Truck base - camper trucks

Leila75 · Member

Truck base - camper trucks

KJB · Guru

That is a fairly broad question . Are you looking at 4x4 or 2x4 , car or heavy license , slide on or built on , to be used on dirt tracks or bitumen , for use in Australia only or Internationally as well , to live in full time or to use for trips only ?

Leila75 · Member

Hi, Sorry Im not that techy. Were looking at a 4x4, heavy licence, built on (camper truck), to be used on dirt track, sand, bitumen... use in Australia and New Zealand (might go international). To live in full time. Does that help? Thanks heaps.

Leila75 · Member

Hi, Sorry Im not that techy. Were looking at a 4x4, heavy licence, built on (camper truck), to be used on dirt track, sand, bitumen... use in Australia and New Zealand (might go international). To live in full time. Does that help? Thanks heaps.

blaze · Guru

my uncle built his up on Isuzu, took duals off the rear and fitted super singles. Had no major problems I know of
cheers
blaze

KJB · Guru

I am sure there are some experienced operators on the Forum who can offer their thoughts now that the type and use of the intended vehicle is clear.

Sounds like an exciting venture.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Are you intending to build this rig yourselves, or buy a new one or buy a second hand one.
Margaret & I have an OKA based motorhome that will go pretty much anywhere in Australia (or overseas). I built it as it was the only way we could afford to get what we wanted.
The base vehicle is now 25 years old, but it is simple mechanicals and no electronics (an important feature in out choice of vehicle) and can be maintained forever.
If I were to choose a new vehicle it wold probably be an Iveco.
Other popular choices are Canters, Izuzu and MAN. The problem with these (and to a lesser extent the Iveco) is that they were designed as 2WD trucks and modified to 4WD, so typically their suspensions (even after extensive modification) are not ideal for some serious off road work.

Here are a few short video clips from various parts of Oz...
https://youtu.be/QDw7tmkk6YA
https://youtu.be/9cJg8JoTA9s
https://youtu.be/W479TUTa9NQ
https://youtu.be/tVjhkj6Sm8Q

Cheers,
Peter

Whenarewethere · Guru

This one I saw at Purnululu 2 years ago. This photo is all the info I have. It looks the part!

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Trucks are a good base compared to vans . Theres so many variables. Assuming your not 100 % into rock climbing type 4WD . I softened springs and added air bags to give extra adjustable travel on GM Workhorse platform . Any chassis type truck would be the same .

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

That is an Australian commercially built Scrubmaster, built on an Iveco.
www.caravancampingsales.com.au/editorial/details/travel-trucks-scrubmaster-53119/
The budget needs to start at $300,000 for something reasonably well prepared for long term travel.
Personally I would not choose a pop top for long term travel due to the ongoing inconvenience and loss of insulation and storage and the "claustrophobic" result created inside.
Cheers,
Peter

bgt · Guru

How much money do you want to spend? I would look at a MAN. Another alternative is one of the Ford F series. F350 4x4 or F450 4x4 would make a good starting point. RAM also have a choice of 4x4 heavy duty trucks. Both the Ford and RAM can be purchased as cab chassis.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

bgt wrote:
How much money do you want to spend? I would look at a MAN. Another alternative is one of the Ford F series. F350 4x4 or F450 4x4 would make a good starting point. RAM also have a choice of 4x4 heavy duty trucks. Both the Ford and RAM can be purchased as cab chassis.

My own view would be to leave the US vehicles alone. The mechanicals are OK, but the rest is not up to the standard of the Japanese or European stuff, in my opinion. We had a Ford F350 4WD for 12 years and expected to buy a new one for retirement. A short drive and a quick look finished that and we never looked at the US stuff again. They seemed to me to be designed for the street and not for serious bush.

Besides, there are great advantages in choosing a forward control vehicle to maximise the % of usable length. With an F250, the back of the driver's seat is about in the middle of the wheel base. In the OKA, I sit directly over the front wheel.

Right now with the AMF selling of their old Unimogs at very low prices, there is a massive temptation to convert one to a motorhome. We owned an L1300 Unimog for a very short time with this in mind some years ago. It would have been a very bad decision. There is no question that the Unimog is one of the most capable off road vehicles ever built. 90% of the world's militaries own them for very good reason. BUT the wheel track and physical size of these vehicles make them quite unsuitable for many bush tracks in Oz. Even if that was not so, the maintenance costs of these vehicles can be crippling. Militaries don't care about cost.

The money question is critical to know where to start and what the options are.

Cheers,

Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Monday 9th of March 2020 09:14:40 PM

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

Hi Leila,
One other important thing to consider is servicing, maintenance - costs & accessibility.

What happens if you have a failure of sorts? Can the mechanics at Birdsville repair it with parts that are available easily - or will you be bailed up for months while parts are coming from Germany, USA? I saw a bloke at Clermont (CQ) who was waiting several weeks for an oil filter for his F250 to come from America.

I've seen Unimogs in action on very rough roads. They do go ANYWHERE! But comfort isn't high in a standard vehicle, they are a "bit" noisy inside & maximum speed is quite low. And don't ask the price of the tyres!

bgt · Guru

Peter my brother owns a F250. IMHO it should be turned into soup cans. Very 'basic' design and quality. No 'real' support here in Australian. I owned a RAM from 2013 to 2018. It was the new Fiat designed RAM. Light years between my brothers F250 and our RAM. My point being you need to be very careful about which model and when they were built. I would have no hesitation in recommending a RAM. Especially now that they are officially supported here in Australia. The down side to a RAM is the limited versions available. A 3500 RAM cab chassis with a Cummins engines would make a fine starting point. The Cummins would be servicable all over Australia. If you were so inclined you can buy a used 3500 RAM in the USA, ship it and have it converted here in Australia by a number of firms. All for way under new price. I wish I had never sold our RAM.