I know there's much ado about liquid springs and their hydraulic system but I'd be curious to see how similar of a system it is compared to what Lexus has in the LX570 which is also a hydraulic system that they call AHC. From what I've seen it's a pretty robust system and lots of folks have decided to keep AHC in their off-road/overland LX570's. Many LX570's at this point have hundreds of thousands of miles on them without major failures. Yes at some point you will have to maintain or replenish the system (like any suspension system) but we're talking 200K+ miles. Obviously the engineering hours that Lexus put behind their AHC is probably 1000x ahead of what Liquid Springs can offer but we at least know hydraulic systems have been used in the field before and at least proven in the LX570.
StoryTeller Overland GXV Hilt
- Thread starter Steve_382
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I know there's much ado about liquid springs and their hydraulic system but I'd be curious to see how similar of a system it is compared to what Lexus has in the LX570 which is also a hydraulic system that they call AHC. From what I've seen it's a pretty robust system and lots of folks have decided to keep AHC in their off-road/overland LX570's. Many LX570's at this point have hundreds of thousands of miles on them without major failures. Yes at some point you will have to maintain or replenish the system (like any suspension system) but we're talking 200K+ miles. Obviously the engineering hours that Lexus put behind their AHC is probably 1000x ahead of what Liquid Springs can offer but we at least know hydraulic systems have been used in the field before and at least proven in the LX570.
BuckinghamBuilt
Active member
Liquid Springs has hundreds of thousands of miles on emergency vehicles. Not to the extent of 100 of thousands of passenger cars but they seem to be a solid solution including RV manufacturers making them a option for suspension in their motorhomes.
It will be curious to see how the hold up to being bashed off road (i.e., hours of washboard roads).
I've been doing some thinking since first falling in love with this type of vehicle and I've now decided that they are not for me but I'm curious about how people who have this or an Earthroamer for example use them?
The big box on a large truck combo makes the vehicle too big to go on lots of the forest roads of the PNW unless you stick to the main ones which limit where you can go. Its size also makes it a hassle to move around town, although it's not bigger than some delivery truck but still, finding a parking spot at Trader Joe's to get groceries must be an adventure in itself.
Half the length of the vehicle is from the truck itself while the other heavy half sits over the rear wheels. I get that cab over trucks are not comfortable to drive on the freeway and that 4x4 options are limited but that's just a weird/poor design.
I really want to love this truck so what am I missing? If it's only to use as a base camp at trail heads, then a regular RV with good tires or even a 4x4 conversion would still be around 1/3 of the price.
The big box on a large truck combo makes the vehicle too big to go on lots of the forest roads of the PNW unless you stick to the main ones which limit where you can go. Its size also makes it a hassle to move around town, although it's not bigger than some delivery truck but still, finding a parking spot at Trader Joe's to get groceries must be an adventure in itself.
Half the length of the vehicle is from the truck itself while the other heavy half sits over the rear wheels. I get that cab over trucks are not comfortable to drive on the freeway and that 4x4 options are limited but that's just a weird/poor design.
I really want to love this truck so what am I missing? If it's only to use as a base camp at trail heads, then a regular RV with good tires or even a 4x4 conversion would still be around 1/3 of the price.
Trust me, you don't want a high tech suspension on a heavy expedition rig. They're almost impossible to repair on the trail or in a Third World country. Leaf springs and good old shock absorbers are the way to go on a big rig like this. But the problem is that our better halves don't like the harsh ride, so we compromise, then suffer, with a road friendly high tech suspension.
SootyCamper
Active member
Because yuppies and boomers wanna feel overlandy. Hence the reason you see folks buy the $500k rig, travel around to a few parks, then reality hits and they sell it soon after. These big dollar rigs are more about fulfillment of an Instagram fantasy than anything else.
Great point. And in my experience, the mechanical skills of the owners tend to decline the higher the price of the rig, especially the post-Covid zombie apocalypse work from the road buyers. When you hit half a million bucks I think you'll find these owners pay somebody else to turn a wrench on their truck. There are exceptions of course...a tip o the hat to the wealthy engineers out there.
Two years of ownership seems to be the point where the fantasy sours for many.
It's really easy to blow past your vehicle's GVWR if you're talking four people, two spares, a dirt bike, 4 bicycles, an oven, 50 gallons of water, 50 gallons of fuel, etc... Do the math, it doesn't work. And if you grow past 14,000 pounds on a medium duty chassis, you get into a new heavier class of tire that again starts challenging your GVWR. One thing we're guilty of as Americans is the desire to take the kitchen sink with us when we go overlanding. Well I take that back, I think the Aussie's are the champions off taking everything with them off road. But one thing is for sure, the more crap you carry on your truck, the more likely you're going to break something.
Kess
New member
I was at OE East earlier this month and was really interested in checking out the rigs on 550 size trucks as they seemed appealing. I presently own a 2009 Provan Tiger on a 3500 Duramax which I bought used 3 years ago with 38K miles on it. After seeing these really big rigs I wish someone would produce a well built camper on chassis on a 1-ton truck that is sort of affordable and that I can drive on modest trails and park in a parking spot when I have to buy food. My Tiger is comfortable to spend time in and even with an extended cab is only 20.5 feet long (under 19 with a regular cab). Stock they are not a good 4 season camper and I have made many mods to make it work better for spending 4-6 weeks skiing out of it with all systems working including water. To be fair the new Tiger's may be somewhat better built but the upper shell is fiberglass with essentially no meaningful insulation.
I looked at the Rex Rover and really liked the layout. They initially built it on a F150 and the one I looked at was on a F250. I asked the head of sales about the GVW and he said they replaced the entire rear suspension to deal with the weight and improve off road performance but did not upgrade to larger brakes. He said all new versions would be on F350s which makes more sense (still $380K is too much money). I really do not need a carbon fiber camper box and would accept some additional weight for a lower price. I also do not need three TVs and a washer/dryer which the Rex Rover had. It looks like Loki is going to come out with a smaller version of their Falcon X series camper but no floor plan has been announced yet and no price. Now that I have spent time living and working on my Tiger I am considering one of the very well insulated flatbed camper boxes that I could finish myself. The flatbed based camper appeals to me in that I could transfer it to another vehicle when the time comes without losing my investment in the camper. In the meantime I will keep traveling in my Tiger and making improvements as I find things I want to improve. I guess that is why my wife says the camper has become one of my retirement hobbies.
I looked at the Rex Rover and really liked the layout. They initially built it on a F150 and the one I looked at was on a F250. I asked the head of sales about the GVW and he said they replaced the entire rear suspension to deal with the weight and improve off road performance but did not upgrade to larger brakes. He said all new versions would be on F350s which makes more sense (still $380K is too much money). I really do not need a carbon fiber camper box and would accept some additional weight for a lower price. I also do not need three TVs and a washer/dryer which the Rex Rover had. It looks like Loki is going to come out with a smaller version of their Falcon X series camper but no floor plan has been announced yet and no price. Now that I have spent time living and working on my Tiger I am considering one of the very well insulated flatbed camper boxes that I could finish myself. The flatbed based camper appeals to me in that I could transfer it to another vehicle when the time comes without losing my investment in the camper. In the meantime I will keep traveling in my Tiger and making improvements as I find things I want to improve. I guess that is why my wife says the camper has become one of my retirement hobbies.
It seems like all these companies try to do too much. I also like the layout of the RexRover, but don't need 3 TVs, an outside kitchen, or the washing machine. Seems like someone could sell something like this for under $300,000 and still have a good driving rig. The F350 would be my choice also and it would be nice if the completed rig was under 10,000 pounds so you could use the 7.3 gas motor and still get up the passes at a reasonable speed.
I also like the looks of the Overland Basecamp and there are some advantages to the poptop.
rruff
Explorer
A 1 ton with a custom bed made for a regular camper seems like a great way to go for versatility.
Exactly. These 550 builds are ridiculously huge, and once they get stuck, are irretrievable by most.
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RAM5500 CAMPERTHING
OG Portal Member #183
I have also found this to be the case very consistently
I'm not here to judge or analyze anyone else's spending habits or finances. There are people out there with stupid amounts of money. There are many yacht owners that just park the the thing in the Caribbean to use a few weeks out of the year. I lived in Park City for a few years and there are people that own $5-$10M ski in/out homes on the mountain and spend about 2 weeks a year there. They actually hire people to live there to maintain and use the house the rest of the time. Yes it can seem absurd to us but to them a $500k probably accounts for less than 2% of their net worth. Even if they don't use the thing the reality of having to sell a $500k rig to them is nothing more than a minor inconvenience.