Easy Cheap Camper Conversion - Our Tribute to Koopa
www.RollingVistas.com
We converted an Isuzu Trooper 4x4 SUV into an inexpensive camper. The conversion, if you can even really call it that, just involved taking out the seats, throwing in some wood, and creating some shades for privacy. It only took a week to get the Trooper adventure ready!
We've taken it all over the western US and may even tow it once we move into the bus. Inexpensive used SUVs can make for great camper conversions, and can save you a ton on a new or even used camper van.
We spent less than $5,000 after everything was said and done, and even after just two years we've more than gotten our money's worth. We enjoy tent camping on backpacking trips, but if we can, we'll be a little more comfortable.
We've camped in the Trooper for weeks at a time and could have easily gone longer. Trips like those are what inspired us to think about nomadic life again and ultimately led to us buying the school bus and starting our skoolie conversion.
We're pretty attached to the Trooper since it has represented a lot of things for us during the past couple years, the most important of which has been freedom.
When converted with minimal tools and knowledge and let Lowe's do all of the wood cutting for us. A simple plywood platform, a couple of plastic drawers, and some DIY curtains later, we had our very own adventure mobile.
Music:
I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: chriszabriskie.com/dtv/
Artist: chriszabriskie.com/
A Trooper is LITERALLY Ol ‘ Reliable. I love this SUV
OMG! I did almost exactly the same thing to my 98 Trooper! Living in the PNW, I took mine to see the 2017 eclipse in Eastern Oregon! Camping in Montana mountains one time, a side-by-side stopped by at sunset and said, "Be sure you have protection out here - wildlife in the mountains, you know..." I took with me a "Luggable Loo," double-bag it, and use kitty litter in it. I also have a nylon fabric changing tent for toilet or shower privacy, the $30 kind that is on wire inside supports that collapses down to a flat round cloth Frisbee about 20" across. Zips into a nice flat bag. My raised platform is just for one, so is only 34" wide. That gives me room to sit with legs down behind the passenger seat, for putting shoes on and off, etc. Then, I also made fine-mesh screen-door-screen screen material covers for the back door windows, and used Goop to stick strip magnets to the top and bottom so they hold on to the outside of the door frame. No-see-ums can be a nuisance at night. For the sides of the screens, I just use several small magnets I, too, hooked up a strip of LED lights along the plastic trim above one back door and back to the corner, held in place easily with plastic "shoehorn" pieces every few inches, scavenged (cut) from clear plastic bottles. They tuck into where the trim meets the headliner, and the lights are tucked up behind the exposed bottle-plastic. Have fun with each other and your doggos! Be safe! Oh - amazing scenery photography there. Nice stuff.
I am moved at how happy your dogs were. God bless them.
I converted my trooper to camp out of in 2017 I started solo camping. I’m a single woman I love it, feel safe and everything is self contained just go wherever I want. Love this!
Life is so short, live it fully and always be thankful for what little time we have on this beautiful earth. :)
Great video!! I’ve owned a 2001 Trooper that is very well maintained that served as our back up but was about to sell. Then I had an idea of wether it would make an easy transformation to a cheap camper. This is the first video I saw and it gave me all the motivation I needed to keep it and convert it! Thanks for sharing!
From the music to the video work you have a quality channel. Really enjoy your positive image. All the best to you both.
You guys are amazing. I've watched this video over and over because of how you both went and ventured. I have a 95 trooper and I'm always camping and out with family. The way you build that little bed out back gave me a good idea. Thanks alot
Awesome video, awesome message. Keep doing what you're doing!
I love my 2000 trooper. I just got it this year right before covid19. I owned a Honda passport before and when I learned about Isuzu, the trooper and the community. I fell in love. Grabbed mine with only 120k miles too & a great maintained 4l30e. Excellent video !
How’s that transmission holding up?
@@williamperri3437 it did not - couldn’t afford the repair had to sell. I still dream about it to this day and still want to cry
@@corywilliamsmith oh man… sorry. It’s easy to get attached to a special vehicle. Keep your head up 👊
This is delightful. Has a 70’s feel to it. Very functional. Less is more. Great job.
Really great photography & videography. The shot taken from the middle of the black asphalt of the sun-lit desert rock formations at sunset was one of the best scenes I've ever seen. You guys have a great eye for those shots, exactly the type of scenery that would have definitely caught my eye and I would have photographed too. You have the best nomad channel out there.
I torn between what I love more , Troopers or guys like y’all, God Bless
I like the green color, so cool
You guys are awesome. Congrats on so much beauty and love
Dude, I am watching vids thinking about doing something with my Isuzu Trooper, and I stumble upon this. Awesome, thank you!
Great job on the trooper! Inspirational
Wow nice scenery video and photography.
This was really great and inspirational. I have a 1995 3.2L sohc 5speed I'm fixing up
I'm from South Africa also bought a trooper like the idea of the camper love the outdoors keep the spirit up
You can utilize your door space and make a drop-down countertop for cooking. I've seen that on many other van dwellers set ups and it seems like it works great. Great job
Theres a guy who posted a few videos of his midwest wanderings, who has a nicely made camping setup in his Trooper. His kitchen folds into his wide back door, too. The guy is a slender dude, has a dog, and the Trooper is a later 90s red one, that takes him lots of places. My 98 needs new front boots on the drive rods, and the rear springs are shot, but at 155k miles, still runs well. Owned it for 10 years now.
troopers are the shit.i have owned 3 a 96 a 94 and my newest one an 89. i have loved them all. Great rigs good reliable 4wheel drive rigs. nice a spacious.
Zavviov I have a 89... love it ! Good luck and God Bless
Great looking dogs, 😎👍
Fantastic video. Well done
Great video. I do the same with my 4runner and roofnest tent. It's so easy to just go do something fun when you are self supported and contained.
Jason Bikes what year is your 4r. I have a 98
I really loved this vid. When my dad died, he left a trooper. He wanted to fix it, but since he got sick. Wasn’t able to. Now i’m trying to fix it. Hope i can camp out same way you guys do it with my Girl.
I can’t wait to see your results, I have a old ‘89 Trooper that I’m working on. I bet that your dad was really cool, God Bless
Let me know if you need any help or have any questions!
I just got my grandpas 2000 limited edition Isuzu trooper that he left me when he died and it’s been the best thing ever so far
@@michealdavid8160is it holding up?
I have the exact 98 trooper color and everything 🙂 she seems very down to earth, you are as well. Sick filming!
thanks lovely ,indeed keep my isuzu for years low upkeep and seems to be going places .
I have this machine..and planning to go camping with it..this channel really excite me...done subscribed and pls share all yr camp journey ya..😆
Its all about the Zu! I have two 1988 first gen troopers
Great video!
great video.. will watch more :)
I love this because i been thinking about the life style & i cant afford a van to my standards sooo i saw this trooper & i know it's the one so this vid is just a big ass sign, almost reassurance.
first to say (sorry about my english) ..this is great video about trooper and you guys ..i had one it was 98 with 5 speed it had 95000 miles when i got it and used oil when i sold it about 15 years later it had 235000 miles so don't get scared of oil use ..use some no smoke honey like additive and keep rpm under 3000 and consumption will stop i used my trooper for camping hunting off road and it never let me down it is very underestimated vehicle on highway speeds and curves it is bit unstable ..only upgrade i did is ngk iridium spark plugs and drop in k&n filter and i cut out plastic barrier in center of air filter box ..i never had done anything with timing belt i did not change oil on regular intervals and so ..again this is great video.
Great video. Turning my Yukon aka Denise into a camper. Definitely gonna use some of your ideas. I like the shoe holder for storage. Have you had any problems with keeping propane in your rig?
Looking forward to the updates :)
Pretty neat set up. I’m graduating college soon and plan on sleeping in my highlander about 80% full time. Pretty excited to start.
I would try to find a way to sleep stretched out full length. It required taking out my rear seats in a 98 Trooper, and I built a 34x73" platform that rests just above the wheel wells, about 9-10" above the cargo floor. It has room for one long, low, wide plastic tub with lid, bought at Wal-Mart. It has rollers, too! A 4" pad, also from Wal-Mart, works adequately for a mattress. I cut it to fit the size of the platform, and sewed a bed-sheet slipcover for it. I could use a little more pad thickness, or density at the bottom, but it feels great waking up from it.
I love to travel and drive. I like that idea of being tripping instead of nomadic living. I am a single mom and I would love to travel full time but is not practical. I hope to get a minivan to do temp conversion like what you guys did. What is the Gas mpg on a 4wheel drive as a minivan has its limitations. Its just me and my almost 7 year old daughter. How much did the drawers and wood cost for the temp conversion setup? Looking forward to traveling this year.
Really cool
Great video, beautiful filming!
Did you remove the back seats or did the previous owner? I have a 98 metallic blue... your green is fantastic! :) Looking to take it out and sleep inside. No more tents! Gotta remove the seats though. Was it difficult?
Awesome!!
It seems an ideal vehicle for such an adventure. you can put a tent off the rear...doors
I own a 2000 isuzu trooper .i love it. I drive it everyday.what type tires do you use?
She's beautiful, lucky guy 👍🏽
I couldnt sell my trooper. I let it sit for years before being able to send it to darlington offroad for a 5speed swap.
Nice.!!
I'm thinking of Troopers as an option, just wondering what the length of the platforn was. At 6'2 was hoping it was possible to fit, short of diagonal or bent leg sleeping
I have a trooper also and want to do the same thing.
Isuzu Trooper is the best!!!!
How did you get the perfect measurements and design for this vehicle?
Hey man I’m interested in a 1998 trooper 3.5L V6 AWD I test drove it and there was nothing wrong I saw no lights pop up brand new battery , tires were in good shape ,the interior was in good condition they outside was in good shape no rust,couple little scratches that aren’t noticeable, well because it has 138,000 on the odometer but it’s really clean man but the only problem I saw was the front window being taped around shut , is it easy to fix the window? And also how is the car on gas now that gas is 3 dollars now? The guy wants $3,000 bucks is this a good price? He also is a Vietnamese guy selling it for his mom and these cars were popular back in the day for them.
i have a 96 trooper that likes to overheat? have you guys ever had these problems while on a trip in a warm climate?
have you ever hd transmission problems? how did you fix?
I LOved my Trooper. 1995 troop, it took me all over the place, on and off road in all types of weather. They are an iron horse. I would never have gotten rid of her, but found out that Isuzu moved back to Japan, so any time it broke I had a nightmare trying to find parts without having to wait on a boat for months and months. :) Just curious, did you buy her from a woman in Boulder? Did it come from Vermont? Slim chance, but I wonder, she has my dog's teeth marks in the steering wheel ha haa.
How much miles on a use suv or car is to much to use for nomading
Hows the reliability? I have an 08 element i want ti see to get a trooper but the transmission issues scare me. Element is all about reliability but no power and off roading is terrible.
My grandpa had a 86 trooper and he refuse to sell it to me before he died, now im looking to buy it for me and urn it in something like this, my grandpa loved to camp on the beach he spend almost 3 months a year camping on beaches and i kinda got the love for camping to, i really miss him and i know that if i get the car he would be mad cus i have to invest money fixing it and so but i still want the car to remember him and all the trips we took to the beaches here down in central america (costa rica)
.. Wow You sat up straight on the deck somebody's missing where's the cat . . . getting my 1995 iTrooper Monday 225 k miles dark forest green beige interior some start to replace my 2nd Honda Odyssey mostly it's economical work van had 66 k miles originally wanted to sell it at 125 k miles [ it's now at 135 k miles ] front wheel drive helps looking forward to 4 × 4 circumnavigation Haa Haa Haa I have a motorcycle and a sailboat I'd like to pull along also have a sailboard as a kayak so thanks I'll see about making a platform deck with easy slideouts excellent Be Well ...
Are you all still on the road ? How's the trooper holding up?
Much needed video. I used to work with someone who had a trooper. He said the drive train was super tough, more like a truck. Have you found that to be so? What engine is in the trooper? Thanks
Rolling Vistas Thanks for getting back to me. I have a small RV I bought last year . It is called a "built for 2" by born free. After I got it I found KZhead and started getting ideas for upgrades or just changes. One of the things that stood out was how often people got stuck in the desert. Looking forward to videos on the bus build.
One of the many advantages of being average height is being able to sleep in the back of your vehicle. So jealous... Meanwhile my 6' gf and I just barely fit inside a normal tent.
That is the toughest SUV through and through to whatever Japanese flower
I was going to buy just another car thats newer than 2010+ but after seeing this I will buy a 4wd set it up as a camper and explore my country.
You dont mind not to hace airbags?
Excellent video sell the trooper to me
Instead of getting rid of it, why don't you tow it behind the bus?
Where is @ 1:57 ?
How did you stay warm in trooper when sleeping in cold weather. I have been using my Land Rover to do same but did not try yet cool weather
👍👍👍
Seems like this guys hates hotels
:)
9
That bus is an L should have kept the trooper
ISUZU; SUZUKI WITHOUT THE ‘K’.
SUZUI, dickhead.
Love the video, but sorry, I really dislike the pronged choker chain on your dog's neck. Please figure out better ways than that to get your dog to obey your commands. The choker pronged collar is an intimidation tool, causing discomfort with the points. A dog owner should, IMO, have a better command relationship than having to resort to that. Bottom line, it is cruel, and shows that you need to train more. And with dog training, it is 80% the human who needs to learn, and 20% teaching the dog what signals mean. I had a dog 12 years and never leashed him, and he never had a collar. I trained him from a puppy to be 100% voice controlled. it works. It is work, but SO rewarding to have a dog that does what you ask because he or she wants to please the alpha pack person. And he was so loved, and understood humans, that at the vet, when he had to be there for any time, they never caged him. He was obedient enough to be in the office and stay or go where they wished. Also, when dog understands language like that, they are more content, because they GET it. They aren't just hearing "foreign language" noises that are not associated with anything intelligible. I loved "It's Me or the Dog" - a series by a British woman on TV, and she also has books. I suggest you give one of her books a try. - OK, enough about dogs. I have a '98 Trooper too, and just started road-tripping with a 34" wide bed platform for just me. Also, for now, I am using a 12VDC cooler that will cool the inside to 40º F less than the air outside the cooler, but that might not be cool enough on warm or hot days. So far I've only done travels in the NW states, but as I work out the bugs in my setup, I will do more, like places you've gone. In Montana and Idaho, I found Forest Service roads to go back in 3-5 miles and camp at a wide area in the dirt road or places other people have camped. There, the roads are mostly open to anyone: dirt bikes, 4x4s & sport utes. Being on a mountain 3,000 feet above the valley floor, with nothing but quiet forest and flowers all around, is spectacular. Occasionally there will be a stream nearby, or a river, and we all know how relaxing they sound! Right now, I have to repair an exhaust pipe that broke free of the flange that bolts to the exhaust manifold, so have to do a little wrench work then get it welded back together then reinstall it. BOY that was a shocker when it popped off! I thought the engine itself broke! Thankfully it was just the pipe, so I went to a store and bought some thin steel wire, and used that to lift up the pipe and hold it against where it broke. It was a lot quieter, but still noisy, good enough to get me around without drawing TOO much attention. Also, I bought a long plastic tub and dual-lift lid like you show with the cokstove in it. My plastic container is on little wheels, and the ends have a latch type closer at the handles, which is convenient for latching the lid securely. Works great, and I have a smaller 2-burner Coleman stove that fits sideways in there. If you ever want to have windows down at night, but need to keep bugs out, you may want to try using flexible plastic screen cut a little larger than the window opening, leaving enough around the edges to glue magnets around the perimeter. Attach it outside the window where it is metal all around. I plan to make some soon. They will roll up and store when driving. I'm thinking about those plastic add-ons for wind and rain, too. Have fun!
I understand that they look scary but this is a pinch collar and not a choke collar. They aren’t cruel and have been used at every animal shelter I’ve ever volunteered and fostered for. Tuco obeys pretty well but will occasionally lunge after wildlife if something runs by. This extra measure protects him and protects me (tiff) from being pulled into oncoming traffic.