Tell me about your camp

[fastfredracing]

You Florida boys are fortunate to live in Paradise, do you ever yearn for a weekend in the mountains ?
A few days in the forest cleanses my soul about the same as being on the shore, or in the water .

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

Below isn't ours, but is somewhat like the truck we will be building.

When you pencil this thing out, please PM me with the details you are willing to share.

Best.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

You Florida boys are fortunate to live in Paradise, do you ever yearn for a weekend in the mountains ?
A few days in the forest cleanses my soul about the same as being on the shore, or in the water .

I de-stress with my time machine Hobie 16 on these waters. I consider myself very fortunate to have access to the cabin. One day I will inherit the property along with my sister. When I first moved to this area back in 1993 I lived there and it was absolutely wonderful. I didn't have a tv, but I had a stereo and that was all I needed.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Mark Henry]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

When you pencil this thing out, please PM me with the details you are willing to share.

Best.

The truck in the pic is a pro built 'Earth Cruiser' worth $250K of course that's built on a new truck. I'm hoping to DIY build it for about $70-80K including the 2004 diesel truck. I went with the older pre-2007 truck because it has no DEF and doesn't require low sulfur fuel in case we want to travel to South America. The pop top allows the truck to fit into a container if we need to ship the truck, it also lowers its center of gravity and for off road trails if the cab will fit through an opening so will the rest of the truck. Many don't use a pop top if they plan to ship via RORO or never plan to ship the truck overseas.

Right now I have the truck and I'm buying the super single rims, 37x12.5x17" tires, F/R springs and shocks which is $8k-ish USD. The super single rims is so both the front and rear wheels run in the same track which is way better for off roading, better MPG, etc.

For us is the fact we already live in the country and except for a lake it makes owning a cottage redundant.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

You Florida boys are fortunate to live in Paradise, do you ever yearn for a weekend in the mountains ?
A few days in the forest cleanses my soul about the same as being on the shore, or in the water .

We had a place in the Smokey Mountains from 2004-2008, I put it up for sale in mid 2008 in a panic, knowing there was a housing crash coming. I closed on it in August 2008 making a decent profit on it. It just sold again last year for the same price I sold it for in 2008.

It was a blast to own, we made a lot of memories there, I wish we kept it and turned it into a Air B&B, it was in a great location and would have done well.

One drag was that you felt like you HAD to vacation there, because, well, why own it if you are not going to use it, prior to selling it I was actually wrestling with that.

We named the house Cat 5 - we felt it would end up our full time home when a Cat 5 hit here in Florida.

It was a fun house to vacation in, 4 bed / bath on an acre. It wasn't fancy it was cozy.






We do live in paradise here I never get tired of our beaches. It is very easy to find a beach here where you are alone.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

The truck in the pic is a pro built 'Earth Cruiser' worth $250K of course that's built on a new truck. I'm hoping to DIY build it for about $70-80K including the 2004 diesel truck. I went with the older pre-2007 truck because it has no DEF and doesn't require low sulfur fuel in case we want to travel to South America. The pop top allows the truck to fit into a container if we need to ship the truck, it also lowers its center of gravity and for off road trails if the cab will fit through an opening so will the rest of the truck. Many don't use a pop top if they plan to ship via RORO or never plan to ship the truck overseas.

Right now I have the truck and I'm buying the super single rims, 37x12.5x17" tires, F/R springs and shocks which is $8k-ish USD. The super single rims is so both the front and rear wheels run in the same track which is way better for off roading, better MPG, etc.

For us is the fact we already live in the country and except for a lake it makes owning a cottage redundant.

That is really cool, I am wresting with an overland setup vs. a motorhome. I am obsessed with Vixen Motorhomes and have been quietly looking for one. It is the right size for us and with us planning and remodeling one to our specs we fell like it will serve us well. I want one with the BMW 6cyl turbo diesel in it, people report getting over 30MPG with them. I plan on spending my first couple of years wandering around the SE USA, so not a lot of opportunity for the overland experience.

I figure if we really want to overland down the line we can sell the Vixen and start planning that out.


This on a car lot near me, I saw it on there and went to their website to look up what it was. Only 150K. LOL

https://www.motorcarsofstuart.com/details-2015-international-terrastar-custom_built_international_terrastar-used-1htkpskk7fh526363.html

I love your ideas, you should start a thread on that build, I would be very interested in following it.

[Mark Henry]

I won't be starting the project in earnest till the spring, right now we're just in the collection phase, but I will start a thread once we do start the build.
One of the reasons we decided on the Fuso FG 4x4 is because it has a well proven track record in Australia and although not as well known in NA and you can get parts at any frieghtliner or MB dealer. MB now owns the Mits truck division. Plus the 4cyl turbo still moves it at 65-70mph highway and it gets at least 17MPG, not fast but we're not in a hurry. Some guys use old army trucks, but the mileage is terrible and they often can't do any better than 55mph.

The best website for all kinds of different expedition trucks is https://expeditionportal.com/

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

The best website for all kinds of different expedition trucks is https://expeditionportal.com/

Mark, please post updates on our build, I'm sure I'm not alone in knowing it will be an interesting read

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

Instead we're about to start building an "Exploration Explorer" based on a Mitsubishi Fuso FG 4x4 we just bought. It fits us as we loved our old Westphalia and this is sort of like a hulk sized westy.

Too cool, I'm a fellow westy owner and these kinds of vehicles certainly pique my interest. I've seen two Fuso conversions in person (both at local westfalia get-togethers which should tell you something) and they were pretty damned cool, and clearly better set up for 4x4 than a comparable sized sprinter. One of them had the interior space fitted out by a local company here in the Seattle area which normally specializes in sailboat interiors, it was incredible. I've also seen some nice unimog campers, one pinzgauer camper and even one on on Oshkosh 6x6 and all were pretty awesome but all also have top speeds in the 45-55mph zone (though I believe more modern unimogs are capable of highway speeds). Anyway, love the idea of this project.

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Mark, please post updates on our build, I'm sure I'm not alone in knowing it will be an interesting read

Big +1!