Yeah I looked into those sorts of options, all too expensive for me. I will do this fitout for maybe $2000 all up, those slideon units can cost $20k easily.
You're right about the wind/rocking, it can be a real problem with LF but I also shoot digital and hand held so that often doesn't matter.
Correct, a 1971 F1. It has a Perkins diesel in it these days so that helps with the fuel, still only 4KPL though, dunno what that is in MPG. But we used to average 137k per WEEK, so the overall cost of fuel was not as bad as most people would think.
Sounds (and looks) like a good rig. Isuzus are great trucks and a lot of people put their engines into things like mine. I see you have put singles on the back (I assume they have duels as standard), that's a good move as well.
One word:
Pinzgauer.
Well the Haflinger which I drove a fair amount and at one stage was demonstrating just how good they could be to other Army drivers, was the forerunner of the Pinzgauer.
The Haflinger was quite a good vehicle, but it was small, I and three others using some army built handles, were able to pick it up and walk carefully with it. Basically we used to do a 180 degree turn then drive it back where it came from. All of the Haflingers I drove, always had a complimentary trailer. Without the trailer you really couldn't transport 4 people and their luggage. Luggage went into the trailer.
The Pinzgauer came in two forms, 4x4 and 6x6, I managed to drive one of the then two 6x6 Pinzgauer units in Australia. Really impressive vehicle and one that would go pretty much over the terrain any non tracked vehicle was capable of traversing. It also had an impressive 2.5 tonne load capacity, which enabled one tour company I know of in Australia to carry customers and their luggage to extremely remote and difficult to get to destinations with relative ease. The Pinzgauer could also have locking differentials applied on the fly, something that can and does make a difference as you are climbing a difficult ascent or in the middle of a river that suddenly becomes unstable underfoot
Another vehicle that pretty much gets you anywhere, and I mean anywhere, is the Australian built and conceived OKA. One issue with the OKA is that quite a few of the main components, think axles and differentials, are sourced from the USA. This can make running repairs in the bush interesting; they are non metric. One memorable short trip was when I was a passenger in an OKA around 20 years ago. About 10 of us packed inside an OKA and we took off going about 400m down a river, then turned off and headed inland to check out how the stock were fairing in a riverside paddock that was flooding. The return trip was more interesting as we were heading upstream into a flood force stream, took a bit of effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4k1ZbJS80E
Mick.
I wish we could get Land Cruisers like that in the US.
I looked at the basic Nissan those campers are based on. They are clearly made for driving on city streets and have only about six inches of ground clearance.
One of our neighbors has a Volkswagen T3 Westfalia camper. Two others have Nissan type campers. The owner of the Volkswagen T3 Westfalia camper regularly uses it on the backroads and beach camping grounds of New England. The two owners of the Nissan type campers I don't think have ever taken their vehicles off paved roads so ground clearance has nor ever will be a problem for them. In town there is one Hummer that has been highly modified for off road travel. The modifications totally for show, total absence of scratches a dead giveaway. In our town there is a public parking lot that is 1/4 paved and 3/4 dirt. Regularly see the Hummer parked in the lot but have never seen it parked on the dirt part of the lot. You have to just smile when you see new off road vehicles with snorkels on them. I was told that it was a popular add-on/accessory at a Land Rover dealer in town. Have to bet that 99% of them will never go through a puddle that rises up to the bottom of their front bumper. Next to that dealership was a short stone paved "obstacle" course with a few steep hills and side tilted places... Totally for show. Rumor was that the only time it was ever used was in the middle of the night by Jeeps.
late 60's we put a snorkle on a very basic DIY VW Mud Buggy
I shot some lost film ot the driver sitting on the roll bar steering with his feet on the steering wheel, down a deep creek
We had a lot of fun back then, here is Santa racing my brother, the far one first we built, Bus Reduction axles, steering brake, gas pipe frame
The newer one got the snorkel later
and always drove around Jeeps
sometimes we rolled sideways down hills and just took off, later we added 'window' nets to avoid broken arms
I flat towed the original to the Mojave and it may still be in use
Santa Drag Racing 1971 by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
Tin Can
The Mud Buggies were towed 2 up on a trailer behind 1970 Chevrolet Blazer in an earlier type of the Chalet Camper
The owner drove like a race driver all the time
I clearly remember telling him 'the trailer is beside us', as the whole kit was sliding on gravel at very high speed
I didn't ride with him much after that
One NYE we took Mechanics Lien junk and jumped them is a field, when they no longer ran the Blazer owner pushed them at high speed over a jump, with the Blazer snow plow
everybody was drunk
Years later I removed the 3 Way Fridge from the dead camper and used it many more years in my campers
Tin Can
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