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Avalon Camper Goes Off-Roading Completely Unprepared, Lasts Exactly 20 Seconds

Want to go camping and off-roading at the same time? Well, there are plenty of options out there. For instance, you can either get the Antero Adventure Motors RV based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter or Kestrel's off-road camper. But never take a vintage, completely unprepared Avalon trailer on the unbeaten path.
Avalon trailer goes off-roading 8 photos
Photo: BleepinJeep/YouTube
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There are a ton of reasons why you shouldn't do it, but I'll go with the most obvious ones. First, it's not safe. Second, you'll destroy the camper and maybe even damage the vehicle you're towing it with. But you don't have to take my word for it. The folks over at YouTube's "BleepinJeep" did just that as part of their "how to build the world's cheapest overland camper" challenge.

These guys have quite a few interesting videos on how to get an old Jeep Forward Control running again, but they recently took a break from that project to go off-road camping. On a budget. With just $487 and a bit of change. You obviously can't buy a decent off-road trailer with that kind of money, so they purchased a beat-up, 1966 Avalon camper and changed the axle and the tires.

Needless to say, that's not enough to prep an old camper for uneven terrain, but that's the whole point of this video. To make things a bit more entertaining, they repainted the furniture and turned the inside of the trailer into a somewhat nice place to spend time in.

But it all goes down the drain as soon as they attach the trailer to a heavily modded Jeep Comanche and head into the forest. Everything inside the camper falls apart in a matter of seconds and the entire trailer calls it quits and "jumps" off the chassis in exactly 20 clicks.

Surprisingly enough, they manage to put it back together and keep it in one piece while climbing a hill, but they eventually lose it on the way and end up hauling a bare-naked two-wheel frame.

At the end of the day, it's the kind of entertaining shenanigans that will get you through that afternoon coffee break, but it's also a cool experiment that reveals how much abuse can a vintage trailer take outside paved roads. And the answer is almost none.

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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