Does anyone have any experience living inside a Jeep gladiator?

[Snake Eyes]

This might sound stupid to some but here goes. I just finished my second divorce and i got to keep the house. The housing market where I'm at is still good so I'm looking to sell my house and walk away with 60-70k. At the same time, interest rates are high and my ultimate goal is to build a house. Until then, I need housing once I sell. I won't be ready to build a house for at least another year, possibly 2.

I've thought about paying cash for a travel trailer and the ones I like are around 17k. Parking at a nice resort would be about 500 a month plus utilities. Ultimately, i want to keep costs low and have at least 150k saved up in the next couple years.

I have a fully loaded 2020 overland. Only 16k miles and I plan to keep it until I die. I've seen so many camping videos that I've been considering just forgoing the travel trailer and living in the truck. I work as a firefighter and I work a lot of hours. Minimum 120 hours a week and those are 24 hour shifts. It's not uncommon for me to go work for 8 days straight as I've done it a few times. When I'm at the station, I have access to shower, food, toilets etc. For those 2-3 days that I'm not working, i need a place to sleep. It just doesn't make sense to spend all that money on a trailer plus rent just to use it a couple days a week.

I wanted to know if anyone has any experience with living in a gladiator. Some advice would help. I've thought about getting a camper shell or backseat mattress but the options are overwhelming. Showering can be done at the station or at a gym. Cooking would be done on a small grill i can keep in the bed.

Also, I'm in Texas which means it's hot as fark. Sleeping during the day would be a no go. Our nights are in the 80s so i should be able to manage. If anyone knows of a small AC that I could use at night, that would help. I don't want to keep my engine running all night just to stay cool. Any advice would be appreciated.

Get in touch with @HourlessLife. They are traveling around the globe with three of them living in their gladiator so he should have more information about living in a jeep than anyone. he has an account on this forum (see attached pic)

Here is their website and also they have a youtube channel which details the gladiator build

https://hourlesslife.com/

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[Trout Safari]

Definitely a prime example of tree huggers

Well you may be right, but they are a member of this forum and they do not drive a prius, they drive and live in a Gladiator. They have a series of Videos and I can say I have enjoyed watching them in their travels. He is retired military and they are truly living what they talk about.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

I might be crazy doing this but as i get older, I've realized that i don't need as many material things as I've once had.

I’ve also come to this conclusion and quite my IT job making a very good salary for working at the local County for 1/3rd the pay, but 1000000000% less stress. I have everything I need when I really think about it, so what is more stress giving me, more shit to buy? Meh….

 

[Bjeepz]

Uhhhh. I'm missing something. Guy currently has a house but wants to sleep in his car for 2 years and then get another house. The grass ain't greener, enjoy your bed

Agreed, I held off moving around working in my new field just gaining interesting experiences and now 2.5yrs later am totally fucked because housing in Canada has doubled in just the last yr. Now Im kinda fucked :-(.
That said living in the Jeep a few days a month is a fun adventure!! I understand your idea and like it, but if your area doubles from now til when you anticipate being ready what will your situation be. Service salaries don’t follow inflation in my experience sadly.

 

[Stangallmotor]

Might be cheaper to just get a cheap motel here & there.

If you work as much OT as possible you'll only need the motel a few times a month.

 

[thetruth1983]

lol, yeah I’m not following

It's basically just to get a lump sum of cash and then save a lump sum of cash until the market goes back down. I'm single in a 3/2. I work so much that when I'm finally off, I'm still working doing house chores, grass, cleaning up after the dog etc...Since COVID started, the value of my house has shot up by 80k. My dream would be to pay off my remaining debt and save enough to have a house on a few acres of land. The quickest way for me to get there would be to sell this house and live with only the necessities for the next year of two.

 

[JET_83]

It's basically just to get a lump sum of cash and then save a lump sum of cash until the market goes back down. I'm single in a 3/2. I work so much that when I'm finally off, I'm still working doing house chores, grass, cleaning up after the dog etc...Since COVID started, the value of my house has shot up by 80k. My dream would be to pay off my remaining debt and save enough to have a house on a few acres of land. The quickest way for me to get there would be to sell this house and live with only the necessities for the next year of two.

I gotcha bud, wish the best of you

 

[thetruth1983]

Be super careful on building costs.... They have tripled the last year or so..... Here in California, it is up to $250 a square foot.

A friend of mind just broke this down for me. It's actually going to be much cheaper to buy the land with a house already on it than to buy the land and build the house.

 

[thetruth1983]

I appreciate all the help. I checked out the Prius girl and apparently, there are quite a few people here living out of a Prius. Another person brought up a good point. If someone hits my vehicle, I'd be out of shelter. That's a risk I don't want to take although I like the Prius idea. I would be able to run the AC or heat all night with the engine turning on every half hour or so. I've also looked at the alu-cab camper and although that option might work, I'm afraid I would reach the payload of my JT pretty quick since the payload is only 1100 pounds. It's also around 10k which is just a few thousand shy of the trailer I was looking at.

I think what I will ultimately end up doing is just getting a nice trailer and staying at an RV resort. The last one I checked out was $599 a month plus 14 cent per kilowatt electricity. At least when I'm done with the trailer, I can sell it to recoup some of the cost. I could also keep it and use it for camping sometimes. When I purchased my JT, I was not even thinking about this lifestyle so I got an Overland without the tow hitch. From what I understand, with the proper tow hitch, the max I'll be able to pull is 4500 pounds. I wish I could have gotten a max tow but nothing I can do about that now. I might end up getting a used truck about 15 years old if I decide to go with a bigger camper. I'll let you all know how it goes. I plan to have all of this completed within the next 2 months.

 

[VASki]

Instead of selling, could you rent your current house and still proceed with your plan to live in a camper? You could build up more equity when you are ready to sell in 2 years.

 

[DiscoSlug]

I lived in my Jeep Gladiator for 3 years while working far away from my home (3 states away). I moved around to different lots during the week to not seem like a "regular" in any one parking lot and parked near other vehicles that were commonly parked in the same spot everyday.

5% tint on all windows, window louvers inside the frame so I could keep them cracked while sleeping. Bed rack (Rebel Offroad) allowed 2 100w Renogy solar panels to sit recessed in the frame of the rack so they wouldn't get hit by anything underneath or when loading stuff on the top of the rack. Windshield sunshade from Weathertech fit perfectly.

Sleeping was in a hammock strung between the front passenger and rear left rollbar. I'm 5'11" and at the time was 270lbs and slept very comfortably. Getting the hammock slung properly to be comfortable takes some work but you'll get it to your perfect setting after a week or two of troubleshooting. It's also my preferred method for Jeep (I've done the same thing in a 2door). You can bungie cord the hammock up and out of view in a minute or less.

For summers, I'd park under a tree and I used a lithium ion 16" fan to keep me cool. Never was too hot and some days got up to 90+ degrees.
For winters, I had a Marmot -40C sleeping bag. It's comfortable down to around -15C. It'll keep you alive in colder temps but you won't be sleeping. The toe box on the mummy is extra padded (the $700 one at REI) so toes were normally nice and toasty. In warmer temps (0C to 10C) just unzip to comfort. On cool summer nights I would just place it on my chest in the storage bag so I could push it off unconsciously when it was too warm. For true winter where you need the bag every night without exception, I used a hammock underquilt which took my winter game to a whole new level of comfort.

With solar panels, I used 2 Li ion 100ah batteries and a 2000w inverter which kept everything charged, including my laptop if I needed to work remotely.

Once you get comfortable with the logistics of living in a truck, you might find it difficult to go back. I also stayed relatively close to an office building sometimes that housed a bunch of doctor's offices. Their bathrooms are always clean and normally not busy and open 8-5, or later for cleaning staff. The staff just assumed I worked there.

Hit me up if you have any questions.

 

[bwildoutside]

I agree with buying land and living on that in a camper. Also if you set it up right and have enough land there are so many people out there wanting to live in RVs(at least where I’m at in the PNW) that you could rent out a spot or two to people for $500 a month to help pay off the land.

 

[ntwrkguru]

It's basically just to get a lump sum of cash and then save a lump sum of cash until the market goes back down. I'm single in a 3/2. I work so much that when I'm finally off, I'm still working doing house chores, grass, cleaning up after the dog etc...Since COVID started, the value of my house has shot up by 80k. My dream would be to pay off my remaining debt and save enough to have a house on a few acres of land. The quickest way for me to get there would be to sell this house and live with only the necessities for the next year of two.

Just keep in mind that the lump sum sitting in your bank account is losing value at a record pace right now.

 

[Tomahawk Daddy]

I would live in my truck but I'm married. That being said we have spent a few weeks on the road living out of it. We have a Go Fast Camper, it might be more than you want to spend but its cheaper than a trailer and low profile. It would be good for those few days you need a place to stay. I highly suggest an aux battery/solar/fridge setup with what ever you end up going with. Having food and not dealing with ice was the biggest game changer for us.

 

[Blade1668]

I've not read though the whole thread. I've been "full-timing" with Scamp T.T. and my LJ. Since Dec. 2010, a few years back (Dec 2017) I bought some land. 2 sheds, T.T. with septic tank, water electricity. Added JT in Jan 2020 have shell and RTT as a "get away" setup. It can be done, life would suck if static in Houston TX. (IMHO) now if traveling livable. I'd have to have A.C. if I was there. I had planned to build on my land but change of plans right now too. But I've spent alot of my adult life in military and deployments. The first 3 years I "owned" a house I there less than 3 months. So I've lived out of a rucksack or suitcase, vehicle for many years. It would depend on your lifestyle.
P.M. me I can relate more not in open forum. If you want more info. FYI my sister and her kids lives in Houston TX. area.
One of the firefighter at F.D. where I did work was doing that with his Toyota and RTT parked at station then some camping and campgrounds on off time. I haven't talked with him in months though.

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