I am retiring to my home in central Colorado in a year or two and wish to get into my "retirement vehicle" and I'd like to get peoples thoughts. Especially for those experienced with overlanding the Western US and off-roading the Colorado mountains. I currently own a Tesla Model Y performance seeing as I live in flat Alabama at the moment. I came from a 2016 Power Wagon on 35's.
My use case:
1. I want the vehicle to be able to drive thousands of miles on highway to visit family, and do it comfortably and not wander all over the road requiring a million tiny steering inputs to keep the vehicle in the lane during the trip.
2. I want to be able to overland/off-road 95% of trails in the Western US/Colorado especially. Some mild rock crawling.
3. It's me and two German Shepherds, so I need quite a bit of room to sleep inside the vehicle. I will occasionally stop at pet-friendly hotels for a bed and shower etc. Roof/ground tents are out of the question.
4. I want the vehicle to be relatively stealth/stock looking from the outside. If I stop somewhere, I don't want people to be like "ohh look at that guy sleeping in there". Windows will be tinted fairly dark.
5. Only exterior items will be on a swing out hitch on the back. E-bike, dog trailer, maybe some Max Trax/shovel/Hi-lift etc. I haven't looked to far into how creative hitch mounted setups have gotten lately.
6. Big one: range. I usually stop every 2-3 hours on a road trip. But I also would like enough range to go on remote trails, be able to camp and return even in cold weather to gas station or EV charger.
7. I want to be able to run into a store or similar and have my GSD's have air-conditioning if it's warm outside.
8. I need heating/cooling to handle most climates for camping without an engine running.
9. I need a small fridge/freezer, Microwave and inverter power to charge laptop/phone that can all work without the engine running.
10. I will be removing the rear seats for the build and possibly even removing the front passenger seat and center console to make room for more gear/be easier to move around inside.
11. I want to be able to wake up from camping inside and just drive away in bad weather without going outside.
12. I'd say 80% of trips will be 7 days or less in the CO/NM/AZ/UT/ID/MT/WY footprint. 10% will be long distance trips to visit family in Florida Etc in which I stay in their home. The last 10% would be longer trips to WA/OR/CA, 2-3 weeks and every three years or so a summer up in Alaska.
13. External recovery option outside of Max Trax. A winch required.
14. Max budget is around $130K for the build.
We'll start with a possible order on a 2023 F250 Diesel Tremor and some random thoughts/questions:
1. Being full-size width and 250" long, just how limited would I be on off-road trails? Mind you my Power Wagon was pin-striped to hell. I don't mind branches etc scraping up the truck, even if it cost $90K. Any thoughts on Colorado mountain trails/switch-backs in a Tremor? Is having a rear locker with "just" limited slip in the front, with the diesel weight going to restrict me considerably, even on 37/39's? I am also willing to spend the $$$ on Carli suspension upgrades. I also don't need that 3K+lb F350 rear spring pack on the F250 diesel Tremor and can modify it.
2. I know people love their God-Zillas, but I am only considering the Diesel. I know it's 700lbs heavier in the front. But I don't want a naturally aspirated gas engine while at 8-12K feet going up and down mountains. I want that low end torque. I may also tow a large travel trailer in the future. I also want to be able to cruise along at 90 MPH and get almost 20MPH with a 34gal diesel tank. That range for extended off-road/overland too.
3. How am I going to sleep in a F250 Tremor? I would buy a mid-height bed cap, permanently secure it. I would insulate the bed, insulate the cap, remove the trucks rear window, remove the trucks rear seats, cut matching large openings between the truck cab and the bed and cap. I would use a thick rubber accordion bellows to seal it up. Basically turning the Tremor into one huge SUV. Yes I know some may think I am crazy to cut into a new expensive truck, but that's the kind of stuff I do. I will have this vehicle for 15-20 years so not really concerned about resale value. Anyone think off-roading with the Tremor would frame twist the bed relative to the cab enough to bust a 4" accordion bellows?
4. Inside I would install 4.8kWh of Battleborn heated lithium, with appropriate inverter/charger for connection with starter battery, alternator and solar panels on top of bed cap.
5. I'd put 400-600 watts of "lay flat" flexible solar on top of the cap. Stuff that wouldn't catch on branches. May add a small deflection rail on either side of top of truck. (no roof racks)
6. Some heating could come from the battery system, but I'd probably have a backup diesel heater tapped into the diesel tank for cabin heating.
7. I'd install a 12v air conditioning system in the bed cap area. Like the ones truckers use, I know quite costly. I have a cell phone based sensor that sends a alarms to my phone when temps go out of my set range.
8. I would make a platform/storage system to utilize the freed up space where the rear/passenger seats were. Storage for a slide-out dog ramp, clothes, dry food storage, travel toilet, garbage, skis, water tank, etc.
9. Won't be able to fit into my garage. The truck would be exposed constantly to the outside elements. May consider a car port of some kind to at least keep the damaging sun off it.
10. Reliance on fluctuating diesel fuel prices/global uncertainty.
11. In a SHTF scenario, I'd have to expose myself to acquire more diesel.
12. Can carry extra diesel/energy on vehicle if needed.
Common items for any vehicle build I do:
1. Fridge/freezer. If you want both, are there combo units that do both now? Or is it better to get one of each? Obviously space considerations play a huge role in model selection.
2. Just a small one burner stove. Haven't given much thought to diesel vs propane vs induction.
3. Travel toilet, clothes storage, water tank, food storage, garbage, recovery gear, boot storage.
My use case:
1. I want the vehicle to be able to drive thousands of miles on highway to visit family, and do it comfortably and not wander all over the road requiring a million tiny steering inputs to keep the vehicle in the lane during the trip.
2. I want to be able to overland/off-road 95% of trails in the Western US/Colorado especially. Some mild rock crawling.
3. It's me and two German Shepherds, so I need quite a bit of room to sleep inside the vehicle. I will occasionally stop at pet-friendly hotels for a bed and shower etc. Roof/ground tents are out of the question.
4. I want the vehicle to be relatively stealth/stock looking from the outside. If I stop somewhere, I don't want people to be like "ohh look at that guy sleeping in there". Windows will be tinted fairly dark.
5. Only exterior items will be on a swing out hitch on the back. E-bike, dog trailer, maybe some Max Trax/shovel/Hi-lift etc. I haven't looked to far into how creative hitch mounted setups have gotten lately.
6. Big one: range. I usually stop every 2-3 hours on a road trip. But I also would like enough range to go on remote trails, be able to camp and return even in cold weather to gas station or EV charger.
7. I want to be able to run into a store or similar and have my GSD's have air-conditioning if it's warm outside.
8. I need heating/cooling to handle most climates for camping without an engine running.
9. I need a small fridge/freezer, Microwave and inverter power to charge laptop/phone that can all work without the engine running.
10. I will be removing the rear seats for the build and possibly even removing the front passenger seat and center console to make room for more gear/be easier to move around inside.
11. I want to be able to wake up from camping inside and just drive away in bad weather without going outside.
12. I'd say 80% of trips will be 7 days or less in the CO/NM/AZ/UT/ID/MT/WY footprint. 10% will be long distance trips to visit family in Florida Etc in which I stay in their home. The last 10% would be longer trips to WA/OR/CA, 2-3 weeks and every three years or so a summer up in Alaska.
13. External recovery option outside of Max Trax. A winch required.
14. Max budget is around $130K for the build.
We'll start with a possible order on a 2023 F250 Diesel Tremor and some random thoughts/questions:
1. Being full-size width and 250" long, just how limited would I be on off-road trails? Mind you my Power Wagon was pin-striped to hell. I don't mind branches etc scraping up the truck, even if it cost $90K. Any thoughts on Colorado mountain trails/switch-backs in a Tremor? Is having a rear locker with "just" limited slip in the front, with the diesel weight going to restrict me considerably, even on 37/39's? I am also willing to spend the $$$ on Carli suspension upgrades. I also don't need that 3K+lb F350 rear spring pack on the F250 diesel Tremor and can modify it.
2. I know people love their God-Zillas, but I am only considering the Diesel. I know it's 700lbs heavier in the front. But I don't want a naturally aspirated gas engine while at 8-12K feet going up and down mountains. I want that low end torque. I may also tow a large travel trailer in the future. I also want to be able to cruise along at 90 MPH and get almost 20MPH with a 34gal diesel tank. That range for extended off-road/overland too.
3. How am I going to sleep in a F250 Tremor? I would buy a mid-height bed cap, permanently secure it. I would insulate the bed, insulate the cap, remove the trucks rear window, remove the trucks rear seats, cut matching large openings between the truck cab and the bed and cap. I would use a thick rubber accordion bellows to seal it up. Basically turning the Tremor into one huge SUV. Yes I know some may think I am crazy to cut into a new expensive truck, but that's the kind of stuff I do. I will have this vehicle for 15-20 years so not really concerned about resale value. Anyone think off-roading with the Tremor would frame twist the bed relative to the cab enough to bust a 4" accordion bellows?
4. Inside I would install 4.8kWh of Battleborn heated lithium, with appropriate inverter/charger for connection with starter battery, alternator and solar panels on top of bed cap.
5. I'd put 400-600 watts of "lay flat" flexible solar on top of the cap. Stuff that wouldn't catch on branches. May add a small deflection rail on either side of top of truck. (no roof racks)
6. Some heating could come from the battery system, but I'd probably have a backup diesel heater tapped into the diesel tank for cabin heating.
7. I'd install a 12v air conditioning system in the bed cap area. Like the ones truckers use, I know quite costly. I have a cell phone based sensor that sends a alarms to my phone when temps go out of my set range.
8. I would make a platform/storage system to utilize the freed up space where the rear/passenger seats were. Storage for a slide-out dog ramp, clothes, dry food storage, travel toilet, garbage, skis, water tank, etc.
9. Won't be able to fit into my garage. The truck would be exposed constantly to the outside elements. May consider a car port of some kind to at least keep the damaging sun off it.
10. Reliance on fluctuating diesel fuel prices/global uncertainty.
11. In a SHTF scenario, I'd have to expose myself to acquire more diesel.
12. Can carry extra diesel/energy on vehicle if needed.
Common items for any vehicle build I do:
1. Fridge/freezer. If you want both, are there combo units that do both now? Or is it better to get one of each? Obviously space considerations play a huge role in model selection.
2. Just a small one burner stove. Haven't given much thought to diesel vs propane vs induction.
3. Travel toilet, clothes storage, water tank, food storage, garbage, recovery gear, boot storage.
