poohbearusvi
Well-known member
OK, a new build. We ordered an ex military vehicle, an M1088 from Acela last August. We went with the 6x6 for its heavier carrying capacity and ability to go to more remote places. It was completed in early December. The wheelbase was a little short so we needed to stretch it another 31 inches. So we had it sent down to EO Trailer in Ceres, CA. They’ve done nearly 8,000 stretches so I felt pretty good about them doing the work. We visited their place in January. I’ll tell you, we were a little shocked to see our perfectly good refurbished chassis in two parts, one inside their shop and the other half outdoors! Everything was apart: fuel tank, transmission cooler, every hose and connector, drive shaft. About two weeks later it all came together. She looked beautiful!
Next stop, Los Angeles where it is now on a boat to Brisbane, Australia to have the expedition box built. It’s scheduled to arrive April 19th according to my marine vessel tracking app. I know the big question is “why would you go all the way to Australia to get your expedition box built?” Well, like all major purchases, especially this one, it wasn’t an impulse buy. We looked at a lot of options in the US. We even flew over to Europe to visit a ‘short listed’ manufacturer. In each case, they had nice units but we kept hesitating on the purchase. We found SLRV Expedition Vehicles in an internet search and were very impressed with was we saw. We made the commitment to personally inspect the place first before buying. Both my wife and I immediately said ‘this is it’. It’s a family business run by great people. (Of course they’re great people, they’re Australian!) They’ve been operating since 1972. Warwick and his brother Clint and Stewart run the business. They had just finished an 8x8 with a lifting roof when we arrived. I would have bought their MAN chassis in a heartbeat but we just can’t import them back here to the US. A real shame. A refurbished M1078 (4x4) or M1088 (6x6), in my opinion, is the best chassis available in North America today if you intend to travel to other continents. If you plan to keep it in North America, then there are other options such as the Kenworth 370 for a cab over. We didn’t look at chassis options other than the cab over as we wanted to keep the overall length down.
SLRV did drawings and after a couple of back and forth changes, we have approved the final version. We can hardly wait!
My wife and I have always loved adventure travel. As you get older, your means of getting there changes. We still hike but not with 50 lbs in our backpacks. When my wife started getting bad knees, we bought a motorhome and fully modified Jeep and traveled throughout the US. The motorhome was base camp and the Jeep allowed to visit beautiful remote places to camp. But it was always my wish to be able to have it all, or more accurately, closer to having it all because everything is a tradeoff. Our 45 foot motorhome was meant for paved roads only. The AEV Jeep with rooftop tent was meant for everything else. What we did is marry the two and create an offspring in the middle. We are still very active people but age does curb some of the activities you use to do like, rock climbing or winter camping without a tent. When our rig is finished and delivered back to the US, I’ll be 70 and my wife will be 68. We are anxious to continue our adventure travel until our bodies give up. Until then it’s full speed ahead. The name on our new rig will be “Next Chapter”.
Next stop, Los Angeles where it is now on a boat to Brisbane, Australia to have the expedition box built. It’s scheduled to arrive April 19th according to my marine vessel tracking app. I know the big question is “why would you go all the way to Australia to get your expedition box built?” Well, like all major purchases, especially this one, it wasn’t an impulse buy. We looked at a lot of options in the US. We even flew over to Europe to visit a ‘short listed’ manufacturer. In each case, they had nice units but we kept hesitating on the purchase. We found SLRV Expedition Vehicles in an internet search and were very impressed with was we saw. We made the commitment to personally inspect the place first before buying. Both my wife and I immediately said ‘this is it’. It’s a family business run by great people. (Of course they’re great people, they’re Australian!) They’ve been operating since 1972. Warwick and his brother Clint and Stewart run the business. They had just finished an 8x8 with a lifting roof when we arrived. I would have bought their MAN chassis in a heartbeat but we just can’t import them back here to the US. A real shame. A refurbished M1078 (4x4) or M1088 (6x6), in my opinion, is the best chassis available in North America today if you intend to travel to other continents. If you plan to keep it in North America, then there are other options such as the Kenworth 370 for a cab over. We didn’t look at chassis options other than the cab over as we wanted to keep the overall length down.
SLRV did drawings and after a couple of back and forth changes, we have approved the final version. We can hardly wait!
My wife and I have always loved adventure travel. As you get older, your means of getting there changes. We still hike but not with 50 lbs in our backpacks. When my wife started getting bad knees, we bought a motorhome and fully modified Jeep and traveled throughout the US. The motorhome was base camp and the Jeep allowed to visit beautiful remote places to camp. But it was always my wish to be able to have it all, or more accurately, closer to having it all because everything is a tradeoff. Our 45 foot motorhome was meant for paved roads only. The AEV Jeep with rooftop tent was meant for everything else. What we did is marry the two and create an offspring in the middle. We are still very active people but age does curb some of the activities you use to do like, rock climbing or winter camping without a tent. When our rig is finished and delivered back to the US, I’ll be 70 and my wife will be 68. We are anxious to continue our adventure travel until our bodies give up. Until then it’s full speed ahead. The name on our new rig will be “Next Chapter”.
