BEV Alternative Vehicles/Chassis
(Text in black was written in June/July 2006, Text in Orange was written after completion June 2007)
We considered a wide range of alternatives before deciding on the Mitsubishi / Fuso FG 140 & Bigfoot camper combination.
This is a list of our decision points, with our decisions in ( ):
For a U.S. registered vehicle in the price range of what we're willing to put into a self-insured (once we leave the U.S.) depreciating asset, that list of decisions pushed us towards:
Optimally, we preferred a foreign market rig set up for 240VAC, etc. but given our experience at land border crossings, we felt having all of our documents be consistent, i.e. same address, same country, etc. was more of a priority. If we bought a foreign chassis we would not be able to register it in the USA.
Width is a real factor in the developing nations we prefer to travel in, so the Sprinter was best in that category.
The Sprinter also had by far the best parts and service availability worldwide of these choices. Downside is very tight living space, almost zero storage and a hodgepodge custom aftermarket 4x4 conversion that would have been very expensive to implement.
We ran out of time for a custom camper box or semi-truck sleeper cab box, and their weight was prohibitive on the Mitsubishi/Fuso FG chassis.
The best compromise was a Mitsubishi/Fuso FG (Canter) 140 with a factory camper on a 3 point pivoting frame mount. Inspired by Carl & Mary Hunter's rig, we planned to use a 21' Bigfoot trailer (25B21FB), but decided on the Bigfoot 3000 series pickup camper (30C10.11FR) to facilitate space for the dirt bike "garage." The trade-off between the trailer and the pickup camper was the vertical space over the fixed bed, which we felt was under-utilized in the trailer.
The choice of a North American factory camper component forces RORO / Flatrack shipping due to its width and the Mitsubishi Fuso FG chassis has dual rear wheels, but otherwise the rig met or comes close on the other evaluation criteria.
Every boat and every expedition vehicle is a compromise. It all comes down to where you will compromise and which compromises will deliver the transportation platform that comes closest to your desired goals.
The evaluation of our alternatives was:
Toyota Land Cruiser: This was our first choice for a vehicle. We worked this alternative all the way to the end. It was no less than Christo Slee who convinced me that the LC was “great for a few weeks vacation but for what you are planning would get very small, very quick.” The LC with a roof tent would be our choice if we chose to do a “hotel to hotel” trip with very occasional camping. Steph says “I’m not a tent girl.”
Downsides that eliminated it for us:
Size - too small for our required systems
Tent - requires tent / soft side accommodations
Duration - we will be out 2-3 years and prefer a vehicle that we can live in at least 80% of the time versus one that we'd probably only live in 20% or less of the time
Sprinter The Sprinter was our top choice after the Toyota Land Cruiser. If we had gone out with 2wd, we would have used this platform.
No factory 4x4 available in North America
Very expensive, non-factory 4x4 conversion
Limited weight capacity in single rear wheel (2500) chassis (note that we ended up with a dual rear wheel chassis)
External dirt bike transport required
Earthroamer: Great concept and I like the marine grade systems a lot. It would be perfect if you were staying in North America and could afford it.
Provan Tiger We almost bought a used Tiger and were ready to put a deposit on a new one until I attempted to have some communication interaction with the owner.
Sportsmobile (we put a deposit down on one of these until we closely evaluated a friend’s unit)
UNIMOG and other huge rigs:
RUF The homemade rig at www.ki7xh.com is the guy who started RUF and built the Mitsu / Fuso based rig with the custom camper box that is at the GVWR limit http://www.ruf-inc.com/aatrec.htm . He’s abandoned the FG chassis because he puts so much weight in the camper box. He’s moved up to the Mitsu Class 5 / 6 chassis and is adding a non factory 4x4 system to it. The MOG rig was his first expedition camper rig. RUF is a one man shop, a really nice shop, but literally his garage. The owner is very responsive and tremendously more professional than Provan, but seems more focused on becoming a US competitor to the very large vehicles (see below) than the smaller rigs suitable for the small villages and developing economies that we prefer to travel in. (note that our rig ended up being OK on length but is very wide and very heavy) Darrin's company, RUF, designs and manufactures highly engineered Expedition Vehicles based on Mitsubishi Fuso products. He works closely with Mitsubishi Fuso North America and delivers only vehicles meeting their engineering, safety and regulatory standards. RUF is North America's only known source for factory approved Fuso based Expedition Vehicles. Highly recommended for well engineered Fuso based expedition vehicles.
Etc.
All of the UNIMOG and other large chassis vehicles were all too big and too expensive. They are perfect for a Paris/Dakar or London/Cape Town type excursion, which is where the Europeans are typically focused. They were not optimum for our scenario. (Note that we ended up spending a lot on this thing. Not anywhere close to what a Unicat, Actionmobil, etc. would cost, but still a lot of money. You could duplicate the basic concept of our rig for ~$100k, but we spent a lot more adding a bunch of systems, etc.)