![]() It doesn’t feel like a four-wheel-drive vehicle. I went with smaller tires so the spare could fit under the van. That’s why this has no roof racks, no awning, and no rear jerrican or tire carrier. With a big Fuso or a Sprinter, you can go explore Portland, but you can’t park it in the city. I like the outdoors but I also like cities. I knew I wanted a living space that was all-in-one. I found out about these vans because someone mentioned the greatness of Delicas in the comments on a Jalopnik article.Īll vehicles are a long list of compromises, the hard part is figuring out what you really need and what you don’t. Then a trailer with the Jeep, then a Ford Raptor with the trailer. I started a few years ago with a Jeep with a rooftop tent. “A few months ago, I decided to live on the road. (Chris Dixon) Vincent Bouchard, retiree and van dweller The outside shell is pretty much the way I bought it, but the inside is all me.”ġ995 Mitsubishi Delica 4×4 Turbo Diesel Van It was just countertops all the way around, and you’d put planks across to sleep. It’s got LED lighting and an exhaust fan. It had a propane RV fridge, and I took that out and put in a 12-volt fridge with 145 watts of solar for two auxiliary batteries. This Land Cruiser’s got two 35-liter water tanks and an extra fuel tank. The 35-year-old canvas is still watertight. ![]() We’re never gonna both find a vehicle we love like this.’ The camper was hand-built by a guy in Australia. So when I stumbled on this on eBay, I said, ‘This is it. But finding a rig with camper space was quite a challenge. After that, my wife really wanted a place to get indoors. Backroads, fire roads, forest service roads. “My wife and I did an ATV trip in 20, taking a small trailer from Canada all the way to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Chris Dixon) Marc Joinville, semi-retired truck driver It’ll suck water from jerricans or even right out of a stream and give you hot water in five seconds.” It has a cassette toilet and a full-size shower with a propane hot-water heater. It has front and back roll-up fire-engine doors, so that in nice weather you can open it all up. It’ll soon have a little office space with a swing-out desk, because I work remotely. It has a bed setup that will sleep two people. I built the rest of the living structure. But it does have a 22,500-pound winch on back, which I’ve used to get other vehicles unstuck and pull trees out of the yard. I have no idea how that was ever actually a road. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Vermont Overland and took it on a Class IV road. I’ve had it in Moab, and I did a trans–Labrador Newfoundland trip. I added a turbo and faster axles because it was naturally a bit slow. It was a Swiss Mountain Police vehicle with an inline six-cylinder diesel engine. But I was always fascinated with Unimogs. (Chris Dixon) Mike Ladden, restaurant owner and real estate executive And because Fusos were sold in North America, you can get parts for it here. Other than needing to soften up the suspension a bit, I love the way it drives and handles. Last night I was comfortable as could be. I’m going to build out a kitchen, but right now I just have a cot that fits perfectly and an Ikea wooden platform with a piece of foam and about 15 layers of blankets. He had walls inside the back and bars for hanging the horseshoes. It was built for a ferrier, a guy who shoed horses. “I found the truck on Craigslist in Connecticut. (Chris Dixon) Dan Carr, retired military aircraft maintenance engineer Just being out there in the mountains with the family and the mountains and those views, that was the pinnacle thus far.” This summer, my family and I did two days on the Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route starting in Damascus, Virginia, and getting off around Roanoke. So I had Apex Overland in Greensboro, North Carolina, build a steel lid. The top of the trailer had an aluminum lid that worked great, but it couldn’t support anything. I have a Tepui Kukenam Ruggedized tent, but it’s 220 pounds-and you could feel it on the top of the Jeep. ![]() “The Jeep has a three-inch lift, steel bumpers, an old Warn 8274 winch, and a Kargo Master Congo Cage on top with a Safari rack. ![]() Here are eight of our favorite overland camping machines, as described by their owners, that managed to navigate the calf-deep muck. Thanks to a day and a half of relentless chilly rain, off-road tires plowed the sodden grounds into the consistency of a Louisiana mud bog. This year’s Overland Expo East took place November 9 to 11 at the beautiful Reeb Ranch just outside Asheville, North Carolina. ![]()
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