Hello Internet. I am Christoph Puetz and I am planning to turn my 2022 Ford F250 Tremor into an expedition vehicle to take it around the world. Over the next 12 months, I will transform this pickup truck to be completely off-road capable. The Ford F250 Tremor already has a good offroad foundation, but it will not be enough for my type of travel.
In early August I picked up this truck from a dealership near Salt Lake City in Utah. From there I drove it home to Southern California. Here, the F250 Tremor will undergo upgrade after upgrade before it is ready of phase 2 of this project. In late August of 2022, I flew out to Denver, Co to visit the manufacturer of the Supertramp Flagship LT pop-up camper in Golden. Low and behold, I ordered a Supertramp camper and I am hoping to take delivery in summer of 2023.
Follow along find out all the details about the truck upgrades, the camper, and my plans to take this expedition vehicle on a journey around the world.
looks like a quality operation. 9'6 to 9'10 is a bit taller than I was expecting for a Super Duty on 37s. I would've guessed 9'0, since it's a direct mount, with no flatbed tray adding height. Also, not sure if he was giving a "roof" height or a total height, possibly including an AC unit or other.
Great video and thanks for sharing! Was wondering if you had done any research into how different flatbed companies account for the articulation needed for the camper VS the truck. I know Bowen designed some interesting springs to assist. I was curious if some of the other commercial manufacturers have some VS just bolting and welding to the frame. Also did you consider going with a cab and chassis truck as opposed to the regular truck with cab? I know the payload goes way up but also the flatbed sits significantly lower. Thanks!
Thank you for your comment and watching my video. Most flatbeds will be fixed mounted, so there is not that much choice out there. In my opinion for 95% of the people I would think this should be fine. I've been on some gnarly trails and did feel very confident in my vehicle and the Carli suspension. I had some rubbing due to lowering the flatbed height, but Basil and his crew at Basil's Garage did a great job addressing the situation. Regarding the truck question - are you referring to something like the Mitsubishi Fuso or the Isuzu trucks? I did not look into those as I am under the impression the after-market support is limiting in what you can do with them. They seem more common in Australia if I am not mistaken.
Yeah, I had seen a tour from a different RU-vidr before and then seeing it in person - it showed a lot of consistency in the way how they work. I really liked that.
I would love to talk to an owner of one of these. Ive never understood them. Ive never seen a trail that you could take these on. Except maybe a highway. Where would you go with one? Maybe an open desert or antartica I guess?
Yeah, it is interesting to see how these do in the used vehicle market. I would think a buyer for a certain vehicle in this price range comes around every 3-6 months. Anyway, thank you for stopping by and watching my video. I appreciate it.
That Dodge Ram started Earthroamer..That was Bill Swails 1st build. He almost rolled it down a cliff and earned the Nickname "The Fool". He started with a Fourwheel camper mounted on that 2nd gen. Ram diesel. Then he had that camper box custom built, that started the company you see today, one mans dream come to fruition. He did stray somewhat from the simple go anywhere truck camper design. He wrote articles for the TDR, chronicling the build, the truck and his adventures. RIP Bill
Oh, that is cool. Thank you for sharing. I admit, I only know pieces of their history. I knew the founder had died unfortunately, but did not know about the beginnings. I will pin your comment so that others can see it as well. Thank you again 😀
I'm curious can you tell like a small jeep behind the rocks monster. Seems like that would be nice for running in the town Things might be a little tight
Great Advice, "Living Space First then worry about the Rig"... in a couple years going to be moving into this similar situation where I work remotely and I plan to sell my house and all my things and go with this overland journey. I need to sleep, storage and a workspace to work during the day ... also trying to determine best toilet/shower situation for the long term solution. What would you recommend.
I made mistakes and it cost money. But funny enough, I am not freaking out about it because the learnings were plenty and the new rig is going to address all these issues. Don't shoot for perfection with your first rig. Accept that you will not get it right the first time and happiness will follow. I came to realize that I prefer having a permanent wet bath and a specific dinette setup to be productive, but also be able to relax. I prefer taking a shower daily - even if it is just a short rinse-off. I did not go with a cassette toiled on purpose. The Trelino is great. Small, comfortable, and the waste is easy to bag and discard.
Not really, even though I would have loved to. I built one out through Ford's website and if I remember correctly I was at around ~$100K or even above. Granted, I wanted the Lariat, but also some additional options. And it would have come as a dually, which would have meant to do a super singles conversion on top of it. Another things was that they only make them as Diesel trucks and that would not work for me as I want to go down to Middle- and South America at one point and it is challenging to take a newer Diesel down there.
Thx for the summary! How did you connect the Ecoflow solar panels to your Flagship? I don’t recall the Flagship having a connector for external panels. Thx!
@JackPien I had my shop (Basil's Garage) install an Anderson connector for the external panels with a custom adapter to connect the external panels. Very convenient and I had different lengths of cables so that that I could move the panels around to follow the sun during the day if needed.
How did you manage to make a 17 minute video relentlessly saying it is noisy. Maybe its because you are deaf now, but we heard you the first time you said it, no need to repeat the same point 653 times.
Thank you for the awesome review. Your are not the first to point out their fit and finish and customer support. I wish the best for them hopefully they can improve as a company. But they won’t be receiving my money. You saved me from a disappointment.
Two thumbs up on your new truck. I’m a a Toyota guy but I do like your new purchase. No way you could do what you have in mind to build with a Tundra. Good luck.
If Toyota would make a heavy duty truck I think a lot of people would make the switch. I never owned a Toyota, but their reliability seems to be superior.
I built it to travel a lot of off-road trails, not just forest roads or so. The new rig will be equally as good, just a tiny little bit longer (and more comfortable on the inside).
I did not. I paid under invoice. Bought it Iowa and then made it a small road trip back to California. Check out Granger Ford - I highly recommend them.
Very nice rig. I have a Four Wheel Camper on my 22 Tremor. Would love the Bowen Custom flatbed for extra storage. Traveling with a family of 4 right now it’s not always fun juggling the bags and stuff inside from camper to truck. It’s just for 2 weeks so managable. Maybe when I hit the lottery I can get into the flatbed portion. 😊. Amazing build. Love the truck.
Bowen seems to be the gold standard as it allows to maintain the lowest possible height. There are a few custom flatbed builders in the US and you may be able to find one that is not as expensive. Once I had the flatbed - it is a game changer in my opinion.
I noticed in one of your videos (might not have been this one) a paper towel holder over the sink. Was that attached via magnet or adhesive? I'd like to do the same on my soon-to-be delivered Flagship. If you still have the link for the holder, would you mind sharing? Thanks. I've enjoyed all your content and learned much. Your new rig looks to be a winner!
Thank you for watching my videos. I appreciate it a lot. Yeah, can't wait for my new rig to be complete. The paper towel holder is magnetic. Here is the link: amzn.to/3z3YRlo (affiliate link - thank you for supporting my channel). I used these magnetic parts on the ceiling. They were Ok. amzn.to/3RvTu4w
Thanks for sharing your thought process on this, very useful! I would like to hear your thoughts on the aspects of working while adventuring. Managing power requirements, actually exploring while also working fullish hours, etc. Great videos!
I know you and I have talked about this in private. Being a full-time overlander myself a flat bed is something that is absolutely not needed. They are way overpriced, I should say extremely overpriced. I have more than enough room to store things as I drive international. I look at these flatbeds for weekend worrior to show their trucks. Overlanding has absolutely nothing to do with how your vehicle looks but all about the adventure. 3 companies wanted 22k-28k for a flatbed and side cabinets for my truck. That's alot of gas money for adventure around the world. Here's the math, let's say they use 500 pounds of aluminum. 3.00 a pound 1500 in aluminum. Hardware, let's say 1000. So roughly 2500-3000 USD in material. Now they need a skilled welder. Let's say 2000k for that at most 5k to build and for the material, and they sell it for 25,000 USD or more. Absolutely a joke. If they cut the price in half, I would consider it. At the end of the day, the cost versus me gong on adventure full-time , 'll take the adventure and let the weekend warriors drive their flatbed around town.
@DTAdventure Many great points in this video. Since we know you personally, most of this will not be news to you, but I'll share for your readers. Our preference, for pop-up camper layouts, are the various flatbed campers, however we chose a slide-in camper in the end. We'd had two brands of slide-in campers previously. We were looking to go with a flatbed camper for the next camper simply because we liked the inside layouts and room better than slide-ins and camper side door access which made it less complicated to get in and out when towing fishing boat, trailers and MTB/eMTB/dirtbike receiver hitch racks. We do own a swing-away hitch which helps with bike rack, but still like the idea of a camper side entry door like most flatbeds have. But, in the end, the camper we decided on was a slide-in camper largely because of the complications and expense of flatbed trays. I first priced basic flatbed trays with side storage and they were expensive, but doable. But then I needed a solution for the 5 months a year when the camper was off the pickup and I wanted a secure and weather resistant pickup bed sized storage for all of our winter gear and activities. Adding side boxes, a bed cover and tailgate solution to the basic flatbed tray added significantly to the flatbed bids plus the sideboxes/bedcover/tailgate would have to be removed and installed seasonally and stored somewhere when off. Sticking with a pickup bed and slide-in camper ended up being significantly more economical and easier transition between seasons. A trifold cover on the pickup bed comes off in less than a minute and I can do it by myself and takes up next to no room stored off the truck when the camper is on. Plus, we are not full timers so only need enough gear for weekend-length trips up to about 10 day trips. There are only two of us with no pets, so between the rear seat of our extended cab with platform and the camper storage, it works for our needs. You have great advice in that buyers need to evaluate their space and storage needs first, then pick a camper, then choose a pickup. There are too many overloaded Fullsize pickups (formerly called 1/2 tons) driving around loaded with way over max payload. Yes you can put in airbags or re-spring, but that does increase your max payload rating. And one must still consider things like axles, brakes, frame, etc are far more robust on an Heavy Duty/Super Duty pickup over a Fullsize. Even with light weight popup pickup campers (in the 1,250 - 1,350lb range), by the time you add up the weight of the camper, water, propane, batteries, food, camping gear, tools, recovery gear, people, etc. it is very easy for a 1,200lb dry camper to turn into 2,400lb of payload which is over nearly all Fullsize pickups except for a few specific version. Then add any tongue weight from trailer or receive hitch racks on top of that. We drove an 2013 Tundra DC 4x4, with airbags and LT tires, for 7+ years with various brand slide-in pop-up pickup campers and it was adequate but never confidence inspiring because it was so overloaded. Changed to a Super Duty F250 4x4 (with 3,200lb max payload rating) and it is so much more confidence inspiring and relaxing to drive with the same payload (being as we are now way under max payload rather than way over). A recommendation for those with a camper on for all or most of the year; buy a small flatbed trailer to use anytime you need to haul things. They are so much easier than loading and unloading the camper. And, trailers are so much easier to load with low deck height vs loading up into a tall pickup bed. True that one must then store a trailer when not in use, but for those with room, they will become your go to, even when the camper is unloaded.
I got it from Amazon (amzn.to/4cbQSRs). It is the Joytutus Spare Tire Trash Bag, but it was easy to attach to the Molle panel. It is a bit more compact and narrower compared to many others. I tried a few and returned them.
Our longest outings are approximately 3 months. The decision to stay with the OEM bed was based on weight. We would rather carry 30 gallons more water than the added weight difference of a flatbed we were considering. 2022 F 250 long bed camper special option with 7.3 mountain motor 4.30 gears.
I think the Bowen Customs flatbed actually saves you weight in comparison to the OEM bed, but not sure if that applies to 8' bed. The 7.3 Godzilla with the 4.30 gears is a beast. I had this on my Tremor and also have it on the new F350 with the longer bed.
@@dtadventure4x4 I think that RAM pickup beds are steel, while Ford pickup beds are aluminum. If this is true, then it seems possible that a Bowen flatbed could be a net weight savings on a RAM, but not a Ford. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
I just bought a ‘24 F-250 and pick up my Bison camper in a few weeks. I live in Longmont and know the guys at Rossmonster, super quality stuff and people. Great choice! I’m curious, what will you do for insurance out of the US? Comprehensive insurance is quite expensive, will you just deal with it and pay for it?
I heard good things about Bison campers and did talk to Drew a few times during my research. Great choice. In regards to insurance I am still researching the best options. It sounds like Progressive has no problems insuring any Bajas, but I am also looking at dedicated RV insurance. Potentially, I may re-register the vehicle as an RV and then get straight out RV insurance. Unfortunately, I am in the middle of moving to another house and that has taken focus and time away from these efforts. Hopefully next week things turn somewhat normal again. We should meet up for a coffee or beer when I am out there.
@@dtadventure4x4 Definitely!I'll try to find a way to message you my number on here. Would be cool to meet up. Ah sorry, I meant insurance once you go to Mexico and beyond. My understanding is finding comprehensive insurance (not just liability only) is quite difficult/super expensive (thousands per month) out of the US on a US registered vehicle. I'll 'only' have about $85k in my rig and I'm still nervous about taking it abroad (Pan Am plans, and Europe) but of course will do. I was just curious as someone who has considerably more invested in their rig would handle that part. Lets touch base when you are out this way, good luck with the move!
@@mack86523 Ah, got it. There is a FB group for Pan Am travelers (PanAmerican Travelers Association). Lots of good information about insurance and a lot of other related topics. There was a company mentioned specifically for Mexico as an example. I'll see if I can find it. Feel free to email me (netservicesusa @ gmail dot com) with your contact info.
Thanks, Chad. I probably could have made the video twice as long haha :-). PS: The new Photoshop features are pretty cool and I was surprised how "it helped me" with the thumbnail picture.
I do not have that info. I will ask Rossmonster when I get there in August, but they require the payload of the F350 for this model of the Baja. From my understanding I should have plenty of payload left when the build is done (`1,000+ lbs.).
Price. And then on top of that I figured why not make it a small road trip. Granger in Iowa offers great pricing and have an outstanding reputation. I've been following them for a while through one of the Ford Super Duty Tremor forums.
@@dtadventure4x4 yeah that makes sense. I get the road trip part of it. I bought a four-wheeler the same way. I live up in Reno myself but I just went down to San Diego couple weeks ago for the first time ever. I absolutely love that place. Been to LA and a lot of other places but never as far south of San Diego. I get why you live down there stayed up by Mount Laguna
Thank you. I have a Rossmonster Baja on order. They will do the entire conversion for me - including Carli suspension, larger wheels/tires, and a few other things. I hoping to take delivery at the end of September or early October.
The paper towel holder is magnetic and I stuck two matching phone magnetic backplates to the ceiling. I used those for some magnetic, rechargeable lights as well.
Thanks for your thorough walk-through. I recently became aware of the Supertramp campers. Looking for more info I found your channel. I love your set-up with the flatbed and your upgrades. It must have taken you some time to do all of the mods. I wish that all of your mods were standard features on the Supertramp. In your latest video, you told everyone that you sold the rig and explained that it did not work for you because of the lack of space to work. I can see that. If I were ready to buy, I would have jumped at the opportunity to buy your rig. But then, maybe, I would have also concluded that it is a small space to live. I am excited to see what you choose next.
If I would be just out there adventuring - my previous rig was perfect for that. Even full-time adventuring and travel. And maybe I am overly critical about why I sold the rig. Of course I could have made this work somehow. It's not that it was impossible, but I still have to work a few years and also want to build a business on the side and that is just where I felt that it would be better to start over. It'll cost me some money and I am aware of that, but I also feel that in the long run a new rig will pay off. I did order a Rossmonster Baja and will make a video about it soon to explain more (a few things (out of my control) in my personal life are changing and I am a bit behind in recording that specific video). Anyway, thank you for watching my video and for leaving a comment. I really appreciate it.
What color would you choose? I picked white because I will be going off-road a lot and feel it is the easiest color from that perspective. My previous rig was black and while it looked great when clean and with no scratches - it lost the shine so quickly.
Don't be surprised. Life is too short to be stuck in a situation that you can change. It takes a leap of faith and courage and trust in yourself to do the right thing. I guess that is how I got here. :-) Anyway, thank you for buying the book and coming here to leave a comment. Habe mich sehr darueber gefreut!!!!! 😀
