Have to admit this looks great and offers a more livable seating arrangement. ER fit and finish is always good and these newer ones appear to be pushing up to the level of some of the fine, and equally/often more expensive, European campers though available American diesel offroad trucks do not appear alongside/compare favorably to the MAN/MB/Iveco/etc. rigs when you dwell & operate well above 20k lbs...maybe not as big a US market for heavy rigs that can range far off the pavement like the ER-HD vs Europe where it always seems like a happy little german/french/belgian family will think nothing of dropping a mil or two on a big MAN/MB rig dialed up to taj mahal luxury level, then range deep into the rough terrain and lawless/wartorn areas of the equatorial regions, and blog about how enlightening it all is, while Americans (C. Aarons and some others notwithstanding) driving heavy campers seem mostly content to tackle the highways and occasional dirt roads throughout the New World that rarely require locking diffs, winches, chains, river fording, etc. For another variant, ER could surpass F550 magnitude and build with the F600 regular or extra cab to achieve higher rear GAWR (15,500lbs), put some legit seatbelt seating in the camper that does double duty enhancing the seating area when parked....or just go with the F600 crew cab and this layout. It appears like this is a 8' wide, 12' tall, ~30' long vehicle with the bumper boxes that seats/sleeps up to 4 people...carrying 5 or 6 would be better. If you've spent any time in previous models (2006-2023), you quickly notice two main shortfalls (esp. in this price range) with these rigs: the lack of a good "lounge" area that you might want for long term trips/live aboard and more importantly that they (and maybe not this latest version...could not find any mention of weight/GAWR on ER site) seem to operate very close to rear axle/extension/tire combo design limits, which apparently is not impacted by the rear SRW conversion and airbag suspension (you do keep a "Ford" warranty). Going to a 43" tire is a good choice and should be better than the previous era's 335/80r20....which it should be noted performs well if load, speed, tire pressure and maintenance are prioritized, which has been a challenge for some owners in the past. Publishing front+rear axle unloaded and estimated loaded weights on this "LTx" would go far toward answering any questions regarding GAWRs, e.g. does the LTx F550 have the optional 7500lbs front axle GAWR?, exactly how much weight can I put on the rear bumper/storage boxes? can I remove the boxes and mount a powered lift for two dirtbikes on the back?, etc. Do they offer optional stronger axles that are matched to the vehicle width?
At the very least, at that price, one should be able to afford a live-in/on-call mechanic to maintain the vehicle and all the systems...or have the leisure time to dive into an impressive level of DIY maintenance mastery. Overall, this new layout looks like a big win.
earthroamer.com
