military conversion

[jacksonbase]

After several years of looking I still can't find the offroad camper i want. I have decided to build one from scratch. Obviously this will take a long time and busted knuckles.

Question has anyone converted any of the newer military vehicles to campers? For a while I saw stripped down new vehicles running down the road stacked 3 deep ready for retrofitting. I don't know if these cab forward models are available for private use but as the "war" overseas wains maybe they could be picked up aftermarket. I've seen several deuce 1/2 converted but i would like to start with something a little more refined. I've seen all the cool stuff from americat out of europe but the price to get one in the states is high . Any pics or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm just getting started and want to get a chassis first and retrofit from there.

thanks

Jacksonbase

 

[tamangel]

Fmtv

here's a thread from Steel Soldiers re: the FMTV

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?t=23186&highlight=fmtv

Mike

 

[charlieaarons]

Avi Meyers (Unicat Americas) tried getting a 5 ton MTV chassis to put a Unicat camper on new from the mfg. They initially were receptive but then became obstructive "our insurance....".
It's questionable whether these are licensable since I believe the military has obtained waivers on EPA specs for sure and maybe DOT as well, as these have tightened up over the last decade.
So as a US citizen/resident you are quite limited in medium/heavy duty choices.
Int'l 7300/7400 or a conversion done by Tulsa Truck Mfg. is about it
You can thank the idiotic "chicken tax" for that, if you are old enough to remember.

Charlie

 

[mrstang01]

You can thank the idiotic "chicken tax" for that, if you are old enough to remember.

For those of us that aren't, what is the chicken tax?

Michael

 

[02TahoeMD]

Ever considered getting a HUMVEE Ambo truck? I have seen them posted available for sale used here stateside. The Ambo box would give you a decent amount of room in a compact package. And it should be lots easier to get registered for road use than some of the giant stuff the military uses.

Another option would be the ole duece and a half truck, converting the back into a camper of sorts, but your cab would not be the most comfortable thing in the world. Again, easier vehicle to tag for road use.

Just some thoughts.

 

[DH2002]

If you could get a LMTV that would be awesome but a medic or commo HUMVEE would be good size

 

[charlieaarons]

For those of us that aren't, what is the chicken tax?

Michael

I think it was in the late 60s, farmers in the Common Market (what they called the EC then) took exception to imports of cheap (probably hormone-laden) frozen US chickens. So the EC slapped a tariff on imports of chickens. The US retaliated by putting a 25% tariff on imports of European cargo-carrying trucks. Which at that point consisted of VW transporters (the open-bed version of the VW Microbus), period.
The EC chicken tariff went away quickly but protectionist interests in the US have kept the truck tariff ever since. Which is one reason why we don't get all those neat AWD forward control MANs, Mercedes, Ivecos, Sisus, Tatras etc.
The emission and DOT stuff came much later.
The U500 came in duty-free because it's an "implement carrier", not primarily a cargo-carrying truck.

Charlie

 

[864x4rv]

Jacksonbase,

check the phoenix edition of www.craigslist.com under diesel 4x4 and there is a 1967 kaiser deuce exp vehicle conversation for sale. It is worth checking out since it is relatively affordable at $25K.

864x4rv

 

[jayshapiro]

Phoenix

Jacksonbase,

check the phoenix edition of www.craigslist.com under diesel 4x4 and there is a 1967 kaiser deuce exp vehicle conversation for sale. It is worth checking out since it is relatively affordable at $25K.

864x4rv

Here's the link:

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/rvs/1024713681.html

It's actually quite a lot of truck for $25k. Don't get me wrong it's huge, but if you wanted a military conversion, this guy has done a LOT of the hardwork. Swapping out the camper interior with what you want would be relatively easy.

Cross posting this to the vehicles for sale threads.

Cheers,
Jay.

 

[warrpath4x4]

"at 65 mph the military tires would shread" lol sounds like they needed new tires. ive had several dueces above 65mph and uh yah, still had tires.