The little Geo Tracker is an underrated gem of a classic off-roader. It’s cute, it’s tiny, and in my experience, Trackers are also shockingly good off-road. But one thing you’d never call a Tracker is an RV, until now. One man turned the humble Geo Tracker into a surprisingly nice micro RV by building one of the smallest slide-in campers you’ll ever see.
This little rig has been snaking its way around social media as people have been seeing it roll down the road or on YouTube. I first saw the cutie on the Overlanding for the Poors Facebook group, which confusingly doesn’t seem to have many actual posts about affordable overlanding. I had to find out more about the tiny RV. It looked so good that I was convinced that it could have been a factory build, but I’ve also never seen a camper so tiny.
Thankfully, the comments on that post led me to the source. This genius camper was created by Larry of the YouTube channel Work Less Enjoy Life More and the build will make a ton of sense once you realize why he did it.
Larry’s story is one shared by so many Americans. In his previous life, Larry made what he says was a ton of money by grinding it out running businesses, and working his fingers to the bone. At the very least, Larry was able to spend the money from working non-stop on a nice truck, a massive fifth wheel, and all sorts of toys.
Unfortunately, the work grind also managed to wear down Larry’s physical and mental health. He decided it was time for a change. Larry wasn’t going to retire, but he’d instead take his life on the road. This is a story we’ve heard so many times, especially in recent years during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. So many Americans dropped corporate life and hit the road as full-time RVers. Larry took the bold step of selling his house and nearly everything that couldn’t fit into a 40-foot fifth-wheel camper.
Larry says that over time, he discovered that his fifth wheel was the wrong RV for his goal of boondocking on Arizona’s public lands while also going on off-road adventures. So, he sold that trailer and moved into a customized 1992 Texan slide-in truck camper mounted in the bed of a GMC Sierra 3500 HD Denali. This was the right call as the Denali with the Texan in its bed is far more maneuverable than hauling around a giant fifth wheel. Larry says he can get the truck most places.
However, I don’t need to tell you that a 1-ton dually with a truck camper on the back is hardly a small rig. That Denali just isn’t going to make it down any tight trail or a trail without much in the way of clearance. So, Larry decided to build a smaller, super compact truck camper, one that could slide into an equally tiny 4×4 so that he could sleep just about anywhere.
Larry started this project with his 1992 Geo Tracker, a product of a joint venture between General Motors of Canada and Suzuki. The Tracker is a brilliant choice for a project like this because it’s a tiny, nearly Kei truck-sized body-on-frame 4×4 that has nearly all of the capability of a big SUV. Also important for a project like this is the fact that the Tracker was available as a two-door with an open rear roof. The Tracker isn’t a real truck; there are rear seats back there. However, with some simple modifications, a Tracker could be turned into the cutest truck.
Larry’s Tracker is powered by a puny 1.6-liter four making just 80 HP. But remember, this little sport ute weighs around 2,200 pounds, so it can get down and dirty with fewer than 100 ponies in the stable.
Larry owned the Tracker before this project and added some mild off-road mods. These include a 3-inch Calmini lift kit, a Calmini steel bumper, rock sliders, and a 4,500-pound winch. As I said earlier, a Tracker is already a great off-roader, so you don’t need to do much to make it even better.
Larry teamed up with one of his subscribers, Craig, to make the camper a reality. The Tracker’s rear end was gutted out and the guys created the camper by forming its structure out of 2×2 lumber. Attached to the wooden framing is a set of 3/8″ sheets of plywood to create the camper’s walls and roof.
Larry notes that regular plywood isn’t an ideal material to make walls out of. Indeed, it’s even worse than the lauan sandwiches used by the RV industry. However, Larry and Craig can be forgiven because this is a budget DIY build. Larry compensated for the use of plywood by giving the camper six to eight coats of paint and a couple of coats of urethane. The roof also got the same kind of rubberized coating that a typical stick-built RV has.
The camper also has a custom door, though Larry thinks it might have been better to go with an RV door in the long run. However, this is very much an experimental build that isn’t finished, so who knows what he’ll do to the camper in the future.
Yet, despite the cheap materials and custom nature of the camper, Larry and Craig managed to put a lot of polish into the camper’s build. The box is outlined with black trim and Larry installed clearance lights that are tied into the Tracker’s lighting system. The camper also has a porch light and a lithium power station as a house battery just like the real deal would have.
Larry moves into the camper, where he shows off a fold-out cooking surface bolted to the camper’s door. Larry notes that he could have installed this device inside of the camper, but the camper’s so small that he was concerned that simply heating up a pot of water would turn the camper into a sweatbox. Instead, he’ll open the door and cook that way.
The interior of the camper is minimalist. There’s a dual-zone powered cooler, a Maxxfan in the roof, some basic storage, and an over-cab area for Larry’s dogs to sleep or for additional storage. As you can imagine, this is a solo camper sort of deal. But Larry does say the single bed is 6’8″ long, which is plenty of room for most people. Larry also notes that the camper has 400 Watts of portable solar panels and even a collapsible toilet.
Larry is also quick to note that the camper looks rough right now, but this is not its final form. He wants to finish the interior to resemble a cabin, clean up his wiring job, and give the interior proper RV lighting. As time goes on Larry might add an air-conditioner or other features.
Larry estimates that the camper in its current state adds 300 to 400 pounds to the Tracker and it’s secured using turnbuckles, so it shouldn’t fall off of the Tracker while he’s wheeling.
Yesterday, Larry posted a video of him camping out of the Tracker near Williams, Arizona. It’s tiny, but it actually works.
Since the build video, he’s added perimeter lights, an awning, blinds, and a space heater. He admits the camper is too small in some ways. There just isn’t enough space for a built-in sink or a built-in cooktop and he can forget about an inside bathroom. Of course, Larry is also screwed if he wants to bring a second person camping with him, and he cannot bring too much stuff because he’ll quickly encroach on his sleeping space.
So, Larry’s camper is absolutely far from perfect. However, I’m surprised at just how much of a usable camper you can build on top of a Geo Tracker. Obviously, it’s not going to be something Larry is going to live out of for an extended time, but it should be the perfect little rig for sleeping someplace the big 1-ton cannot reach. For that, it’s a genius little camper.
Be sure to tune into more of Work Less Enjoy Life More to see more of Larry’s full-time RV living in America’s West.
(Images: Work Less Enjoy Life More)
Needs a mini split.
Adorable! My mom had a Tracker when I was a kid; it was a hardtop though. I was always amazed at the amount of stuff you could pack into it (with the seat folded up, of course).
Actually a little disappointed. Saw the thumbnail and expected a Mighty Boy!
This seems like the most dangerous thing you could ever get behind the wheel of.
I’ve seen actual Kei truck campers that are actually bigger than this. I wonder if Romahome ever built 4×4 campers? They used a Bedford Rascal chassis which was aSuzuki Carry with a 1.0 engine. I suppose you convert one if you could find one
I know he worked with what he had, but I’d build this using a 4-door Tracker and a Sawzall. You’d lose virtually no off-roadability and gain so much more usable functionality.
Long term he might want to invest in beefier springs on the rear. It could’ve been my example, but hauling a fairly small gun safe leaning out of the back of the 1992 tracker I formerly owned was a little sketchy.
Someone who’s been overlanding long before the word came into fashion, I can tell there’s an awful lot of overlanders that drive around in very expensive rigs with very expensive gear and tell you how poor they are. $3-5000 for a rooftop tent is not cheap. To each their own and one man’s poverty is another man’s riches.
I don’t get roof top tents at all. If it’s windy the whole car blows around, and you shake way more up there than down on the floor of the vehicle
Agreed, I use a tent that I can stand in with a nice cot and cot mattress and it still costs 1/10 the price of a rooftop tent. Lots of the new people in my overlander group feel that a rooftop tent is the entry cost and first mandatory purchase like the membership card is a rooftop tent or something.
I don’t understand it. It was like overnight everyone had to have one.
I don’t get the rooftop tents either. they cost a fortune, are not easily installed/removed. they are limited in size especially width. and are a pain to get in and out of… all in the name of .. Not having to put a tent together? not sleeping on the ground??
i think it is for the overlander cred. I see so many people selling them. My gazelle tent goes up faster and fits a cot so I am not on the ground. In Australia where they have been a huge thing for a long time there is so much on the ground that can kill you it is safe up in the air. I will probably never have one. The only argument I have heard it that the hard top ones are nearly instantly up and if you camp site is as big as your truck and have no room for a tent. I don’t buy into that. I also have a cot tent that sits right next to my jeep and goes up instantly.
The whole point of a truck or van is you can sleep IN the vehicle.
I am too tall for my jeep and most pick up truck beds now that bed sized have gotten so small.
The most shocking part of this story is that he actually managed to get calmini to send him anything.
You spell GO Geo.
The build quality looks pretty sturdy as well as the design. A few changes I would make: I drove a few of these back in the day when they were new and the 5-speeds were anemic. I can’t imagine how terrible a slushbox would be especially with all that extra weight added. Build 2.0 would also include the loft area and entire back end extended a foot in each direction. It might look more ungainly, but there’d be more room. His turn buckles look fairly solid, but the eye hooks need to go all the way through where they’re mounted with washers and bolts securing them. This is a great concept that could definitely sell.
This thing takes claustrophobia to whole new levels.
As a genuinely claustrophobic person, the big factor is not being able to get out of the small space – not just the small space on its own.
The Trackamper has doors on both ends so it wouldn’t be much of an issue.
I love it for the ingenuity. If you are by yourself but meeting a group for camping, it’s kind of perfect.
Local man hired to write Autopian headlines.
GENIUS
Everyone who does anything is a genius! I can’t take these headlines seriously any more – it’s the boy who cried wolf. If everything is genius or ‘the best’ or ‘perfect’ or a ‘holy grail’, then nothing is. Not everything is superlative – that’s the point of the grammatical structure.
By my count 8 of the 20 blogs on the front page have some version of this. ‘Fantastic’ is the key word on two in a row. I see one comparative (‘better’), but even that is right after describing a livery as ‘the best’.
Between this and YouTuber faces randomly plastered on the top shots, it’s harder to get the the actual blogs – which are generally excellent! The dissonance does this site a disservice.
Admittedly, the editors are very much into “genius” lately. 🙂 Apparently, the algorithm’s into it for some reason.
Genius is the holy grail of title words, apparently. 😉
I get that there needs to be some attention paid to the algo, but using the same word in the same headline format to describe often the same thing (engine swaps) repetitively and in the space of a few weeks is repetitious, repetitive, and repetitious. 😐
And redundant.
It’s bigger than most New York apartments. Fewer rats, too.
It’s cool as a fun little personal project, but underwhelming in how non functional it is. And no AC in Arizona?! Good luck with that. Add that to the fact that you have to cook outside, and this thing doesn’t have much functionality.
Look up the weather for Flagstaff AZ and get back to me.
Hopefully that’s where he lives, otherwise it would suck to camp there in summer.
Fair. The only city mentioned is Williams which is in the Flagstaff part of AZ, I forget there are parts of the state that are not hot as Hades.
It’s a safe and portable place to sleep in a vehicle that probably gets decent fuel economy; I’d say that’s a pretty good function.
It’s not posh, but very few things constructed of 2x2s are. 🙂
Fair, but I can accomplish the same thing in a Honda Element without making it.
Touché
You don’t really want to cook inside a camper this small
Honestly, you really don’t want to cook inside ANY camper. Just gives pests more reasons to want to get into it.
Functionality is relative. I have no problem with cooking, eating, going to the bathroom outside but want a warm dry place to sleep and this does that. I like it. Then again I will go on weeks long overlanding trips and not pack a cooler and days long ones without also a stove.
Tiny House Extreme Edition (Mobile).
Pretty dang cool!
The license plate might be my favorite part of this rig.
Nice little rig.