Expedition vehicle - how did you decided on yours

[Iain_U1250]

In line with Haven's thread about the right size vehicle, it got me thinking of why people have made certain choices in a particular vehicle, and how did they come to their decision.

My original goal when I started looking into 4wd etc was to build up a vehicle that could do the "Canning Stock Route" - a 2000km of remote area travel across Western Australia. http://www.exploroz.com/TrekNotes/WDeserts/Canning_Stock_Route.aspx and be able to go on a three month tour around Australia as well. I had a Land Rover Discovery and was building it up to be able to complete that trip. My wife and I did a few shorter trips camping with the RTT etc. In short, we loved the camping trip but realised that it stopped being fun after a while - it was just too primitive for our liking.

I decided that a 4wd truck was the way to go, and we looked at the usual Canter/Fuso and I did loads to research - went to a number of 4wd and motorhome exibitions, read hundreds of websites and trip reports, various forums and books and came to the conclusion that if I wanted something that would do the remote area travel for months on end and survive the bad roads, washouts etc and carry a decent load and have a large camper on the back as well, a road based truck with add on 4wd would just not do what I want it to do. The dream of travelling around the world also started to form, and we loved the "Long way round" series and though that would be a great trip to do. That made our requirements even more stringent and we needed something simple, reliable and had true 4wd ability to be able to do the "Road of Bones" and various tracks across Mongolia etc.

I had driven the 404 and 416 Unimogs in the SADF, and the Australian army was supposed to be selling off their fleet of Unimogs, I decided that would be the way to go - get the toughest off-road truck possible, and then "civilise it" as much as possible.

I bought my U1250 without telling my wife - let's just say she was more than a bit surprised when a rusty road-rail Unimog complete with crane and cherry picker got dropped off at our house one day.

The rest in on my build thread - Unimog U1250

 

[charlieaarons]

I had a thoroughly "built" 88 F350 crewcab with 4 fuel tanks, 2 hydraulic winches etc etc and 4WC popup camper. But my wife was driving it down to the Kenai Peninsula and took a detour off the road in the ditch (~6' deep) avoiding a yahoo who just randomly decided to stop in the middle of a busy very narrow 2 lane highway with no shoulders and lots of curves. The frame was bent, it was totaled.
She said later "I want a motorhome"
I saw a U500 demo driving down the road that belonged to the local dealer. I had known about Unicat for a long time. So that's how we ended up with our "motorhome". I knew that the U500 was one of the only "world serviceable" vehicles of its' size sold in the US, and had always liked Unimogs.
I of course started out with a 40 series Landcruiser for 20 years; what else?


Charlie

 

[Ozrockrat]

Start small and keep buying bigger until you get what you want. Buy high, sell low and spend a bucket load on "enhancements" while you have it.

Now that is what I seem to have done but The bank manager doesn't seem to agree with my approach.

Problem is until you live with something you don't know if it fits.

 

[1leglance]

I had an FJ Cruiser, loved it myself but the backseat was no good for the kids, hey even the dog didn't like it back there. Plus not enough GVW.

Moved up to a Sportsmobile based on a Ford E350 van. Killer platform until I took it through too deep a water crossing toasted the motor/interior.

Now I have a 75 series Troopie and have found a nice mix of interior size vs off road ability. But the manual trans is not cool on my prosthetic leg.

I think over time as the kids grow older and it is back to just the wife & I then I will be looking at other options but for now I need something that works well for 4 people and our gear.

Oh and as to how I choose....life just seems to happen to me, I don't do alot of planning, too impulsive for that

 

[westyss]

some great topics on these great threads, I havent seen any mention of "what is available for purchase" yet, so there you go, not really much to choose from in NA.
If able to I might have gone with a 4x4 sprinter, or another 4x van that is larger than a westy. like a bremech or type like it that isnt available in NA.

Something that isnt going to require my full attention to keep it going, Im travelling not wrenching!

Planning on carrying way more than you think is a real good idea, cause we all know that you're gonna carry way more than you need, then you'll buy more stuff while on the way and take that extra thing just in case, a little more fuel, water, and an extra tire.......or just ignore the GVW all together. So an idea of how much stuff is going with you.

Fuel economy!! Big one for me! What vehicle can take what I want to take, have a bit of wiggle room when I load it up, and return a decent fuel mileage, fuel is only going up in price not down.
Something to help the last consideration,, a unit that isnt going to produce major drag, keeping the height down to reasonable dimensions ( hard to do and expensive!)

Purchase price,, was big on my list.

What is the smallest camper set up (live inside) can I reasonably live in for months at a time for whoever is involved (Including dogs) ?

How many compromises am I willing to take?

hows that for a start?

 

[Hilldweller]

When we got married, the wife and I traveled a lot, almost excusively by motorcylce. We did Iron Butt rides and went to many many rallies, national parks, visited relatives all over the world.

Arthritis and a few heart attacks made it dangerous for me to ride and, on the advice/warning of a few doctors, the bikes vanished and a Jeep appeared.
Then came a Conqueror trailer.
Jessi D Wundermutt joined the family around this time also.

Offroading and camping was a way for us to get out and enjoy life at a slower pace.

Despite my love for the Jeep and Conqueror, my arthritis was hating the trailer's set-up; so we had a teardrop built. And despite the offroad capabilities of the Jeep, it made a miserable tow-pig for the teardrop.
So a Power Wagon was adopted.

Now we're happy campers... ...just wish the PW was a little smaller...

 

[NothingClever]

Arthritis and a few heart attacks made it dangerous for me to ride and, on the advice/warning of a few doctors, the bikes vanished and a Jeep appeared.

The Jewish Bruiser from Georgia had a heart attack?! A FEW ?!!?

I would never have guessed.

My cholestorol recently decided to start going north despite a stellar diet and exercise program. Since you've had a few heart attacks and you're still kicking ***, can I come up from Florida and get some spare Hilldweller genes in the event my cholestorol decides to start taking up residence in my arteries?

 

[NothingClever]

BTW, the ARNBUT plate is classic :victory: .

 

[Photomike]

You have a picture of my next unit - not the Jeep :Wow1::Wow1::Wow1::Wow1:

I have loved the buses for years and every time I am around one I imagine how cool it would be for a motor home build!

 

[rblackwell]

how did we decide ...

Started camping in NSW Aust with our 2 kids in a 4 cylinder 4x4 4 door Mitsubishu ute and loved it, graduated to a Defender 110 and Cape York.

Moved to the USA, near Seattle, and realized tents and utes/pickups did not cut in in the NW of the USA and Alaska. Tried a typical motorhome, got seriously into jeeping.

Decided on a Provan Tiger and drove it top to bottom of North and South America.

For a long road trip (100,000 km and nearly 2 years) through all weather decided we MUST be to able to live inside the vehicle. Never regretted that decision. I cannot imagine -30°C in a car top camper or similar.

For the next trip U500 and custom camper box - must be able to live inside it, and wanted a Mercedes truck underneath me. Only real choice of relatively modern 4x4 Mercedes truck in the US seemed to be U500.

Rob

 

[goodtimes]

It's a [not always] simple matter of extrapolating your near-future needs/desires from previous trends, and finding a vehicle that fits those future needs.

In my case, I had a well equipped Jeep Wrangler that had served me quite well in the past, but was no longer capable of doing what I wanted. I was spending less time on technically difficult trails, was staying in one spot longer, taking more gear (adding a girlfriend to the equation tends to do that), and wanted more "comfort" items (which encouraged said girlfriend to go along).

I rarely found myself putting the jeep in 4wd, let alone into low range & the lockers were simply not being used. I didn't even bother disconnecting the sway bar anymore - so it was obvious that the capability of the Jeep was well beyond what I need in the current and near future. Living out of a Wrangler for weeks at a time was OK with one person, not OK with two - and there was no way to take the dogs (1@ 50lbs, the other @ 70lbs), short of pulling a trailer. Since the Jeep had trouble getting out of it's own way as it was - adding a trailer wouldn't be ideal. I also wanted to start bringing motorcycles along (set up base camp, then explore from there via motorcycle) - which would require a trailer.

In short - the Jeep wasn't the right vehicle for my current and near-future needs.

In selecting a new vehicle, there were a few important qualifications. It had to support a vehicle based camper, be able to tow a motorcycle trailer without struggling too much at higher altitudes with steep mountain passes, it had to fit in a 20' deep garage with an 8' tall door, & it had to get decent fuel economy.

What the vehicle did NOT have to do: support extended (multi-month) travel into the great unknown. While I certainly dream about round the world trips - they are just that; dreams. The 3 - 4 week trips that are in the works for the next 5 - 10 years are going to revolve around flying in, renting vehicles, and exploring out of those. For better or worse, longer trips simply do not fit into my lifestyle, so it doesn't make sense (to me) to build a vehicle for RTW trips if I'm not actually going to use it for that.

When we considered what we needed, and what we did not need - it was a simple decision. A full size 3/4 ton pickup with a diesel engine and a slide in truck camper fit the bill. We ended up with a Dodge based on my previous experience with them, and a Four Wheel Camper because of recommendations from friends, and that we found an older (1991) camper that needed a complete rebuild (I like projects like that - and we saved a couple thousand $$$ in the process).

Is it the "ultimate overland vehicle"? Nope. Not even close.

Does it fit my needs considering the type of trips that I currently take, and expect to take in the next 5 - 10 years? Absolutely.

Including the purchase of the truck, the modifications to the truck (which are limited), the purchase and rebuild of the camper, I'm into the whole mess for a little under $15K. Not bad considering I've probably got another 10 - 15 years of life left in the truck & the camper should last that long as well.

 

[Hilldweller]

The Jewish Bruiser from Georgia had a heart attack?! A FEW ?!!?

I would never have guessed.

My cholestorol recently decided to start going north despite a stellar diet and exercise program. Since you've had a few heart attacks and you're still kicking ***, can I come up from Florida and get some spare Hilldweller genes in the event my cholestorol decides to start taking up residence in my arteries?

The doctors also didn't guess and told me I was having anxiety attacks. I got to the hospital during one of these and found out just how wrong the experts can be. Massive "widow-maker" MI was happening at the time. And I had had several of them prior.
My years of weight lifting gave me the ability to survive it all though. And fool the stress tests, etc.
All in all, it was kinda fun to see the look on the cardiologists faces during the cath; they kept muttering, "remarkable..."

My cholesterol was usually under 130 but had jumped up to 160 during the period I was having MIs. On the day of the big one my total cholesterol measured 200.
Today it's back down around 115.
In other words, total cholesterol is a pretty worthless benchmark.

BTW, the ARNBUT plate is classic :victory: .

Yeah, I was "Arn Butt Bill" for 20 years.
My wife and I had almost 300,000 miles in the saddle together and I had at least another 200,000 miles on my own.
I miss the bikes pretty bad sometimes. Much more Zen than cars or trucks.

 

[NothingClever]

BTW, to answer the OP's question....

1) Engine & drivetrain reliability with a low number of TSBs
2) Stock configuration capability
3) Parts (OEM & aftermarket) availability
4) Overall simplicity & durability

 

[Iain_U1250]

Looking at at various threads and websites, it seems that most people tend to go through one or two stages of deciding on their truck - nearly always going a little bit bigger each time. Not many people seem to "downsize" their truck.

 

[charlieaarons]

The formative moment with us was when we were tent camping with our F350 near Denali Park on a cold drizzly day in about 1990. We met some French people in a Series Landrover who were travelling around the world camping INSIDE with 1 or 2 little kids.
That was the epiphany moment for us.
By comparison the change from F350/popup to U500/Unicat was simple/easy (just expensive, but by then I had the money). And in comparison with the HD Unimogs like U2450L/38 (always unobtainium in the US), the U500 is a thoroughly modern semi-luxurious truck.


Charlie