P.J., the custom Wrangler Rubicon expedition motorhome

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
What a long, strange trip it's been . . .

In the fall of 2007, I purchased a very lightly used EarthRoamer XV-JP, the third produced, in Philadelphia

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and, with the help of my ExPo friends driving some exotic routes,

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got it home to Oregon.

During the winter of 07-08, I both drove around and camped in the truck, and by the time spring came, it was clear that EarthRoamer's original design and modifications weren't going to be suitable for my use.

Beginning in the summer of 2008 and ending, oh, any day now, much effort, talent and head scratching was applied to a total reconstruction of the vehicle. We are now at the point that rather little beyond the cabin fiberglass is as it was when it left EarthRoamer. Fortunately, more than three years of work has resulted in a custom vehicle that I think will be very well suited for my purposes.

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As the truck has become more-and-more custom and less-and-less an EarthRoamer, it's become inappropriate to mix its future exploits in with the serial production campers from EarthRoamer, GXV and other manufacturers. We're going to leave the delivery and build threads in that forum where they started—and we'll continue the build thread there for another couple of weeks as Paul Jensen finishes up a few loose ends—but our future trips and other exploits will go in this thread.

Those trips will begin in short order. The tentative plan is for Paul to head out next week for a circumnavigation of the Olympic Peninsula, the first trip that the Jeep will have made with an interior in 3.5 years. Then Paul will meet up with me for the Saturday, April 14th, Northwest Sprinterfest in Tualatin, Oregon, where we will show off our Sprinters but also have the first public display of the Jeep.

And, as a last order of business, I decided to name the Jeep “P.J.” I'm not normally into naming vehicles; out of a gross of vehicles I've owned, only a couple had names that stuck. But one minor consideration here is the good odds of having multiple Jeeps, and maybe even multiple Wranglers, in the family. The bigger reason, though, has to do with acknowledging the three talented fabricators—Paul Jensen, James Lombardo and John Bendit—who contributed to making this Wrangler a very special vehicle which I am proud to own. “P.J.J.” sounded a little weird for a name, but “P.J.” sounds OK and I'm certain James and John won't mind sharing a letter.

Thanks to everyone who's supported this vehicle's development with their interest. We look forward to having as much adventure using it as we did building it.

Mike

BUILD THREAD: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/51254

FETCHING THREAD: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/19489
 
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Every Miles A Memory

Expedition Leader
Yep, looking forward to following along on this thread like I have so intently on the others.

Cant wait to see the paces you all put this masterpiece through
 

MrBeast

Explorer
I am subscribed, I will be watching to see what you do with it and where you go, as well I am moving to Seattle in September, I may have to see about twisting your arm into letting me come down and check this thing out some time.
 

cshontz

Supporting Sponsor
The ol' (former) Earthroamer sure has come a long way in the past few years. I think what it needs next is some serious miles logged on the odometer. ;)
 

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
The ol' (former) Earthroamer sure has come a long way in the past few years. I think what it needs next is some serious miles logged on the odometer. ;)
I agree 100% . . . and we got started today; Paul's out in it for the next couple of nights going around Washington.

Of course, I'm guessing you'll be holding the "longest leg" record for quite a while yet. :bowdown:
 

PaulJensen

Custom Builder
Test Drive...

First off, I want to thank Mike for giving me the opportunity to create what I did...During the build I would often wonder if this is what heaven is like...That good...Thank you, sir...

Over the next few days, I'll post the 'Daily Journal' from my test drive...Photos with captions from the four days gone...

Until then, here are a few images from the trip...

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Cody1771

Explorer
god i love those... maybe one day if i win the lottery or something, will definatly keep an eye on this one!
 

PaulJensen

Custom Builder
Here goes...

Test Drive - 1

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(above) Parking lot...Getting food...


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(above) Freeway on-ramp...Welcome to Washington....(color picture)...

The basics...I'm road testing The Jeep I've been working on for months...The road plan is to circumnavigate the Olympic Peninsula...I have no schedule other than be back home in four or five days...

My first impressions of driving The Jeep...It's smaller on the inside than it seems...Up front at least...But once you settle into the size, it feels as custom as a set of dentures....No space up front seems wasted, but it doesn't feel crowded...

It's heavy...Unlike my daily driver, a 2006 Sprinter, this thing has mass...Combine that with the off-road capable suspension and wheels, it feels unlike a race a car...

With those observations out of the way, onward...

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(above) First stop...Southern Hood Canal...

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(above) Potlatch S.P.

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(above) Last week this place accepted six inches of rain...That might have been in a day...???...

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(above) You'll see that I'm a recreational photographer...

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(above) I brought a pair of Panasonics...LX-3 & 5...Also in another set of twins, Wide and Zoom...

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(above) The Test Drive will continue...

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(above) ...tomorrow...


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(above) Walking to the beach...

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(above) North...

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(above) Land O'trees...

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(above) Wet...

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(above) Not warm...

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(above) To get it open is like this...Before you turn off the motor, the switch for the compressor is to be turned on...Let it run, get out, open up the back, get in, find the switch for the pneumatic rams to mechanically lift the roof...Push switch up, observe the roof lift...Stop before fully raised...Release the tent from the roof...The engine is still running...Wrap the front tent part outside of the rams and zip the front to back tent parts...Push roof lift switch to fully raise the roof...Insert the plywood boards that are the emergency roof stops...(You never know)...Finish attaching the tent to the lower cabin...Velcro and Snaps...Open up the front tent window and insert twin plastic eyebrow window supports...Velcro the trap and you're done...elapsed time about ten minutes...

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(above) Inside for the night...After dinner (a store bought sandwich)...Going through the pictures...

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(above) Next morning after putting the sleep stuff away and rolling up the tent...To bring the roof down, you reverse the set-up...Duh...

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(above) No hurry...

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(above) Some of these are out of sequence...

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(above) Looking out of the tent window...

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(above) The side tent flap rolled up...

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(above) Fence post...

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(above) It comes from the sky...

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(above) Perma-damp...

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(above)...Looking up...

More later...
 
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