Hi There, Have just registered on this site so will introduce myself. I am South African came to the UK in August 2015 with a plan to explore Europe and eventually drive back to South Africa after 5 years.
I bought a Landrover Defender 110 hard top in 2016 which I completely stripped and rebuilt with new galvanised Chassis, Bulkhead and all new Puma doors. We have travelled a bit with it and its been great but I'm African and a bit of a sissy when it comes to the cold, Sleeping in a roof tent in the UK winter is definitely not for warm blooded Africans. I decided I needed something that I could live/cook indoors so I bought a defender 130 which I again completely stripped and rebuilt again with all galvanised parts. I then built a demountable camper that fit on the rear. This was really great, then we started reading a lot of forums and watching a load of you tube clips of people travelling, Well this has now changed my mind and we have decided to spend a year touring across the US, Canada and Alaska before shipping the vehicle back to the UK and driving back to South Africa. With this in mind I decided that the Defender 130 was too small for a 2 year expedition, and I needed a toilet and shower if I was going to spend extended times away from campsites boondocking so to speak.
Ive now Procured an Australian Ex Defence force U1700L Unimog. It was used for carrying a 13ft container across rough terrain4x4 off-road so has a torsion free flatbed. This is great to use as a base to build a camper on. So that is where I am at the moment, Ive got a quote to have the camper built on the rear but its a hard pill to swallow at £24k just for a shell. So Ive reached out to some commercial body builders for a quote to build a refrigerated box on the back, if no luck there I may resort to self building a box on the rear.
Ill start a thread when Ive decided ow to progress.
Regards
Shayne
I bought a Landrover Defender 110 hard top in 2016 which I completely stripped and rebuilt with new galvanised Chassis, Bulkhead and all new Puma doors. We have travelled a bit with it and its been great but I'm African and a bit of a sissy when it comes to the cold, Sleeping in a roof tent in the UK winter is definitely not for warm blooded Africans. I decided I needed something that I could live/cook indoors so I bought a defender 130 which I again completely stripped and rebuilt again with all galvanised parts. I then built a demountable camper that fit on the rear. This was really great, then we started reading a lot of forums and watching a load of you tube clips of people travelling, Well this has now changed my mind and we have decided to spend a year touring across the US, Canada and Alaska before shipping the vehicle back to the UK and driving back to South Africa. With this in mind I decided that the Defender 130 was too small for a 2 year expedition, and I needed a toilet and shower if I was going to spend extended times away from campsites boondocking so to speak.
Ive now Procured an Australian Ex Defence force U1700L Unimog. It was used for carrying a 13ft container across rough terrain4x4 off-road so has a torsion free flatbed. This is great to use as a base to build a camper on. So that is where I am at the moment, Ive got a quote to have the camper built on the rear but its a hard pill to swallow at £24k just for a shell. So Ive reached out to some commercial body builders for a quote to build a refrigerated box on the back, if no luck there I may resort to self building a box on the rear.
Ill start a thread when Ive decided ow to progress.
Regards
Shayne