How To Turn Your Truck Into A Kickass Survival Vehicle!

How To Turn Your Truck Into A Kickass Survival Vehicle – Graphic © off-grid.info. Images: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obSdBLc7Niw

MOBILITY is critical to survival! So here’s a detailed run-down of ideas to help you get thinking about your own survival truck – whether you are starting with a vehicle you already have, or are considering picking something up…

1) General Considerations When Choosing A Survival Vehicle – A Quick Checklist:

An off-grid / survival truck has a unique set of requirements, but these can be summarized easily:

a) Built tough AF.

b) Can go anywhere – your survival vehicle should ideally have true 4WD capability, good ground clearance, strong axles and drive train, all-terrain tires.

c) Reliable.

d) Cargo capacity.

e) Equipped with tools and equipment to provide versatility in various environments plus get you out of situations.

f) Should be easily repaired and be “not exotic” so that parts are not too difficult to obtain. Good examples might be a Toyota Hilux / Tacoma / Tundra, Land Rover, Jeep Wrangler / Gladiator, Dodge Ram 2500, Ford F150 or perhaps even a common military vehicle such as a MAN (though bear in mind that ex-military vehicles can have challenges when it comes to international travel due to export restrictions). Follow this link for my full report on military vehicles for survival / off grid purposes.

g) Comfort – can you sleep in it?

h) Security / protection – your vehicle should protect the occupants as best it can from both the elements and from hostile persons or wild animals.

i) Range – how far can it go on a full tank (and any supplementary fuel you have on board) without refueling?

2) Build:

Your rig’s ability to deal with various terrain is likely to be its #1 make-or-break characteristic.

A classic survival situation that is actually quite common when if you are “off the grid and off the map”: Your vehicle gets stuck. Either in mud, in a hole or run aground due to insufficient ground clearance. Expeditions into places beyond civilization encounter these kinds of scenarios all the time and if you can’t get unstuck…… it’s quite literally the end of the road. So let’s talk first about ground clearance and the components that contribute to it.

Axles: In rough terrain, tough axles are an important consideration. You want something that won’t fail when put to the test. The entire drive train needs to be built tough because as the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Lift: A lift will give you not only better ground clearance and visibility but some added security – as it’s harder for passers by to see inside the vehicle from the outside. Lifting the vehicle also facilitates the fitting of larger wheels, which increase ground clearance still further! It’s important to get a high quality lift as budget lift work that is not as well done can put strain on the vehicle components and cause instability. So this is one critical area to do good research before making a choice.

Wheels And Tires: “All terrain” tires are an essential for off road vehicles. All-terrains give a general-purpose “hybrid” capability – a balance between on road and off road use. All-terrain tires may wear more quickly and not perform as well on-road, however classic all terrain tires such as the BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 have a 50k mile warranty! I use these tires and love them. As an “SHTF tire” they are hard to beat – with a strong sidewall to facilitate overcoming obstacles, good snow performance and resistance to punctures.

Here’s an in depth review of this tire on all types of terrain:

Note that all-terrains will not have as good a performance in soft mud as “mud-terrains”. Mud-terrains have wider gaps in the tread pattern, which helps mud to be ejected more easily and not gum up the tire so much – however this comes at the expense of road performance.

Here’s a further highly detailed guide to all-terrain tires with a lot of valuable info:

Fitting larger wheels and tires will also give greater ground clearance to the axles, which on a lifted vehicle will be the lowest point of the vehicle to the ground.

Spare full size wheel+tire: Don’t skimp on this, you don’t want to be stuck out in the wild with just one of those undersized spare wheels aka. “donut tires”. Serious outback adventurers often take more than 1 full size spare.

Roll cage: Designed of course to protect the occupants in the event of a rollover.

Fuel Tank: Once you run out of fuel, you’re S.O.L. If SHTF, you might not be able to get fuel at all and so you will be dependent on what you happen to be carrying. So for general survival purposes, or if you are in a rural / remote area you might do well to consider an aftermarket auxiliary fuel tank – such as those from transferflow.com or longrangeamerica.com which can significantly extend the range of your vehicle. At the very least, a high quality metal “Jerry can” or two will add some range and help you get where you need to go. Get the cans that have the heavy locking cap as they are less prone to leakage than the cheap plastic type. Example: Wavian Authentic NATO Jerry Fuel Can, Red (Amazon, rave reviews)

Here’s an 8-gallon (30L) fuel can on Amazon that got good reviews and will significantly extend your potential range.

Bear in mind that fuel will only keep for a certain amount of time before degrading. So it’s advisable to use up the fuel in your spare fuel can regularly and then refill it, rather than ending up with year-old fuel.

Snorkel: If water gets into your air intake, your engine will stall; a snorkel will increase the depth of water your vehicle can ford as well as assisting with intake of clean, cool air to the engine.

Professional Build: If you want all this done right, it makes absolute sense to go with a pro build. Searching around, lots of guys raving about the AEV (American Expedition Vehicles) Prospector XL, which is a top quality (and very expensive!) upgrade to the Dodge RAM 2500 – to include monster 40″ tires, heavy duty winch, off road lights and so much more. This vehicle, it is claimed, will have at least a 23″ ground clearance: Rave reviews from professionals and overlanders alike… one commenter, who claims to use it daily for tree work, calls it the “pinnacle of truck evolution”. This really is a kickass survival vehicle:

It’s fantastic but gotta say it, definitely in the territory of “rich boy’s toys”. I guess it depends how much cash you have to burn…

3) Front End Reinforcement:

Mike Glover covers this nicely from 1:36 onwards in this video:

If you need to ‘get out of dodge’ and ordinary roads are impassable for whatever reason, you might need to travel off road – and we don’t just mean dirt roads. We mean possibly going through fences and over obstacles of whatever kind – or perhaps pushing things out of the way. The beefier the front end of your survival rig the better. It’s #1 job is to protect the radiator, the destruction of which would incapacitate the vehicle. A stronger font end also of course gives crash protection to the occupants.

Mike goes with a front end from Fabfours.com, which also facilitates the addition of an after market light bar from rigidindustries.com and protection for the Warn winch, which allows self recovery. Let’s focus now on the winch:

4) Winching & Towing (And Related Equipment):

Hard core off-roaders and recovery professionals rely on a cable winch to solve various problems. A winch can be used to:
a) get your own vehicle unstuck (for example hook the cable to a tree and pull yourself out)
b) get someone else’s vehicle unstuck (hook the winch to their vehicle and pull them out).
c) drag large objects (for example a boulder or large log).

Winches need to be understood and used correctly and safely. Good tutorial here: https://towprofessional.com/article/winch-basics-and-not-so-basics/

If you are going to get a winch for serious jobs, you will want a “snatch block” which has been described by reviewers as “The most important slab of metal you will ever buy (besides the winch itself)”. A snatch block can be used to either reverse your pulling direction or double the strength of the pull, depending how you configure it. Here’s a link to a top quality 20,000lb snatch block which got tons of 5-star reviews on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UlNaeB.

For example if you are in a vehicle with a 9000 pound winch and are stuck you will have 9000 pounds of pulling power by hooking directly to a tree in front of you. If, however, you put a snatch block (such as this one https://amzn.to/4dNJUDi) at the tree end (with a winch strap such as this 3″ 30,000 pound rated strap https://amzn.to/4cUO37j round the tree), then run the cable through it and back to your vehicle you will then have 18,000 pounds of pulling power.

This gives you added strength when moving large logs or in any serious situation. If you are out in the mountains this could be the difference between getting home and freezing to death, no joke.

Here’s a great tutorial in how to connect and use your winching equipment properly:

Note also in the thumbnail, the 2 sandbags draped over the winch cable. This is done right: It is to give additional safety in case of a cable snap under high tension, which can turn a steel cable into a potentially lethal steel whip!

“Scotches” aka “chocks” are advisable when doing heavy winches to stop your winch vehicle being dragged backwards. A scotch is wedge-shaped. Bigger is better (so long as it fits under the vehicle of course!) You can purchase solid rubber ones, which are ideal on tarmac. A more fancy setup has scotch cables which prevent the vehicle from riding right over the scotches or pushing them into the dirt. These give a lot more ‘bite’ when winching serious loads. Demonstration:

A recovery strap is specifically designed with a little give in it. This is because when one vehicle is pulling another out, there can be a very strong jerk as the rope goes tight. The modern generation of kinetic ropes is regarded as much safer than old-school steel cables. For serious pulling here’s a very highly rated stretch rope rated at 52,300 pounds (tons of 5 star reviews on Amazon) https://amzn.to/3OTzYws

You’ll also want a couple of D-Rings (aka D-Shackles) to complete the setup. The importance of these cannot be underestimated for vehicle recovery, indeed for most 4x4s, the D shackle is how you attach the strap to the vehicle. They are also used to connect trailer safety chains. Here are some heavy duty D-Ring Shackles on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3XNfIk9 Those ones are 3/4″ but there are different sizes available, rated for different pulling weights.

Safety is ABSOLUTELY paramount when using winches. Do not even attempt to use a winch unless you know what you are doing! A steel cable under heavy strain that snaps can turn into a whip that is powerful enough to kill. Seriously. The heavy object being winched could also go flying backwards or fall. A winch that has failed due to misuse could also cause the object being pulled to be suddenly released and free fall, squashing whatever is in its path. NEVER stand, walk or sit behind or below anything being winched and don’t use the equipment unless you absolutely know what you are doing.

RECOVERY POINTS: Aside from winching, you will want the ability to tow and be towed! Learn where the recovery points are on your vehicle (both front and rear) and how to use them. A vehicle’s recovery points are specific attachment points that can support the weight of the vehicle when it’s being towed or pulled; typically located on the chassis of the vehicle, such as a shackle mount on a steel bumper. The best recovery point is typically the tow hitch receiver – it’s built for it. Off road vehicles may have further strong recovery points, and after market ones can be fitted both front and rear. If a vehicle does not have good recovery points (increasingly common on newer vehicles) a tow truck may attempt to hook on to an axle.

If you are the one doing the towing, here’s an example (Amazon) of a heavy duty Shackle Hitch Receiver that fits into the towing point and holds a D-Ring.

5) GPS:

If you’re off the grid and off the map, then navigation is even more critical than it is finding your way through the streets! The navigation app on your smart phone may be good but what happens when you are out of cell phone range? Yes, your iPhone has GPS – but a dedicated satellite GPS navigator does not rely on cellular signals and is unaffected by cellular dead zones. This Garmin nüvi 55LM GPS Navigator System is the #1 seller on Amazon and gets great reviews. For more possibilities check out my tutorial 5+ Ways To Get Online When “Normal Internet” Is Not Available (Including SHTF Options).

6) Tool Up:

Your survival vehicle should be equipped with a wide variety of tools. The list here could be as long as your arm, or your budget (and don’t forget to think about your overall pack weight) but think about what truckers and military folks carry with them. Basic mechanic tools, jacks and vehicle repair kit, bridging ladders, inverter, battery power tools such as a reciprocating saw with branch cutting blades (this is very valuable in forest regions. I once was able to clear a 6″ diameter tree trunk that had fallen across a road (at chest height) and be on my way because I happened to have one of these in the trunk!)

I would also advise some kind of heavy duty locking tool chest on the vehicle, bolted down from the inside and preferably invisible from the outside, as the tools are often a target for car jackers.

Stow some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – including some heavy work gloves on the truck and leave them there. You will be glad you did! I would also highly recommend keeping a good quality respirator on your rig at all times. Just do it, thank me later.

Pro tip #1: pack a 12″ square of 1″ thick plywood to use as a base for a wheel jack. Jacking a vehicle on even slightly soft ground can be hazardous as if the jack sinks slowly it can give way suddenly without warning, with the vehicle crashing down. I’ve seen this happen and I still get chills thinking about it… it can absolutely be deadly if you are under the vehicle doing a repair.

Pro tip #2: inspect your kit regularly, make sure you have what you need and that it is all functional. It’s a good idea to keep a pack list and give it a run-through. This will give you far better preparedness than “Hope I didn’t forget something”….

7) Water:

You can survive several days without food. Without water, you are in trouble much, much faster. A supply of clean, potable water is an absolute essential if you are anywhere that fresh water on tap is not a given. If you break down in the desert, you now have a survival issue as well as a vehicle issue… *cue vultures circling overhead*

Your water stash will also provide some water for your vehicle’s radiator and screen wash and of course a means to extinguish certain types of fire. I would advise anyone to carry a minimum of 1 gallon of potable water on their vehicle at any time, to keep this in a container rated for potable water and to refresh it often.

A good quality 5 gallon water container will keep you going for a few days. 5 gallons is a good size and has become a military standard for good reason – one container gives plentiful water while still being portable: If you need more capacity, get more than one of these containers rather than getting a huge container – because if you do end up in a situation where you have to park the truck and walk a mile to get water, you will want something you can carry: A USA gallon of water weighs around 8.33 pounds, a UK gallon weighs 10 pounds – so do the math… water is heavy…

Here’s a top quality, rugged 5-gallon BPA-free water container on Amazon that got a ton of rave reviews. A survival essential in my view! Just get one (or more if you are going further) and fill it before you leave, you’ll be glad you did. If 5 gallons (a little over 40lbs in weight when full) is likely to be a struggle, you can get 2.5 gallon containers from the same top quality brand (Scepter).

Combine this with a good quality water filter such as the Travel Berkey and you are pretty much all set!

8) Roof Rack:

There are some amazing examples now of full length roof racks that are “multi-purpose”:
a) a place to carry cargo
b) solid enough to take the weight of persons, which means you can hang out up there. This has multiple benefits – can be safer than ground level in some circumstances, as well as giving good views and recon benefits. It could also be a great place to sleep and you might even be able to set up a tent or shelter up there.
c) integrated solar panels.

Here’s a great example (roof rack demo starts at 1:49)

9) Electrical Power Rigs / Upgrades For Off Grid And Survival Vehicles.

A vehicle makes an ideal power plant for a wide variety of uses… 🙂 The alternator on a vehicle is essentially a powerful generator that is used to charge the batteries. Batteries can then be used to power DC appliances or run to an inverter that will deliver AC power to run various electrical equipment that you already have.

Batteries also give the option of DC charging from solar panels and a variety of other sources – giving you versatility and an almost ideal power supply that can be used “anywhere”.

NOTE: Such a system requires significant knowledge to assemble correctly. Below are some of the of the basics – but please be aware that vehicle electrics require correct installation and can be dangerous when done incorrectly. True Story: A friend of mine traveled to Morocco with his GF in a home-converted Mercedes van. I don’t know exactly what he did with the electrics, but it was DIY. It was a fairytale romantic adventure until, one night, the electrics shorted and the vehicle caught fire while they were asleep…! They were able to get out, but the rig burned to the ground – leaving them not only stranded, but now in a situation where the authorities accused them of illegally importing a vehicle when they attempted to leave the country without it!! … all because of “homegrown” vehicle electrics. If you don’t have the skills to do it right, get a pro install. There may also be legal requirements for vehicle modifications.

9A) INVERTERS

A powerful inverter can be connected (using short cables) to the vehicle battery and then with the engine running, regular 110/240v AC power tools and various appliances can be connected. I’ve used a 2000W Pure Sine Inverter connected to a truck to run a sump pump and drain a flooded area, small electric heaters and all kinds of power tools. Connect the inverter using short, thick jumper cables, start the engine (so as not to drain your battery!), flip on the inverter power and off you go.

In order to run sensitive electronics and in fact to prolong the life of equipment of all kinds, you will want a pure sine wave inverter (as opposed to a modified sine wave inverter). These produce much cleaner power: Modified sine units are cheaper but I don’t use them as I don’t want to risk damaging my equipment and many items with electronic controls, even such as a tumble dryer, may not even run at all from a modified sine inverter.

Before buying an inverter, get an idea of the maximum power you are likely to need. You can get an inexpensive inline power meter such as this one (USA plug / 110v) or this one (UK plug / 240v). These are super easy to use and will give you a rating for what your tools and appliances actually draw.

2000W should run most power tools but check the actual power draw of your equipment using if you want to run more powerful appliances – and bear in mind that should you want to run more than one thing at a time, it starts to stack up. A 3000W inverter will probably run most domestic appliances and is probably ideal for a truck inverter.

Be wary of cheapie brands of inverter! There are a ton of these out there and you will probably get what you pay for. This is something I wouldn’t skimp on because it’s a critical component. I’ve been using the highly rated Giandel 4000W Inverter Amazon USA link / Amazon UK link for the last couple of years and have had zero issues whatsoever, it rocks – but is somewhat hefty for mobile applications.

NOTE: A powerful inverter will need to be connected directly to the vehicle battery, as opposed to running via the typical cigarette lighter outlets in the vehicle’s cabin. These outlets are often only rated for 10A (120W) and so if you connect an inverter to these and attempt to run a device with a higher power rating, you are quite likely to blow the fuse.

PRO TIP: When looking at inverters on Amazon… you will often see someone complaining in the reviews that the inverter couldn’t deliver the rated load. It’s highly likely that the reviewer did not know what they were doing and installed it incorrectly, using cables that were too thin / not highly rated enough. See the section on cables below.

9B) BATTERIES

In order to handle heavy demand, high power inverters require high-capacity battery banks. For serious use a separate deep cycle battery bank is advised, with various options for charging from connection through to the regular battery through to solar panels. Such installations are best done by a pro or someone who really knows what they are doing. DC power can be dangerous and a short can carry enough current to make wires glow white hot, slough off their insulation in seconds and start a fire very fast. You’ll want an inline fuse on the DC supply that is designed to protect you from this kind of short – and the fuse needs to be correctly rated for the current you are drawing.

There are various options here but one of the best choices is “LiFePo4” – Lithium Iron Phosphate. These weigh much less than lead acid batteries – around a third of the weight, which is an important consideration for a vehicle. They are also regarded as safer than “ordinary lithium”, without the thermal runaway fire risk that those have. They also have a far higher cycle use, with many being rated for 5,000+ cycles – significantly over 10 years of use. Furthermore they can be run flat without the “memory” effects and loss of capacity that lead acid batteries are renowned for.

9C) CABLES

In order for the juice to make it from the batteries to the inverter and supply the required power safely, very low resistance wiring (read: short, thick cables) and high-quality connections are required.

Beef up your DC cables! This is actually pretty important. DC power does not hold its voltage over distance in the same manner as AC power. There’s a formula for running DC cables to the inverter and if you look at the inverter, you will see DC lugs are designed for “monster cables” – sometimes going to 0AWG and even beyond. You want the beefiest cables that you can physically connect. Double them up if you can – and run the shortest distance you possibly can from your batteries to your inverter.

AWG stands for “American Wire Gauge” and is the standard wire size measurement system in the USA. [expand]

Here’s some 2/0 AWG cables which should be sufficient for 175-amp and 200-amp fuses. For a 6000w inverter, something of the order of these monster 4/0 inverter cables would be advisable (listing states use up to 7000w inverters). I use 4/0 AWG cables on my 4000W inverter and they stay cool. Bigger cables than that, I have never seen.

In the past I have built “power boxes” which have a battery compartment and then the inverter sits right on top or on the side, enabling the shortest possible cables to be run.

Only if the cable is beefy enough will you get the unit to deliver its rated power without shutdown. The longer and/or thinner the cable run, the harder it is for the battery to push what is required. Thinner cables also get hotter (think about a lightbulb filament to understand this concept) – which can be dangerous.

9D) CONNECTORS

Even a great cable can fail to deliver if the connectors used are inferior. Good, solid, tight connections are ideal to prevent resistance.

Even worse, it could come disconnected, leaving one with a potentially hazardous situation of a massive current cable “on the loose”. If a positive connector were to work loose and touch a ground point, it could immediately start a fire.

I would advise to purchase well-made cables with the connector lugs already fitted.

9E) RELAY / ISOLATOR

This super-useful component enables you to isolate correctly a second battery from the main system and switch it back into the system as required.

Here’s a highly rated example from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3H4cB1w

9F) SOLAR PANEL(s)

Having at least one solar panel will of course give you a way to run your appliances and tools for longer without draining the vehicle battery. It also gives you an added way to charge the battery in case it has gone flat.

There are various options here:
a) trickle charge panel. These are designed to be left in place while the vehicle is parked, providing a small amount of power that keeps the battery topped up.
b) standard portable solid frame panel. These are simply stashed in the truck and set up when you are camped out – either leaning against the vehicle or on the roof. Bear in mind that solar panels should be properly secured either if unattended or if there is a possibility of high wind: You don’t want one taking off as it could be highly dangerous as well as potentially destroying the panel.
c) Roof panel installation. Some of the best examples of these I have seen are on custom van build roof racks, where the panels are of a highly rugged type that doubles up as a surface that can be walked on.

10) Cool Examples Of Survival Trucks:

I’ve pulled out an additional collection of some of the best videos I found of folks giving us a rundown of their survival rigs. Watching these videos will give you a ton of additional ideas and insight. Enjoy:

(check out the bed storage system at 16:01 onwards, pretty neat!)

Check out this post for a detailed rundown of ARMY TRUCK Conversions – Military Vehicles Transformed Into Survival Rigs, Overlanders And Off Grid Homes