Bench building an expedition vehicle.

So obviously like most of you here I like the oddball vehicle. I really have wanted a camping/expedition vehicle for years. Now I'm flirting with the idea of a 99ish escalade or navigator, lifted 3" or 4" with full steel bumpers, roof rack, lights, ect. Whatta you guys think?

I raise you Tommy

But can it leave the pavement? 8)

To answer the bench building question, I think a first- or second-gen Trooper is the answer. For under $5k you can build a very capable and comfortable camping vehicle that will go almost anywhere. I love it so much I'm putting a bigger engine together for it—I managed to wear the original one out.

I thought Jeep was the answer to the question off road vehicles?

Cherokee, Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Trooper. Montero. Pick one and get cracking

I vote FJ40, I'll do a build blog about mine soon. If that's out of budget, fj60, or 4 runner all day long.

I want a range rover classic or p38, I know thats probably a horrible idea but it sounds fun anyway.

late 80's solid axle 4x4 suburban. cheap, durable, roomy..

If you want an expedition vehicle, look at what the sand people are using.

Toyota 4-wheel drives and land rovers.

You know, stuff that holds up to a beating and doesn't suck fuel.

Let us know how the electronic transfer case and axle disconnects in the escalade / navigator hold up when used off-road.

amg_rx7 wrote: I thought Jeep was the answer to the question off road vehicles?

Not if you want to leave north 'murica

The turtle expedition went with regular ford f350's and even then had to have parts fedex'd to them around the globe.

http://turtleexpedition.com/ Good reads.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

I was thinking escalade just for odd ball/comfort factor and because it's essentially a Yukon/Tahoe so I figured it'd have plenty of swappable gear. It's not like the Yukon/Tahoe can't hold it's own off-road so why not one with a different grill and leather.

novaderrik wrote: late 80's solid axle 4x4 suburban. cheap, durable, roomy..

This.

With the rear seats folded you have 8' of flat floor space for sleeping. 50 gallon fuel tank. Solid axles and parts available at Walmart for on the fly repairs.

Full size? Suburban. Midsized? Jeep Cherokee or Ford Explorer. The 4wd Exploders can be pretty capable, though they take a little more modification than the jeep would. The bonus is the ludicrously common and shockingly cheap parts.

Bob posted while I was typing. That is one NIIIICE burban!

Trans_Maro wrote: If you want an expedition vehicle, look at what the sand people are using. Toyota 4-wheel drives and land rovers. You know, stuff that holds up to a beating and doesn't suck fuel.

Saudi Arabia has lots of sand ... and more than their share of Suburbans.

Solid Axle burbs. While I like the newet GMT400/800 IFS trucks for the street, for an all out offroad do anything anywhere anytime I'm'a drivin' dis bish to Alaska the hard way? Solid axle square body 'burbs FTMFW.

www.expeditionportal.com

Forums are broken up into specific vehicle makes and the builds are from mild to extreme.

Land Rover Discovery Series 2 with new head gaskets and spare front u-joints roof-top tent and and and...

Mine would be '97 F-350 with camper in the bed. 7.3 Diesel for the win.

D_Howard wrote: In reply to Trans_Maro: I was thinking escalade just for odd ball/comfort factor and because it's essentially a Yukon/Tahoe so I figured it'd have plenty of swappable gear. It's not like the Yukon/Tahoe can't hold it's own off-road so why not one with a different grill and leather.

So, you want 4x4 for fun then?

I'm not trying to be a dick or anything but in 4x4 circles here, an expedition vehicle means long, relatively self-sufficient trips into the middle of no-where. Not playing around in the bush on the weekends.

There's a lot of serious 4x4 guys around here and you sure don't see many big SUV's getting used. The Toyota, Nissan and Jeep nameplates are used a lot, followed by older domestic fullsize trucks.

E250 with a 7.3 turbo diesel and 4 wheel drive. Bonus points for using a conversion van.

Terrible picture, but this was at my local Mexican joint awhile back... I wanted it so hard it hurt.

Other than a stupid high CoG I see nothing wrong with it.

I don't usually answer these things, but if its going to be outside of North America, I'd go Toyota or Land Rover. While I would be rooting for Suburban or Cherokee all the way, it's way harder to find parts for those outside of the continent. At least with the Toyota Land Cruisers and Land Rovers you can probably find part in almost every country in the world.

VW Crafter Panel Van TDI

To me, a Expedition Vehicle needs to be fuel efficicent. No sense having all that self-sufficiency if you're only getting 10mpg.