Earthroamer

[Msand]

I would love to see your spreadsheet. My goal is to live in my expedition vehicle, hopefully Earthroamer, and my boat.
Kind of surprised when you say it wasn’t cheap. What were your big expenditures?

Fuel, repairs, tires, had to fix quite a few of ER's ******k ups, and being a west coast surfer guy, I had to pay for campgrounds every so often, as every dang pull off or beach from Vancouver, BC to San Diego says "no camping" and the police love to wake you up at 2:00am.. I got the thousand trails west coast and PNW pass ($1200) could hook up at any of the campgrounds for 30 days at a time. It came out to about $1,200 a month. and thats fuel, tires, repairs, campsites, discover and national park pass, food, etc.

 

[taylor3633]

I would like to add something. While I don’t know why ER would say that ER35 was a salvage I understand their reasoning in upholding the value of their brand. I own a small business and work daily to uphold our reputation for excellence and work to build a brand that commands a premium price. I have always appreciated Earthroamers but now, being the owner of one I can see that their reputation for quality is well deserved. I have absolutely no bone to pick with ER and am thoroughly impressed with their product (especially 14yrs and 120k miles in).

 

[zip]

I would like to add something. While I don’t know why ER would say that ER35 was a salvage I understand their reasoning in upholding the value of their brand. I own a small business and work daily to uphold our reputation for excellence and work to build a brand that commands a premium price. I have always appreciated Earthroamers but now, being the owner of one I can see that their reputation for quality is well deserved. I have absolutely no bone to pick with ER and am thoroughly impressed with their product (especially 14yrs and 120k miles in).

I called ER right after your purchase and asked if they knew of any options to mounting a motorcycle lift to the rear of the vehicle. They did not recommend it because of the added weight out past the back axle, even with the earlier shorter models. They said they did know of owners that went with your traditional trailer hitch mounts. This would probably give me a 500 to 800 pound added weight on rear. I am just going to have to get a smaller bike, like a KLR 650. I thanked the person for their time, and said I hoped to own a ER someday. I also mentioned I will never be able to purchase the higher priced ones they have listed on their website, but hope to get the kinda deal you got from a private party purchase. The rep said they heard about that deal and it may have been the one with the salvage title. I replied, no i don't think so, and I thought that your ER was not the salvage title sale. Their response was, oh, ok. At no time did the ER rep ever say your vehicle was salvage title vehicle. Hopefully this clears that up. The end.

 

[taylor3633]

I called ER right after your purchase and asked if they knew of any options to mounting a motorcycle lift to the rear of the vehicle. They did not recommend it because of the added weight out past the back axle, even with the earlier shorter models. They said they did know of owners that went with your traditional trailer hitch mounts. This would probably give me a 500 to 800 pound added weight on rear. I am just going to have to get a smaller bike, like a KLR 650. I thanked the person for their time, and said I hoped to own a ER someday. I also mentioned I will never be able to purchase the higher priced ones they have listed on their website, but hope to get the kinda deal you got from a private party purchase. The rep said they heard about that deal and it may have been the one with the salvage title. I replied, no i don't think so, and I thought that your ER was not the salvage title sale. Their response was, oh, ok. At no time did the ER rep ever say your vehicle was salvage title vehicle. Hopefully this clears that up. The end.

Thanks for adding that Zip, I think it does clear things up.
What are you riding now?

 

[zip]

Fuel, repairs, tires, had to fix quite a few of ER's ******k ups, and being a west coast surfer guy, I had to pay for campgrounds every so often, as every dang pull off or beach from Vancouver, BC to San Diego says "no camping" and the police love to wake you up at 2:00am.. I got the thousand trails west coast and PNW pass ($1200) could hook up at any of the campgrounds for 30 days at a time. It came out to about $1,200 a month. and thats fuel, tires, repairs, campsites, discover and national park pass, food, etc.

I've been under the impression that the quality of the workmanship of an ER was very high. Can you please elaborate on issues you found? If you like, you can PM me.

 

[zip]

Thanks for adding that Zip, I think it does clear things up.
What are you riding now?

I ride a Kawasaki Concours 14. I just bought it to commute to and from work, 45 miles a day. I didn't need/want something this big, but I bid on it on e bay, and surprisingly, i won. It is a salvage title, and I have put about 65K miles on it with no issues.
My goal is to be homeless. Just an ER, bike, and my boat.
If i am able to swing an ER purchase, i need to get a deal, and would then need to get a lighter weight motorcycle to put on the bike. Most of my riding is on the freeway, so need to find a bike heavy enough that I don't get blown around.

Once again, glad you were able to get your deal, and what appears to be a well maintained vehicle.

 

[danneskjold]

I've been under the impression that the quality of the workmanship of an ER was very high. Can you please elaborate on issues you found? If you like, you can PM me.

In my experience, any vehicle that you’re living out of will get used much harder than normal. I’ve been fulltiming for two years now and the list of “unbreakable” stuff I’ve broken is pretty long - and that’s not even mentioning the increased maintenance required. I get oil changes done every single month.

I ran into a brand new Earthroamer last year in Deadhorse. At the time, he had a rear shock mount that broke on the Dempster Highway. When I ran into him again in Fairbanks he was getting his first oil change, and his second rear shock mount was now broken as well.
He started on the PanAm later on, and his first day into Costa Rica he broke his rear axle on pavement. Truck was purchased new from ER off their lot, and was less than 6 months old with 22k miles. A new axle had to be shipped in from Earthroamer, and after reading his experiences not sure I would want much to do with an ER that was going for ER prices ($60k is still a bargain!).

 

[zip]

In my experience, any vehicle that you’re living out of will get used much harder than normal. I’ve been fulltiming for two years now and the list of “unbreakable” stuff I’ve broken is pretty long - and that’s not even mentioning the increased maintenance required. I get oil changes done every single month.

I ran into a brand new Earthroamer last year in Deadhorse. At the time, he had a rear shock mount that broke on the Dempster Highway. When I ran into him again in Fairbanks he was getting his first oil change, and his second rear shock mount was now broken as well.
He started on the PanAm later on, and his first day into Costa Rica he broke his rear axle on pavement. Truck was purchased new from ER off their lot, and was less than 6 months old with 22k miles. A new axle had to be shipped in from Earthroamer, and after reading his experiences not sure I would want much to do with an ER that was going for ER prices ($60k is still a bargain!).

A broken axle? Holy cow! I wonder what the story was behind that?

 

[Msand]

I've been under the impression that the quality of the workmanship of an ER was very high. Can you please elaborate on issues you found? If you like, you can PM me.

I'll let everyone know incase they also are considering full timing. List below
-Electrical wiring needed replacing for the control panel
-Hinges and drawer slides needed replacing
-The previous owner had the windows replaced by ER, and they didn't tighten them all the way allowing water to get in causing damage (ER refused to acknowledge that they messed up)
-The fridge wiring was bad, and scrambled so it was replaced
-Bathroom sink rattled off the wall
-Batteries, heater, AC, inverter all needed replacing
-The camper body needed some gel repair, as it started cracking around the spare tire holder
-The rear axle shocks loved to blow out, and with a military tire in the sparetire holder with Hutch beadlocks there is just too much weight over the back

That was the expensive stuff- its also super stupid how they don't make the cab fully closed off from the camper body with a door. It is extremely inefficient to heat in cold climates, and the heater almost always stays on due to the cool draft that always comes from the cab. Its also not a very useable rig if you're really active- all storage is located inside which really stinks expecally for items you 100% want to store outside. Also no storage cabinet inside or out can fit a 100L north face bag.

 

[FCODEA]

I'll let everyone know incase they also are considering full timing. List below
-Electrical wiring needed replacing for the control panel
-Hinges and drawer slides needed replacing
-The previous owner had the windows replaced by ER, and they didn't tighten them all the way allowing water to get in causing damage (ER refused to acknowledge that they messed up)
-The fridge wiring was bad, and scrambled so it was replaced
-Bathroom sink rattled off the wall
-Batteries, heater, AC, inverter all needed replacing
-The camper body needed some gel repair, as it started cracking around the spare tire holder
-The rear axle shocks loved to blow out, and with a military tire in the sparetire holder with Hutch beadlocks there is just too much weight over the back

That was the expensive stuff- its also super stupid how they don't make the cab fully closed off from the camper body with a door. It is extremely inefficient to heat in cold climates, and the heater almost always stays on due to the cool draft that always comes from the cab. Its also not a very useable rig if you're really active- all storage is located inside which really stinks expecally for items you 100% want to store outside. Also no storage cabinet inside or out can fit a 100L north face bag.

Do you know what’s the weight of the ER? Do you think they are beyond 19,500 of the lot? I’ve seen another rear axle problem with ER 198 also, I’ve been looking for one but now I’m having second thoughts, I’ve heard nice things but also really bad ones, I thinks the older ones 2006-2007-2008 are more reliable Thant the new ones we were planing to get a 2017 but don’t want to buy problems more than the regular Rv-overlander.

 

[Msand]

Do you know what’s the weight of the ER? Do you think they are beyond 19,500 of the lot? I’ve seen another rear axle problem with ER 198 also, I’ve been looking for one but now I’m having second thoughts, I’ve heard nice things but also really bad ones, I thinks the older ones 2006-2007-2008 are more reliable Thant the new ones we were planing to get a 2017 but don’t want to buy problems more than the regular Rv-overlander.

I had all those issues with a 2007, I'm not sure how the new ones perform

 

[danneskjold]

Earlier ones had problems with broken frames too. I just think it’s too much weight.

 

[180out]

this is the wrap i did. nothing on the roof or between the cab and box at this time however i am thinking of doing the space between the cab and box soon as it is Much easier to clean and waxing is no fun. around $4500.

 

[mk216v]

this is the wrap i did. nothing on the roof or between the cab and box at this time however i am thinking of doing the space between the cab and box soon as it is Much easier to clean and waxing is no fun. around $4500.

Love that vista!

 

[Corgi_express]

this is the wrap i did. nothing on the roof or between the cab and box at this time however i am thinking of doing the space between the cab and box soon as it is Much easier to clean and waxing is no fun. around $4500.

That is an excellent, tasteful wrap - looks great! So much better than the super cringey bunch o' skulls I saw on the last ER wrap I looked at.