Expedition Vehicle selection thoughts?

gregmchugh

Observer
GXV never replies to emails, they must be swamped with orders! Anyone have experience with them?

They are very busy and expanding with a recent move to a large building that they remodeled in Springfield and they are in the process of adding more people and equipment. When I was last there they were working on several new Kenworth Patagonia’s...
 

Rufus

New member
I have to chuckle at all of the just plain wrong information bandied about in this thread. Zybane....do yourself a favor, attend Expo West and talk to owners of various expedition vehicles. Yes, owners, not manufacturers or sellers. Most of us are more than happy to let you take a look inside and check out the things you are concerned with....lockers, engines, comfort, diesel cooktops, etc... We’ll share our experiences with you and that includes our vehicle’s capabilities as well as limitations. The one thing that will help you most with your search is the fact that there is no one perfect vehicle; life is full of compromises. And the biggest compromise you’ll face is the amount of money in your bank account.
 
Earthroamer and GXV, in alphabetical order, are the obvious choices in North America... You can buy new or used for that price depending on the options...

GXV, Imho, is top dog right now for value and quality

The Ford f550 chassis is a great platform for a 25' rig... Over 25'.. not so much... The new 6.7 is very quiet... Or the Kenworth that GXV is using would make for a great 25' rig.. also a quiet engine...

Or you can get a sweet 4x4 van (e350 if you want front and rear lockers) from a number of great vendors... and keep at least 100k in your pocket for whatever you want..
Another choice is excap.de Steyr 12M18 re-mfg’d with KrugXP camper. But 25% duty on chassis, 2.5% on camper.
 

Zybane

Active member
Another choice is excap.de Steyr 12M18 re-mfg’d with KrugXP camper. But 25% duty on chassis, 2.5% on camper.

Yes that would be the ideal setup. But I think that boat has sailed. Excap 12M18's seem to be spoken for years, and prices are now approaching $150K optioned. I've been speaking with Krug, as IMO they are clearly the best cabin/price builder out there at the moment. Jorg has steered me away from 12M18's and towards LMTV's, but he thinks you cannot even get lockers for them anymore. Marrying up a European cabin with an uncertain US LMTV build over here with no truck modifications by the cabin builder is too large a project for me. LMTV just has too many pitfalls vs the 12M18.

Earthroamer and GXV, in alphabetical order, are the obvious choices in North America... You can buy new or used for that price depending on the options...

GXV, Imho, is top dog right now for value and quality

The Ford f550 chassis is a great platform for a 25' rig... Over 25'.. not so much... The new 6.7 is very quiet... Or the Kenworth that GXV is using would make for a great 25' rig.. also a quiet engine...

Or you can get a sweet 4x4 van (e350 if you want front and rear lockers) from a number of great vendors... and keep at least 100k in your pocket for whatever you want..

I haven't counted out the F450/550 chassis, especially since you can now get front and rear lockers for them. They would obviously be the best highway and daily driver machines, but length overall seems to be their achilles heel.

As for overall cabin/truck build, nothing off the shelf fits my needs. Not even a half million dollar new Earthroamer, which I couldn't afford anyway. My budget went from $250K, to $300K, now to 1/3rd mil and cannot go any higher. A custom small GXV or Overland Explorer may be the path to go down as I could at least customize the floorplan and get exactly what I need for my meager money. ;)

I have to chuckle at all of the just plain wrong information bandied about in this thread. Zybane....do yourself a favor, attend Expo West and talk to owners of various expedition vehicles. Yes, owners, not manufacturers or sellers. Most of us are more than happy to let you take a look inside and check out the things you are concerned with....lockers, engines, comfort, diesel cooktops, etc... We’ll share our experiences with you and that includes our vehicle’s capabilities as well as limitations. The one thing that will help you most with your search is the fact that there is no one perfect vehicle; life is full of compromises. And the biggest compromise you’ll face is the amount of money in your bank account.

Haha so true. I like straight shooters like yourself and hope to meet some of you at Expo West.
 

Darwin

Explorer
If you are considering a non cabover truck like Ram 5500 for example, definately go with a single cab like Davidl13 mentions, you decrease your overall length going that route. Unless you have a few kids, the single cab makes a lot more sense.
 

LovinPSDs

Adventurer
If you are considering a non cabover truck like Ram 5500 for example, definitely go with a single cab like Davidl13 mentions, you decrease your overall length going that route. Unless you have a few kids, the single cab makes a lot more sense.

Anyone traveling with more than 2 people still buying regular cabs and sticking belts in the dinette like a motorhome? Would cut length and weight for sure...
 

gregmchugh

Observer
True, but who in the world would sit it in those seats? A singular short trip, sure, but if you are traveling with more than 2 people, for real travel, a crew cab is needed... it is one of the limitations of the kenworth and fmtv , single cabs only

We have two seatbelts on the bench seat in the front of the cabin in our Kenworth Patagonia and with the large pass through there is a nice view out the front. You are facing to the side but a nice view out the front in any case. You can also have the table in front of you while you travel. We expect to use it sometimes for traveling with other adults or our grand kids. In our configuration there is only the one bed so the visitors get to sleep in a tent...

You can see it in these pictures...

http://globalxvehicles.com/patagonia/patagonia-on-kenworth-2017-2/
 
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Zybane

Active member
31172271_854026994785064_7183089441123074048_n.jpg


31168701_854026921451738_965011153488969728_n.jpg


Consider my interest piqued!
 

gregmchugh

Observer
I saw that Unimog posted on a Facebook. It is nice to see something with a more modern design than the typical expedition truck.

Here is another interesting one touring the world and in the US now, not really a camper but pretty futuristic...

 

Joe917

Explorer
The "modern design" looks like a fiberglass trailer mounted on the mog. Cheap windows and that awning will be ripped off by the first tree branch!
 

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