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This guy has almost all the bases covered; just needs an ultralight aircraft or helo and a bicycle/motorcycle.

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I've found something I like better than the armored car at the auction.

A few weeks ago, I stopped at the Ford store to look around. I'm not a serious customer, I don't plan on buying anything new because my existing cars are adequate. But I was interested in looking at the new Ford Bronco. They come in two sizes, a smaller one and the senior one. I was only interested in the larger one. I have to say, I liked it.

Not that long ago, there was a long waiting list to get one of these. On my visit, the dealer had four on their lot for sale. I asked how this had come about; the new reality is the market has softened and some people who had "reservations" for a new Bronco have since cancelled.

My impression was, the Bronco appears to be very capable. It also appears to be well fit together. But everything on it is extremely light weight. Like all the sheet metal. I was looking around in the engine room and when I closed the hood, I thought for a minute that I'd dented the hood where I pushed down with my hand. Fortunately, it had popped back out again.

Oh and the price? $58,000. In Wash., plus tax, that adds another close to six grand. And with a vehicle of that value, I suspect that your insurance bill is going to be way up there.
 
This is what I was referring to above - as far as armored vehicles, might work for some people. I just see them being temporarily protection. You must eventually step outside, the path could be blocked, etc. Plus I'd want something I could USE NOW, not just something IF SHTF is a reality. Something that doesn't stick out as a valuable asset.

I thought this build was pretty cool

 
I've found something I like better than the armored car at the auction.

A few weeks ago, I stopped at the Ford store to look around. I'm not a serious customer, I don't plan on buying anything new because my existing cars are adequate. But I was interested in looking at the new Ford Bronco. They come in two sizes, a smaller one and the senior one. I was only interested in the larger one. I have to say, I liked it.

Not that long ago, there was a long waiting list to get one of these. On my visit, the dealer had four on their lot for sale. I asked how this had come about; the new reality is the market has softened and some people who had "reservations" for a new Bronco have since cancelled.

My impression was, the Bronco appears to be very capable. It also appears to be well fit together. But everything on it is extremely light weight. Like all the sheet metal. I was looking around in the engine room and when I closed the hood, I thought for a minute that I'd dented the hood where I pushed down with my hand. Fortunately, it had popped back out again.

Oh and the price? $58,000. In Wash., plus tax, that adds another close to six grand. And with a vehicle of that value, I suspect that your insurance bill is going to be way up there.
Every time I think about the cost of converting my 25 year old '97 flatbed diesel powered 4x4 Dodge 3500 , to an RV, I look at a number of facts:

I paid $11K for it 10 years ago & I would pay more than $11K for it today. I could sell it for more than I paid for it. Same goes for my Toyota.

I would pay $50-$100K for a similar truck new or even used (newer than 5 years old) and that is before an RV conversion (which would add at least another $25-$50K).

My truck has no electronics controlling the engine or transmission so much less to have go wrong and easier/cheaper to fix.

It may not have near the same HP as the newer trucks but it can be bumped up enough to do what I need. It may not have the same GVWR or tow rating, but it has enough.

I don't need all the fancy stuff the new trucks have, and what they have that I do want (rear/side cams and a few other things), I can easily add.

It is not as easy to find/buy a manual transmission truck these days.

I own the truck, which means I can put $ into it as slowly as I see fit without having to borrow $ to pay for the truck and/or mods. I also don't have to have full coverage insurance because I won't have a loan.

Now sure, after mods, I will probably not be able to sell it for as much as I will put into it, but the same goes for a new/newer truck.
 
I've found something I like better than the armored car at the auction.

A few weeks ago, I stopped at the Ford store to look around. I'm not a serious customer, I don't plan on buying anything new because my existing cars are adequate. But I was interested in looking at the new Ford Bronco. They come in two sizes, a smaller one and the senior one. I was only interested in the larger one. I have to say, I liked it.

Not that long ago, there was a long waiting list to get one of these. On my visit, the dealer had four on their lot for sale. I asked how this had come about; the new reality is the market has softened and some people who had "reservations" for a new Bronco have since cancelled.

My impression was, the Bronco appears to be very capable. It also appears to be well fit together. But everything on it is extremely light weight. Like all the sheet metal. I was looking around in the engine room and when I closed the hood, I thought for a minute that I'd dented the hood where I pushed down with my hand. Fortunately, it had popped back out again.

Oh and the price? $58,000. In Wash., plus tax, that adds another close to six grand. And with a vehicle of that value, I suspect that your insurance bill is going to be way up there.
I bought a 2-door Bronco Badlands edition a month ago for $49k. 2.3 4 cylinder, 7sp manual, front & rear lockers.

The body panels are aluminum, as is the hood. It does like to flex a little. So far, I'm pretty happy with it.

Insurance was way less than I expected. Adding it to my policy with my F350 and Triumph Scrambler added $250/6 months.
 
I bought a 2-door Bronco Badlands edition a month ago for $49k. 2.3 4 cylinder, 7sp manual, front & rear lockers.

The body panels are aluminum, as is the hood. It does like to flex a little. So far, I'm pretty happy with it.

Insurance was way less than I expected. Adding it to my policy with my F350 and Triumph Scrambler added $250/6 months.
Glad to hear you like it. The two examples that I looked at were both four door versions. They had this kind of fabric-looking soft top that resembled a convertible but it wasn't. It came off as a unit. And I think the salesman told me it could be ordered with a hard top that was removable. If I remember correctly, both of these had the V6 engine and ten speed automatic transmission.

I'm thinking the coverage for collision insurance is value-based. So the more valuable the vehicle, the higher the premium. I'll have to ask around of people I know with newer outfits. Oh, and the annual tabs for new, expensive vehicles are fairly high. Wash. ins. and tabs are likely significantly higher than MT. In the Seattle metro area, which actually includes all or parts of four counties, there are transit add-ons in three of those. When a new transit issue passed the ballot a while back, I remember a lot of ruckus about new F series Ford pickup owners having annual tabs that cost maybe $1,000?
 
Glad to hear you like it. The two examples that I looked at were both four door versions. They had this kind of fabric-looking soft top that resembled a convertible but it wasn't. It came off as a unit. And I think the salesman told me it could be ordered with a hard top that was removable. If I remember correctly, both of these had the V6 engine and ten speed automatic transmission.
I strongly recommend against auto transmissions for SHTF vehicles. Almost all now have computers in the transmission and almost none of them can be bump/roll/push/tow started like a manual transmission can. I do have an 8 speed auto in my SUV (with paddle shifters too), but that is not a SHTF vehicle.

I'm thinking the coverage for collision insurance is value-based. So the more valuable the vehicle, the higher the premium. I'll have to ask around of people I know with newer outfits. Oh, and the annual tabs for new, expensive vehicles are fairly high. Wash. ins. and tabs are likely significantly higher than MT. In the Seattle metro area, which actually includes all or parts of four counties, there are transit add-ons in three of those. When a new transit issue passed the ballot a while back, I remember a lot of ruckus about new F series Ford pickup owners having annual tabs that cost maybe $1,000?
IIRC (it has been over a decade), sales tax adds up to 10% of the value, and then you add the tabs/registration which is also based on the value of the vehicle. So yeah, for some years I paid $1K+ on tabs for my vehicles when I lived in the Seattle area. Oregon is a bit more reasonable - about $200 for two years, but then income tax is about 10%, so I would rather pay sales tax than income tax - the latter was a bit of sticker shock when I moved back here.
 
Glad to hear you like it. The two examples that I looked at were both four door versions. They had this kind of fabric-looking soft top that resembled a convertible but it wasn't. It came off as a unit. And I think the salesman told me it could be ordered with a hard top that was removable. If I remember correctly, both of these had the V6 engine and ten speed automatic transmission.

I'm thinking the coverage for collision insurance is value-based. So the more valuable the vehicle, the higher the premium. I'll have to ask around of people I know with newer outfits. Oh, and the annual tabs for new, expensive vehicles are fairly high. Wash. ins. and tabs are likely significantly higher than MT. In the Seattle metro area, which actually includes all or parts of four counties, there are transit add-ons in three of those. When a new transit issue passed the ballot a while back, I remember a lot of ruckus about new F series Ford pickup owners having annual tabs that cost maybe $1,000?
The V6 is decent, but it's not worth a nearly $4k markup to me. This 2.3 is making nearly 300HP and 330 lb/ft of torque. The V8's of the 60's through the 90's weren't making that much power! Combine that with the manual, and it gets out of it's own way just fine. I especially like the crawler gear in the manual. I can ease off the clutch without giving it any gas and it will just walk itself at around 3mph. It also gives me a ridiculously low overall gear ratio which will be nice going down the slippery mountainside at our MT property.

I'm still mostly a WA resident Tax, title & license for Snohomish County came to about $4800. WA dealers still think they are made of gold and wanted ridiculous markups over MSRP, and were mostly 4-doors. I picked this one up in Idaho.
 
This is a nice setup if I had $80k and I don't. Would prefer a 4x4 Box Truck over a Sprinter or other van. More room, some can be made fake commercial. Plus if it broke down parts are everywhere.

 
This is a nice setup if I had $80k and I don't. Would prefer a 4x4 Box Truck over a Sprinter or other van. More room, some can be made fake commercial. Plus if it broke down parts are everywhere.

Pretty cool setup except the 5.4 Triton is probably the worst motor Ford ever made.
 
This is a nice setup if I had $80k and I don't. Would prefer a 4x4 Box Truck over a Sprinter or other van. More room, some can be made fake commercial. Plus if it broke down parts are everywhere.

I would want a 6x6 Western Star or FTL. I would not want anything with an automatic transmission for a SHTF vehicle, or even just for going off-road (at least not in the boonies).

I saw a FTL crew cab 6x6 maintenance truck that had a damaged cab (I think a log loader hit it with a log) - replacing the cab would be about $10K. They are out there, as are the boxes for the box trucks. There are a few RV makers that specialize in 4x4 & 6x6 RVs based on trucks like that - they start at about $100K and go above $1M.
 
For that kind of $$ my favorite would be an EarthRoamer. Made in Bend OR.

Probably overkill for most. As a former van lifer in the 80s, being discreet is a big deal unless you plan to always avoid the big city and are set up for true off-grid travels.

EarthRoamer now focuses more on pick up truck based rigs. This used one sold for a whopping $275k the other day on Bring A Trailer. Other bids were <$200k and the buyer hopped in and bid $275k. Mitsubishi. Still way overkill for a guy like me; no life parasites, you know, a wife, etc, lol.

EarthRoamer.png
 
For that kind of $$ my favorite would be an EarthRoamer. Made in Bend OR.

Probably overkill for most. As a former van lifer in the 80s, being discreet is a big deal unless you plan to always avoid the big city and are set up for true off-grid travels.

EarthRoamer now focuses more on pick up truck based rigs. This used one sold for a whopping $275k the other day on Bring A Trailer. Other bids were <$200k and the buyer hopped in and bid $275k. Mitsubishi. Still way overkill for a guy like me; no life parasites, you know, a wife, etc, lol.

View attachment 1394467
This is what I am starting with:

truck.jpg

'97 4x4 3500 cab chassis with 12V Cummins and manual transmission - no electronics. The steel flatbed will come off and have the largest camper I can find installed.

More or less replace the suspension, replace the steering (poorly designed), remove the vacuum operated hubs and replace them with manual hubs, plus replace the bearings/etc. with rebuildable ones. Install 19.5" wheels/tires (maybe super singles on the rear).

Have the engine slightly worked over and install propane fumigation. Replace the transmission (5th gear is gone - endemic with these trucks) - maybe with something a lot more sturdy - maybe just a 6 speed from a newer truck.

parking.jpg
 
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I bought a 2-door Bronco Badlands edition a month ago for $49k. 2.3 4 cylinder, 7sp manual, front & rear lockers.

The body panels are aluminum, as is the hood. It does like to flex a little. So far, I'm pretty happy with it.

Insurance was way less than I expected. Adding it to my policy with my F350 and Triumph Scrambler added $250/6 months.
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