I feel another build coming on.....

NeverEnough

Adventurer
Dug up a great Rotel video. These cats really are the masters of moving lots of folks though difficult areas in reasonable comfort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w99XRNId79g#t=41

The video is from 1969 and, if you know what you are seeing, shows:

-- The hermitage at Assakrem in the Hoggar,

-- Their communal cooking system,

-- Use of a 4x4 support vehicle,

-- The great mosque at Agadez.

Video found through their home site:
http://www.rotel.de

I ran into one of their tours in Tamanrasset in 1974. That group used a Magius Deutz 6x6 as their support vehicle.

Lots of ideas for you to consider buried in their vehicles. Links to their current vehicles:
http://www.rotel.de/rollendes-hotel/fahrzeuge.html

More, in English: http://www.gizmag.com/rotel-hotel-on-wheels/14625/

What were you doing in Algeria while I was still in grade school? I don't feel so old now : )

Rotel is definitely into moving people around. Looks like our Flaming Gorge trips! But I've definitely drifted towards the concept of 2 or 3 smaller, more agile rigs. If the whole family and friends come along, we'll form a little convoy.


I got to tool around Northern Ireland the past two days on a motorcycle, and it cemented a few things in my head. First, my preferred expo rig will always be a motorcycle. It's such an amazing vehicle for getting immersed in the locale, and always provides an opener to talk to people. Second, the places I like to see are the ones that have signs that say "caravans and coaches not recommended". True, you can always unload the bikes for a side journey, but I like the option of setting up camp in such places as well.

And after doing more research on the tractor/trailer configuration, that also has limitations. So I'm noodling on some designs that will let me have my cake and eat it too. I think I might be able to work it out, based on:

--COA medium duty crew cab (Fuso or NPR) 134" WB and dressed for off-road duty
--9' beaver-tail flat bed with some good size cargo boxes on each side
--Custom camper that is 17-18', which includes a 5' cabover section
--Total length under 23' with the camper on the flatbed
--Camper has a lifting roof and tilt-up cabover (like on my monster rig), which keeps the whole rig under 10'6" in height when on the flatbed
--Toy-hauler layout with a modified ramp door on the back that also serves as a patio/screen room
--Main room could hold 3 dirt bikes, maybe 4
--Camper can be easily removed from the truck with standard electric jacks and left at camp and for storage
--Camper can also be towed as a gooseneck for low clearance situations (9'), matching wheelbase and just under 32' total rig length
--Truck and camper could fit into a 40' high cube container with suspension compressed and tires deflated a bit
--Camper has either electric or hydrostatic drive wheels (same tires as truck) that can be engaged in poor traction scenarios Kiravan-style
--Truck can be multi-tasked with a crew cab and 8' bed, but shorter wheelbase and bigger bed than my Chevy 1/2 ton crew cab

Getting everything to fit right is quite a challenge, but I'm making some virtual progress, and I think it just might work. I'd like the design to be flexible enough to work with most cab-forward trucks of similar wheelbase, which would let me upgrade trucks over time (like an Wrightspeed 4x4 NPR HEV in a few years!). It would be small enough and light enough to do some decent exploring, mostly as a 4x4 truck/camper, but as a virtual 6x6 in certain situations. And it could be highly configurable. In my family's case, we'd probably use a pair if we all did a trip to SA or Asia- two trucks, two campers, 6 dirt bikes, decent fuel economy, recovery capabilities, and we could all squeeze into one rig if we had to. We could throw all the bikes on one of the trucks, just use one or two of the trucks. If my wife and I do trip by ourselves, we'd have a ton of room, but still not be driving a beast.

I'll post some renderings soon....
 

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