Expedition vehicle build goals

[Outback]

I have been slowly working on my Expedition Vehicle now for a few years. Most of it has just been replacing normal wear items and installing a 4" lift kit, tires and wheels ect. ect. The vehicle is a 1986 Military Chevy truck. In the civilian world most people would recognize her as a Chevy K30 pickup. But she is more than that. She was built from the factory to carry a payload of 3,600 lbs.. That's quite a bit more than the K30 was rated for. The Military designated her as a 5/4 ton. that's 1 1/4 ton for us. She even exceeds that designation. I chose this platform due to this rating and the fact that she came from the factory with a slew of Hardcore components. If you want to see what she has for running gear just look at my build thread "Project War Wag".
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The goals I have in mind are as follows:
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30 days in the field with no resupply.
60 gallons drinkable water. Storage, filtration and delivery. (640 lbs)
90 to 100 gallons of Diesel (in 3 separate fuel tanks) that will net me 1,800 miles on Highway or 1,000 miles Overland. (850 lbs)
30 days of food storage (Fresh and dehydrated food) (weight unknown at this time)
Capability to recharge all batteries using 4 100 watt solar panels (2 vehicle starting batteries and two to four 100 amp hr auxiliary batteries) (the AGM auxiliary batteries weigh in at 65 lbs each)
World wide communications (Satellite Phone, Ham Radio and BGAN) (15 to 20 lbs)
Clean and comfortable sleeping area. (weight unknown at this time)
Secure storage and sleeping area shell (this will be a Caravan Camper Shell weight is unknown at this time but suspect 400 lbs)
Cooking equipment (Yet to be determined)
Engle Freeze Fridge in truck bed and one in cabin between seats (weight unknown when full)
Capable of self recovery (winch) and recovery tools and equipment ect.
Spare tire and all related equipment to change tire/repair
Air Compressor system
Tools and storage for them
Extra engine oil/grease ect.
Spare parts for on the trail repairs if needed. (storage)
clothes and the ability to wash/storage
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This is not everything but you can see all this stuff will add up. Of course the weight will lighten up as the trip progresses. Water and fuel being the two major load items. So these are my build goals. Please comment on anything you see or do not see listed.

 

[DeweyH]

Great rig to start with and seems well thought out !

 

[kfgk14]

All very heavy...Definitely get some big assed disc brakes under that truck to maintain on-highway safety. You're also running 37's on beadlocks, so you have even more rotational mass to slow down. Safety first.
All in all, you seem to have a very good plan drawn up. Maybe when my truck is actually fixed and road legal I'll draw up long-term goals like yours. For now, how the hell do I get the valve covers off a 7.3 Powerstroke? The damn nut is too close to the firewall and I can't reach it...

 

[1leglance]

Please don't take this wrong but I going to ask some questions based on MY experiences traveling around the USA and other countries.

You mention 30 days in the field with no resupply...that is a long time so not visit a town. And that is almost impossible unless you are staying in a small area as most of the world if you are moving you can only go about 1-2 weeks not coming in contact with a town and that means trying very hard.

Water is great to have in the desert but 60gal is huge load since you don't mention a family of 4 or anything. I had a rig with a 15gal tank and even on 7 day remote trips that was plenty. If you agree that you can come into a town once in a while or build a filtration setup into your rig then maybe 20gal of water is plenty and that still has 160lb wgt.

Why 1000 mile off road range?
I could understand if you were running WMO or veggie or something where you are saving money by bringing fuel from home but that is a ton of wgt and honestly even a 500 mile range is plenty for anywhere but the remotest parts of Australia. My rig has a 40gal tank which means 38gals really and my goal is 20mpg so that is 760 miles. If you mileage is so bad that you are looking at 10mpg I would want to carry LESS wgt to improve that number.

Your rig might have a 3600lb payload but your fuel mileage, drivetrain and overall experience will thank you if you stay way under that number. I have built mega rigs and now I am trying hard to look at want I really NEED vs what I WANT.

This is your build and it will be neat no matter what you do, I am not trying to make you angry, just offering some thoughts.

 

[Outback]

No Offense taken at all. Discussion with knowledgeable people is the key to knowledge and insight. The reason why I want such a large fuel capability is due to the fact that when you need to fill up that fuel station may be closed or out of power or just burned down. The 10 MPG is an absolute worst case scenario. I will most likely average around 13 to 15 MPG off road. But you figure the worst case scenario so you have extra when you make it home or to the next fuel stop. This is just my reasoning and my opinion. I am also a bit of a "**** hits the fan" type of believer. Having been in the LA riots and all of the last major Earthquakes I can tell you Gas stations don't operate or are burned down. When my wife was 8 months Pregnant the Bay Area Earthquake hit and ALL but one gas station was out of operation in Monterey. I was lucky as the Diesel pumps were by themselves on the other side of the gas station so I was able to drive around the 2 mile long line and fuel right up. I then drove to Santa Cruz and was able to pick her up and drive back. The 4x4 got me around the downed bridge. Im sure I pissed some Farmer off. Ive never owned a 2wd since. Life experiences tend to mold us to a certain way of thinking.

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Yes 30 days is a VERY long time to not visit a town or fuel station. This is just a 30 day maximum I placed on myself because I want the capability. Again it would have been nice to have a stocked vehicle or the capability to stock my vehicle in the past and be able to sustain myself for 30 days. I now have a wife and 4 children. Our 2 oldest have there own families now. We will build a second vehicle after this one is tested in the field. What we learn from this build we will help us refine our next build. We have other off road capable vehicles that we use for Overlanding and can sustain us for several days as a family outing. The second rig we will build will have identical components and there for limit the amount of spares we need to carry. Not that we need to carry much in that sense since our components are extremely Heavy Duty. U joints and driveshaft plus an alternator and belts ect ect will round out the spare parts we need on hand.
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I agree staying as light as possible is always the goal. Not going over the GVWR is a must. I feel I can have everything I want and still be under by 10% of the GVWR. The good news is the weight will come off fast as we drive and use the on board water. Of course I will top off the tanks when I can as this is just a must for me. Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the build as she progresses.

 

[Outback]

All very heavy...Definitely get some big assed disc brakes under that truck to maintain on-highway safety. You're also running 37's on beadlocks, so you have even more rotational mass to slow down. Safety first.
All in all, you seem to have a very good plan drawn up. Maybe when my truck is actually fixed and road legal I'll draw up long-term goals like yours. For now, how the hell do I get the valve covers off a 7.3 Powerstroke? The damn nut is too close to the firewall and I can't reach it...

Yes the rotational mass is much more do to the rubber run flats. I will be swapping in the PVC inserts to cut down on that rotational mass.

 

[Darwin]

What are your plans as far as sleeping? Sounds like you would need a big *** camper.

 

[Larry]

Dig the goals. However, I agree with Lance in that 30 days in the field with no resupply and carrying 90 to 100 gallons of fuel are a bit lofty and maybe even unrealistic on an old K30 platform. My truck isn't far off from what you have and where you want to be. Believe me, it doesn't take much at all to suddenly find yourself grossly over the GVWR of the vehicle and still have a long want list of goodies you still want to add to the truck. Outside of that you have great goals for the ole War Wag

 

[Outback]

All very heavy...Definitely get some big assed disc brakes under that truck to maintain on-highway safety. You're also running 37's on beadlocks, so you have even more rotational mass to slow down. Safety first.
All in all, you seem to have a very good plan drawn up. Maybe when my truck is actually fixed and road legal I'll draw up long-term goals like yours. For now, how the hell do I get the valve covers off a 7.3 Powerstroke? The damn nut is too close to the firewall and I can't reach it...

Sounds like a special Dealer Only tool is needed.

 

[Outback]

What are your plans as far as sleeping? Sounds like you would need a big *** camper.

I will install a Caravan Camper Shell. Inside over each wheel well I will build a set of storage boxes out of Marine Grade Plywood. Inbetween I will have a 60 Gallon water tank. Actually 2-30 Gallon tanks built out of Stainless steel and fully baffled. Towards the end of the truck bed I will have a set of long drawers. These will be the same height as the water tanks. A very comfortable matress will fit on top of the drawers / tanks and in between the Storage units. I have used this set up while in the field for my work.

 

[Outback]

Dig the goals. However, I agree with Lance in that 30 days in the field with no resupply and carrying 90 to 100 gallons of fuel are a bit lofty and maybe even unrealistic on an old K30 platform. My truck isn't far off from what you have and where you want to be. Believe me, it doesn't take much at all to suddenly find yourself grossly over the GVWR of the vehicle and still have a long want list of goodies you still want to add to the truck. Outside of that you have great goals for the ole War Wag

The M1028 has a Load Capacity of 3,600 lbs. I have actually increased that due to a heavier rated set of front springs to accommodate my front winch. Even at 3,600 lbs I believe I will be way under that 3,600 lbs. Fuel weighs in at 8 lbs per Gallon. Water weighs in at 10 lbs per Gallon. The weight of 100 gallons of Diesel is 800 lbs. 60 Gallons of water comes in at 600 lbs. That's 1,400 lbs plus the added weight of there tanks and all related hardware should come in at an approximate total of 1,500 lbs at the most. These are the heaviest Load Items and will gradually reduce. 1,500 lbs is 41.66% of my Load Capacity. That leaves me with 58.44%. If I set a goal of maintaining a 10% safety margin that will leave my with another 1,740 lbs of kit I can load onto my rig. As Fuel and Water are the heaviest load items on any expedition I do not believe I will exceed my goals. Oh I know it is easy to start adding un needed weight. A strict set of rules must be maintained to keep from adding un needed items.

 

[Scrib]

For a "SHTF" scenario, wouldn't it be more flexible to split the overall fuel & water storage between a combination of onboard tanks and portable containers? E.G. if the War Wagon becomes in/op, you can at least take some of the fuel & water with you if a portion of it is in portable containers. It also makes resupply more flexible, if you can take smaller containers to a source instead of just the entire vehicle.

 

[Metcalf]

I think its good to list out some broad strokes for goals and why.....

My knee jerk reaction is that your going to be WAY overweight on that chassis. Listed payload and GVW is one thing, running vehicle close, at, or over those number is another thing. It is HARD to run vehicles, especially off road, at those numbers....

Try and keep the added weight as far forward and as low as you can. Running a 400lb camper shell isn't really going to be great for off road performance or highway speed stability. Carrying that much fuel in tanks will but you into a predicament if you get stuck, especially in soft ground. In a bad situation it is REALLY nice to be able to unload the vehicle a much as possible to aid in vehicle recovery. This makes a huge difference in how easy or hard it is to recover a vehicle sometimes.

You might also want to start looking at the load rating of the tires. Running the vehicle at max tire pressure off road isn't going to be practical at all. You can air down when your packing weight but there is a more negative effect on the tires.

EVERYTHING on the vehicle will get taxed MUCH harder at close to GVW. You will need to think about the engine cooling system, transmission cooling, suspension, shocks, bumpstops, the frame, etc. Even being a military truck, I am guessing the GVW figures where based on mainly road travel, maybe some dirt road travel, but not very serious off road travel at all.

 

[Outback]

All good points. My tires are rated at 3850lbs each at 50 PSI. They are mounted on Hutchinson 12 bolt dual bead lock DOT certified wheels. These were designed for up armored HMMWVs. The tires are BFGoodrich Baja MTs and are Military OZ rated. They don't rott in the sun like civilian tires do. I agree running near GVWR is not desireable or even wanted. A 10% reduction of that is a standard for long distance expedition rigs. I will be under that by at least another 20% to 30%. I just don't see the rest of my kit coming in at that much weight. Time will tell. I will take a base reading after I have my winch mounted. From there I will have a base line on what my current weight is and will weigh her as the build progresses.

The vehicle isn't really a SHTF type of vehicle but can be used for that purpose if ever needed. Trust me the fires near us in AZ over the last few weeks have me thinking about that. I do have dedicated 5 gallon water cans that will be utilized in the build. Fuel cans I am not a hug fan of as they each weigh in close to 50 lbs. I do not like adding weight to the back of any rig. I will however add my Spare Tire, Hi Lift Jack, Shovel and Axe to a purpose built dual swing out rack on the back. While these add weight where I don't like it is none the less needed. The added weight of the water in the front of the bed will offset that weight. That and my side saddle tanks. The rear fuel tank will be used first so as to lower the weight behind (and slightly over) the rear axle.

I know there is no perfect Expedition Rig. I am just trying to build my rig to maximize its abilities and still keep a small enough package to actually travel on smaller roads/trails. I may have to rethink my goals for sure. For now I will see if I can meet my goals and still have a viable off road vehicle. If the vehicle is unstable which I believe it will not be as I will keep the weight as low as possible then I will reconfigure the load. Either that or reduce the load. 30 days is indeed a Lofty Goal. Time will tell if I have achieved it. I will keep you all posted.

 

[bftank]

quick test to see if the handling will be what you are estimating. load it with gravel to the desired weight. take it for a spin.