Travel trucks

Leila75 · Member

Travel trucks

Possum3 · Guru

I have seen a few around Queensland and they certainly look the goods (Better looking than OKA's in my opinion) - Possibly the best re-engineered Iveco of all the "Motorhomes" but, at $275K they are beyond my expectations.
www.caravancampingsales.com.au/editorial/details/travel-trucks-scrubmaster-53119/

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

I think the Iveco would be my vehicle of choice if choosing new for this type of application. But new has the issues of electronic management systems that I prefer to avoid in remote regions.
They did have some early transmission overheating issues, but generally seem pretty good.
Personally I would never choose a pop top and diesel cook tops are not well regarded. You should not expect this vehicle to under 4.5T on the road either. Some may be, but they will be the exception.
Where are you located?
Cheers,
Peter

Tony LEE · Guru

When we looked at one of those "under 4.5 tonne" vehicles, they were quite blatant about the certainty that you could never drive it further than the bottom of the street and still keep it under legal weight.

Leila75 · Member

Thanks all Were in NSW and have seen the Earthcruiser in Wollongong and one on a camping show, but were heading to QLD to look at the manufacturers there. We are thinking of the new Iveco base as it has automatic transmission. I agree with the pop up, we didnt like the look of that, seems to take away too much cupboard space.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Leila75 wrote:
I agree with the pop up, we didnt like the look of that, seems to take away too much cupboard space.

It is not just the lack of cupboard space. Those vehicles also tend to be claustrophobic and the view to the outside is significantly restricted.

Some other random thoughts...

How much water you can carry will determine how long you can stay in remote desert areas. We carry 280L in 4 tanks. We can pick up water from creeks and cattle troughs and we chlorinate all water and then filter drinking water with a 5um sediment filter followed by a 0.5um carbon/silver filter immediately before consumption to make it potable.

We have a Webasto diesel heater for heating the hot water calorifier and for central heating. Wonderful. We can heat the bathroom on its own and that can then be used as a cloths drying room. The calorifier can also be heated via waste heat from the engine while driving meaning that we usually have lots of hot water without running the Webasto. It can also be used to pre heat the engine in cold conditions. Note that many commercial hot water radiator fans are too noisy for us and I made my own.

I would recommend installing as much solar as physically possible and using an induction cook top for cooking (plus maybe a microwave too). This can be done with AGM or lithium batteries. AGMs will be cheaper, lithium will be lighter.

A comfortable mattress is essential. Ours is N-S over the cab. Another viable option is a bed that raises up to the ceiling over the dining area.

A good quality reliable compressor is the best recovery tool. Make sure you have the pressure/load/speed tables from the manufacturer of your selected tyres to ensure that they are not destroyed by extended low pressure travel. Have the tools and develop the skills to repair your own tyres. Ensure that your tyres have a generous load margin over and above that which they will be used at.

There are several people here (including Tony who has already posted) with extensive experience with these types of vehicles, so feel free to ask any questions.

Cheers,

Peter

terriwa · Senior Member

Aside from the topic , I am interested to know how you purify your water and what are the ratios?

Thanks Greg.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

terriwa wrote:
Aside from the topic , I am interested to know how you purify your water and what are the ratios?

Add a minimum of 10ml of 6% sodium hypochlorite (common household bleach, without other additives) more if the water is suspect or temperatures are high, to each 100L of water tank capacity. I typically use double that dose. Repeat the full dose every time water is added to the tank.

Chlorine breaks down within a few days (so needs regular retreatment) and any remnant left is removed by the carbon filter.

99.9% of all town water supplies are treated with chlorine.

Cheers,

Peter

Cuppa · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

Personally I would never choose a pop top

Disclaimer - I don't have a truck based camper, but keep thinking about getting one. Probably will some day. The issue is that whatever type of vehicle you buy has limitations that others don't. In particular where you can go. We travel with a 4wd & a Tvan. Many truck campers will not go where we can go. The limiting factor of a truck is it's length & height. The length part of the equation would see us restrict ourselves to a truck camper with a maximum of 6.5 metres, preferably 6m. This immediately rules out many of the truck based campers on the market & enforces a far more basic means of travel. Add in a couple of 'luxuries' & either,or both, the height & length increase There are some mitigating factors which help. Good ground clearance- you do see a lot for sale with low steps & underbody storahge compartments which restrict ground clearance. Ok for dirt roads, not so good for tracks requiring high clearance. The shorter the rear & front overhang beyond the axles the more places you can go. Which brings us to height. The conclusion I have come to in regard to maximum accessibility is that the body height is best if no higher than the cab roof when travelling, which essentially means a poptop. Anything higher will either restrict where you can go, or will need you to carry & use the means for trimming low branches. It may be that the advantage of more cupboard space,a warmer interior, & greater roof carrying capacity is a price worth paying for restricted access. After all there are plenty of places to see in 12 months without worrying about those you can't get to, & you'll still be able to get to more places than most. I doubt that we have been many places in our current setup that Peter hasn't already been in his much taller OKA, (in fact I can only think of one likely place, but it was our favourite all time camp!). Just my thoughts - To summarise you have two choices - to choose a vehicle to take you where you want to go or to go where your vehicle can take you.

Another factor is whether you are buying for a single trip or longer term use. Both Peter & Tony who have posted here are as well travelled as anyone you are likely to meet. Both have an enormous wealth of 4wd & remote travel experience, & I imagine that this experience counts for an awful lot in where they are able to take there vehicles. Those with similar vehicles but lacking their experience may not find things quite so easy. But if you are planning long term ownership beyond the currently planned 12 month trip then you will, like them have the opportunity to build that experience.