Poor Man's Earthroamer? Xpedition?

[Gifu]

Has anyone ever seen one of these Xplorer (edited, I meant) Xcursion in person? They seem like they'd be a poor-man's EarthRoamer. Built on a Dodge 3500 or a Ford F-something chassis, they can be had with the diesel (cummins or ford) engine, 4WD (and now a 6WD dual rear axle option), they are an aluminum framed fiberglass covered camper. Not nearly the beauty and ruggedness of an ER... but pretty tempting nonetheless. Been looking at upgrading from my Dodge Cummins/Four Wheel Pop Up and this might be the ticket.

Anyone ever seen one?

http://www.xplorermotorhome.com/index.html

 

[Gifu]

Oops, i meant Xplorer Xcursion.

 

[Overland Hadley]

How do the prices and specs compare to a Tiger?

 

[foxhunter]

I looked into them before I had my GXV built. I believe the company went under around 2008. I could only find used ones sporadically on the internet. They seemed similar to the tiger.but I never got to see one in person.

 

[Gifu]

Company was sold in 2005? But I believe they are back up and running. These sold new for around 100k. I've seena couple posts are RV forums from satisfied owners who said fit and finish was quite good (compared to other RVs I guess?). Was the Tiger ever built on a Dodge platform? I'm a big Cummins fan and never considered buying a class c RV (well I'd get an earth Roamer but it's out of my price range) until I saw one built with a 4WD cummins chassis. I'd i can find a 6-speed I'll buy it.

 

[Cascadian]

There have been some Dodge Tigers. Was an ad for one here around Thanksgiving last year. If it was a crew cab, it might have been mine!

 

[TomH]

Not Even Close

to comparable to an EarthRoamer. Look how much overhangs the rear axle and how low it is. The angle of departure on that thing is very low. The 4x4 and 6x6 on those things is for paved roads with icy conditions. There's no way I'd take that thing off road. You'd be banging the bottom with every pothole and bump you encountered.

 

[Gifu]

There's one model with strangely little amount of overhang.
There's also a build on... Pirate? Or Mud? Where a vendor (one of the gear/axle resellers) put one on 42's.
I'm not saying it would be as tough as an ER. But it's less than half the cost new. And with a cummins 6BT, Dana 60 front, Dana 80 rear, and nv5600... It's a good start.

 

[java]

There's one model with strangely little amount of overhang.
There's also a build on... Pirate? Or Mud? Where a vendor (one of the gear/axle resellers) put one on 42's.
I'm not saying it would be as tough as an ER. But it's less than half the cost new. And with a cummins 6BT, Dana 60 front, Dana 80 rear, and nv5600... It's a good start.

Nitro Gear, its on here too. Don't think it was one of the Xwhatever RV's though.

 

[TCcruzn]

For an earthroamer on the cheap consider a Lance 830 on a F350. Same floor plan, same engine ,1/2 price

 

[DiploStrat]

These folks used one: http://www.nextmillionmiles.com/rig.htm

 

[rblackwell]

These folks used one: http://www.nextmillionmiles.com/rig.htm

If you read his "wish list" - single rear wheels and high capacity air compressor you are on the way to an earthroamer or a GXV on a Ford.

Unfortunately ER (and GXV Ford) do not have locking diffs


By the way GXV will build on a dodge platform.

 

[Letsgomoreplaces]

Nitro Gear F450 4x4 RV Motorhome on Continental MPT81 335/80r20 41" tires

The Nitro Gear 4x4 F450 RV

It's not an Earthroamer, and never was intended to be. Its an RV that is much more usable than a standard RV. Can tow another vehicle, comfortably fit a family of 4 for several weeks, parks very easily, easier to drive than most crewcab pickups (claims my 5'2" wife) can be driven in nearly any on-road conditions, and light offroad conditions with ease. Could go more places than I will take it due to its size, departure angle and all of the ammenities. I still do take it LOTS of places and is not your RV park winnebago.

-Started out as a 2004 Xplorer Xcursion RV / Motorhome 6.0L powerstroke F450 4wd chassis, leaf front Dana 60, Dana S110 Rear axle. Features queen rear bedroom, queen cabover bed, Slideout with kitchenette, 3 Diesel tanks, Propane 5k onan generator, TV, Stove, fridge, dual 6v battery setup, 100 gal freshwater,


-Suspension: 2005+ coil sprung F550 Frontend "fatboy" Dana Super 60 swapped in for better ride, wider track, tighter turning radius. Stock coils w/ 2" spacer and airbags. 12k lb rear OE leaf packs with assist airbags custom solid 1" block bolted into leaf pack. Radflo 2.5" remote reservoir Shocks custom built and valved. Icon Armored truck spec panhard rod
-Steering: 05+ F350 Steering box with F550 pitman arm, PSC 10" Hydraulic assist Ram
-Nitro Gear 5.38 Ring & Pinions, Nitro Xtreme diff cover, Eaton E-locker front and Truetrac Rear, rear hubs swapped to 10 lug to match front
-Bushwacker Cutout flares, ASFIR Modular bumper, Milemarker 15K winch, Masterpull synthetic line, Factor 55 Pro Link
-Buckstop 20x11" heavy duty single wheels with Continental MPT81 335/80r20 (41") Miltary Tires
-2007 Grille, headlight update (mirrors soon)
-Bulletproof/Sinister upgrades to 6.0L, EGR, New headgaskets, Headstuds, coolant filter system, banks intercooler, SCT programming, Edge gauges, Oddessey batteries



https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508089502563145.105666.178075115564587&type=3

 

[Gifu]

I ended up buying one! Just got back from a 5000 mile journey home... (I wandered a lot).

I found a 2001 Dodge Xplorer Xcursion 6BT. It's the shorter one, 21' So no rear bedroom. But perfect for two people. These Xplorers are rare as hens teeth. The owner I bought it from (original owner) estimated they had built maybe a dozen 21ers. Maybe 20 of the longer 25ers. The fit and finish is far superior to any Class C out there... minus the EarthRoamer. The ER is superior but way way way more expensive. I plan to do 3" lift, 6-speed conversion, bumpers, and a similar tire/wheel to the Nitro Gear rig.

 

[Raul B]

The Nitro Gear 4x4 F450 RV

It's not an Earthroamer, and never was intended to be. Its an RV that is much more usable than a standard RV. Can tow another vehicle, comfortably fit a family of 4 for several weeks, parks very easily, easier to drive than most crewcab pickups (claims my 5'2" wife) can be driven in nearly any on-road conditions, and light offroad conditions with ease. Could go more places than I will take it due to its size, departure angle and all of the ammenities. I still do take it LOTS of places and is not your RV park winnebago.

-Started out as a 2004 Xplorer Xcursion RV / Motorhome 6.0L powerstroke F450 4wd chassis, leaf front Dana 60, Dana S110 Rear axle. Features queen rear bedroom, queen cabover bed, Slideout with kitchenette, 3 Diesel tanks, Propane 5k onan generator, TV, Stove, fridge, dual 6v battery setup, 100 gal freshwater,


-Suspension: 2005+ coil sprung F550 Frontend "fatboy" Dana Super 60 swapped in for better ride, wider track, tighter turning radius. Stock coils w/ 2" spacer and airbags. 12k lb rear OE leaf packs with assist airbags custom solid 1" block bolted into leaf pack. Radflo 2.5" remote reservoir Shocks custom built and valved. Icon Armored truck spec panhard rod
-Steering: 05+ F350 Steering box with F550 pitman arm, PSC 10" Hydraulic assist Ram
-Nitro Gear 5.38 Ring & Pinions, Nitro Xtreme diff cover, Eaton E-locker front and Truetrac Rear, rear hubs swapped to 10 lug to match front
-Bushwacker Cutout flares, ASFIR Modular bumper, Milemarker 15K winch, Masterpull synthetic line, Factor 55 Pro Link
-Buckstop 20x11" heavy duty single wheels with Continental MPT81 335/80r20 (41") Miltary Tires
-2007 Grille, headlight update (mirrors soon)
-Bulletproof/Sinister upgrades to 6.0L, EGR, New headgaskets, Headstuds, coolant filter system, banks intercooler, SCT programming, Edge gauges, Oddessey batteries



https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508089502563145.105666.178075115564587&type=3

wow this is exactly what i have been telling my wife i want to do. find a f series motorhome and convert it into this.