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Out of curiosity, if tongue weight is holding you back, have you ever though of re-locating the heavy batteries + propane tanks to the rear of the trailer? 2 30lbs tanks plus 2 batteries can weight up to 200 lbs. If you remove 200 lbs off the tongue, you're actually reducing 200 + 200(rear...

Wow, sounds like an amazing trip! Out of curiosity, was this ever your inspiration for the trip? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6BEshgVhJQ

Cool build, but makes as much sense as lowering a Defender on KW coilovers to try to out slaloom an X5... If I had an X5, I'd rather build a very mild logging road vehicle, and retains their superb on-road dynamics. Left behind by the Jeeps on the dirt road, but once pavement starts, beat them...

Absolutely nothing wrong with a unibody if designed properly. In fact, they can be made stronger than body on frame for everything except concentrated loading (very heavy tow hitch). Case in point, if we compare the torsional rigidity of an old Durango vs a WK2 Grand Cherokee, it's embarrasing...

They're very unique trucks (Kei trucks?) for local city driving and back country travel, but I'd be afraid to drive one in the 80 mph mountain pass highways here in BC. Any collision with a modern vehicle and you have zero chance of survival...

Was that really done in Hi? If so these things must be geared pretty short transmission wise!

Yeah thanks for making me feel better! :p

No one running a Puma? I've got some cheapies for now (under 1 cfm), and want to make a serious upgrade. My heart says Oasis XD4000, my wallet says Puma! Wish I had bought the Warn VTC when it was still available for $600; a good middle ground. An Oasis is total overkill for my Explorer, but...

Holy smokes that's a lot of weight! It may be the "densest" non-commercial vehicle on the road, in terms of weight per length or volume. Good point about the under damped struts. I guess with air struts, you're constantly increasing spring rate as you load up the truck, without changing...

Boom. Glad someone think the way I do. Is the styling a bit much? Sure. But put that aside, it's actually highly suitable for what we're into - overland expeditions. You can haul a sizeable load without your headlights pointing to the sky, thanks to the air suspension. You have enough height...

Just want to say I LOVE your wheel and tire choices. It is, IMHO, the purest form of an "expedition" setup. Way too often, we see people building a rock crawler or show truck - big fancy wheels with large offset, pushing big wide 37"s way of the the fender. Nothing wrong with that, but just...

The 2014 PW has the beefy 11.5 AAM axle from the pre-2013 diesel 3500, which is of course super strong, just eats into ground clearance. The newer diesel 3500 has been upgraded to an even bigger 11.75 AAM. The older PWs had the 10.5", which is believe is shared among older non-diesel 2500s...

Unfortunately no build thread, as it's strictly an on-road bus conversion and not "expedition" worthy. But I'll see if I can upload some photos in the future. I did look into Evans, but research shows they're not ideal for older diesels due to several factors: - much higher operating temp (2...

Thanks for the feedback guys. Maybe time to save up for an all aluminum... Yes, I realized the importance of shrouding and sealing from day one. Since it's an OEM fan, it's shrouded efficiently to begin with. In addition, every inch of seam is taped up with heavy foil tape; there's absolutely...

Just want to say AWESOME build, and solid fabrication skills (that I wish to have...)! Didn't even realize you were local till I saw the bent up license plate. Out of curiosity, what fans are you running and how's the cooling performance? I ask because I'm also cooling a heavy duty motor...

And the 2 door, full-size ladder framed gas guzzling SUV is a dead breed! That's what happens when the market never had a real demand for SUVs in the first place. It was a simple 90's fad. If our terrain, and way of living actually called for cross country capable utility vehicles, then we'd...

Personally, there are other reasons that makes me pick the Ram - an awesome, 50 ksi, fully boxed and hydroformed frame, the disconnecting front axle, and beefy 11.75" rear axle. No to mention the available rear air spring and the fuel efficient and powerful 6.4 Hemi. It's a tough choice, but...

I dream of the day when series diesel electric comes to light duty trucks and over the road semis. AC-AC traction system have achieved over 91% efficiency, high than any geared transmission. Coupled with the prime mover operating at a constant rpm, overall fuel efficiency will massively...

BTW, here's a really nice gear ratio calculator: http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html It has many popular transmission ratios preloaded - simply choose Dodge 68RE (same ratio as 66RE). Then type 3.73 for your axle ratio, and select P-metric for tire size, enter 275/75/18. You'll see that at...

If you tow relatively slow, it's even more important to get shorter gears. With the 3.73s and a .63 OD ratio, 6th would be absolutely useless at that speed, and very likely 5th as well, on anything but flat ground with a tailwind... Is your Rubicon a JK? If so, I'm guessing it has a 6 speed...