I've been waiting for years to find a youtuber who wanted to do overland traveling with a conqueror. Glad you finally came along. I hope to do it full time around the world in early retirement. This seems like the best trailer for the job of everything I've found.

@IndependenceOverland

2 жыл бұрын

Hey, thanks for checking it out! I’ve made some major improvements to mine and I have some trip videos coming out in the coming months of trekking around with it. We travel a lot so the long edits of our trips will have to wait until winter and I’m locked in the house! Very cool campers, they are very solid setups! I’ll have more coming along for you soon, thanks for checking it out!

I have exactly the same combination car and caravan. In South Africa we just call them Conqueror Commanders. Would love to see all the changes you make. Glad I discovered your channel.

@IndependenceOverland

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome campers! I’ve done some cool stuff, check out the Redarc installation video. HUGE improvement!

@XplorAfrica

2 жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland I have, it is awesome. Thanks. Redoing my electrics as well, installing Victron products.

@Afriqueleblanq

Жыл бұрын

Conqueror are the world's original offroad camper makers. Long ago, they made vehicles for the South African Defence Force. We used it in the 1970s and 80s when we fought Russia, East Germany, Cuba and Angola - and literally made them flee like rats. These vans have battle-proven ancestry. 🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦

Man, that is a sweet little rig! Gotta get mine ready for next month! Still winterized, snowed this week again.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

haha your having worse weather than I am here in Colorado! I've gotten out a total of 7 days so far, will be pushing that number way up here pretty quick!

You lucky boy! Happy adventures!

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Happy adventures to you too! Get out and enjoy Spring!

@COOL-DROPS

3 жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland I am in UK and its currently beautiful here so don't worry I am. Before they lock our asses down real tight again

Really cool trailer

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Its pretty rad! Its growing on me more and more.

I plan to go to SA and get the new one MV21 next winter......They are awesome. Used that model before 5 years ago in Africa.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Oh man, I wish I could go use one in Africa. One of these days I intend to make it out there.

very nice set up👍now you got me thinking 🤔 lol have to show the boss this video definitely a lot of room

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Haha they’re awesome Larry! The trick is finding one.

@larryrose1379

3 жыл бұрын

exactly after watching your video I got on the Internet and was looking for them haha well looks like the CVT will have to work for a little while longer 😅 if you ever come to junction and have it with you I would love to see it

You have ascended into Off Road God territory with this one! BAD ASS!

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah it’s pretty sweet! I had it on some fairly gnarly stuff, but the tent will still be my setup for trail beatings until I have a tow vehicle with more power. It’s a pretty cool camper though, that’s for sure.

@markansas1337

3 жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland I was wondering about that. That FJ is in need of some Arkansas mud! Hell yeah!

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

@@markansas1337 I’m hoping for that this year

At $40k-$50k; this is for serious glamping. Tiny market for these, but very cool. The design and function is well thought out.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah they were insanely expensive new, I wouldn’t buy one at those prices. Very well thought out units though.

Nicely done. I’ve had mine 3 years and it’s the meanest rig out there. Nothing compares to the functionality, durability, and capability. Are you on the Conqueror page on FB? Some great mods there.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Yes sir I sure am! I have been asking a lot of questions on there actually, my camper has some weird quirks and of course there’s virtually no support for them. I’m about an hour away from driving mine into the mountains for the weekend! Always exciting. Have a nice holiday weekend Freddie.

@freddiemartinez7192

3 жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland Nice! I’m on as well, hopefully we can all meet up someday for a Conqueror run!!

How do you deal with the kitchen setup on the drivers side when used at an rv camp site? Unless the site is a pull through, I could see an issue backing into a narrow site and the kitchen is on the opposite side of the camp site.

@IndependenceOverland

2 жыл бұрын

We stayed at misc camp grounds on our way through the Pacific North West and didn’t have the issue of it being on the wrong side. That being said, I rarely plan to be at camp grounds with it. In the case of National Parks, it didn’t seem to be an issue for us.

SMEV became part of the Dometic group some time ago. So the cooker being a Smev is a Dometic :)

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Well hopefully Dometic has redesigned it…. I don’t think it was designed with wind in mind.

Great camper. May I ask how much these pre-owned campers cost? and if there is a web page to check. Thanks

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

They are hard to come by since they were only sold in the US for a few years. The ExpeditionPortal forums are probably the best place to look. Most of them sell for 40-50k. I didn’t pay anywhere near that, but I got extremely lucky.

Unfornately I do not think these trailers are being imported to the USA any longer. The USA distributor was a short distance away from us, but they no longer are in business I believe.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Nope, they are not. I heard rumors that someone else was trying to start importing them again, but who knows.

Yeah if you like living in a dark cave!

@IndependenceOverland

2 жыл бұрын

Haha yeah it is pretty dark on the inside with no zippers opened. I put a Hard Korr light strip across the center of the roof and it made a big difference, because right over the table is definitely not enough light.

That's very cool. Question - what is the carrier you're using to mount the Rotopax to the FJ?

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

It’s part of the expedition one bumper tire carrier. All the weight is on the bumper instead of the door hinge. Refined Cycle makes one that doesn’t require the bumper, but in my opinion the excess weight on the door hinges is asking for problems. I do use the Refined Cycle propane mount and it’s quite nice.

@jagaro

3 жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland Thanks...I'm waiting on tube bumpers from Metal Tech, but will require something for gas storage. I guess the ideal solution is to get an auxiliary tank.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

On my next build that’s the route I’ll go too. I use my gas cans a lot and in the long run I think it risks clogging up the filter when refueling in a place like utah. It gets old, so just having a larger tank is ideal but expensive.

just found your channel. Great channel, rig and setup. I'm looking at similar trailers and searching for the right combination to keep the weight down yet still provide the luxuries of standing up, group seating inside, quick setup/pack-up, 4 season and is very off-road capable. I read below you are considering another tow rig. Do you know what your UEV490 weighed on this trip? Did your FJ struggle off-road or didn't you take it over anything too rough? I'll be really interested to follow you to see what your FJ is capable of conquering while towing. I don't want to get a new TV (driving a Jeep Gladiator) and I also plan to use the RTT when the going gets too rough to tow the "luxury" trailer.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

So keep in mind the UEV 490 is technically a 3 season. In the winter I can’t have the water tanks full, all that is capable of freezing. Fine by me, as I won’t be using much water outside during the freezing months. Not sure if the specific weight of the camper itself on the trip, but Fj and camper combined I’m 60lbs away from being over GCWR. Pulling really isn’t bad. I cruise at 60-65, Offroad it does great since I’m regeared, the Fj doesn’t struggle as much as I expected. I won’t be doing anything gnarly until I have another tow vehicle. But keep in mind pretty much no trailer (aside from the Patriot campers perhaps) are actually designed as a rock basher. There’s a guy who was towing his 490 (outfitted with way more options and weight than mine) with a 4runner and switched up to a Gladiator and said it’s much better. Being able to keep the tent on all the time would be really nice. I will be doing more trips with the camper soon and will put up some more videos of it for sure! Thanks for watching!

@BigDaddyMuddzy

3 жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland Thanks! Great info. I've only found a few campers that will fully function (with water/waste) in subfreezing temps but I believe that the majority of the time I will use a camper like you do in that I won't use the plumbing during subfreezing trips. I won't want to unwinterize/winterize after every trip and I do a fair amount of winter backpacking sleeping multiple nights in an unheated tent. However, on longer trips it will be nice to be able to turn on the heat and get a shower in a camper as long as the heating system/unit insulation is efficient. The Xplore XR22/X22 are the best at that feature but I feel they're just too big/heavy. That's one of the things I like about the UEV490 is the size/weight. There isn't a lot of weight added from wooden cabinets. I will trade more weight from added insulation vs weight from solid wood cabinets throughout. The AntiShanty is really close for me but their popup A frame roof leaks so they sell a "fly" cover with every unit. Who wants to fight a cover all of the time, especially in the middle of the night? No thanks. The perfect camper for me isn't out there yet so I keep wanting to build my own but I know it will take way too much of my time and it wouldn't be finished for probably 2yrs.

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

I plan at some point to build some sort of an internal shower curtain setup for the 490. Basically a curtain that hangs from the roof directly into the tub so there isn’t spilling happening. The wife loves the idea of the shower, but hates when she’s getting eaten by bugs. I will say for warm weather, the bathroom exterior room on this thing is well done. It’s pretty secure and huge. I’ll include that in a video at some point.

this is a great video I just wish you had more thing in focus

@IndependenceOverland

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah it was a new lens. I’ll do another walk around soon, as it’s been updated in a few different ways.

It actually is pron boondootec, and it is from 🇿🇦 South Africa, from where Oz gets it. Bundu means bush/outback/wilderness. Anglophones can learn this:. The tendency to Anglicize is almost guaranteed to be wrong, as almost all of the other six thousand languages follow different patterns. Confusing, eh?

@IndependenceOverland

Жыл бұрын

Confusing yes, but thank you for educating me on it. I do like to pronounce names correctly!

@Afriqueleblanq

Жыл бұрын

@@IndependenceOverland Thanks for your great attitude. Appreciated, because I help others in the spirit of ubunto (ooh booon too) which here in 🇿🇦 means "I am, because we are."

How do I get one in the states?

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

They were sold here from 2016-2020. Rumor has it that a new importer will be selling them here again, but I don’t know the details.

Is that the new flagship platinum edition?

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

I wish! This is just a 2016 Extreme. One of the first imported into the USA.

How does the FJC go towing the 490 ?

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

It’s not too bad actually. I am regeared to 4.56 and it does pretty well. I travel at about 65mph. I am just barely under the legal limits of the Fj, so of course it’s a lot of strain on the vehicle. I plan to get another tow vehicle sometime in the next year or two.

How about filming the camper, instead of yourself?

@IndependenceOverland

3 жыл бұрын

Haha yeah the focus was wrecked. New lens, sorry about that.

omg... Do you HAVE to be in the shot at all time? It makes your video hard to watch cause the auto focus. Nice info video, but PLEASE make another one, where we can see what you are actually talking about. Thanks!

@IndependenceOverland

2 жыл бұрын

No can do.