I personally like to know small insignificant items like what they run for air pressure with the Continentals? Have they all been switching to the Goodyears? Has the AC worked well? How has the older ER held up? How has the Kelderman Air ride been working? Have they had to switch the wheels out because of leaks? I could go on and on but would hate to sit at ER asking these questions when I know I would never own one.
I own ER217 (@roamsoft on IG) and I can answer these questions for you. I bought ER217 used in Feb 2021 and have used it to travel and work out of with my wife for a good chunk of the last few years. I have put around 35k miles on it since I purchased it.
I run 95PSI in the rear and 45PSI in the front. When I air down for offroad cruising it all depends, but I usually start at 60PSI in the rear and 30PSI in the front.
The older LTs have found a way to move to goodyears with a good upgrade path. They are lighter and the current Goodyear tires can handle it. I wanted to do this as well, but since my LTS has a higher GVWR and actual weight exceeding that sometimes I could not switch over. I know the new LTi revision has a new Goodyear tire that is 43" and a modified kelderman air ride to handle it. Faster speeds, longer tire life and less wheel rotations. No planned retro fit for older trucks.
My ER came with two ACs in it which is kind of rare for that era of the LTS. I have one the in rear and one mounted halfway between the front and back. The rear AC failed within the first six months of ownership, and I decided to volunteer for one of the ProAir systems in the LTi to see if it worked as a retro fit to the LTS. It runs off 12v instead of inverted on 120v. It worked at the ER shop and failed when I was halfway home. ER217 is currently at ER HQ getting it fixed again. The second AC works now but also failed a few months into my ownership. That was able to get repaired.
I will guess the older ER reference is the ER LT or older models. Maybe my LTS is old too now that LTi is out and has had an iteration on it. My own experience and reading through the ER Owner's Forum there is a gold mine of stuff that owners have done over the years. Some of the most updated and tricked out ERs on the road are the older LTs. Smaller wheelbase, lighter and easier to remove and add stuff. Most of them are on IG and can be followed publicly. Before I pulled the trigger on buying an ER I was following over 50 owners on IG
My Kelderman Air Ride has been flawless in my travels. I have read about a few failures from other owners, but that has not happened to me. I carry a spare airbag and I also inspect air hoses and valves regularly. When it drops below about 25F degrees I will let the air out of the tank since it can freeze at the outlet and the air ride will not work.
I have a love hate relationship with my Hutchinson/Conti wheels/tires. I like the modularity and ability to fix your wheels / tires on the road, but I hate the maintenance and upkeep that is required. I am not against maintenance, but it is excessive in my opinion. I have gone through six tires since I have owned my ER in roughly 2.5 years. Leaks are easy to develop and take a long time to troubleshoot and fix properly. The owners forum have some extensive write ups on how to do this and where I learned. The breakdown of the Hutchinson bead lock to replace tires is time consuming with normal tools. There is a great write up on the forums and a video on YouTube.
The tires have a speed rating limit of 65Mph. This is good and bad. I generally travel back highways and country roads in so no issue doing that at those speeds or lower. My ER is at max GVWR and fully loaded up I am over sometimes. I live in WA so getting anywhere usually means it is faster to take some major freeways out and it gets tedious with the limited speed. It just adds extra days to trips that will add up over time. I will admit driving ~20k of weight down the freeway at 65mph+ is a concern for me personally. I also rotate every 2500-3000miles which is a journey in itself with normal tools and especially on the road. Ther forum is a great place to learn to do all this yourself and it definitely makes things last longer without shops tearing it up.
The ER community is amazing and have made owning and maintaining our ER much easier.
Can't help but notice that there's a LOT of pre-owned earthroamers for sale. There's 8 of them for sale on the actual earthroamer site plus a few others around the web. Things have changed a lot since covid.
I tracked ERs for a few years with their pricing on the pre-roamed site and other places before I pulled the trigger to get one. There were 10 for sale when I purchased mine about a year into the pandemic. There is a high return customer rate to move to new trucks, so they trade them in to sell in the ER community. I see the current number of ERs for sale as just the natural cycle of things and nothing out of the norm over a longer time period.
I just found out that you no longer can be on the Earthroamer forum if you’re not an owner of the product. Sounds like Earthroamer purchased the site now and wants to control the content. So if your an enthusiasts for Earthroamers or that size or type of vehicle and want to see what is trending, issues, upgrades etc…. You are out of luck.
I would suggest trying IG if you have questions from owners. In my experience, the community (including myself) are very active there and polite and will give basic info for curiosity. I get 2-5 DMs a day on my IG account for ER217 and try to respond to them all in some form. The number of people following that account is pretty small compared to other IG accounts for ERs. I think maybe ~400 people last time I checked so it might vary for others with responses on things. Just an idea to help get other info.
Any further questions please let me know.
