Hi
We have decided to sell up and go traveling by some form of 4x4. We are currently resident in France and intend to go to India and around -Mongolia, China, Aus perhaps and the rest for a few years off the roundabout.
We intend to leave in 2 years which will hopefully give us time to prepare and by which time our daughter will be 5.
At the moment we are researching like mad for the right vehicle to take us on the trip, keep us safe and bring us back.
We have already been recommended Tatra 813 but to my eyes that is rather too extreme. LR are out as we want to be able to live aboard and keep warm inside when in the cooler climes. I have seen a DAF FAV 1800 old fire engine which looks like it could do the job and even a MAN 17,192 which has been kitted out for Africa.
We want to be able to get to places off hte beaten track. I am an Ethnomusicologist and want to meet, play and record with locals in the places we visit.
Well, I will be interested to hear from anyone who can offer us advice on vehicle choice or anything else you think we should know.
Thanks
Gavin

Welcome aboard ........

I can't advise on the vehicle I'm afraid, but I am doing a similar trip in 2009. Your welcome to contact me for any questions or check out our website, www.jollyfollies.com

If you want you can email me on the email address on the website and I'll answer any questions that I can.

You've got plenty of time and theres tonnes of info out there. The hard part is figuring out which bit applies to you.

Good lcuk, and maybe our paths will cross

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Ollie

www.jollyfollies.com

Land's End to Sydney 2009

I have though how relaxing it would be to drive my tractor around towing a 'gypsy caravan' ( constructed for off road of course) . Naturally you would not move fast and have to stick to the smaller roads in west europe. But if you carry a few simple instruments ( eg, plough, cultivator) you could do favours for the locals as you travel through the countryside). I say this because you said you wante dto spend years 'travelling' and i took from that the travelling was more important than ticking off some list of destinations.

maybe i spend too much time on my tractor

put russian trucks into a search engine, there is a guy in cambridge selling Ural trucks with a rear body on and minimal mileage, ex DDr stock and the puppies bits, and about half the price I expected. Also look at witham specialist vehicles. the reynolds broughton makes a good base for a mid size camper. don't go for a bedford unless you want to be overtaken by OLDBMW in his tractor! he will also be more comfortable and less damaged when he gets there! ex military dafs and mercs can be a good buy though. the ex military route is your cheapest but if you have money to burnm, or just want to look at some ideas then look at UNICAT. a second hand palace on wheels will set you back about 200E put search words into this site like truck camper and you will come accross lots of previous discussion regarding this. put the same words (or similar) into a normal search engine and you wil come across hundreds of options ranging from the cheap to the expensive to the ridiculous.

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014

Hey Gavin,

We're also in france, planning a similar trip, also in 2 years - at which point our kids will be 9 and 6. We should trade notes!

Best,
Brenda

Hello Gavin, Hello Brenda,
congratulations! Getting everyone in the family to agree to WHEN is a major step. I find it brave to want to sell, we’re looking at renting our house so that we have something to come back to. But our WHEN is being put off by worries about not being able to bail out the kid(s) with some pocket money at university; (our first is only 17months old) talk about forward planning!
To see a bit about family life on the road check out anautica.free.fr Nice truck too.
Do you know about ‘l’association des camping cars sur les routes de la soie et du monde’? (www.camping-car-monde.fr) They often have members heading out east in all sorts of vehicles, even in ordinary 2wd motorhomes.

Vehicle: We were very comfortable 2up in our Daily 4x4 around western Africa. They’re a good, reliable vehicle, ours is coachbuilt (2.2m wide)and has a permanent double as well as a dinette which converts into a bed (+ the normal motorhome comforts). Problem is that the long wheel base (3.2m) ones like ours are extremely rare, and there’s not much space in the vans. Remarkably capable too, we had no trouble following a 90 on the boggy flood plain of Oued Draa.

BUT As we intend to expand the family the Daily has to go, I’m also looking at the Tatra, which is the ideal bigger base vehicle. Their tarmac towing capacity is 100T so you can be pretty sure the drivetrain will outlast you. The central spine means the chassis just doesn’t twist, so you can bolt the box straight onto the chassis. This means one can use a secondhand refrigerated lorry body directly without the fangled pivot mounting for off roading ( www.extremecamper.com www.unicat.net etc.) Also simplifying the access cab-box.
The big headache with the Tatra and other ex-Soviet block trucks is their consumption. I haven’t bought my 813 Kolos yet because I can’t be sure that the French licensing authority will accept a Tatra with a RenaultMerc etc. engine (mechanically very easy to do as the engine is separate from the gearbox) as the original non-turbo 17litre V12 drinks about 50 l/100km! I would be happy with the 25-30 that the long distance 40 tonne truckers get out of their 350hp units. My decisions are also helped by how much diesel you can buy with the saving of not buying a loverly new MAN 4x4 (as much as 200000km!).
A smaller oldtimer option (still 2m wide) is the Tatra 805; from which the Pinzgauer was copied (and improved, apart from the width)

More places you could look for, or just at, trucks: (all www)
besko.nl
aignertrucks.de
truck4x4.it
camion4x4.fr
padh.de
tanksforsale.co.uk

For complete vehicles: (drool)
langerundbock.de
actionmobil.at

As you might have guessed I have reflected long and hard over this truck project, it’s getting closer but not fast enough! It comes back to the WHEN. More inspiration (for my wife) from mums like Brenda and Gavin's wife is needed.
Pity France is so big, what with work and that, a get-together is difficult at these distances. I’m next to Grenoble, are either of you ever in the region?

Happy planning

Luke

Hi Gavin & Family, looks like your setting your self up for a great adventure. I am also planning an overland trip but for me it will be at least three years before i can go. I have recently started converting a Bedford MJ 4x4 truck using the military office body which was designed to fit on that truck, internal dimensions are aprox 14ftx7ft`7in. After a fair bit of research on various trucks i bought the MJ because it has a reputation for reliability, is very robust, is very simple (no fancy electronics) and it is quite economic 15mpg on tarmac is achievable and they are not expensive to buy and spares are readily available in the UK. The down side is they are slow, but if your "off the beaten track" it will be fast enough, if you want to blast down the motorway to your destination look elsewhere ! another minus for me was the size of the box body i would have prefered one just a few feet longer but did`nt want to get into making special mounts etc, fitting a box that was`nt made for off roading and the overhang at the rear would also reduce it`s off roading abilities (angle of departure). At the end of the day it`s the travel that counts not the truck dont spend all your time and more importantly your money on the vehicle, save it for the travel. The way i look at it is , I want a half way decent truck with a nice living quarter but not that immaculate that i`m affraid to use it. Just my thoughts (ramblings), good luck with your plans and pop a posting here occasionally to keep us informed, regards ......Marty

But thinking of something just a tad smaller than some of you lot. The idea is Paris to Peking by Panda (yes a FIAT PANDA 4x4) the route at the moment is Belgium, Germany, Czech Rep. Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakstan, Russia, Mongolia, and China, but who knows I may abandon China if what I've been reading about driving is true.

Anyway I thought I'd say hi to the fellow Frenchies here.

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One for Oldbmw, how about your gypsy caravan with horse removed and a lister diesel powered horse sustituted, engine from a cement mixer or similar driving a mini sized wheel between the shafts, it would be slow but steady and it would burn anything from chip fat to diesel, Just think of those clay baked hedgehogs and balmy evenings with the violin! mmmmm

Think I will stick to the Massy ferguson with roof and cabin