Thanks to everyone for your input. Greatly appreciated. We continue to climb the learning curve.
upcruiser said:
With the timeline of late May for departure, I'd be very nervous of having everything sorted. I mean, not only are you going to be modding this new truck, but you will also be getting familiar with it yourself, and learning off highway driving skills with it. Typically, at least in my experiences, after doing vehicle modifications, I end up fiddling around a week or so afterwards, adjusting and trying to optimize things. Seems like an awful lot of stuff to try and do in such a short period. I would just say, don't rush the vehicle testing, and don't skimp on some of the safety aspects.
I agree with your assessment of the timeline and the priorities on getting ourselves educated, ourselves sorted, the rig sorted and the systems sorted prior to blissful departure over distant horizons.
This rush to judgement is an unusual approach for me. My normal approach is to research it to death and be on solid ground before making any decisions. See
http://www.hackneys.com/sail/index-sail-boat-shortlist.htm ,
http://www.hackneys.com/sail/index-sail-TCO-shortlist-comp.htm and
http://www.hackneys.com/IP/IPsurveyresults.htm for examples of my typical approach.
Nonetheless, we've set up or lives, finances, real estate, etc. for a departure in this time frame, so we'll keep moving as quickly as we can in that direction.
We're developing a rough plan as we do research in parallel.
We currently see our transportation platform options as:
- our existing bike (upsides: well known and proven; downsides: nightly hotel, all meals in restaurants, picnics, etc.)
- our existing truck (2003 GMC Denali) with a lightweight camper (upsides: own it, know it, extremely maneuverable for its size - Quadrasteer; downsides: way too complex to get service and parts outside the U.S.)
- LC 80 with a tent on top (upsides: very rugged, simple and proven platform, worldwide parts & servcie; downsides: less ride comfort, handling capability & power than the 100)
- LC 100 with a tent on top (upsides: nice ride and amenities, new platform, more power than the 80; downsides: US specific IFS & gas V8, less parts & service capability outside US compared to the 80, IFS may not be as rugged long term nor as 3rd world serviceable as the 80 straight front axle)
- LC 80 or 100 with a trailer (upsides: quick galley & bed, ability to set up base camp and roam/explore with the LC; downsides: we've been on a lot of 3rd world mountain roads and wouldn't want to be up there crossing a pass with a trailer and have to back up)
- VW Westphalia (upsides: older versions known, proven, worldwide parts & service, galley, bed; downsides: dangerously underpowered, 2WD limited, primitive suspension)
- Full size 4WD US chassis van camper conversion (upsides: go anywhere capability, galley, bed, possible wet head/shower; downsides: US chassis may have limited/no parts & service, size, maneuverability)
- EarthRoamer (upsides: engineered & equipped with blue-water-marine grade systems, go anywhere that is not precluded by weight & size chassis capability, galley, bed, wet head/shower; downsides: cost (would need to have insurance on this valuable of an asset), build backlog 12/1 delivery, weight & size limit accessability, "rich, pampered Americans" syndrome inducing, outside US parts & service of Ford 550 chassis & EarthRoamer systems, small company viability/longevity risks, would need to carry the GS on the back to explore the places the EarthRoamer couldn't get to due to size & weight)
We could conceivably add Innovation Campers and Langer & Bock to the list with a modified LC chassis & custom camper. My wife speaks German and we have family & friends there.
We'll probably rent an LC with a top tent somewhere on the planet for a few weeks to check out that platform as a baseline.
I spoke with Christo Slee and he makes a compelling case for the 80 for an overseas expedition.
We are currently pondering our choices and reading as many forum threads as we can as quickly as we can to bone up on the LC 80/100 option.
Prerequisites before we depart:
- wilderness medical training
- off road driving training
- vehicle recovery training
- thoroughly test vehicle and systems
We're going to spend a month or two in language immersion so if we go with a straight LC top tent rig we can get that built while we're doing the language school.
Or we can start on the bike while we wait for something. We know that system very well and feel comfortable on it anywhere in the world. We're tying to stay flexible and let this evolve without making decisions any more rushed than we absolutely have to.
Thanks again for the input and feedback. We continue to learn from every post.
Doug