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How to Build or Buy an Expedition Vehicle – Part 1

Have you ever built an expedition vehicle from scratch? Well, neither have I, but I am trying anyway. I am not new to overlanding, but it has been a long time since I was actually out there. A very long time. Since fall 2019 my life has changed dramatically and I came to realize that I have not really lived my life for many years. I existed. I functioned, but that is about it.

It is time to change that.

Since 2019 I went through a lot of adversity – including both my parents dying within a span of 4 months during COVID. During the process of mental healing and recovery I regained my love for the outdoors. I have always loved road trips and the desire grew to be back on the road again.

It may sound crazy, but I already did Van-Life back in 1990 – long before Instagram and YouTube made Van-Life a thing. During the pandemic, I started hatching out an initial plan to by a van and build it out myself. I wanted to be able to go to places that are fairly remote and reconnect with myself and with nature. But through my research I realized that vans have limitations in regards to where they can go and so I started researching offroad trailers, offroad vans, offroad vehicles, offroad campers, and so on.

Vanlife 1990 near Seattle, Wa.

Then I discovered even more travel destinations that are only accessible by high-clearance 4×4 vehicles, and a picture started forming in my head. I wanted an offroad capable 4×4 vehicle that would provide shelter and offer a decent level of amenities to be comfortable on the road and on the trail. To make things short – I wanted an Expedition Vehicle.

Of course, my Internet research brought up super-expensive expedition vehicles like the EartRoamer trucks and I quickly came to realize that my finances cannot support such a fantastic vehicle. Initially, I thought I should get something really nice for $100,000 but boy, was I wrong. Of course, you can get used expedition vehicles, but even some of those are still way above $100,000 and they are 10-15 years old.

In 2022 an opportunity opened up to sell my house and rent another house 500 feet down the street for a reasonable price. I still owed 50% of the house + $110,000 to my ex-wife, but with the housing market being out of control, a sale would allow me to pay her out and put me into a much better financial position having a good amount of money left for myself. The house sold for a record price for the neighborhood it was in and even with losing a lot of the money to my ex-wife, it left me with almost $270,000 after all the fees and payments.

Earthroamer – picture taken 2009 in Alaska

I am quite willing to take risks in life and now, with more funds in my pocket, I was willing to do it again. I am not a gambler, and I weigh my options and in this case, I felt good about the decision to use a significant amount of my money to turn a crazy dream into reality.

I could have taken the money from my house sale and bought another house, but neither house prices nor interest rates were in my favor. Of course, I could have moved to cheaper areas in the country and bought a house there, but I prefer life in the Western United States and there were very few places where my money would allow me to buy something decent and not carry a mortgage. I did not want to take out a mortgage and be stuck in the rat race for another 15 years or so.

But I had a plan. For one, I had a plan to build an expedition vehicle and second, I had a plan how to go about my finances and my income. I felt comfortable with both plans and decided that the benefits of travel would outweigh the risks of ending up with an empty bank account and no place to live.

The Expedition Vehicle

In 2020 Ford released a new model of the Super Duty pickup truck – the Tremor. The Tremor was an improved, offroad-capable version of the F250/F350 Super Duty pickup truck to be specific. At the time of when I sold my house, my research had already shifted from looking for vans to finding a pickup truck and so the Tremor came at the right time. By 2022 the F250 Tremor had already been improved compared to the 2020 model and I was ready to buy one. However, due to the pandemic vehicle prices had sky-rocketed and popular vehicles were difficult to get by and that included the Tremor.

I used Ford’s website to search all across the United States to find a 2022 F250 Tremor model that would fit my needs and wants. Here is a list of what were must-haves for me:

  • 2022 Ford F250 or F350 Tremor with the Lariat Ultimate package or better
  • 7.3 Liter Gas “Godzilla” engine
  • Heated and ventilated seats
  • 397 amp Alternator
  • Dual-Batteries
  • Middle Console
  • LED Headlights

There were also nice-to-haves and here is that list:

  • Power Moonroof
  • Ford Performance Winch
  • Black Appearance Package
  • Rain-sensing Windshield wiper
  • Power Running Boards
  • 360 Camera System
  • Tough-Bed Spray-In Bedliner
  • White paint color

But finding a truck like this was challenging. The trucks were out there for sure, but the different dealerships were taking advantage of their customers and the market situation. The highest markup I “found” was $30,000 on top of MSRP. Some dealerships had a more moderate markup than that but then wanted ridiculous pricing for dealer add-on packages. A Ford dealership in San Antonio, Texas wanted $6,000 for a “Texas Protection Package”. This package was made of tinted windows and a clear coat.

After searching for 5 weeks, I took a break from this frustrating search, but one Friday afternoon in late July, I started again, and it felt like a miracle – within one hour of searching and reaching out to dealerships across the country I found a black 2022 Ford F250 Tremor at a dealership in Heber City, Utah. I contacted them and the first thing the sales rep mentioned was they do NOT charge any markups and that there were no dealer add-on packages either. Without hesitation, I said, “You just sold a truck. How do I make a down payment?”. A week later I drove from San Diego to Heber City (outside of Salt Lake City) to pick up my new truck.

I was stoked. I had a truck. I now had a platform to build an expedition vehicle. But I needed help. I am no car mechanic and while I can do some work on vehicles, there are things that I will not touch. So, I started searching for offroad shops in my area and I ran into Basil’s Garage right here in Vista, California where I lived. I jumped into the truck and visited Basil. There is only one chance for a first impression and oh Boy – Basil’s Garage did not disappoint. We talked shop for about 45 minutes and a few days later I placed a first order for a $3,000 upgrade to the truck (with many more to come in the future). So, I had a platform, but now I needed a home on wheels, too. I had settled on buying a truck camper, but I was not ready to pull the trigger on a flatbed camper. The truck was brand-new and removing the bed to put a flatbed camper on it did sound scary.,

I narrowed my search down to 3 possible contenders. 1) Alu-Cab with their Alu-Cabin from Tiny Tig Co in Los Angeles. 2) Four Wheel Camper Hawk (Slide-in). 3) Supertramp Campers Flagship LT (Slide-in). I visited all three companies and spent a lot of time researching and weighing each option. I really like the Alu-Cab for it rugged look and sturdiness. It offered a lot of versatility and options to turn it into the ultimate offroad camper. Where it lacked for me was livability – especially in inclement weather conditions. I can work remotely, but I could not picture myself spending an 8-hour workday in the Alu-Cab. I was not looking for an office on wheels or so, but being able to be protected from wind and weather and having windows just seemed impossible. The rugged look of the Alu-Cabin was now a negative point because of the lack of windows and the lack of insulation. The offered Goose Gear build-out options were great for regular overlanders but not really suitable for a digital nomad.

Next up was a visit to Four Wheel Campers (FWC) in Rancho Cucamonga, California (their headquartered in Sacramento but have a location in Rancho Cucamonga). The moment I climbed into the FWC Hawk Slide-in I knew that this was no option for me. Not even close. The lack of storage was just too big of an issue. And I was not ready to commit to a flatbed and the flatbed version of the Hawk at that time. That would have been the only option for me. I love the build quality of the Four Wheel Campers. It’s a proven setup, maybe a bit outdated, but proven and reliable but again – I just was not ready for ripping my new pickup truck apart and switching to a flatbed.

In late August of 2022, I flew out to Denver and visited Supertramp (STC) in Golden. Supertramp is a startup using sophisticated manufacturing to build a truck camper called Flagship LT. I had seen them in videos on YouTube and loved their camper before I saw it in person. Keith, one of the owners of Supertramp, welcomed me and then walked me through the entire manufacturing hall to show me how a Supertramp camper comes to life. He then showed me a model that was ready to be picked up by a customer. The camper felt spacious and very modern. Lots of windows and lights – it was a fantastic moment to see this camper in person. There was plenty of storage, some minor limitations regarding kitchen and bathroom, but nothing that I would consider to be a showstopper. As an example, STC only offers a fairly small fridge for the Supertramp camper and while it fit the concept and idea of the camper, for long-term travel this would be a limitation. But as mentioned, none of what I saw was a showstopper. I wanted a fridge for inside my truck anyway and that would give me enough room for long-term travel. Two days later I placed my order and faced a 12-month delivery time. But that was Ok as it would allow me to slowly built out my truck to be an expedition vehicle.

In part 2 of this post I will go into more detail about the truck and what I envisioned it to be as well as my plans regarding the Supertramp Flagship LT camper.

Written by:
dtadventure
Published on:
July 16, 2023
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Categories: Expedition VehicleTags: ford f250, ford f250 tremor, ford tremor pickup truck, supertramp, supertramp camper, supertramp flagship lt, truck camper

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