neduro
Member
For years, I had an E350 van with a 7.3 diesel that I took to various motorcycle rides all over the West. When I sold it with nearly 300k miles, it had been all over the US and Baja, often making AZ or CA overnight for a race or ride and then pointed directly back home.
I’ve been doing less of that kind of thing for the last few years, and had migrated to a motorhome for slower travel and riding, and a more off-road capable rig for adventures, but I find that I miss the ability to set the cruise at the speed limit plus 7 and inhale 600 miles without concern for hills, headwinds, or much of anything else. So here I go on another project.
The vision is a truck that will happily do big miles on the highway at 80+mph, that will gobble up non-technical dirt at decent speed without needing to tiptoe through the occasional rough patch, and carry a couple of motos at least, preferably inside a shell of some sort. I am not looking to rock crawl, but I do enjoy being able to traverse dirt roads quickly and comfortably (think fire roads, not jeep routes).
I’m still in the design/ decision phase, about 90% settled on a late-model Ram 2500 w a Cummins as the starting point. I have a few questions for the assembled wisdom here, but I thought it would be fun to start with a few pics of past rigs with thoughts on their strengths and weaknesses.
Questions in the next post.
After I sold the van, the first version of a travel truck was a Defender 90 I brought over from the UK in 2012. I picked it up at the port in Philadelphia and my Mom and I drove down the Blue Ridge to her house in Asheville before I headed West. A lethargic 3.5 V8 combined with a tiny gas tank made for poor average speeds, but I loved how that thing drove and turned every trip into a little mini adventure.
I wound up putting in a newer 4.0 from a Range Rover, hoping to make it more streetable, and wound up with more questions than answers. But it was fun to try.
Everybody is your friend in an old Land Rover- there is none of the stinkeye that I have experienced traveling in other mechanically interesting but possibly pretentious vehicles.
Pros:
Hysterical fun to drive
Even going to the grocery store feels like a safari
Cons:
~50mph top speed and ~150 mile range
Bring tools
FJ:
The woman I was dating at the time refused to head to Mexico in the Rover, so I bought a well set up FJ60 from a friend for a trip we had planned. The truck had a 5 speed behind the stock 2F, OME suspension, 33” tires, and a Baja Rack for the same RTT.
I had some great trips in that truck, but after a run across New Mexico into a headwind, where I was maxed at 38mph and 6mpg, I was done. I wanted something more modern.
Pros:
Utterly reliable- total emergency repairs in 40k of travel consisted of replacing a single headlight bulb.
Comfy and quiet
Cons:
Slow and inefficient- barely capable of driving with traffic
Only one moto
Enter the current rig, a 2006 Toyota Tundra. I wanted the older/ smaller model, and stumbled across a TRD with 38k miles in 2015.
I fabbed up carrier for the RTT, threw a set of Fox 2.0 shocks all around, replaced the stock tires with slightly larger BFG ATs, and have really enjoyed it, except for a couple things which I will get to.
The truck is fantastic offroad, but on the highway the transmission hunts so much that I essentially can’t use cruise control. I’m starting to want to carry/ tow more, and it doesn’t have much to recommend it in those areas, and finally, I’m offended by the 13 mpg it gets. It isn’t big enough, fast enough, or capable enough to deserve it somehow. I know it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, but there you go.
Pros:
Great off road
Totally reliable and inexpensive to own
Cons:
Mileage
Stressful to drive on the interstate as transmission hunts
Lack of towing/ payload capability.
So, onward.
Next post: Current thoughts and questions for those of you who have been living with/ overlanding the full size American trucks.
I’ve been doing less of that kind of thing for the last few years, and had migrated to a motorhome for slower travel and riding, and a more off-road capable rig for adventures, but I find that I miss the ability to set the cruise at the speed limit plus 7 and inhale 600 miles without concern for hills, headwinds, or much of anything else. So here I go on another project.
The vision is a truck that will happily do big miles on the highway at 80+mph, that will gobble up non-technical dirt at decent speed without needing to tiptoe through the occasional rough patch, and carry a couple of motos at least, preferably inside a shell of some sort. I am not looking to rock crawl, but I do enjoy being able to traverse dirt roads quickly and comfortably (think fire roads, not jeep routes).
I’m still in the design/ decision phase, about 90% settled on a late-model Ram 2500 w a Cummins as the starting point. I have a few questions for the assembled wisdom here, but I thought it would be fun to start with a few pics of past rigs with thoughts on their strengths and weaknesses.
Questions in the next post.
After I sold the van, the first version of a travel truck was a Defender 90 I brought over from the UK in 2012. I picked it up at the port in Philadelphia and my Mom and I drove down the Blue Ridge to her house in Asheville before I headed West. A lethargic 3.5 V8 combined with a tiny gas tank made for poor average speeds, but I loved how that thing drove and turned every trip into a little mini adventure.
I wound up putting in a newer 4.0 from a Range Rover, hoping to make it more streetable, and wound up with more questions than answers. But it was fun to try.
Everybody is your friend in an old Land Rover- there is none of the stinkeye that I have experienced traveling in other mechanically interesting but possibly pretentious vehicles.
Pros:
Hysterical fun to drive
Even going to the grocery store feels like a safari
Cons:
~50mph top speed and ~150 mile range
Bring tools
FJ:
The woman I was dating at the time refused to head to Mexico in the Rover, so I bought a well set up FJ60 from a friend for a trip we had planned. The truck had a 5 speed behind the stock 2F, OME suspension, 33” tires, and a Baja Rack for the same RTT.
I had some great trips in that truck, but after a run across New Mexico into a headwind, where I was maxed at 38mph and 6mpg, I was done. I wanted something more modern.
Pros:
Utterly reliable- total emergency repairs in 40k of travel consisted of replacing a single headlight bulb.
Comfy and quiet
Cons:
Slow and inefficient- barely capable of driving with traffic
Only one moto
Enter the current rig, a 2006 Toyota Tundra. I wanted the older/ smaller model, and stumbled across a TRD with 38k miles in 2015.
I fabbed up carrier for the RTT, threw a set of Fox 2.0 shocks all around, replaced the stock tires with slightly larger BFG ATs, and have really enjoyed it, except for a couple things which I will get to.
The truck is fantastic offroad, but on the highway the transmission hunts so much that I essentially can’t use cruise control. I’m starting to want to carry/ tow more, and it doesn’t have much to recommend it in those areas, and finally, I’m offended by the 13 mpg it gets. It isn’t big enough, fast enough, or capable enough to deserve it somehow. I know it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things, but there you go.
Pros:
Great off road
Totally reliable and inexpensive to own
Cons:
Mileage
Stressful to drive on the interstate as transmission hunts
Lack of towing/ payload capability.
So, onward.
Next post: Current thoughts and questions for those of you who have been living with/ overlanding the full size American trucks.
