piratexpress1369a
Explorer
Great trip and pics
M1010 expo build. The Mountain Turtle
- Thread starter stevo-mt
- Start date
chilliwak
Expedition Leader
Stevo you are allowed to be a little late in posting if you always make such sweet posts! WOW:Wow1::Wow1:that nature is incredible! You always give us the feeling that we are right there with you. The Turle is obviously a very capable vehicle and I am glad you are getting so much use out of her. Also happy to see your girlfriend out enjoying the nature. I am sure you 2 are going to have lots of adventures in the future. Thanks for posting. Cheers, Chilli...:wings:
bigbidule
New member
I am looking for a M1010 too. But....I live in France !!! Stevo, your topic is a "bible" for me!!!!
I am waiting to sell my Airstream Excella 280 ( 1981 / 454 - Th400 - quadrajet ) and I will look for this new vehicle to do a camper for go, once more, in South america ( Brasil ) then, perhaps, in north america , depending of our free time next year ...
There are some M1010 in Europa ( in Germany ) but it is rare and not always in a good state. I was thinking to import from US (with some options as turbo bank and OD ) : perhaps it would be possible without ruin $$$ me (? ) compared to buy here ( + or - 13000$ for a standard rig ) = what do you think about that ?
I am waiting to sell my Airstream Excella 280 ( 1981 / 454 - Th400 - quadrajet ) and I will look for this new vehicle to do a camper for go, once more, in South america ( Brasil ) then, perhaps, in north america , depending of our free time next year ...
There are some M1010 in Europa ( in Germany ) but it is rare and not always in a good state. I was thinking to import from US (with some options as turbo bank and OD ) : perhaps it would be possible without ruin $$$ me (? ) compared to buy here ( + or - 13000$ for a standard rig ) = what do you think about that ?
stevo-mt
Member
@bigbidule
I have a feeling that importing an M1010 would cost way more than buying a standard rig over there. I ended up putting alot of money into my rig and I'm not even done! But if you like the M1010 I say go for it. If you can find one over there even better! There really isn't much to them if it's running and in decent shape. Before you know it you'll have over $40,000 into a setup for a camper based on a 1985 truck! The components are what drove the price up for me. It doesn't matter what vehicle you have wheels/tires, espar heaters, arb lockers, lift kits, and such are going to be a comparable price for whatever vehicle you build. All I know is simpler is better
.
My now wife Jessica started going to grad school in Saskatoon, SK. We hit the crossroads of the M1010 not being a small enough vehicle to drive in the city. We decided to make a mini expo vehicle. Something she could drive to school everyday and we could camp out with on the weekends. I figured I would need to get a vehicle newer than 1985 and that could drive in the city as well. We ended up getting some isuzu troopers. Going by the rule two is one and one is none we ended up a with a whole pack of troopers.
It started with one that I would lay claim too. Found it in Boise ID on craigslist. It was a nice 2001 with 72K miles on it however it did not run. We found a non-driving but running parts isuzu there as well. On our way to Boise we found another trooper that wasn't running but super nice leather interior and such for super cheap in Billings, MT on craigslist. So we bought that one too. Jessica maid the claim to that one. So we had three troopers. I fixed Jessica's by putting the running motor in it then eventually discovered mine had a new rebuild engine that they put the wrong crank in. I'm waiting for some more bearings to get mine up and running but Jessica's has a few expo mods for the moment. Mine is going to get a few too as soon as that engine fires... Then to make things more fun a 4th trooper showed up in Billings on craigslist that was in decent shape. It needed some things like brakes/rotors, cv boots and a few odd and ends. The parts trooper to the rescue and I'll have that a bit fixed up later this week.
Jessica's Troopy with a surco roof rack and a set of 265/75/16 Cooper AT3 tires
My trooper when we picked it up.
#4 trooper that I picked up just because the price was right.
When all is said and done here in a week or so I will have fixed two troopers and have a spare for the cost of a used 4runner. These things are so stout and beefy. They do have a few quirks (like the ATF dipstick is a plug on the bottom of the tranny) but they also have a limited slip diff in them stock. The bearings in the front hub are the same size as my old 3/4 ton ford! I started a blog for these guys. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/153598-Isuzu-Troopers-the-quot-Wolfpack-quot I mostly just like the fact by using my hands and fixing something I can save thousands of dollars.
I haven't got much work done on the old M1010 its at the point where I can just hop in it and go on a trip whenever its needed. So that is kind of where it will have to stay for a while. We ended up rotating the bunks and now we sleep perpendicular to the stretchers. This ended up making much more efficient on heating the cabin with the espar. Jess and I stayed in it for a week at thanksgiving in southwestern Montana at my uncles ranch. The coldest was -18 deg f and we stayed nice and cozy. The amazing thing was for running the heater for almost a week solid it barely used 10 gallons of fuel. I was pretty amazed.
I have a feeling that importing an M1010 would cost way more than buying a standard rig over there. I ended up putting alot of money into my rig and I'm not even done! But if you like the M1010 I say go for it. If you can find one over there even better! There really isn't much to them if it's running and in decent shape. Before you know it you'll have over $40,000 into a setup for a camper based on a 1985 truck! The components are what drove the price up for me. It doesn't matter what vehicle you have wheels/tires, espar heaters, arb lockers, lift kits, and such are going to be a comparable price for whatever vehicle you build. All I know is simpler is better
.My now wife Jessica started going to grad school in Saskatoon, SK. We hit the crossroads of the M1010 not being a small enough vehicle to drive in the city. We decided to make a mini expo vehicle. Something she could drive to school everyday and we could camp out with on the weekends. I figured I would need to get a vehicle newer than 1985 and that could drive in the city as well. We ended up getting some isuzu troopers. Going by the rule two is one and one is none we ended up a with a whole pack of troopers.
It started with one that I would lay claim too. Found it in Boise ID on craigslist. It was a nice 2001 with 72K miles on it however it did not run. We found a non-driving but running parts isuzu there as well. On our way to Boise we found another trooper that wasn't running but super nice leather interior and such for super cheap in Billings, MT on craigslist. So we bought that one too. Jessica maid the claim to that one. So we had three troopers. I fixed Jessica's by putting the running motor in it then eventually discovered mine had a new rebuild engine that they put the wrong crank in. I'm waiting for some more bearings to get mine up and running but Jessica's has a few expo mods for the moment. Mine is going to get a few too as soon as that engine fires... Then to make things more fun a 4th trooper showed up in Billings on craigslist that was in decent shape. It needed some things like brakes/rotors, cv boots and a few odd and ends. The parts trooper to the rescue and I'll have that a bit fixed up later this week.
Jessica's Troopy with a surco roof rack and a set of 265/75/16 Cooper AT3 tires
My trooper when we picked it up.
#4 trooper that I picked up just because the price was right.
When all is said and done here in a week or so I will have fixed two troopers and have a spare for the cost of a used 4runner. These things are so stout and beefy. They do have a few quirks (like the ATF dipstick is a plug on the bottom of the tranny) but they also have a limited slip diff in them stock. The bearings in the front hub are the same size as my old 3/4 ton ford! I started a blog for these guys. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/153598-Isuzu-Troopers-the-quot-Wolfpack-quot I mostly just like the fact by using my hands and fixing something I can save thousands of dollars.
I haven't got much work done on the old M1010 its at the point where I can just hop in it and go on a trip whenever its needed. So that is kind of where it will have to stay for a while. We ended up rotating the bunks and now we sleep perpendicular to the stretchers. This ended up making much more efficient on heating the cabin with the espar. Jess and I stayed in it for a week at thanksgiving in southwestern Montana at my uncles ranch. The coldest was -18 deg f and we stayed nice and cozy. The amazing thing was for running the heater for almost a week solid it barely used 10 gallons of fuel. I was pretty amazed.
bigbidule
New member
Stevo, thanks for your feeling report ( sorry for my bad English ) . I know the work for build a camper , 4 years ago I was an owner ( and builder ) of that :
and some Land Rover and Toyota HDJ80 before. With the 4x4 truck we went to South america in 2010.
Just I have to sale my beautiful Airstream...
and I shall can look for my M1010 in Germany
) . I know the work for build a camper , 4 years ago I was an owner ( and builder ) of that : and some Land Rover and Toyota HDJ80 before. With the 4x4 truck we went to South america in 2010. Just I have to sale my beautiful Airstream...
and I shall can look for my M1010 in Germany 
stevo-mt
Member
I feel sad that I have had to leave my truck parked in Montana since January. I ended meeting some fellow travelers here in Saskatoon that are building an expedition truck off of a F550. They are right down the street so it is pretty cool to get to see the progress and help out with a few odds and ends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MlN0xplkJQ Here is a link to some of their build videos.
Nathaniel0712
Observer
Awesome build, just finished reading through. Really nice work.
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
Nice job that looks awesome
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stevo-mt
Member
It's been a long time since I've done any work or anything related to my poor truck but that changed this week. I've been searching for a long time and with the magic of the internet I stumbled across an M1101 trailer with the fiberglass top. I pulled the trigger and will be getting it next week. Well it will get dropped of at my property and when I eventually get back to Montana I can get going on the old Mountain Turtle project again...
These photo's are from the nice gentleman I purchased it from in Colorado.
I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with the trailer. I had ideas of making it into auxiliary camping unit for my truck. Basically putting the things that I don't have room or are not practical inside the truck box in the trailer. Make a shower setup, a cooking counter, etc. I have a norcold fridge/freezer that I bought a while back that would be awesome to have onboard. The fridge in the truck is a nice setup, but for extended trips it would be nice to bring some meat or salmon or whatever. If your fishing you don't have to worry then about storing a dead fish in the same fridge as your salad and stuff.
Since the wheel wells of the trailer would kind of mess up storage anyways I think that one side will be different wood compartments for different gear and stand to hold the 15hp outboard for the zodiac. The other side will have a thin counter top, a place to hold a stove (hopefully the camp chef oven will be about the same dimensions since I already have it and hate taking it in and out of the truck every time I want to use it), and hold a few things like water jugs and such. There is so much room underneath the trailer that the possibility of water storage would be something to look into.
Driving in the lower 48 isn't such a big deal on fuel, but when we were driving the AlCan it would be nice to have some more fuel packed along with us. I could buy cheap Montana fuel and use that much of the way. It does save a decent amount of money to the point where it would justify a couple hundred dollars to buy a fuel tank. If I can find an aluminum one that mounts to the trailer in a clean way and keeps the trailer offroad capable I will bolt that on there. These m11o1's with their crazy clearance makes it easy to bolt storage underneath without having to worry about hitting anything. I guess it will be time to go through some of the forums and see what people have done in those regards.
But in reality the next major road trip is to the Pacific Northwest down to Baja then the SW and Utah where we won't bring the trailer. Following that we are hoping to be heading back to Alaska to work and live for a while so I imagine the trailer will get full of a few things that we need to furnish a house and maybe an ATV. It will be nice to have lockable storage that is also off road capable. I could stuff my XR650r in the back of the trailer and it would be nice and safe when we traveled. There are a couple of trips I have in mind that having this trailer would be very nice.
I have a couple other ideas I'm trying to sort out with the truck. Mainly storage inside. My wife has some good thoughts on it so I will solidify those in greater detail and post again one of these days.
To answer Dakota123's comment I have two diesel fired heaters installed in the truck. There is one Espar D2 airtronic heater that is a forced air heater. So far it has kept my wife and I with our 2 dogs warm down to -20 deg F. The second heater is an Espar D5 Hydronic heater. This heater preheats the engine, can heat the camper area with the heat exchanger, and when I get it plumbed in will heat water for showers or washing dishes. The reason I like these things so much is that the amount of electrical consumption on your batteries overnight is far less than the forced air propane furnaces. The other added benefit is you can buy one that burns gasoline if you want to heat your camper on a gas burner. They work fantastic! I figure there are hundreds of thousands of semi trucks that guys camp out in year round and these are what they use to keep warm in the middle of winter.
These photo's are from the nice gentleman I purchased it from in Colorado.
I'm not sure exactly what I want to do with the trailer. I had ideas of making it into auxiliary camping unit for my truck. Basically putting the things that I don't have room or are not practical inside the truck box in the trailer. Make a shower setup, a cooking counter, etc. I have a norcold fridge/freezer that I bought a while back that would be awesome to have onboard. The fridge in the truck is a nice setup, but for extended trips it would be nice to bring some meat or salmon or whatever. If your fishing you don't have to worry then about storing a dead fish in the same fridge as your salad and stuff.
Since the wheel wells of the trailer would kind of mess up storage anyways I think that one side will be different wood compartments for different gear and stand to hold the 15hp outboard for the zodiac. The other side will have a thin counter top, a place to hold a stove (hopefully the camp chef oven will be about the same dimensions since I already have it and hate taking it in and out of the truck every time I want to use it), and hold a few things like water jugs and such. There is so much room underneath the trailer that the possibility of water storage would be something to look into.
Driving in the lower 48 isn't such a big deal on fuel, but when we were driving the AlCan it would be nice to have some more fuel packed along with us. I could buy cheap Montana fuel and use that much of the way. It does save a decent amount of money to the point where it would justify a couple hundred dollars to buy a fuel tank. If I can find an aluminum one that mounts to the trailer in a clean way and keeps the trailer offroad capable I will bolt that on there. These m11o1's with their crazy clearance makes it easy to bolt storage underneath without having to worry about hitting anything. I guess it will be time to go through some of the forums and see what people have done in those regards.
But in reality the next major road trip is to the Pacific Northwest down to Baja then the SW and Utah where we won't bring the trailer. Following that we are hoping to be heading back to Alaska to work and live for a while so I imagine the trailer will get full of a few things that we need to furnish a house and maybe an ATV. It will be nice to have lockable storage that is also off road capable.
I could stuff my XR650r in the back of the trailer and it would be nice and safe when we traveled. There are a couple of trips I have in mind that having this trailer would be very nice.I have a couple other ideas I'm trying to sort out with the truck. Mainly storage inside. My wife has some good thoughts on it so I will solidify those in greater detail and post again one of these days.
To answer Dakota123's comment I have two diesel fired heaters installed in the truck. There is one Espar D2 airtronic heater that is a forced air heater. So far it has kept my wife and I with our 2 dogs warm down to -20 deg F. The second heater is an Espar D5 Hydronic heater. This heater preheats the engine, can heat the camper area with the heat exchanger, and when I get it plumbed in will heat water for showers or washing dishes. The reason I like these things so much is that the amount of electrical consumption on your batteries overnight is far less than the forced air propane furnaces. The other added benefit is you can buy one that burns gasoline if you want to heat your camper on a gas burner. They work fantastic! I figure there are hundreds of thousands of semi trucks that guys camp out in year round and these are what they use to keep warm in the middle of winter.
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
Nice score
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Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk