GR8ADV
Explorer
dibs on being the sag wagon in my FUSO.
EarthRoamer XV-JP "Northwest Edition"
- Thread starter WhereTheHellIsJames?
- Start date
dibs on being the sag wagon in my FUSO.
fog cutter
Adventurer
"ya see, son, it's had two different heads, and three new handles, but it's really the same hammer."
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
The explanation Jeremy wrote above is correct. There was no suitable alternative to using the EarthRoamer cabin we had. Consideration was given to buying Edwin Turner's white XV-JP to get his cabin, but that would have required selling my silver one, which I could not in good conscious do without straightening out its interior issues. No other cabin of similar construction was available, and there certainly was no way to mold a new one in either a timely or cost-effective manner.
In the emergency vehicle business, as your vehicle ages, it is routine to keep your valuable, well-equipped box and perform what they call a "remount," moving the existing body to a new chassis. I've followed the same strategy here and effected an expedition cabin remount. If you're having any trouble making sense of the chassis swap, pretend the cabin is an ambulance box and perhaps all will be well.
mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
The explanation Jeremy wrote above is correct. There was no suitable alternative to using the EarthRoamer cabin we had. Consideration was given to buying Edwin Turner's white XV-JP to get his cabin, but that would have required selling my silver one, which I could not in good conscious do without straightening out its interior issues. No other cabin of similar construction was available, and there certainly was no way to mold a new one in either a timely or cost-effective manner.
In the emergency vehicle business, as your vehicle ages, it is routine to keep your valuable, well-equipped box and perform what they call a "remount," moving the existing body to a new chassis. I've followed the same strategy here and effected an expedition cabin remount. If you're having any trouble making sense of the chassis swap, pretend the cabin is an ambulance box and perhaps all will be well.
Ambo box remount; a terrific analogy!
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
There probably should be a better place for this--and maybe there is--but you go with what you know . . .
The 2015 AEV Wrangler--this one--
was found at Dennis Dillon Jeep in Caldwell, Idaho. I mention this because I had a really good experience with them and my salesperson, Ron Wurtz. Particularly worthy of mention is that the no-negotiation pricing for the truck was by far the best I could find among the several dozen AEVs turned up in an "any distance" search on the AutoTrader website. Understand that I know that the prices advertised were, in almost all other situations, negotiable, but the gaps started out big enough that I'm pretty certain that I got the best price available. As an example, my local dealer had a white AEV Wrangler that was equipped about the same (though it was missing about $1500 of some little options) and their asking price was over $12,000 more than Dennis Dillon's.
Beyond the good pricing, the rest of the experience was great. Salesperson Ron was quick and comprehensive in getting me all of the information about the Jeep, including the AEV build sheet, and it was straightforward to put a deposit down. You then need to get yourself to Idaho to sign the paperwork, but given that people fly in from Alaska, Hawaii, and most all the other states in the country, the six-hour drive I made from Portland wasn't much of a sacrifice. Once there, everything was just as expected and the transaction went quickly and efficiently, and Ron and his colleagues had plenty of interest in overlanding to make the little bit of waiting time pass quickly.
Anyway, just a heads up that my experience getting this Jeep at Dennis Dillon was good and it seemed a relative bargain. If you need a Jeep (or Chrysler, Dodge, or RAM, I assume) going to their website for a look is probably worthwhile.
The 2015 AEV Wrangler--this one--
was found at Dennis Dillon Jeep in Caldwell, Idaho. I mention this because I had a really good experience with them and my salesperson, Ron Wurtz. Particularly worthy of mention is that the no-negotiation pricing for the truck was by far the best I could find among the several dozen AEVs turned up in an "any distance" search on the AutoTrader website. Understand that I know that the prices advertised were, in almost all other situations, negotiable, but the gaps started out big enough that I'm pretty certain that I got the best price available. As an example, my local dealer had a white AEV Wrangler that was equipped about the same (though it was missing about $1500 of some little options) and their asking price was over $12,000 more than Dennis Dillon's.
Beyond the good pricing, the rest of the experience was great. Salesperson Ron was quick and comprehensive in getting me all of the information about the Jeep, including the AEV build sheet, and it was straightforward to put a deposit down. You then need to get yourself to Idaho to sign the paperwork, but given that people fly in from Alaska, Hawaii, and most all the other states in the country, the six-hour drive I made from Portland wasn't much of a sacrifice. Once there, everything was just as expected and the transaction went quickly and efficiently, and Ron and his colleagues had plenty of interest in overlanding to make the little bit of waiting time pass quickly.
Anyway, just a heads up that my experience getting this Jeep at Dennis Dillon was good and it seemed a relative bargain. If you need a Jeep (or Chrysler, Dodge, or RAM, I assume) going to their website for a look is probably worthwhile.
sarconcepts
Adventurer
Now, you know mike, I totally agree with your choice to use your same trusty jeep for this new incarnation.. ..
with that said, just imagine the interior space you would have had using this one!
Click image for larger version.
The owner added 30" to its width, it's actually wider than a Hummer!
http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-v...1978-jeep-cj7/
Well Mike, I stand GREATLY corrected about the best donor vehicle.. ..
THIS ONE may infact get you slightly more interior space!
you could even fit that hot tub of yours!
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
Boy, that's a nimble-looking thing. Be great on the trail; the wheels are far-enough apart they'd have totally different traction conditions. One side might be stuck in the mud, but it might be totally dry where the other side's wheels are.
What, do you have a prized collection of pictures of weird, molested jeeps?
Ford Prefect
Expedition Leader
So are you telling us you bought this jeep? It is nice looking, for sure.
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
Thanks. Hope all is going well with you and the family.
Mat Mobile
Adventurer
Friends are there to remind you that you can do something even more awesome that you either don't need or can't afford!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
GR8ADV
Explorer
Friends are there to remind you that you can do something even more awesome that you either don't need or can't afford!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm a better friend than I thought...
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
Yep. Sums it up nicely.
Expedition Portal and Me--Celebrating Ten Years of Friendship and Peer Pressure. :sombrero:
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
OMG!! A Change in Plans
I’d certainly admit that this report isn’t unusual. Stuff happens, and pretty much everyone’s project has changes in plans.
Still, my project has certainly had more unexpected chenges than most. Here was the original plan:
And here’s kind of what’s transpired:
Okay, it’s maybe not quite that bad, but the poor XV-JP has definitely had a bunch of things happen that have kept its redo from going straight along the critical path.
Dion picked up the truck and drove it back to Iowa, where the Red Cannon shop took a few weeks longer than expected to finish. (A building project that the contractor didn’t get done on time?! Who ever heard of such a thing?!) So then it was important to work like crazy to have the truck ready to show to at Overland Expo East.
An effort that hit a snag when, as mentioned above, the guy responsible for painting the cabin was hospitalized following an unfortunate motorcycle accident, putting the finishing work behind schedule. Given the substantial, shall we say, difficulties of OvEx East,
missing it wasn’t the worse thing, but it was unpredicted.
A more substantial change in plans came about recently when Red Cannon got “bumped” from the soon-to-start SEMA show. SEMA overbooked the event and something like two or three hundred participants previously signed up for space got a rejection letter which read, in part: ” Regrettably, we are unable to accept this vehicle for placement at this year’s Show. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” Regrettable, indeed, though probably not as traumatic for Red Cannon as for the many companies who had paid to develop entire specialty vehicles for just promotional purposes and who now don’t get to show them. (http://www.online-instagram.com/tag/SEMAFail)
Anyway, SEMA was going to be the Darién’s grand unveiling, and the plans were that I would pick the truck up from Dion post-show in Las Vegas, which would have been in about ten days. Oh, well; on to Plan #Whatever.
The first consideration was that the fancy new AEV Jeep shown above was picked out largely to get Red Cannon the spiffiest chassis we could find to show off their work . . . and to have something that could perhaps be sold at a profit to someone who saw it at the show. With the display not happening, I was fortunately to be able to unwind the transaction—highest possible points to Dennis Dillon Jeep for their cooperation—and we've gone back to my original, and usefully modified, ’07 chassis.
The other effect of the “No Show For You” SEMA news is that there’s now time to mess around with some semi-speculative stuff Dion was thinking about implementing on my build but that couldn’t be risked in case things didn’t pan out or took too much time. Since the SEMA cancellation, Dion and I have talked about him keeping the Jeep longer and taking a run at some of these more innovative things. With the Oregon weather having turned dubious, and my Sprinter available as a backup, I decided that it wouldn’t be the worst thing to let Red Cannon keep the Jeep for another six weeks or so, figuring that there’s no downside to letting him invest his own time and money in trying some prototype things that might make my finished truck even slicker.
No sense in detailing now all the things that might get done, since much of it may not happen, but there’s potentially clever stuff to try with automating the systems control, managing the freshwater, optimizing the solar and so on. I suspect that if any of it works out, I’ll have information to share later.
Anyway, long story short, the truck will be wrapped up sometime before Christmas, maybe with some special goodies for me, maybe not.
Unless something changes. :sombrero:
I’d certainly admit that this report isn’t unusual. Stuff happens, and pretty much everyone’s project has changes in plans.
Still, my project has certainly had more unexpected chenges than most. Here was the original plan:
And here’s kind of what’s transpired:
Okay, it’s maybe not quite that bad, but the poor XV-JP has definitely had a bunch of things happen that have kept its redo from going straight along the critical path.
Dion picked up the truck and drove it back to Iowa, where the Red Cannon shop took a few weeks longer than expected to finish. (A building project that the contractor didn’t get done on time?! Who ever heard of such a thing?!) So then it was important to work like crazy to have the truck ready to show to at Overland Expo East.
An effort that hit a snag when, as mentioned above, the guy responsible for painting the cabin was hospitalized following an unfortunate motorcycle accident, putting the finishing work behind schedule. Given the substantial, shall we say, difficulties of OvEx East,
missing it wasn’t the worse thing, but it was unpredicted.
A more substantial change in plans came about recently when Red Cannon got “bumped” from the soon-to-start SEMA show. SEMA overbooked the event and something like two or three hundred participants previously signed up for space got a rejection letter which read, in part: ” Regrettably, we are unable to accept this vehicle for placement at this year’s Show. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.” Regrettable, indeed, though probably not as traumatic for Red Cannon as for the many companies who had paid to develop entire specialty vehicles for just promotional purposes and who now don’t get to show them. (http://www.online-instagram.com/tag/SEMAFail)
Anyway, SEMA was going to be the Darién’s grand unveiling, and the plans were that I would pick the truck up from Dion post-show in Las Vegas, which would have been in about ten days. Oh, well; on to Plan #Whatever.
The first consideration was that the fancy new AEV Jeep shown above was picked out largely to get Red Cannon the spiffiest chassis we could find to show off their work . . . and to have something that could perhaps be sold at a profit to someone who saw it at the show. With the display not happening, I was fortunately to be able to unwind the transaction—highest possible points to Dennis Dillon Jeep for their cooperation—and we've gone back to my original, and usefully modified, ’07 chassis.
The other effect of the “No Show For You” SEMA news is that there’s now time to mess around with some semi-speculative stuff Dion was thinking about implementing on my build but that couldn’t be risked in case things didn’t pan out or took too much time. Since the SEMA cancellation, Dion and I have talked about him keeping the Jeep longer and taking a run at some of these more innovative things. With the Oregon weather having turned dubious, and my Sprinter available as a backup, I decided that it wouldn’t be the worst thing to let Red Cannon keep the Jeep for another six weeks or so, figuring that there’s no downside to letting him invest his own time and money in trying some prototype things that might make my finished truck even slicker.
No sense in detailing now all the things that might get done, since much of it may not happen, but there’s potentially clever stuff to try with automating the systems control, managing the freshwater, optimizing the solar and so on. I suspect that if any of it works out, I’ll have information to share later.
Anyway, long story short, the truck will be wrapped up sometime before Christmas, maybe with some special goodies for me, maybe not.
Unless something changes. :sombrero: