Truck & Camper

Some people have asked for information regarding our Truck & Camper, So here it is:

Truck: White 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD 4×4 SRW.

The truck is a 1 Ton, Crew Cab, Long Box with single rear wheels. I purchased this vehicle new in June 2015, at the time of leaving on our trip it had 71,660kms on the odometer.

Vehicle Modifications:

LLumar security film was installed on the side and rear windows, this will make them harder to break.

A custom built bumper by Bad Ass Bumpers was installed; we also had a 17,500lb winch installed. I hope we never have to utilize the winch but it is there just in case it is needed. (http://badasscustombumpers.com/)

Auxiliary lighting was also installed; these include a pair of Baja Designs Squadron Pro LED Spot lights, a pair of Squadron Pro LED Flood lights with amber lenses to be used as Fog lights and a Baja Designs 20” LED driving combo light bar. I am impressed with the light output of the light bar and should work well for my intended use. (https://www.bajadesigns.com/)

I have installed a Titan 60 US gallon (227L) tank complete with guard. This should give a driving range of over 850 miles (1370 km) between fill-ups dependent on terrain. (http://titanfueltanks.com/)

Suspension:

An ICON Stage 4 suspension leveling kit was installed, this kit includes 2.5” diameter reservoir shocks and upper control arms that provide up to 25% more movement. To date I am happy with this installation, it smooths the corrugated sections of dirt road with no traction loss under normal acceleration without a load. (http://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/)

Wheels & Tires:

I have decided to stay with the stock alloy rims as they are designed for the loads that the vehicle is capable of carrying. I considered after market wheels but had trouble finding a style I like with the correct load rating.

Tires are +1 size up from stock BF Goodrich K02 275-R70-18’s. As they are not to aggressive and should be good on the highway and reasonable off-road.

Our Camper (which we named – Nia Domo or Domo for short) was built by Overland Expedition Vehicles (OEV) in Red Deer, Alberta. (overlandex.com/)

Camper:

We looked at various types of campers from Sportsmobile’s to Campers – Pop-Ups to Hard Sided, both slide-in and flatbed. As we refined our search, it came down to what we wanted from our camper, as this was going to be our home for the next two to three years. We decided we wanted a hard sided camper for security reasons as a pop-up with cloth sides could easily be accessed. We did not want to have to raise and lower the roof every time we arrived at a location or decided to move on. We wanted a toilet and shower, a designated bedroom area where, when the bed is made up it stays that way not folded away when not in use.

After reading OEV’s flatbed composite build of there prototype on ‘Expedition Portal’ we contacted ‘Mark’ at OEV to see the product in person. OEV’s standard build included 25gal. fresh water tank, 25gal grey water tank, cassette toilet, east/west bed, and 200W of solar power.

We were not sure of the interior layout of the prototype so decided to design our own layout using as many parts from the prototype as possible to suit our needs. We took this design to Mark who provided us with a quote. As part of our build we also wanted the following:

  • 45gal. fresh water
  • 25gal. grey water
  • 400W solar power
  • North/south bed
  • Under-bed storage
  • Queen bed with side storage (in lieu of a King bed)
  • Outside shower
  • Awning
  • Installation of a water purification system (we provided)
  • Fantastic vent fan.
  • Ladder to access the roof

OEV delivery our camper a month late due to delivery issues from suppliers, they did not have time to install out Awning or outside shower prior to us leaving. We returned in September for these to be installed. We also had a custom queen coil mattress made by Halstead in Calgary.

Our home ‘DOMO’

We will provided an update on how everything has performed to date on our Northern leg of our journey.
Next: Europe Week 1

 

 

5 thoughts on “Truck & Camper”

  1. Hello, I’ve been enjoying your travel log, and have been curious about your camper. Thank you for spending the time to write about it. It looks like a great vehicle, and it seems to be working out quite well.

    I was curious about the payload, and if you feel the 3500 truck has been sufficient to carry the camper. How much load could you put in the dry camper? It looks like you might be commenting on the camper more in a future post. Looking forward to it!

    Thanks again, and have a great trip
    Bill
    Colorado, USA

    PS, just was up to Calgary for business the -14C temps got my attention!

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