Log on to your favorite social media site, and you will no doubt scroll past endless displays of immaculately prepared and outfitted overland vehicles, from Toyotas on steroids sporting 37-inch tires and every outdoor gadget known to man to rebuilt Mercedes 4WD vans with wood-clad interiors, potted plants, granite tops, young bikini bodies, and a fluffy puppy. You won’t generally find vehicles that are entirely practical, vehicles that can wear whichever “hat” the occasion demands, and trucks that are tougher than an old miner’s jeans, quietly going about the business of doing the essential and important.
Meet Betsy, the utilitarian adventure vehicle built over 15-16 years by a long-time northerner, John Klein, who has lived in Canada’s Yukon Territory for over 30 years. As a former guide in the adventure tourism industry and outdoor education fields for ten years, John developed a passion for exploring the great outdoors and for adventure vehicles. John studied for a Diploma in Renewable Resource Management before working full-time as a Yukon District Conservation Officer, managing and enforcing both Territorial & Federal Legislation in a single officer district comprising 32,000 square kilometers. John worked in that position for almost ten years before retiring with a wealth of knowledge of the land and the type of vehicle best suited to an unforgiving environment.
We met John and Betsy as we headed south from Tuktoyaktuk in March and were impressed by the vehicle, which works and explores in a part of the world famous for being harsh, beautiful, and dangerous.
Betsy is a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel boasting a UTE 7×7-foot aluminum flatbed tray with custom aluminum top and lower boxes atop which sits a Four Wheel Camper. With a mere 35,000 miles on the clock, the camper has been modified to meet the needs of this adventurer and his wife, Carla, providing the perfect combination of a utility vehicle and a comfortable home on wheels. Betsy is affectionately named after John’s first rig, a 1979 VW Westfalia camper van.
John was inspired by Gary and Monica Wescott’s Turtle 3 & 4 Expeditions truck/camper setups and their benefits for off-road adventures. Although he was not looking to create a dedicated overland rig, he desired a truck that could haul and tow while having a relatively short wheelbase for maneuverability. Betsy offers the perfect combination of power, space, load-carrying ability, and off-road capability.
John chose the Dodge Ram with a 5.9-liter Cummins Diesel engine for its strength, reliability, solid axles, and ample torque to tow and haul. John’s first camper setup was a 1971 seven-foot wooden Alaskan pop-up, which sat on the 6.5-foot bed of the Dodge and, as the camper was heavy, the truck was modified to handle the weight, starting with upgraded tires, wheels, suspension, airbags, and a steel bumper with a winch. Carla’s father is a farmer who always spoke highly of his Dodge 5.9 Cummins diesel engine, and farmers tend to know what they are talking about when it comes to machinery. Besides, the 5.9 has an excellent reputation, and Cummins workshops and dealers can be found in almost any large town worldwide.
From the Owner:
“In 2013, my wife and I took three months to travel the US West Coast, then back up through the Four Corners [region]. That trip helped us learn what the setup could and could not do well. The journey instilled the feeling of “freedom to roam” and the ability to be totally spontaneous in what we wanted to do. It was a huge eye-opener for us.”
The build process has taken several years and is an ongoing project. John has been diligent in routine maintenance and upgrading parts as needed. The truck has undergone preventive replacement of weak parts to achieve reliability and longevity. Betsy has undergone various modifications from front to back. The current camper is a slide-in Four Wheel Camper “shell,” a unique “light” model (weighing in at 925 pounds) that does not have cabinets or plumbing. It’s a “utilitarian build” that provides an open space to store gear, from lumber to camp cooking equipment and even a quartered-up moose.
With ample space inside, Betsy can carry a Yeti cooler, a GoalZero Power Station, food, cookware, fishing rods, inflatable boats, paddles, and much more. Large soft bags are used around the entire inside perimeter for storage, providing more space for gear. If a bigger adventure awaits, John can haul his lake boat. A look inside the camper reveals a perfectly spartan interior that is easy to clean and rinse after the hunt or a day spent slogging through the wilderness. The camper interior is as basic as possible with no creature comforts, which many deem absolutely necessary, but instead kitted with the genuinely essential. You don’t need wood paneling and a potted plant when the world outside is majestic.
The custom aluminum boxes built into the flatbed have been a game-changer for John; even though they were expensive, it is immediately apparent that they are worth the investment. The boxes keep many items out of the truck cab and camper, providing ample storage space for dirty things and organization. The upper storage is used for camp and cooking gear, the truck’s tools, bottle jack, recovery gear, truck fluids, traction boards, shovel, axe, firewood, Rotopax fuel containers, and more. This is a working man’s vehicle of which any tradesman, hunter, or dyed-in-the-wool explorer would be proud.
The Dodge cab is likewise perfectly spartan—the rear seats have been removed and replaced by convenient storage space, and it is here that the spare tire is located. The factory seats have been replaced by a comfortable set of Scheelman seats, and hose-down rubber mats have replaced the carpeting. This truck has more in common with an old Land Rover or Jeep than a modern vehicle, which lends further credence to its true nature.
Betsy has traveled extensively throughout North America, but John dreams of taking her to South America someday. Knowing what he knows now, John would have chosen a truck with a 3500 or even a 4500 model for more payload, but Betsy’s modifications have compensated nicely for the weight issue. The Dynatrac free spin kit with Warn hubs was expensive, and its regular 50,000-mile added maintenance is not always convenient. However, John appreciates that the front drive shaft is not spinning for most of the driving Betsy sees, he needs to manually lock up the Warn hubs if he wants to engage 4×4, but he has gotten used to the process of predicting when to engage the lockers.
On the road and in the field, Betsy has proven to be a great adventure vehicle, and the modifications have been carefully selected to provide reliability and longevity for the long term, providing a combination of a utility vehicle and a comfortable home on wheels. We would say that this vehicle belongs in a class of its own, and many could learn a lesson for John, liberating themselves from the notion of visual perfection and instead focusing on building vehicles that are made to purpose, adventure tools that are less hindered by gizmos and gadgets and driven purely with purpose.
John and Carla have big dreams for future travels and have built Betsy with those intentions in mind. This vehicle could comfortably explore from the frozen expanses of the north to the jungles and deserts of the south, a vehicle that would be a home, at home, almost anywhere on the planet. We wish John, Carla, and Betsy a Bon Voyage and look forward to watching them travel the world in their own inimitable style.
Specifications
2005 Dodge Ram 2500
Power
24V 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesel
Suspension and Drivetrain
Dynatrac free spin kit with Warn hubs,
BD 48RE Transmission with filter kit
Re-Gear Yukon Gear & Axle to 4.10 ratio
Carli Suspension 3-inch performance 2.5 kit and add-a-leaf springs
Firestone airbags
Daystar Cradles
Detroit Truetrac LS rear
Hellwig Big Wig sway bar
Wheels and Tires
Method 315 wheels
Duratrac 35/70/R17 tires for winter and Toyo MT 37/12.5/R17 for summer
Recovery and Armor
ARB deluxe steel bumper
12k Warn HD winch
Custom (Steel) rear bumper
Accessories
Lightforce Blitz 240 driving lights
SCS cold air intake
Scheel-Mann orthopedic seats (rear seats deleted for dogs & gear)
Edge CTS3 monitor
BD throttle sensitivity booster
Electric trailer brakes
4-inch FlowPro exhaust
You can follow John and Carla on Instagram @northernfocuscreative
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