Mat Mobile
Adventurer
After many, many, many years of daydreaming, my wife and I finally found our travel vehicle. It's a 1998 Roadtrek Versatile 200, built on Chevy Express 3500.
I got it at 166,000km. The transmission has been re-built (as a preventive measure) and is still under warranty. The inside is really clean. I'll post more pictures later on.
Background
Just to give a quick background, I'm from Montreal and was lucky to have parents that loved to travel with their RV (trailer). We went all over the Canadian Maritimes (except Newfoundland), driven across Canada to Vancouver and travelled back through the Northern states, roamed around all the eastern states all the way down to Florida (but not the Keys). So it's no surprise that I have the travel bug.
My vehicle of choice has always been a van. '93 Safari AWD, '91 Lowered Astro and finally a '79 Ford (pictured below). I enjoyed a 10 year phase of Vanning but the level of perfection that was necessary just drove me crazy. And the constant tinkering alone in the cold humid garage ended it for good. It just wasn't my (*cough* wife's *cough*) thing. But we loved travelling with it and want to focus on it!
After following several blogs (Drive Nacho Drive, Desk to Glory, Song of the Road, Our Bigger Picture, etc...) we took steps to make this dream a reality. We downsized our life from a bungalow to a condo (and sold tons of stuff...) and now we're itching to go.
We evaluated several possibilities including a flatbed FWC on a Tacoma, a Palomino on a Ram with service bed, but in the end, we came back to my original dream vehicle: a Roadtrek. The main factors were because I live in Canada (rusted vehicles and crippling exchange rate).
The objective
My wife, Alfie (12lbs. Chihuahua) and I are planning the following for now:
- Summer 2017: 3 weeks in Newfoundland (trial run)
- Summer 2018: Go across Canada and Yukon
- Summer 2019: Start going south... then keep going south... until we don't feel like it anymore. The objective is to eventually reach Ushuaia.
- Someday: Ship to Europe and keep going...
- I'm not looking to convert it to 4WD (I can't say I'm not tempted though... :drool. I don't think it's necessary for what we want to do. Others will agree (check out this conversation as an example). I do plan on making sure I don't get stuck too often and that it's easy to get myself out of trouble.
- We like the idea of slow travel.
- I don't want to build this thing forever. It's gotta be at least almost done by 'Nov 2017.
- I want this vehicle to be reliable.
- I want to be able to boondock anywhere... But we'd rather pay a minimal fee to be in nature than have free Wal-Mart parking lot camping.
The build
(I will update this section with links as the build progresses.)
- Add ground clearance in the suspension (currently discussing with Weldtec).
- New tires for ground clearance that can be deflated for reasonnable beach driving.
- Powder-coated wheels.
- Solar panel with corresponding electrical system.
- Steel front bumper with winch and recovery points.
- Steel rear bumper with spare tire mount and extra fuel.
- Roof rack for surf and SUP boards (for Baja per bucket list).
- Mount for MaxxTraxx or equivalent.
- Coat running boards with Raptor liner (still debating which colour)
That's about it. The rest should be minor details.
The challenge
- Limited availability of parts for the 1996-2003 2WD Chevy Express (I wish I had found a Ford... but I love this one).
- The whole camper part is a big Fiberglass bubble. This means:
(Photo courtesy of my friend VirtualVanner)
- I don't have a garage (I sold the house) so I have to work at my friend's (to whom I lent ALL my tools long term... he owes me), in my dad's driveway or have the work done by somebody else (thankfully it's already in great condition).
Thanks for following along or if you're a fan of Instagram you can find me at @matsirois .
I got it at 166,000km. The transmission has been re-built (as a preventive measure) and is still under warranty. The inside is really clean. I'll post more pictures later on.
Background
Just to give a quick background, I'm from Montreal and was lucky to have parents that loved to travel with their RV (trailer). We went all over the Canadian Maritimes (except Newfoundland), driven across Canada to Vancouver and travelled back through the Northern states, roamed around all the eastern states all the way down to Florida (but not the Keys). So it's no surprise that I have the travel bug.
My vehicle of choice has always been a van. '93 Safari AWD, '91 Lowered Astro and finally a '79 Ford (pictured below). I enjoyed a 10 year phase of Vanning but the level of perfection that was necessary just drove me crazy. And the constant tinkering alone in the cold humid garage ended it for good. It just wasn't my (*cough* wife's *cough*) thing. But we loved travelling with it and want to focus on it!
After following several blogs (Drive Nacho Drive, Desk to Glory, Song of the Road, Our Bigger Picture, etc...) we took steps to make this dream a reality. We downsized our life from a bungalow to a condo (and sold tons of stuff...) and now we're itching to go.
We evaluated several possibilities including a flatbed FWC on a Tacoma, a Palomino on a Ram with service bed, but in the end, we came back to my original dream vehicle: a Roadtrek. The main factors were because I live in Canada (rusted vehicles and crippling exchange rate).
The objective
My wife, Alfie (12lbs. Chihuahua) and I are planning the following for now:
- Summer 2017: 3 weeks in Newfoundland (trial run)
- Summer 2018: Go across Canada and Yukon
- Summer 2019: Start going south... then keep going south... until we don't feel like it anymore. The objective is to eventually reach Ushuaia.
- Someday: Ship to Europe and keep going...
- I'm not looking to convert it to 4WD (I can't say I'm not tempted though... :drool. I don't think it's necessary for what we want to do. Others will agree (check out this conversation as an example). I do plan on making sure I don't get stuck too often and that it's easy to get myself out of trouble.
- We like the idea of slow travel.
- I don't want to build this thing forever. It's gotta be at least almost done by 'Nov 2017.
- I want this vehicle to be reliable.
- I want to be able to boondock anywhere... But we'd rather pay a minimal fee to be in nature than have free Wal-Mart parking lot camping.
The build
(I will update this section with links as the build progresses.)
- Add ground clearance in the suspension (currently discussing with Weldtec).
- New tires for ground clearance that can be deflated for reasonnable beach driving.
- Powder-coated wheels.
- Solar panel with corresponding electrical system.
- Steel front bumper with winch and recovery points.
- Steel rear bumper with spare tire mount and extra fuel.
- Roof rack for surf and SUP boards (for Baja per bucket list).
- Mount for MaxxTraxx or equivalent.
- Coat running boards with Raptor liner (still debating which colour)
That's about it. The rest should be minor details.
The challenge
- Limited availability of parts for the 1996-2003 2WD Chevy Express (I wish I had found a Ford... but I love this one).
- The whole camper part is a big Fiberglass bubble. This means:
- There's no gutters to install the standard roof racks for the surf board,
- There's no doors in the back so no hinges to install an Aluminess bumper.
(Photo courtesy of my friend VirtualVanner)
- I don't have a garage (I sold the house) so I have to work at my friend's (to whom I lent ALL my tools long term... he owes me), in my dad's driveway or have the work done by somebody else (thankfully it's already in great condition).
Thanks for following along or if you're a fan of Instagram you can find me at @matsirois .
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