Hi all! We are Keith & Carrie Knight traveling in our overland LMTV, affectionately named Sergeant Gray. She is a former US military vehicle that we converted ourselves to an expedition vehicle, or off road camper or RV. We are out here seeking outdoor adventures starting in our home of the good ol’ US of A with hopes of maybe taking her internationally one day.
Come along with us as we share some of her uniqueness, various parts of her build, and our adventures along the way!
Urine does go into gray water, I diverted it. The motor and switch is my third generation. The video is the latest version using a 3 rpm motor and a timer switch all mounted together on the motor mount. So when cleaning the toilet it’s just a 12volt connection.
How did you guys address the door lock on rear door ? It looks oem. Did you change the hardware so it can be locked both inside and out? Please do video Thanks
@@NOMADventures360 I did some research today and found a company called Parker h, I would think your using two cylinders per side . The question that came up was did you have to keep the length of tubing the same for each pair of cylinders?
Have you done an updated video with the completion on the top of the truck? I’m curious to know if you’ve had any binding from road debris or rain or snow ice has these affected it?
I’m pretty sure there is a finished video of the panels going out. No I haven’t had any binding, they have worked great. Although I did just replaced one of the pneumatic actuators because it had a small leak. We were actually parked with the panels out and a RV decided it needed to drive extremely close to us and caught the panels and ripped a 8 foot long gash into there camper and only leaving a white paint scuff on the frame.
@@NOMADventures360 , oh no , what happens in the case when one breaks in the out position? Is there an over ride of some kind ? Can it just be pushed in ? How do you even get up there to do that if that’s the case ..lol Sorry for so may questions, I’m in the market to get one and a lot of what you did is very thought out and well executed. Tires concern me though, they seem VERY expensive!
Wow what an amazing LMTV conversion! I'm also looking to do one and never seen these rims on the LMTV and also still has the CTIS. Could you tell which rims this are and how you didi it?
The military uses them on the Himar vehicle which is our vehicle with rocket launchers on the rear. On steel soldiers look up LMTV fmtv aluminum wheels. I did a pretty big right up on it.
Are you a veteran? Your plate looked similar to the Army plate emblem. If so were you a mechanic on lmtvs? We are selling the house and contemplating an lmtv build. I was liscenced in lmtvs but was mostly on humvees, m113s, and Bradleys as a Cavalry Scout. Your truck is super clean and the best build I've seen yet. I'm wondering the maintenance schedule on these, and how reliable they are. Oh, my f150 is similar in color to your rig, love it. Thanks for sharing with us.
I was a machinist in the Army, turned into an engineer that also builds everything myself. I do all the mechanical repairs on the LMTV. If you get one I suggest 2001 or newer. They are old and require lots of maintenance. Currently rebuilding both axles and installing eco hubs. All the axle seals were starting to leak. But with proper maintenance they can be reliable.
@NOMADventures360 awesome. It's good to see a veteran living life and inspiring others. The outdoors are part of my healing process after Iraq and Afghanistan. You're doing good stuff, and your rig is literally our favorite of all. Ever thought about overland expo and maybe building rigs to sell?
Thanks again I try hard excellence, I’m a desert storm vet. Went to overland east in Virginia last October show cases it in the DIY section also the last 2 years at the Southeast Adventure Vehicle Expo. Planning to also show case it in DIY at overland west in flagstaff in may. I did originally set out to produce them but my perfectionism prevents me from doing less expensive builds and the high end market got too crowded.
@NOMADventures360 all the builders seem to be going composite. I just don't like the idea of a big white HERE I AM box. Bison was doing aluminum and now went to composite. If I lived in the camper full time or long term I'd not want to inhale VOCs 24/7. Plus aluminum you can paint or even wrap without delamination. Desert storm would have been crazy, most people never saw combat before you guys went. When I went to Iraq for the end of OIF 1 and beginning of 2 we had one senior NCO who served in Bosnia and saw the aftermath of Serbians on civilians. But nobody who'd been in combat. We started welding really bad Iraqi metal sheets we found onto our trucks to add armor. We had none and ieds were really bad. But...the added metal turned into shrapnel during explosions and caused more casualties. I was a mk19 gunner on a fiberglass humvee in the suuni triangle operating between fallujah and ramadi Sept 03-04. Left that deployment with bad TBI and struggled with memory loss and issues, still do. But I am glad to be alive.
I am wanting to do the same but my own style but first I must sell my house and also do Yall live in ARK? I am in Louisiana and I will be tackling be build by myself but would love input if yall are willing I am very impressd with your build but n pressure just thought I would ask. Great vidoes and keep them coming as it helps with my own build.
In my humble opinion, the absolute best example of an lmtv expedition rig! These trucks are such marvels of engineering, and such a fantastic platform from which to build! It's sad to see so many of them butchered and bastardized with materials and workmanship that would be an embarrassment even if found on a 1970s travel trailer. Your's Sir, is the perfect marriage of exceptional engineering and fantastic design, materials, and incredible attention to detail that these trucks deserve.. Well done!
Well thank you for the very kind words, that means a lot to me. My goal was to build it better than the military would. With the expectation of it lasting 30 years in harsh environments. And to go as big as possible on everything like fuel, water, solar, batteries….. I love a challenge and creating things that people look at and think, that’s how it supposed to be. Thanks again for the kind words.
We did literally everything ourselves, I was the engineer and manager of my brother’s custom aluminum fabrication shop and I own a machine shop. Well except final painting of the exterior and the leather upholstery for the habitat seats. But I even do all the mechanical work as well.
No my wife got it right in the very beginning of the video “dolly” then started calling it trolly 😂. But I made it myself because I couldn’t find one to purchase.
Thank you, over the past 1.5 years we’ve lived in it for 12 months. And there hasn’t been anything I would want to change with the layout and function. Just minor improvements.
@@NOMADventures360thank you for keeping the area a secret!! Loved looking at your vehicle while you were stopped at our local Walmart!! I even took pictures because of how awesome i thought it was! So cool to be randomly watching RU-vid shorts and come across this!!
Looks great. Did you buy a cruise control kit? If so, I would love a link. Thanks, be safe, and I hope yall have a great time with the stewart and stevenson.
Ours has the electronic controlled Caterpillar 3126. So adding cruise control only requires a couple switches and some wires going to the ECM. Then taking it to Caterpillar to have them turn on that option in the ECM. It’s all laid out on steel soldiers in my thread. Keith’s overland project.
@NOMADventures360 Thank you, sir. I will jump on there and have a look. We've just started our build, It's a 1085, and it also has the 3126. Can't wait to see more of yalls adventures.
Just saw your rig in mount Horeb today, so cool! My uncle is an old Vietnam green beret, he's been compiling a bunch of DOD surplus equipment & vehicles.. he's got about 50 of these trucks in various military configurations sitting in his yards, I told him a couple years ago he should build overland rigs with them lol nothing cooler.. beautiful rig guys 👌 I'm happy to see you have a channel! 👍🇺🇸🙏
@@NOMADventures360Is there any way you could let us know how much this build cost? Truck & modifications/customizations? Designs/builds by you guys? Specialty fabricators? Parts/fabrication sources? Apologies if this is prying, I'm just earnestly interested 😬 can correspond privately if you prefer 🤷
So I’m a machinist turned engineer and was managing my brother’s custom aluminum fabrication shop. I had all the tools to build it completely myself. Every aspect for a total out of pocket 120,000.
@@NOMADventures360 that is awesome lol I have a buddy who is a life long machinist & engineer (no joke) for a successful family business here in WI. He recently retired from that. We're going to build some ICF spec homes. He is the first one I sent pics of your truck to and he says "don't encourage me" 😆 I was guessing something like that might sell for around 500, but I figured if a guy did it himself he could probably put 40-60 into the conversion, but assuming you didn't pay 60 for the truck, you just over-built that thing to perfection, and by a machinists standards that's saying something lol and probably the ol' covid material costs.. 🤦
I did build it with the thought of go big and better than the rest. Make it worth way more than my investment just so in the worst case scenario I don’t lose out.
Saw your rig parked on the street in Madison, WI on my way home from work in Middleton today. I circled back around the block. Then parked my Lexus Land Cruiser a few spots up from y’all. Walked back down the street and had to take some photos. You’ll probably see me gawking over it on your exterior mounted Ring camera haha!
So if being able to travel 8 months never connecting to power and changing locations almost daily traveling 14,000 miles through 23 states isn’t overlanding what is?
