mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Well, after about 5 years of trying to brainstorm the “perfect rig” (it doesn’t seem to exist, well at least it’s not produced, but most of you all already know this) for off-grid exploring/camping in 4seasons, including the optimal custom cabin layout for 2-4 people and 2 60lb dogs, I’ve had to come to terms with building a “damn good enough rig for now” vs “the ultimate rig.” I pretty much gave up on taking more than 2 people, but the dogs coming along are a must as they’re our kids. It’s really challenging planning for every ideal scenario, so if we want to take friends, they’ll need to follow along in their own rig. So here goes…
TRUCK
Amidst other vehicle builds, in the summer of ’19 I decided to look for an F-Series Super Duty as I wanted to get back into a body-on-frame setup, and I knew the new 7.3L (gas) was coming out. While I appreciate advancements in technology, I never like owning the first year of a new engine. And having had VANdiana Jones (link in signature), I had been there done that with diesel, and wanted to go with gas (quieter, less initial cost, less maintenance costs, simpler, don’t need to tow). After lots of research of F-SD pickups vs chassis-cab, I found a dealer with a brand new ’19 F350 XL (w/ XLT'ish upgrades) RegularCab 6.2L V8 4x4 SRW (single rear wheel) chassis-cab still on the lot, well-optioned including 4.30 rear e-locker (more on that to come). The reason I went with the chassis-cab and RegularCab vs pickup (with possible bed delete option) and SuperCab for the dogs was because the chassis-cab (diesel or gas) comes factory with a 40gal aft-axle fuel tank (vs gas pickup at only 34gal...yes, I know Ford diesel can get up to 66.5gal, and RAM can get up to 74gal, but I'm looking forward to my Ford gas), and RegularCab as I was trying to keep the OAL(overall length) as short as possible. This would mean a custom cabin w/ duck-thru between cab and cabin. Specs on the truck are 145.3”WB(wheelbase), 60”CA(cab-rear axle), 107” cab-end of frame, 79.6" outside rear tire width, 230.7”(19.2”) OAL.
Few pics of the chassis-cab;
CAMPER
Before I purchased the truck, the one piece of research to this build which I admittedly didn’t vet out well enough in advance was the custom cabin. The cabin would need to be 4seasonable (camp in or out of. I've graduated beyond a RTT at this point, although it was comfy), be either fixed height or poptop, seat and sleep at least 2, generous fridge/freezer, at minimum a kitchen counter to place a camp stove to cook inside, sink would be a bonus, bathroom setup of some sort for cold/foul weather camping (even a porta potti in the aisleway would suffice). I was thinking I’d either have the cabin built in aluminum or Total Composite panels, and then either an aluminum or composite interior built using the years of perfecting layouts with friends (thank you MH!!) for my needs. TC panels would be much more straightforward (~$30k or so for 10’ cabin with subframe), but to save a story, beyond some customer service concerns with at least one of the builders (yes, could have had Andreas build the cabin overseas and ship over), the greater hurdle was the interior. At a time when the “overland” market is as hot as ever, not only are “van builders” (ie interior builders) booked out over 12months, but they’re not hurting for any business, so pricing increases and a proper full interior build was going to be ~$60-80k+. $100k easy for the cabin module w/ subframe, ouch. Time to re-consider other options for now…
After lots and lots of brainstorming and back-forth (thx again MH!), what I kept coming back to was a poptop camper. While not as sexy as a custom “expedition-grade” cabin, many pros to them;
--known product, with good “overland” community knowledge/support
--order and it’s built, no having to managing the build
--much lower cost than custom
--not custom like custom, so most likely a stronger resale when the time comes as buyers know what they're getting
--can still customize it if I’d like
4 main poptop camper companies as you probably know are Phoenix, Hallmark, Northstar, and FWC(Four Wheel Campers). Haven’t heard/seen much from Phoenix lately, plus I’ve done research on them before, and decided to weed them out first. Hallmark now has a flatbed model and can integrate custom requests which I like, but ultimately the base prices pushed me away (not trying to sound cheap, but trying to find the highest value here). So that left NS and FWC. I appreciate the amount of storage NS designed in (better than FWC), and I really really like what NS is doing with their SubZero package (R9 insulation value!, and Dometic/Seitz dual pane acrylic window!) on their 850SC for example, but even though I have a 9’L frame space for a camper, going with an 8’ camper would mean two things; dogs would have to travel/stay in the camper, and thus it’d be more challenging to figure out how to direct HVAC to them to keep them comfy…where to put a spare wheel/tire with an 8’ slide-in camper?(NS doesn’t make any flatbed campers). Aluminess swing-out rear bumper I guess? I've seen the Aluminess swing-out quality in person, can't say I was overly impressed, and at least one very-experienced friend here cautioned me against having a swing-out spare covering the entry door to the camper; a big hassle every time you want to get into the camper. Moreover, the NS850SC w/ SZ package only comes with electric lifting roof (thus the truck needs to be pretty dang level, which is more challenging in camping offroad), only one interior aesthetic (brown'ish), and their 6.5’ campers have no cabinet to store a porta potti. So we spent more time in FWC’s, both at overland events, and at Mule Outfitters in Tualatin, OR. Jeff, their FWC specialist, was hugely helpful and no-pressure sales, let us sit in all the models for hours. We landed on a Hawk (6.5’) flatbed model. Many customizations/improvements yet to come on this. But what about the dogs, where will they go?
FLATBED/STORAGE
After looking at a lot of flatbeds (Ute, AT, Norweld, Highway Products, Alumline, etc), Alumline appears to offer the most customizations, and also have quite a bit of experience with FWC flatbed campers. While I could sell my RegularCab and buy a SuperCab for the dogs (and/or friends when needed), I’d lose $ on my truck, a SuperCab truck would either be used for a bit less cost, or more cost than mine for a new truck (if you can even find one, and in looking, I couldn’t find one with my same options). So why not just have our own SuperCab compartment made, especially since I have 9’ of “bed space” to use? Idea (thanks once again MH!) is to have Alumline create a tunnel box where the dogs are located in the upper section of it, and there’s storage below on both driver and passenger side. Both areas accessible from the exterior, however we’d consistently load the dogs into their area thru the FWC. This means that the cab window at the front of the FWC would lead to the dog box area (window might be enlarged a bit). And the front of the Alumline tunnel box would be open to the truck cab in a pass-thru configuration, so that the dogs can get HVAC from the cabin and stay comfortable. This pass-thru also allows one of us, in case of dire emergency, to snake thru from FWC, thru dog box, and into the cab to drive away if needed, without having to get out of the FWC. This mating of FWC-dogbox-truck will take some design/engineering, but will work well in the end. Under the flatbed, before and after the rear wheelwell will be storage boxes(departure angle at rear box). Something like this, but separate upper/lower doors on the ~27"W dog box (dog box to be white like camper, flatbed/storage to be satin black);
Still working on the spare tire. Will have to have the flatbed deck longer than the camper, to easily mount the spare. Maybe something like this;
Would like to make this rear-of-flatbed area modular to be available to mount up to dual spares (Alaska/Yukon!), 4 Maxtrax, axe/shovel, even my 4 4gal Rotopax for up to 56gal of fuel total…but all removable mounting fixtures if I ever need to take the FWC off the flatbed. Also trying for a built-in rear winch, rear gear drawer, and if possible, heated frame-mounted auxiliary water tank aft of cab.
I already have the 17x8.5 et0 Method Trail/701 wheels in 8x170mm from my Transit 4x4 project, probably going 37x12.5R17 (where the factory 4.30 gears come into play. Effective new ratio with 37s will be 3.85. Keep in mind that 3.73 is the other stock gearing option, so a bit more power but less MPG than 3.73's on stock 33s. And I'll be aiming to keep the build as light weight as possible) and General Grabber X3’s over Cooper STT Pro’s. After seeing GooseGear’s F350 with the Carli/Deaver suspension (https://expeditionportal.com/featured-vehicle-goose-gears-overland-f-350/), I’d finally be able to get Carli’s King 2.5” pintop setup (been jonesin’ for their products for a long time) with Carli radius arms and high mount steering. Same Warn Ascent bumper/bull bar as it’s the most minimalistic I’ve seen and least bro-truck. Rigid 30” (new unit been sitting for years) on the bull bar, Rigid 50” from previous rigs up on the cab roof (custom roof rack w/ possible AluBox), T.R.S. XB LED headlights, custom rock rails, maybe another aluminum skid plate or two.
That’s a start for now.
TRUCK
Amidst other vehicle builds, in the summer of ’19 I decided to look for an F-Series Super Duty as I wanted to get back into a body-on-frame setup, and I knew the new 7.3L (gas) was coming out. While I appreciate advancements in technology, I never like owning the first year of a new engine. And having had VANdiana Jones (link in signature), I had been there done that with diesel, and wanted to go with gas (quieter, less initial cost, less maintenance costs, simpler, don’t need to tow). After lots of research of F-SD pickups vs chassis-cab, I found a dealer with a brand new ’19 F350 XL (w/ XLT'ish upgrades) RegularCab 6.2L V8 4x4 SRW (single rear wheel) chassis-cab still on the lot, well-optioned including 4.30 rear e-locker (more on that to come). The reason I went with the chassis-cab and RegularCab vs pickup (with possible bed delete option) and SuperCab for the dogs was because the chassis-cab (diesel or gas) comes factory with a 40gal aft-axle fuel tank (vs gas pickup at only 34gal...yes, I know Ford diesel can get up to 66.5gal, and RAM can get up to 74gal, but I'm looking forward to my Ford gas), and RegularCab as I was trying to keep the OAL(overall length) as short as possible. This would mean a custom cabin w/ duck-thru between cab and cabin. Specs on the truck are 145.3”WB(wheelbase), 60”CA(cab-rear axle), 107” cab-end of frame, 79.6" outside rear tire width, 230.7”(19.2”) OAL.
Few pics of the chassis-cab;
CAMPER
Before I purchased the truck, the one piece of research to this build which I admittedly didn’t vet out well enough in advance was the custom cabin. The cabin would need to be 4seasonable (camp in or out of. I've graduated beyond a RTT at this point, although it was comfy), be either fixed height or poptop, seat and sleep at least 2, generous fridge/freezer, at minimum a kitchen counter to place a camp stove to cook inside, sink would be a bonus, bathroom setup of some sort for cold/foul weather camping (even a porta potti in the aisleway would suffice). I was thinking I’d either have the cabin built in aluminum or Total Composite panels, and then either an aluminum or composite interior built using the years of perfecting layouts with friends (thank you MH!!) for my needs. TC panels would be much more straightforward (~$30k or so for 10’ cabin with subframe), but to save a story, beyond some customer service concerns with at least one of the builders (yes, could have had Andreas build the cabin overseas and ship over), the greater hurdle was the interior. At a time when the “overland” market is as hot as ever, not only are “van builders” (ie interior builders) booked out over 12months, but they’re not hurting for any business, so pricing increases and a proper full interior build was going to be ~$60-80k+. $100k easy for the cabin module w/ subframe, ouch. Time to re-consider other options for now…
After lots and lots of brainstorming and back-forth (thx again MH!), what I kept coming back to was a poptop camper. While not as sexy as a custom “expedition-grade” cabin, many pros to them;
--known product, with good “overland” community knowledge/support
--order and it’s built, no having to managing the build
--much lower cost than custom
--not custom like custom, so most likely a stronger resale when the time comes as buyers know what they're getting
--can still customize it if I’d like
4 main poptop camper companies as you probably know are Phoenix, Hallmark, Northstar, and FWC(Four Wheel Campers). Haven’t heard/seen much from Phoenix lately, plus I’ve done research on them before, and decided to weed them out first. Hallmark now has a flatbed model and can integrate custom requests which I like, but ultimately the base prices pushed me away (not trying to sound cheap, but trying to find the highest value here). So that left NS and FWC. I appreciate the amount of storage NS designed in (better than FWC), and I really really like what NS is doing with their SubZero package (R9 insulation value!, and Dometic/Seitz dual pane acrylic window!) on their 850SC for example, but even though I have a 9’L frame space for a camper, going with an 8’ camper would mean two things; dogs would have to travel/stay in the camper, and thus it’d be more challenging to figure out how to direct HVAC to them to keep them comfy…where to put a spare wheel/tire with an 8’ slide-in camper?(NS doesn’t make any flatbed campers). Aluminess swing-out rear bumper I guess? I've seen the Aluminess swing-out quality in person, can't say I was overly impressed, and at least one very-experienced friend here cautioned me against having a swing-out spare covering the entry door to the camper; a big hassle every time you want to get into the camper. Moreover, the NS850SC w/ SZ package only comes with electric lifting roof (thus the truck needs to be pretty dang level, which is more challenging in camping offroad), only one interior aesthetic (brown'ish), and their 6.5’ campers have no cabinet to store a porta potti. So we spent more time in FWC’s, both at overland events, and at Mule Outfitters in Tualatin, OR. Jeff, their FWC specialist, was hugely helpful and no-pressure sales, let us sit in all the models for hours. We landed on a Hawk (6.5’) flatbed model. Many customizations/improvements yet to come on this. But what about the dogs, where will they go?
FLATBED/STORAGE
After looking at a lot of flatbeds (Ute, AT, Norweld, Highway Products, Alumline, etc), Alumline appears to offer the most customizations, and also have quite a bit of experience with FWC flatbed campers. While I could sell my RegularCab and buy a SuperCab for the dogs (and/or friends when needed), I’d lose $ on my truck, a SuperCab truck would either be used for a bit less cost, or more cost than mine for a new truck (if you can even find one, and in looking, I couldn’t find one with my same options). So why not just have our own SuperCab compartment made, especially since I have 9’ of “bed space” to use? Idea (thanks once again MH!) is to have Alumline create a tunnel box where the dogs are located in the upper section of it, and there’s storage below on both driver and passenger side. Both areas accessible from the exterior, however we’d consistently load the dogs into their area thru the FWC. This means that the cab window at the front of the FWC would lead to the dog box area (window might be enlarged a bit). And the front of the Alumline tunnel box would be open to the truck cab in a pass-thru configuration, so that the dogs can get HVAC from the cabin and stay comfortable. This pass-thru also allows one of us, in case of dire emergency, to snake thru from FWC, thru dog box, and into the cab to drive away if needed, without having to get out of the FWC. This mating of FWC-dogbox-truck will take some design/engineering, but will work well in the end. Under the flatbed, before and after the rear wheelwell will be storage boxes(departure angle at rear box). Something like this, but separate upper/lower doors on the ~27"W dog box (dog box to be white like camper, flatbed/storage to be satin black);
Still working on the spare tire. Will have to have the flatbed deck longer than the camper, to easily mount the spare. Maybe something like this;
Would like to make this rear-of-flatbed area modular to be available to mount up to dual spares (Alaska/Yukon!), 4 Maxtrax, axe/shovel, even my 4 4gal Rotopax for up to 56gal of fuel total…but all removable mounting fixtures if I ever need to take the FWC off the flatbed. Also trying for a built-in rear winch, rear gear drawer, and if possible, heated frame-mounted auxiliary water tank aft of cab.
I already have the 17x8.5 et0 Method Trail/701 wheels in 8x170mm from my Transit 4x4 project, probably going 37x12.5R17 (where the factory 4.30 gears come into play. Effective new ratio with 37s will be 3.85. Keep in mind that 3.73 is the other stock gearing option, so a bit more power but less MPG than 3.73's on stock 33s. And I'll be aiming to keep the build as light weight as possible) and General Grabber X3’s over Cooper STT Pro’s. After seeing GooseGear’s F350 with the Carli/Deaver suspension (https://expeditionportal.com/featured-vehicle-goose-gears-overland-f-350/), I’d finally be able to get Carli’s King 2.5” pintop setup (been jonesin’ for their products for a long time) with Carli radius arms and high mount steering. Same Warn Ascent bumper/bull bar as it’s the most minimalistic I’ve seen and least bro-truck. Rigid 30” (new unit been sitting for years) on the bull bar, Rigid 50” from previous rigs up on the cab roof (custom roof rack w/ possible AluBox), T.R.S. XB LED headlights, custom rock rails, maybe another aluminum skid plate or two.
That’s a start for now.
