I hated that stupid show.... SO many stupid ideas. Like the one OTR driver who crammed his rig full of canned goods.
I doubt you'll have an issue with power, living quarters will normally weigh less than 200lbs a foot. Going C15 would be overkill for your application, and would likely require an upgraded front axle for the added weight
Some ideas were decent, most were stupid. I never saw the episode with the OTR driver, my favorite stupid episode was the people who learned morse code so they could "tap" messages to each other if someone broke in. Wouldn't the intruder just fire at the source of the morse code? Or the people who stockpiled massive amounts of food, and no water lol.
An off-road capable RV... There are several companies who make these... In Europe, www.actionmobil.com is probably the best and whom I am taking design cues from... They typically use MAN or SCANDIA... So the argosy is what we have... I want to go to South America, so I need pre 2007.... I want 2 rear axles for flotation in soft stuff... It come to about 400lbs per linear foot of RV build... I can expect about 10k lbs on the box... Perhaps 27-30k lbs overall
Same thing @dngrous_dime mentioned, find military surplus platforms and start from there. Power might seem low, but gearing makes up for the lower torque. Also have it fabricated in the country you're planning to visit 1st, raw materials and labor will be cheaper and you won't have customs wondering why you are trying to ship in strange vehicle.
Ok, thanks for the advise on the platform.. Now about the questions about the c15 and auto transmission... Does anyone have any info on these? I will continue to do due diligence on my build ideas... I like the way the Europeans are doing it... Go to the actionmobil.com site,.. Beautiful builds... Off-road capable... My previous builds have been on f550 chassis... And I have maxed it out beyond its capacity... The f750 has the same engine...
The problem with the cab over military vehicles, is, with a 10,000-12000 load, I'll be doing 65mph max on flatland... Up a grade... A lot less... And I would prefer to have more power and have my engine not work as hard and be able to go faster on longer highway legs... I'm not looking for extreme off-road, been there done that... A good mix of trail capable, and highway comfort... D
