3 Used Adventure Rigs That Are an Absolute Steal

Be it bad reality TV, romance novels, or video games, everybody has a guilty pleasure. Mine is scrolling Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for adventure rig classifieds.

I love gawking at cool 4x4s, RVs, trailers, and campers, and I also love a good deal. I have a buddy who suffers from the same affliction, and we have a text thread going back several years that’s filled mainly with Craigslist links to cool vehicles we’ve found online. This is how I ended up with a 2006 Power Wagon a few years ago and how he scored a killer deal on an even rarer truck and camper. Mostly, though, surfing the web for used trailers, campers, RVs, and adventure rigs is just a fun way to pass the time when we’re bored.

So, in an attempt to do something useful with this goofy habit and put all that time spent scrolling to good work, I’ve decided to highlight some of the coolest rigs and best deals I’ve found recently in an installment I’m calling “Craigslist Finds.”

Keep in mind that these things sell like hotcakes, so these exact listings may no longer be available by the time you’re reading this. The hope here is to provide some insight on what to look for when shopping for a used camper, trailer, or RV, and how to find a good deal on a rig.

2021 Aliner Expedition $15,800

These little hard-sided, pop-up trailers are seriously underrated in my book. My buddy owns a 2011 Aliner Ranger 12—he bought it for less than $10K in 2015, paid a welder $600 to add a metal subframe that gave the camper 4 inches of lift, and added the biggest all-terrain tires he could fit. (We made a video about that rig several years ago if you want a more in-depth look). He’s logged many miles on rough dirt roads and spent an untold number of nights in his Aliner for mountain biking, hunting, and skiing trips, and he’s not precious about where he takes that thing. Campers are tools, not jewels, after all. All things considered, it has held up great over the past 10 years.

The real beauty of these Aliners is their folding hard sides—you get a pop-up trailer that’ll fit in your garage and keeps a low profile while towing, but has hard walls and offers way more protection from the elements than typical pop-ups with sides made from tent material. This one, an Expedition model, is 18-feet long and weighs around 2000 lbs.

It has one 60-by-80-inch bed and a dinette on the other side that transforms into a 40-by-80-inch bed, so it can easily sleep three adults, or two adults and two kids. Best of all, this one has a dormer above the dinette that provides significantly more head room when you’re eating at the table.

This Aliner looks like it’s in great shape and also has the off-road package. It’s priced reasonably, and it’d be the perfect candidate for a lift, solar panels, and bigger tires. With those mods, you’d have a go-anywhere, four-season camper that’ll last a long time without breaking the bank.

2002 Bigfoot 24’ Class C $32,500

Most folks probably don’t think of 24-foot Class C RVs as being worthy of the “adventure rig” moniker, but there’s an argument to be made here—stay with me.

At 24-feet long, it’s only a foot or two longer than a Sprinter, but obviously offers significantly more living space inside. It’s also built on a Ford E450 chassis, which means parts are cheap, and it’s relatively easy to service. This one has a highly sought-after 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine that is renowned for its longevity and reliability. With only 48,000 miles on it, it has plenty of life left (they’re known to last for 500,000+).

While these were never sold with four-wheel drive (4WD) from the factory, aftermarket upfitter U-joint Offroad converts many Class C RV’s like this one to 4WD and turns them into pretty incredible off-road machines. Here’s a walk-through video of a similar rig that U-Joint converted in 2024. Conversions start around $30,000, so while it’s not cheap to make these RVs into 4WD machines, once you do you basically have a very capable expedition rig. In this model’s case, you would still have spent far less money than a significantly less capable Sprinter would’ve cost.

The really special thing about this rig is that it’s a Bigfoot. The brand has a bit of an obsessive fanbase, and are well known for making some of the highest quality trailers, truck campers, and Class C RVs on the market. The body itself is made from fiberglass and very well insulated, and all the cabinetry inside is solid oak (versus the particle board many modern RV cabinets are made from). This rig sleeps four—there’s a fixed RV queen-size bed in the back, the dinette converts into a bed, and you can create a small bed in the cabover section, too.

Given the low mileage and solid-looking condition of this Class C, it’d be a great contender for a FWD conversion. The interior is dated, but with a little paint and some other updates, you could have a pretty killer adventure mobile for around $60K all-in (or just keep it as a 2WD and enjoy as-is).

1996 Chinook E-350 Concourse $24,000

Here’s another cool option in the same vein as the Bigfoot. Chinook has been making motorhomes since 1938, and their rigs are some of the most sought-after Class Bs on the market. The company was one of the first RV manufacturers to use fiberglass construction, and they have a reputation for being very well built.

Some of the most coveted versions include the ones built on Toyota truck chassis in the ‘70s, but I really like the late ‘90s-early 2000s Ford models, too. Like the Bigfoot, U-Joint Off Road will convert these to 4WD, and given this one’s low mileage, it’d likely be a great candidate.

It has a full-size bed in the back, a full wet bath, refrigerator, microwave, and a lot more space inside than a Sprinter. This particular Chinook Concourse is less than 22-feet long, built on a Ford E-350 platform, and is also listed for significantly less money than you can typically find these for, despite having only 50K miles on it. Another fact worth highlighting: Once you convert them to 4WD, their resale value goes up even higher.

More Gear

The Best Campers and Trailers 
The Best Camping Gear
The Best Camp Kitchen Accessories