Eco-Roamer - F650 based Expedition Vehicle
- Thread starter jayshapiro
- Start date
We had Jay and his rig in our shop in Kent Washington for a couple of days a few months ago ( heater work ) .You have to see this thing in person to REALLY see how much work went in to it,It is HUGE !!.We have had several overland rigs in our shop and some of them would fit INSIDE of Jays.One hell of a nice guy and a a AWSOME rig !!!.
coreys88burban
Adventurer
WHAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT!! !@#$ !#%$ !%$@ !@%$:drool:
I live in Kent! grrr i woulda loved to see this. man this sucks. U still here??? lol very cool truck.
jayshapiro
Adventurer
Father forgive me...
Father forgive me, for it has been 4 months since my last posting on ExPo.
Hi Guys,
Sorry about the Looooooong delay since my last posting, it has been a crazy / wonderful / busy few months and almost all blogging / ExPo-time / Sleep have gone by the wayside.
We have now been "on the road" for almost 11 months. We've put another 20,000 miles on the truck, and have been having an amazing time. We have gone from:
The White Sands of New Mexico...
(alice not to scale)
...to Mardi Gras in New Orleans...
...to The Tetons in Wyoming...
...to the glaciers of Alaska...
...and in to the heart of The Yukon...
And at least 1/4 of the really cool places in between! (what can I say, it's a big continent)
(You can view all of our Trip Photos so far, here: www.ecoroamer.com/trip-photos)
The best part of the trip by far has been all of the incredibly friendly people we've met, many of whom have welcomed us into their homes: The Burtons, Monika & Gary, Doug & Stephanie, Don & Kim, Charlie, Jack, Christopher and Jess. We've met so many amazing overlanders who stop us by the side of the road, or in a campsite or gas station - and share advice & stories.
Recent "friends" include:
Rudi & Rita, in the Langer & Bock:
Axle & Elke, who spent 4yrs getting from Nova Scotia to Alaska (the REAL long way round)
We are currently in Edmonton, Alberta. (you can see our exact location on our SPOT tracking page here: www.ecoroamer.com/route)
..We've been "stuck" here for a few days waiting for a new fuel pump for the Espar Heater. But that is a whole other story that deserves a post of it's own. (Don't worry, it'll get one!)
I would say that the shakedown trip has shown that 95% of the EcoRoamer concept, design & execution have worked brilliantly.
It's the other 5% that have been a royal pain in the *****! (One by one we've been fixing / eliminating / cutting off / burning those other parts though...)
In short, the biggest pains / lessons so far have been:
1) The Espar Heater (don't get me started!)
2) The Plumbing (Really? You wanted that tank vented!?)
3) The suspension (They might weeble-wobble, but they won't fall down)
4) Time management (trying to balance working three jobs, home-schooling the kids, and driving/fixing your own Expedition Vehicle)
I will definitely aim to write individual posts about each of the lessons we've learned so far and answer most of your questions, over the coming days in this thread.
We are leaving today for Jasper, then Banff, Kamloops, Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco and at last into Baja. Then the great push SOUTH begins...
Thanks to all of you for your continued interest in the project.
Some current statistics:
Cheers!
Jay.
Father forgive me, for it has been 4 months since my last posting on ExPo.
Hi Guys,
Sorry about the Looooooong delay since my last posting, it has been a crazy / wonderful / busy few months and almost all blogging / ExPo-time / Sleep have gone by the wayside.
We have now been "on the road" for almost 11 months. We've put another 20,000 miles on the truck, and have been having an amazing time. We have gone from:
The White Sands of New Mexico...
(alice not to scale)
...to Mardi Gras in New Orleans...
...to The Tetons in Wyoming...
...to the glaciers of Alaska...
...and in to the heart of The Yukon...
And at least 1/4 of the really cool places in between! (what can I say, it's a big continent)
(You can view all of our Trip Photos so far, here: www.ecoroamer.com/trip-photos)
The best part of the trip by far has been all of the incredibly friendly people we've met, many of whom have welcomed us into their homes: The Burtons, Monika & Gary, Doug & Stephanie, Don & Kim, Charlie, Jack, Christopher and Jess. We've met so many amazing overlanders who stop us by the side of the road, or in a campsite or gas station - and share advice & stories.
Recent "friends" include:
Rudi & Rita, in the Langer & Bock:
Axle & Elke, who spent 4yrs getting from Nova Scotia to Alaska (the REAL long way round)
We are currently in Edmonton, Alberta. (you can see our exact location on our SPOT tracking page here: www.ecoroamer.com/route)
..We've been "stuck" here for a few days waiting for a new fuel pump for the Espar Heater. But that is a whole other story that deserves a post of it's own. (Don't worry, it'll get one!)
I would say that the shakedown trip has shown that 95% of the EcoRoamer concept, design & execution have worked brilliantly.
It's the other 5% that have been a royal pain in the *****! (One by one we've been fixing / eliminating / cutting off / burning those other parts though...)
In short, the biggest pains / lessons so far have been:
1) The Espar Heater (don't get me started!)
2) The Plumbing (Really? You wanted that tank vented!?)
3) The suspension (They might weeble-wobble, but they won't fall down)
4) Time management (trying to balance working three jobs, home-schooling the kids, and driving/fixing your own Expedition Vehicle)
I will definitely aim to write individual posts about each of the lessons we've learned so far and answer most of your questions, over the coming days in this thread.
We are leaving today for Jasper, then Banff, Kamloops, Vancouver, Portland, San Francisco and at last into Baja. Then the great push SOUTH begins...
Thanks to all of you for your continued interest in the project.
Some current statistics:
- Time on the road: 10.5 months
- Countries visited: 2
- Average Fuel mileage: 6-7 MPG
- % time we run on 100% veggie: 65%
- % time we ran on any Bio in Alaska: 0% (what the ____!?)
- Total miles on the truck: 40,000 miles
- Total 9-1-1 calls claiming we were terrorists coming to invade Prince George: 1
- CO2 we have "offset" through investments in Wind Power Generation: 55,000lbs
Cheers!
Jay.
boblynch
Adventurer
Jay, glad to hear all is well. We had similar "fun" on a much shorter shakedown run this summer. I know what you mean about plumbing vents, time management, suspension, and border crossings ("yes officer it really is a camper and no I don't work for the military..."). Along the way I've met the nicest people. I even met a guy in Wisconsin that thought I was you. When I told him my truck was an F550 not an F650 and in fact I was not Jay he seemed honestly disappointed. Dude your famous. Enjoy the run south. If you ever get east my porch light's always on.
jasonL_031
Adventurer
wow great pics, giving me very bad ideas on what to do with the power wagon lol
howell_jd
Adventurer
What a great "scale" picture! I too look forward to the next round of updates and as said by others you are welcome in Mississippi...we had a teenager knock down the back fence so you can park in the backyard to get a good view of the "forest." Ha ha.
Seriously, you and your family are welcome here anytime! My wife and her mother will crank out some "southern" Far-East Russian cuisine.
Jonathan
P.S. On second thought those 5m high power lines might be too low...I'll measure them again...ZZZap...with non-conductive tape.
Seriously, you and your family are welcome here anytime! My wife and her mother will crank out some "southern" Far-East Russian cuisine.
Jonathan
P.S. On second thought those 5m high power lines might be too low...I'll measure them again...ZZZap...with non-conductive tape.
Last edited:
Northern Explorer
Explorer
I enjoyed all of the pictures. We took the same train when we were in Skagway.
