This is awesome! Subscribed. My wife and I along with our two kids ages 3 and 1 are planning to leave in a year or so. We plan to explore all 50 states, all the NPs and drive many of the classic US overland routes as well. I’ll definitely be following along with your series. The F550 seems like a great platform although I am leaning towards an Isuzu NPR chassis with a 4x4 conversion.
Right on! Same game plan here :) Lots of options for chassis selection, took us a while to decide on the F550. We were looking for comfortable driving. The turning radius is quite good, and if you back into a parking spot where the rear can overhang, it fits surprisingly well.
Hi and great job on your project! You may be too busy getting things done to answer this and I understand :-). My questions are more about the F550, the flatbed you chose for it and the thought processes behind your decisions. And yes, a crazy amount of questions I'm asking here! --Was wondering if you might be able to speak to the how and why you acquired the F550 base to begin your build? I ask because I've had a F350 crew cab 4x4 DRW with a large Lance camper for 15 years and now that I'm retiring will move to either a F550 or Ram 5500 based set up. I think I'm essentially where you were right before you purchased your Ford truck, trying to figure which truck, what suspension and what type of flatbed to use. Some specific questions that come to mind: 1) What flatbed did you use and is it torsionally isolated from the truck frame? Did you engineer this yourself or go with an existing solution from a third party? 2) The pass through in your 550, did you (can you?) buy it from Ford with that pass through already in place and finished or did you have it fashioned by a third party (or yourself)? If done by a third party, was it difficult to find someone to do this mod? --A pass through like this I what I envision. 3) How did you decide to go with Liquid Spring vs. a Kelderman air system vs. the stock suspension setup? Liquid Spring is so cool but of course introduces much in the way of electronics, mechanics and hydraulics that can fail when compared to the stock suspension system which is almost by definition, fail proof. I like the liquid spring/kelderman concept but when evaluating the added complexity and failure modes and the nature of the vehicle (being necessarily far away from help and likely on dirt roads), I don't know how to judge whether to add a complex system like these. 4) Did you have the Liquid Spring install done concurrently with the switch over to the Super Single set up? 5) Did you by used or go to a dealer and by new, spec'ing out all that you wanted? Thanks!
@extox Sorry for the late reply! Great questions!! Go with the 550 or 5500. "I have so much extra GVWR" said no one ever. :) 1) Jake designed the torsion frame. The "Ultimate Overlanding Rig" video that we just published has a bunch more detail on that. If there is interest, we can make another video on just torsion frames. He has a lot to say about them! 2) You can't buy a pass through from Ford, but there are plenty of upfitters around who do that. We had that done by an upfitter and we love the functionality of the pass through. 3) When we put LiquidSpring on it seemed like no one was really doing it yet in the overlanding world. They have been on ambulances for quite a while. Now lots of people are. As an engineer, Jake feels comfortable with the level of complexity. After all, modern vehicles are driven by computers and are highly complex. The LiquidSpring performed beautifully on brutal roads in Alaska and Canada and we're incredibly happy with it. 4) Yes. :) 5) We bought new and spec'ed out a heavier duty axle etc. Thanks so much for the questions and again - sorry we're so late in replying!!
One thing I haven't seen a video of yet is how you found your truck, and what mods you made to the vehicle/suspension (did it come with super singles or did you add them? did you add a leveling system of any kind?). Loving what you've done!
Thanks for your feedback! Some of your questions are covered in our latest exterior walk around video. We just bought the chassis cab from a dealer new, and ordered several options, particularly the extra payload. We had an upfitter covert to super singles and add liquid spring. The LS can be used for front back leveling, but they are going to release camp mode that will adjust each corner. We also just use traction boards sometimes to raise a corner.
@@disappointmentranch Thanks....also do you like the Liquid Spring suspension. I am thinking of getting the same truck and suspension. What fuel mileage do you get with the truck?
The only drive so far was back from the up fitter ~600 miles. The Liquid Spring is amazing, and I highly recommend it! MPG was around 8 - new engine, winter driving with some high winds, some slow traffic, etc. although I don’t expect too much better.
Congratulations on the new video! Well done and can't wait to watch more!!!
Great information! Thank you. We are just in the planning stages. We would also like to build our own rig on an F550. So much to learn and consider…
Finally an adventure rv build with a family prospective.
Thanks for your comment - yes there is a lot going on for 2 person rigs, and we are excited to figure it out for 4!
Congratulations and I hope you will build a earth roamer alike rig for half of the price.
Good luck 👍
Thanks 👍
This is awesome! Subscribed.
My wife and I along with our two kids ages 3 and 1 are planning to leave in a year or so. We plan to explore all 50 states, all the NPs and drive many of the classic US overland routes as well. I’ll definitely be following along with your series. The F550 seems like a great platform although I am leaning towards an Isuzu NPR chassis with a 4x4 conversion.
Right on! Same game plan here :) Lots of options for chassis selection, took us a while to decide on the F550. We were looking for comfortable driving. The turning radius is quite good, and if you back into a parking spot where the rear can overhang, it fits surprisingly well.
where do you find the frame extensions?
Hi and great job on your project!
You may be too busy getting things done to answer this and I understand :-). My questions are more about the F550, the flatbed you chose for it and the thought processes behind your decisions. And yes, a crazy amount of questions I'm asking here!
--Was wondering if you might be able to speak to the how and why you acquired the F550 base to begin your build? I ask because I've had a F350 crew cab 4x4 DRW with a large Lance camper for 15 years and now that I'm retiring will move to either a F550 or Ram 5500 based set up. I think I'm essentially where you were right before you purchased your Ford truck, trying to figure which truck, what suspension and what type of flatbed to use.
Some specific questions that come to mind:
1) What flatbed did you use and is it torsionally isolated from the truck frame? Did you engineer this yourself or go with an existing solution from a third party?
2) The pass through in your 550, did you (can you?) buy it from Ford with that pass through already in place and finished or did you have it fashioned by a third party (or yourself)? If done by a third party, was it difficult to find someone to do this mod? --A pass through like this I what I envision.
3) How did you decide to go with Liquid Spring vs. a Kelderman air system vs. the stock suspension setup? Liquid Spring is so cool but of course introduces much in the way of electronics, mechanics and hydraulics that can fail when compared to the stock suspension system which is almost by definition, fail proof. I like the liquid spring/kelderman concept but when evaluating the added complexity and failure modes and the nature of the vehicle (being necessarily far away from help and likely on dirt roads), I don't know how to judge whether to add a complex system like these.
4) Did you have the Liquid Spring install done concurrently with the switch over to the Super Single set up?
5) Did you by used or go to a dealer and by new, spec'ing out all that you wanted?
Thanks!
@extox Sorry for the late reply! Great questions!! Go with the 550 or 5500. "I have so much extra GVWR" said no one ever. :)
1) Jake designed the torsion frame. The "Ultimate Overlanding Rig" video that we just published has a bunch more detail on that. If there is interest, we can make another video on just torsion frames. He has a lot to say about them!
2) You can't buy a pass through from Ford, but there are plenty of upfitters around who do that. We had that done by an upfitter and we love the functionality of the pass through.
3) When we put LiquidSpring on it seemed like no one was really doing it yet in the overlanding world. They have been on ambulances for quite a while. Now lots of people are. As an engineer, Jake feels comfortable with the level of complexity. After all, modern vehicles are driven by computers and are highly complex. The LiquidSpring performed beautifully on brutal roads in Alaska and Canada and we're incredibly happy with it.
4) Yes. :)
5) We bought new and spec'ed out a heavier duty axle etc.
Thanks so much for the questions and again - sorry we're so late in replying!!
One thing I haven't seen a video of yet is how you found your truck, and what mods you made to the vehicle/suspension (did it come with super singles or did you add them? did you add a leveling system of any kind?).
Loving what you've done!
Thanks for your feedback!
Some of your questions are covered in our latest exterior walk around video. We just bought the chassis cab from a dealer new, and ordered several options, particularly the extra payload. We had an upfitter covert to super singles and add liquid spring. The LS can be used for front back leveling, but they are going to release camp mode that will adjust each corner. We also just use traction boards sometimes to raise a corner.
@@disappointmentranchThanks!
♥️♥️♥️♥️
Subscribed, working on similar project for family of 4. May I know the chassis and wheelbase size you went with?
We used the F550 with 203" wheelbase. Just posted exterior walk around videos.
What size is the box space....without the main bed compartment over the cab?
The main floor section is 14’ (outside dimension), cab over is 6’ long.
@@disappointmentranch Thanks....also do you like the Liquid Spring suspension. I am thinking of getting the same truck and suspension. What fuel mileage do you get with the truck?
The only drive so far was back from the up fitter ~600 miles. The Liquid Spring is amazing, and I highly recommend it! MPG was around 8 - new engine, winter driving with some high winds, some slow traffic, etc. although I don’t expect too much better.