Top five priorities in your vehicle

[TimberwolfII]

Good stuff guys!

Really interesting stuff coming out fellas.

The reliability/repairability need is a common theme, obviously so. Influenced by both original design and continuing maintenance. If it doesn't go then you ain't gonna have much in the way of an explore.

I hadn't put off road ability, which in retrospect is a mistake on my part. 4x4 and off road ability is a high priority for me. In a stalled attempt at a bit of travelling we went with what was there and that was a 4x2. Could get stuck on wet grass; curtailed our excursions. Silly but there you are, lesson learnt.

"I didn't put "looks" or "aesthetics" up there because this is an expo rig. If you don't have scratches and dings..... You haven't gone far enough off the pavement yet."

I agree, but also:

"Gotta have "style" You have to like what you drive, whatever it is."

I don't value shiney paint and trailer queen looks, but I do believe that how a rig looks is important to me, even if its scratched to hell and got flat paint, more so probably cos then it has patina, history, memories.


Comfort and useability also important to folks, some times you do wonder how some rigs meet these needs...

 

[redneck44]

Looks like your asking too much..
Jump in and go ability for 5 people vs off road ability vs sleeping inboard with shower/toilet etc are a difficult list to satisfy.

Lake district/UK greenlanes would be near impossible with a family sized expo rig. My RB44 which could just about fit a family of 5 in the back, but not in the cab, was too big for a lot of greenlanes.

My top 5
1 Fun to drive, if I'm not enjoying the drive, then why am I doing it.
2 Reliability, but I drive a land rover so its all relative
3 Basic, KISS
4 Load carrying ability, I like to take my toys with me
5 3 Seats 3 + room for a 170lb dog

this list liable to change depending on the time of day though
in fact I think 5 and 2 need changing already.......

 

[TimberwolfII]

Asking too much..... yes probably!

We're not going to limit ourselves to the UK, it's just that initially, when you've got the lakes literally outside your door, it makes sense to go explore. And quite a few winters round here you don't even get out the end of the lane without 4x4.

Might not get down too many greenlanes but then like I mentioned before, at a size that fits the wee uns in (7.5t truck) you end up getting stuck very very easily without 4x4. Most of the horseboxes at Loweswater show last year needed pulling out and that was just a grass field. So even to pull over somewhere a bit off the beaten track can be risky. (been there done that, everyone here has I suppose) Then we will be wanting to head off further - Iceland, portugal and spain, north africa etc (once we've cut our teeth... newbie alert).

 

[redneck44]

The Lakes are a wonderful place and I would be out at every opportunity as well.
However I used to have a Disco 1 and a Chevy crewcab dually, the Disco was the vehicle for the Lakes, the Chevy wouldn't fit down the roads up there.
I grew up in Cornwall driving yank tanks, so I know about driving on country lanes.
The trouble with most 7.5tonners is seating for 5. 4WD generally means ex military and you want it to be a daily driver.
Maybe a 4wd LWB Hi top Transit would fit the bill.

Not forgetting fuel consumption if you're planning big trips.

There will be some compromises.

 

[DiploStrat]

Lake district/UK greenlanes would be near impossible with a family sized expo rig. My RB44 which could just about fit a family of 5 in the back, but not in the cab, was too big for a lot of greenlanes.

Snark! I drove the Lake District in a VW Tiguan and it was too wide for some of the lanes. (Of course, give me enough jet lag and I will be convinced that the Tiguan is too wide for an A road! :Wow1:

That said, delivery trucks go just about everywhere in the UK, so you can do it. After all, Shachagra spent several weeks in UK. The challenge is less the roads and more the parking lots! There is a reason the Brits invented the Mini.

 

[redneck44]

Snark! I drove the Lake District in a VW Tiguan and it was too wide for some of the lanes. (Of course, give me enough jet lag and I will be convinced that the Tiguan is too wide for an A road! :Wow1:

That said, delivery trucks go just about everywhere in the UK, so you can do it. After all, Shachagra spent several weeks in UK. The challenge is less the roads and more the parking lots! There is a reason the Brits invented the Mini.

My Chevy C35 took 4 parking places, likewise my Dodge B200 LWB, the U.K just isn't built for proper cars

 

[CJustin7]

Well I'll be..... This is under the expo camper section .... I do believe this was directed at vehicles though.

 

[Maninga]

I'll play along too. My top list will sound similar

1). Comfort. There's a very good reason we chose to build a motorhome, wife couldn't take too many more camping trips for extended periods, a RTT was out and didn't want to pull a trailer. Something we could live in for an extended period, permanent queen sized bed, seating, toilet and storage space for toys/gear. For a month at a time, could deal with less, but we've planned it for 2 years living out of (that's longer than most houses I've lived in)

2). Reliable, serviceable and proven platform. Want to know it'd last the trip, was easy to service/repair and other people had taken one through areas we were planning to travel. Not relying on ULSD either is a good thing.

3). Size/space. For us, this was huge. We intend on spending most of our time outside, but if we have to be inside it had to be comfortable to get around, have some room to move and not feel like we're crammed in a small box. So we made it 14' long inside, 7 1/2' high with the roof up and just over 6 1/2' wide. And the sense of space inside, with the reflective roof, windows all around, makes it seem so much bigger. But it also needed to be compact enough to turn on trails, low enough we'd be able to go under low bridges, and fit into a shipping container. MWB Fuso did that, camper roof sits 6" over truck cab, at 9' tall fits under low bridges in our area and with the help of some discs on the rear wheels, will fit into a container (I believe).

4). Drivability. Realistically, it'll spend 90% of its distance on well made roads travelling long distances. It's got to be able to cover these keeping up with traffic at around the speed limit.

5). X factor. We're not planning on travelling to be isolated nomads, wherever we've stopped with the truck it's provoked a conversation of some kind, it's been very interesting to gauge reactions.

One thing I could have added was around value for money, but that would be relative. We're spending 5x our original budget on this, and still think we've got a good deal. A lot of the stuff was custom made to our plans and we're happy with what we've got. But other people are different and may not see it the same way. But if we compare it to some of the offroad caravans commercially available, I'd take ours any day

 

[TimberwolfII]

Going a bit off topic but

he he, English country lanes..... being a country lad I've known nothing else! You get used to it. Cornwall is worse than Cumbria for that, high banks and loads of grockles (tourists). Most we see in our valley is the 5,000pa cyclists on the coast to coast route and sheep, mabe a few quads.

Hate trannies (ford transits not LGBT folk!!) souless, characterless, ubiquitous and eminently suited to doing the job in hand probably!! Falls foul of my #5 - will never like the look of a transit van! Also have bad dreams of times spent doing rally mechanicing and chasing round in the backs of transits brrrrgh, hateful things.

Yes, looking at ex MOD, the usual Leyland-Daf t244 beloved of a lot of UK overlander types. I parked my 'yoda hilux in front of one the other day and was surprised by them not being that much wider, bed is 2.7m IIRC.

As Diplostrat mentions, every man and his dog is delivering stuff with daf 7.5 tonners. 20mpg off a t244 - which is better than my brother in laws disco! Parking? yes, interesting one, used to cart baby combine harvesters about on a 7.5t - there is always somewhere.....gonna have to suck it and see.

Maninga
"But if we compare it to some of the offroad caravans commercially available, I'd take ours any day" I think that's what we're going to find.

 

[Kiomon]

This is a fun thread. Here is my list, for my use of living in the rig full time and traveling/ moving every couple of days. Been a nomad for about 2 years and another 2 to go!

1. Stock capability / reliability
What was the chassis designed to do, and is this was you want to do with it? If you have to mod the snot of it to give it those abilities, I would pass to another model. This simple question will have a cascade effect and keep you more reliable, cheaper to build and maintain, etc because you aren't stressing the vehicle outside of its design envelope.

2. Storage Space
If you truly want to live out in the wild for LONG periods of time, then you will need food and water. You can kill/ hunt your food but water storage is still a challenge. I like storage space for parts, spares, and maintenance parts.

3. Ease of Camp
After living on the go a while, if it's not easy you aren't going to do it. And if you have to do it and it's difficult, you will hate it and burn out. If it takes more than 10 minutes to set-up camp, then redesign it. It will burn you out.

4. Comfort
I am with Diplostrat. If you are going to LIVE in your rig, then you have to be comfortable. A weekender or vacation camper is different. If you are leaving it all for a life on the road then you have to be sure that you have a place you like being in, a place where you can recover from an illness comfortably, wait out a tropical storm, be anti social when you are done with people for a bit, etc. Each person will have a different subset of what that entails, but it can't be overlooked. Now, this changes a lot if you are LIVING in your rig.

5. Fun. I am with AFBronco on this one. Every time you get in your rig or even look it at it, you want and need to love it. It's compromises and strengths. Write them all down and be sure you can live with them. My mog is slow (60mph cruising sweet spot) but a beast off road and I smile everytime I am on the dirt. I am fine to chug along on back roads and take the local route, I don't try and mod him into a luxe F350 to cruise at 85mph. I accept him. And when the road ends and I have a mountain to climb, I smile ear to ear and am at peace. Every vehicle is a bundle of compromises. Be sure you can have fun and love the one you pick.

 

[jim65wagon]

That is a wonderful area in England, I spent a summer in St. Bees, hiked the coast to coast, etc. Great memories.
Your list is good, funny, before I read your 5, I thought "Looks" would be one of mine too.
I like #1 - always ready. Even now, my truck is always packed for a weekend, sans bedding.
#2 - I would look harder at reliability - lots of worn out good deals, but you spend all your free time fixing rather than traveling.
#3-4 - Good driver position if you are spending hours behind the wheel. But a well planned storage area so you are not unpacking the whole truck each stop or to make lunch.
#5 - I love the look of my truck, and it makes me happy!
#6 - Lots of room for cool steekers!

I would love a classic 110 with reliable motor, or a Syncro VW, but that is not in my future!

Fixed that for ya! You left out the important #6!

 

[TimberwolfII]

Acceptance

Kiomon said: "I accept him. And when the road ends and I have a mountain to climb, I smile ear to ear and am at peace."

Good Zen. Modify if you want, accept and enjoy if you don't.

Just about nailed the deal on my new rig. Coming to a forum near you soon.

 

[DiploStrat]

Congrats!

 

[Wandering by Bicycle]

I'm surprised Maninga is the only one who mentioned the need to fit into a shipping container. For an "around the world" travel rig, container shipping saves a lot of money and is much safer for the vehicle and it's contents. There are many horror stories of vehicles being damaged and broken into shipping roll on/roll off. Even just traveling the Pan Am, now that the ferry is done shipping around the Darian is easier and cheaper if the vehicle fits in a container. For reference, a 40' HC is about 8.5 feet at the door opening and a standard 20' or 40' is about 7.5 feet.

 

[calicamper]

#1 Issue getting time to go is the the time factor getting all the crap ready to go - so as packed and ready to go from the get go as possible (currently heading out to the garage to pack for a weekend trip right now)
#2 Mileage and highway comfort given we are within some of the best Western must see places but were talking lots of pavement miles before reaching the end point.
#3 Fast set up and tear down (just re worked our bins to reduce set up and tear down time)