Overland Expo 2009

Yes, we are opinionated. We traveled all over Mexico for nine years in a Land Rover. Every time something broke, we replaced it with an American part, including a Chevy 250 six-cylinder engine, and the Rover 109 got better.

Finally, we switched to a Chevy 3/4-ton gas-burner. But even after Louie Unser built us a 450 V-8, bored out to 460 trying to get a low-compression engine to run on Mexican fuel, the answer was clearly diesel. The Ford F-350 with the Navistar 6.9L put us on the path of serious overland travel. No more spark plugs, no coil, no distributor, no carburetor-no problems.

You don't need to drive around the world to experience the pleasures of overland adventure, but you do need a good vehicle and some basic skills to stay alive. Many 8-Lug Diesel Truck readers are no doubt overland travel enthusiasts, be it a weekend in the desert or mountains or a month in Baja California. We are not alone.

Turns out there is a large group of individuals, worldwide, who thrive on this kind of adventure, and nearly all of them have one thing in common-they drive a truck. Whether it's a 110 Land Rover with a rooftop tent, an F-250 Ford, or a $500,000 Unicat built on a Mercedes Unimog with all the comforts of home, a truck is an essential tool for the serious overland traveler. These are not four-wheelers or rockcrawlers, and they are not off-roaders. They follow roads, however bad they may be at times.

As demand has grown, there is an entire industry dedicated to providing the accessories that make traveling into remote areas safer and easier. There are vehicle and camper manufacturers and outfitters, schools and books that can teach you the special skills needed to get off the beaten path, and hundreds of companies offering specialized equipment.

Recently all of that was organized under one roof at the Overland Expo 2009 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. Being overlanders ourselves, we welcomed the opportunity to attend the three-day event. Obviously, we arrived with an attitude, since we drive a Ford F-550 diesel. But hey, we were open to ideas, and it was interesting to see the many choices there are, including the obvious eight-lug diesel pickups and vans.

Much of the choice in an overland vehicle depends on where you want to go, how long you'll be out there, how comfortable you need to be, and how much money you can spend. The latter can quickly take away from how long you want to be gone. There was a large selection of smaller trucks, including Land Rovers, Toyotas, and Jeeps. These were typically equipped with rooftop tents or tent trailers. Some of these fold out to the side, some to the front, and others raise straight up like a clamshell. For their simplicity, we especially liked the Italian pop-up tents offered by Autohome (www.autohomeus.com)-four clips, one crank, and you're home! We have tested the Autohome Maggiolina on fullsize pickups, and it fits great!

For those with very deep pockets and a yearn for luxury on and off the pavement, there were a couple of Unicats made in Germany. Unicat is one of the premier builders of expedition campers. I use the word "camping" loosely. Normally built on Mercedes Unimogs, M.A.N. 4x4s, or 6x6 trucks, Unicat Americas, the U.S. division of Unicat, was showing off two models-one on an International MXT 4x4, and its big brother, built on an International 7400 4x4. The 7400 Unicat has a cool feature, which allows its roof to tilt up over the master bed-great for those starry nights in the Sahara. Oh, and by the way, they do have plans to build a camper on the new Dodge 5500 Cummins platform.