Nullifier
Expedition Leader
haven said:The EVS was listed last June on eBay. It was item number 290128937685. The auction ended with high bid of only $25,100, which did not meet the reserve price.
I think you could duplicate the EVS system for today's asking price of $65,000, but only if you were willing to do the work yourself.
One starting point might be a Tacoma 4x4 with aluminum flatbed and fiberglass cap from Ute Ltd. http://www.uteltd.com/
If you don't like the cap, you could install boxes made to the dimensions you prefer
Ute Ltd has an aluminum ladder rack that's strong enough to support a rooftop tent
Well it is impossible to compare the EVS to off the shelf parts. Although I think the UTE bed is a great product and am running one on my rig you can not compare the 2 reguardless of the the topper or boxes bought over the shelf.
Although it is a decent alternative for light duty expeditions and for those on a budget those light duty aluminum boxes would not hold up to the same abuse that the campa stuff will. The main difference is that building a rig like the Campa EVS which is designed to go around the world and make it back costs alot more money, do to higher quality construction and materials. And although the Spirit of the EVS can be captured with off the shelf aluminum boxes and flat beds the durability, safety, security and performance of it can not. The EVS is not for everyone since building a vehicle like this requires alot of time, money and special fabrications skills. I can say though that for the ones that have a large budget for an expedition rig that the EVS is the ultimate choice.
The EVS bins are heaviers guage stailess and are mounted a modified trailer frame that is mounted tot he Toyota chassis. The side Bins on the EVS do not house any critical items in order to protect cargo from a roll over or side impact. Only the main bin hauls the important stuff. All fuel and water aux tanks are mounted to custom crossmembers attached to the chassis for strength and protection. Heck you can even stand on the main bins doors when thay are down because the stainless hunges and support cables are so strong. All wiring near any heat source is wrapped in 1000 deg heat shield, The hot shower is not an omega but rather a heat exchanger type system to save wieght and space. The Water tank system allows you to suck water in from any lake or river directly to tank and them pump out either through shower for bathing or through a katadyn expedition filter system for drinking and cooking. All electrical accesories funnel through a master on off switch power the secondary fuse block so no accidental switching on lockers lights etc unless the master switch is power first to avoid acidental power drains etc. Not to mention the offroad upgrades which are impressive. These are just a few of the long lisdt of details on this rig.
If you figure the truck was 32K about another 15K in offroad upgrades then the EVS stuff on top of that you are not outragious. The vehicle alone would run 47K with the truck and parts no install work. that leaves about 15-20 for the EVS which as in the same price range of the trailer unit.
