Allysonoverland
Member
I’m back! After a whirlwind of a week - the van is sold! Woooo!
The van went to a lovely couple from Oregon. They flew in to SLC and picked it up Friday 4/11.
Side note: I set up of a Bank of America account online to simplify everything. I have always done my banking with a small Kansas credit union - so I had never experienced a fast or easy wire transfer process. This one took about 60 seconds. Transferring BoA to BoA was such a painless experience.
After the sale, I snagged a one-way rental car and started the drive back home (Oklahoma) on Friday night. Turns out my entire life actually fits into the back of a Nissan Rogue. I pitched a tent in southern Utah for the night, then kept on trekking.
I made a stop along the way in Grand Junction, CO to see my friend Lee at Labyrinth Overland. He assembles Bison Overland Campers + does super custom interior builds. One of the nicest guys I’ve met and outstanding customer service.
If you’re in the market for a project this summer, he had an empty slide in style shell sitting in the shop that he said he’d be willing to part with. I believe it was for a 6.5 ft bed.
One thing I noticed and loved - how he hand cuts a taper in the seat backs of his cushions for a more comfortable sit in the dinette / couch area. Will likely be doing this to mine now.
I slept in the front seat at a rest stop somewhere in Kansas late Saturday night and finally made it home Sunday morning!
________
As luck would have it, a nearly perfect F-450 pickup was recently listed for sale not too far from my house. It finally felt like the stars were aligning…
On Monday afternoon I stopped in and had a look - a 2017 F450 Platinum with only 52,000 miles. Listed for $65,500 by a small local dealership. Slightly under market price. Nice.
I say this truck was “nearly” perfect for a few reasons…
Reason #1 - I was originally hoping for a 2020+ for the 10 speed since I'm aiming to not do MPT 41" tires. But, as the camper build continues, parts and costs continue to increase. I built in a margin of error with my budget, but we have already used it.
To recalculate, I decided to give myself more wiggle room by cutting back on what I was spending on the truck. This meant compromising for slightly older OR a low trim. Due to the change in body style in 2017, 2017 was the oldest I was willing to go.
There's a lot of aftermarket mods you can do to dress up an XL/XLT. But my main restriction - I want collision avoidance / adaptive cruise control… It has saved my life more than once.
In 2021, a guy lost control of his sports car on the highway, crossed 3 lanes and wrapped himself around a pole right in front of me. Adaptive cruise hit the brakes for me and made sure I didn’t go with him…
Everyone has their opinions on tech but for as much as I drive, adaptive cruise is a must. It makes long trips and city driving less taxing. Just my personal opinion.
Reason #2 - it has a sun roof. The added weight is a waste of payload & will be useless with a cab over camper above me most of the time. Just another place for potential leaks…But that was not a deal breaker for me.
Reason #3 - When I arrived, I crawled under the truck to inspect it. I saw exactly what I was told to expect on a 2017 super duty - evidence of an upper oil pan leak. When I commented on it, I was promptly provided a receipt showing it had already been fixed. Apparently the mechanic just didn’t clean up after.
Since this truck came with zero warranties or guarantees, and I'm no mechanic (yet
) I booked a PPI at a different shop. I gave the mechanic this check list to fill out & added some 6.7L Ford specific questions on the back. They found a small coolant leak and a need for air/engine filter changes. Not bad for an 8 year old truck.
While I didn’t need/want a platinum specifically - the price was more than fair given the absolutely mint condition & mileage of the truck. I also ended up liking the interior "Brunello" leather more than expected. So we negotiated a bit. + I didn’t have to fly anywhere to get it, which was a win….Sooo I bought it!! 😍
______
Now what? The van is sold… I have the truck… and the builder in Montana has already started assembling the floor & water tanks in the camper shell. I guess this is for real now, huh???
This weekend is looking to be a bunch of truck mods. Top priority is removing some of the rear seats to build a platform for my dog + storage. Maybe even updating the front end to something a little more my style…
Will report back with details of that project very very soon thanks for following along.
The van went to a lovely couple from Oregon. They flew in to SLC and picked it up Friday 4/11.
Side note: I set up of a Bank of America account online to simplify everything. I have always done my banking with a small Kansas credit union - so I had never experienced a fast or easy wire transfer process. This one took about 60 seconds. Transferring BoA to BoA was such a painless experience.
After the sale, I snagged a one-way rental car and started the drive back home (Oklahoma) on Friday night. Turns out my entire life actually fits into the back of a Nissan Rogue. I pitched a tent in southern Utah for the night, then kept on trekking.
I made a stop along the way in Grand Junction, CO to see my friend Lee at Labyrinth Overland. He assembles Bison Overland Campers + does super custom interior builds. One of the nicest guys I’ve met and outstanding customer service.
If you’re in the market for a project this summer, he had an empty slide in style shell sitting in the shop that he said he’d be willing to part with. I believe it was for a 6.5 ft bed.
One thing I noticed and loved - how he hand cuts a taper in the seat backs of his cushions for a more comfortable sit in the dinette / couch area. Will likely be doing this to mine now.
I slept in the front seat at a rest stop somewhere in Kansas late Saturday night and finally made it home Sunday morning!
________
As luck would have it, a nearly perfect F-450 pickup was recently listed for sale not too far from my house. It finally felt like the stars were aligning…
On Monday afternoon I stopped in and had a look - a 2017 F450 Platinum with only 52,000 miles. Listed for $65,500 by a small local dealership. Slightly under market price. Nice.
I say this truck was “nearly” perfect for a few reasons…
Reason #1 - I was originally hoping for a 2020+ for the 10 speed since I'm aiming to not do MPT 41" tires. But, as the camper build continues, parts and costs continue to increase. I built in a margin of error with my budget, but we have already used it.
To recalculate, I decided to give myself more wiggle room by cutting back on what I was spending on the truck. This meant compromising for slightly older OR a low trim. Due to the change in body style in 2017, 2017 was the oldest I was willing to go.
There's a lot of aftermarket mods you can do to dress up an XL/XLT. But my main restriction - I want collision avoidance / adaptive cruise control… It has saved my life more than once.
In 2021, a guy lost control of his sports car on the highway, crossed 3 lanes and wrapped himself around a pole right in front of me. Adaptive cruise hit the brakes for me and made sure I didn’t go with him…
Everyone has their opinions on tech but for as much as I drive, adaptive cruise is a must. It makes long trips and city driving less taxing. Just my personal opinion.
Reason #2 - it has a sun roof. The added weight is a waste of payload & will be useless with a cab over camper above me most of the time. Just another place for potential leaks…But that was not a deal breaker for me.
Reason #3 - When I arrived, I crawled under the truck to inspect it. I saw exactly what I was told to expect on a 2017 super duty - evidence of an upper oil pan leak. When I commented on it, I was promptly provided a receipt showing it had already been fixed. Apparently the mechanic just didn’t clean up after.
Since this truck came with zero warranties or guarantees, and I'm no mechanic (yet
) I booked a PPI at a different shop. I gave the mechanic this check list to fill out & added some 6.7L Ford specific questions on the back. They found a small coolant leak and a need for air/engine filter changes. Not bad for an 8 year old truck.While I didn’t need/want a platinum specifically - the price was more than fair given the absolutely mint condition & mileage of the truck. I also ended up liking the interior "Brunello" leather more than expected. So we negotiated a bit. + I didn’t have to fly anywhere to get it, which was a win….Sooo I bought it!! 😍
______
Now what? The van is sold… I have the truck… and the builder in Montana has already started assembling the floor & water tanks in the camper shell. I guess this is for real now, huh???
This weekend is looking to be a bunch of truck mods. Top priority is removing some of the rear seats to build a platform for my dog + storage. Maybe even updating the front end to something a little more my style…
Will report back with details of that project very very soon
thanks for following along.
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