New Expedition Camper - Overland Explorer

HowardH

Adventurer
arrived home last night. Quick pic from the trip. We crossed a scale with two of us, food etc. Total weight was 15,102 lbs.

View Point.jpg

P1040108 (2) (1024x576).jpg
 
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Bhoads

New member
Import duties, etc

Howard, the camper looks great and should serve your needs quite well. It looks Like Overland Explorer did another great job.

I was curious if there were any import duties on the camper as you brought it back to the States? Any issues or hassles at the border? Also, were there any issues bringing your truck up to Canada? Is your truck registered/insured as a commercial vehicle or as a personal vehicle? I am wondering how it would work out to bring a Fuso chassis up there to have a flatbed put on and a camper box built.

Have fun with it, looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

Thanks,
Bill H.
Colorado USA
 

HowardH

Adventurer
Hi Bill here is what I know. I stress "I know" because much of the paperwork was handled behind the scenes by a broker hired by Overland Explorer.

My truck is registered to my business but isn't a commercial DOT licensed vehicle. No issues crossing the border with the cab and chassis. Initial entry into Canada I told Canada Customs that I was having a flatbed built in Canada, they liked that idea and waved me through.

Entry into the US with the flatbed wasn't a problem. I had all my purchase docs ready but they were not required.

Entry into the US with the camper was only slightly more involved. I provided the paperwork given me by Overland Explorer. They had engaged the services of a broker and the term US Customs used was "it's a brokered vehicle, that makes this easy". I paid a 13$ fee and was on my way. All US Customs really did was match the serial plate on the camper to the paperwork. Was really a painless process.

Howard
 

HowardH

Adventurer
Should point out that I had always felt that my gear ratios where lower than needed, even with towing. However after 700 miles with the camper I am thinking they are about, just right. This involved about 50 miles or so of slower speed gravel roads. So right now I am happy with the 4.11 gears. On the highway yes they are low but overall I think they are a good ratio to have.
 

Darwin

Explorer
How does it handle going down the road? Was the MPG about what you would expect?

Camper turned out great, I like how the front of the camper doesn't come out far in front of the windshield.
 

HowardH

Adventurer
It handles very well. We had some fairly stout cross winds and it was very stable. In fact the duals hunting the ruts in the blacktop causes the rig to wonder more than cross winds. Very happy with that aspect of the rig. Also the traction of the dual rear wheels is substantial.

MPG is still a work on progress. Per the truck computer we got 12.0 on the trip home. On the highway we ran 63 mph.
 

java

Expedition Leader
It handles very well. We had some fairly stout cross winds and it was very stable. In fact the duals hunting the ruts in the blacktop causes the rig to wonder more than cross winds. Very happy with that aspect of the rig. Also the traction of the dual rear wheels is substantial.

MPG is still a work on progress. Per the truck computer we got 12.0 on the trip home. On the highway we ran 63 mph.
That's great Howard. I do think duals have an advantage on a heavy truck on highway/decent roads.

Getting rocks out from between them is pretty simple with a long strap.

Hand calculate your next tank, I'm very interested! My lie o meter, I mean dash gauge says I get almost 15.....

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

STREGA

Explorer
The camper looks great, lovin all the cool truck campers being built lately. Agree with java do a manual fuel mileage check, mine was off by about 1.5 mpg.
 

HowardH

Adventurer
I'll always have a manual calculation. Our fuel card provider requires odometer readings at every fill up and gives a report that includes mpg.

So what's the deal with these fantastic fans? What's the best practice with them? I've two. On in the rear of the camper and one in the bath. They can pull air in or push air out. Also they appear to be able to be set to come on automatically based upon air temp.

I forgot to ask where fresh air is pulled into the camper. Does one fan pull in and the other vent? What's the best way to prevent condensation build up?
 

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