GOVE Global Overland Vehicle Economical build.

[5500 ram]

I been reading thru post,am very pleased to see the attension to detail an shared info,ty for passing on the knowledge

 

[java]

Any updates on this? How are the wheels and tires working out for you?

 

[heimbig]

We are getting ready to leave on our RTW, sometime in August. Tons of vehicle updates, just mostly boring ones. we created a blog: http://livingstonejournal.com/ and for travel updates you can follow https://www.facebook.com/LivingstoneJournal/ once we are on our way I'll likely add a blog for the more geeky technical aspects in expedition portal "In progress adventures." http://forum.expeditionportal.com/forums/61-In-Progress-Adventures

 

[heimbig]

I can say the new tire/wheel solution is MUCH better than Rickson. The weight of the front wheels is a bit of a concern (~230 lbs) so I'm planning to add hydraulic piston based steering and a more heavy duty pump.

 

[Darwin]

what exactly is new wheel and tire set up? Do they allow for airing down? I found being able to do that the biggest advantage to baja backroad driving.

 

[heimbig]

New setup is custom made (from Les Schwab) welded Steel wheels with 295/60 R 22.5 Michelin X multiway XD. this is not a tire that can be aired down, lots of discussion earlier in the tread about tires and loads and why I went with low profile simi-truck tires.

 

[heimbig]

Well, we've been on the road since December of 2017 spending 5.5 months in Mexico, returned to the USA for a month and made some updates and got rid of stuff that didn't work well in Mexico. here is a list:

1. Left the inflatable kayaks at home. Mexico was the ideal place to use them and we hardly did so we concluded not worth the it.
2. Our Awesome but heavy, sail canvas tarp really blocks the UV and solar heat - an awesome shade BUT heavy and awkward, and time consuming to set up. We left it at home and purchased Kelty noah's tarp 16' x 16' much faster setup, smaller storage, and much lighter though not as good at blocking the heat.
3. We thought a canopy would give us flexibility - we could set it up wherever we want, with solid sides and mosquito net (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C2OKYGC) BUT it was VERY bulky, heavy and took 2 people to setup. We got rid of it and bought a 12' x 12' Kelty Noah screen with mosquito netting sides. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B077V1M41N/ very fast to set up, very light, one person can easily set it up.
4. We got rid of our standard 'camp' chairs, they were bulky and relatively heavy. there are lots of better options. we went with 2- NEMO Stargaze Recliner Chair (from REI) and a helinox camp chair https://www.helinox.com.au/lightweight-camping-chairs/camp-chair the 3 chairs and a small collapsing table from REI was LESS space and weight than 2 standard camp chairs- (but a LOT more expensive.)
5. We replaced Rockslide Engineering rockslider steps (very heavy and problem prone) with much lighter and more reliable AMP research http://www.amp-research.com/ powerstep truck steps

Note the 2 new tarps can be set up one over the other, with the addition of long poles which I bought (2 Cabela's #IK-512285 Adjustable-Height Tent Poles - 9' max) with the 16x16 tarp on top to provide better rain protection (a 2' wide 'dry' perimeter) and better UV and heat penetration protection - 2 layers with a big gap to allow air flow.

After our 1 month at home in the USA we drove across Canada and the USA to Nova Scotia Canada where we shipped to Liverpool England. We are currently in Italy, you can follow the rest of our travels at https://www.facebook.com/livingstonejournal/ all posts are public so you don't need to be a Facebook member to see it.

 

[heimbig]

While in Switzerland a fellow Overlander (Saurer 2dm 1968 Expeditionmobile build), who lives near our camp stopped by and we talked for a long time. His build was at his home so the next morning we stopped by and took some pictures.