked by a lot of people. I like how it was upgraded with LED headlights and a Warn winch, yet it still has a vintage look to it. The matching trailer was a nice touch!
I found the Jeep Liberty comical when it was introduced in 2002. There was nothing ‘off-road’ about it and surely didn’t look like it could live up to the Jeep name. I can sense the readers jokes to this as I type it. Whoever built this Jeep Liberty managed to turn it into a true off-road adventure vehicle, and I admire their creativity.
This Jeep Wrangler Rubicon was a well thought out build. The two-tone blue stripes give it an 80’s vibe, and I like that the iKamper is painted and striped to match. It makes it look like it’s part of the vehicle instead of an accessory. There’s way too much going on here to list. See how many mods you can find. I really haven’t been able to figure out what the stainless boxes are on the rear drivers’ side. One definitely holds fluid and has a hose going to the second one. I’ve wondered if it’s a diesel heater.
Did you know that the International Scout preceded the Ford Bronco by 6-years? The Ford Bronco was first produced in 1966. The International Scout was produced from 1960 to 1980. On our way to Loveland, we passed a house that had a bunch of Scouts parked in the yard, and then we found this beautiful example of an original scout at the Overland Expo.
THE BIG TRUCKS AT OVERLAND EXPO MOUNTAIN WEST
There’s always going to be some big trucks at Overland Expo, and I can’t help but look at the really big ones and wonder where in the world you’d drive it. Literally. Some of them are too big and not practical to go camping for a weekend and are better suited for travelling across harsher continents.
COUSIN EDDIE
Last but not least, we can’t forget Cousin Eddie. If you’ve ever seen National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, then you surely remember the scene where Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) is standing outside in his white robe and fur cap emptying the raw sewage from his ‘RV’ stating ‘Shitters full!’ During the raffle I spotted this guy and joked that Cousin Eddie was at the Expo. When he stood up and walked across the fairgrounds in his white robe, fur cap, black socks and smoking a cigar while holding a beer, I realized that this guy had went to length to recreate the character and transform himself into Cousin Eddie, and it was awesome!!
GET OUT THERE
You don’t have to consider yourself an overlander to go to Overland Expo. I don’t. I just consider myself an adventurer. But if you like to camp and do a little off-roading while you’re at it, then you’ll definitely get something out of this. Heck, even if you just really like to camp, you’ll get something out of it. There’s plenty of gear and classes to make your next camping experience a better one.
And if you see me or my Ranger at an event or out on the trail, please stop and say hello!
Jim Oaks is the founder of TheRangerStation.com, the longest-running Ford Ranger resource online since 1999. With over 25 years of hands-on experience building and modifying Ford Rangers — including magazine-featured builds like Project Transformer — Jim has become one of the most trusted authorities in the Ford Ranger off-road and enthusiast space. In 2019, he was loaned a Ranger FX4 by Ford Motor Company to test and document across the TransAmerica Trail. Jim continues to inspire and guide Ranger owners around the world.
