There are fundamental elements of a good overland vehicle: the combination of serviceability (or ultimate reliability), capacity (payload and cargo volume), capability for when the terrain gets technical, and enough comfort to keep driver fatigue at bay. For the last 15 years, American Expedition Vehicles has been trying to pull the Jeep Wrangler into the…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: 7.3L Diesel Sportsmobile $44k
The vanlife movement has led to a lot of great things, but it certainly hasn’t made it easy to find a good deal on Sportsmobiles. Most of the ones cropping up for sale these days are either fetching absurd price tags or have an even more absurd amount of miles—often both. It’s little wonder then…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: A Turnkey Nissan Camper for $19K
Whether it’s Unimogs, EarthCruisers, or fully built Land Cruisers, we feature a lot of beautiful overland vehicles on Expedition Portal. Unfortunately, most of them are well—expensive. So if you’re looking for a four-wheel drive with most of the comfort and capability of the larger rigs at a fraction of the price, this week’s classified ad…
EarthCruiser’s EXD Camper
If you’ve ever looked into overland vehicles, you’ll almost certainly know of Earth Cruiser. This Oregon-based company builds expedition-grade trucks specifically designed to address the needs of international travelers. They’re rated for four-season camping, capable of tackling remote terrain, and provide a rather large living space while still fitting inside a container for shipping. Unfortunately,…
Beast From The East: 1980 Unimog 416
“What?” I yelled back at Tom Henwood for the third or possibly fourth time since we left the shop. He laughed and handed me a headset to deaden the cacophony swirling around the cab. It helped, but to quote Uncle Lewis, the thing still sounded like “a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant.” Its…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: Basecamp F550
When I was a kid, I remember seeing a mountain bike that I wanted more than anything in the world. It was green, my favorite color, with knobby tires, big shocks, and a price tag that seemed impossible to an elementary school student. Every time I went to the store with my parents, I would…
ExPo Classifieds: 2013 Nissan NV 4×4
We’ve seen several excellent Nissan NV builds since the platform’s release, but this 2013 has to be one of our favorites. What began as a basic 3500 HD high-top cargo van has slowly been converted into a true overland vehicle, complete with all the niceties you’d want in a home on the road. The owner…
BRUDER EXP-4: A New Breed of Performance Trailer
Nearly three years ago, Expedition Portal took a look at the Bruder EXP-6, a stunning off-road trailer designed and built in Australia. It featured one of the best suspensions in the business, a luxurious interior, and global compatibility for sale anywhere in the world. You could say it made some waves in the industry, but…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: Syncro Vanagon 55,000 Original Miles
The Syncro Vanagon has become the poster child of the van life movement, and it’s pretty easy to see why. They pack loads of charm, a ton of living space, oodles of nostalgia, and a surprising amount of capability into a package smaller than most modern SUVs. Unfortunately, they’re getting harder and harder to come…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: A Diesel Suburban Camper for $11K
Alright, I should preface this article by saying I have a serious soft spot for square-body Suburbans. They balance my desire for an old-school feel with dirt cheap maintenance and a wide availability of parts, but they’re also completely underutilized, making each build fairly unique. Something I always appreciate. This particular one, however, has to be one…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: 2004 Tacoma & AT Habitat
Finding a tastefully built first-generation Tacoma these days is hard enough, but finding one in manual, with a factory locker, in good condition with low miles is basically impossible. Yet, here we are, writing up a classified ad on just that. Actually, it’s even better, because this Tacoma has also been paired to a handful…
DIY Expedition Camper Kits In The USA
Images by Richard Giordano Building a truck camper can be a lengthy and arduous process. From determining how to outfit the living space to choosing which materials to construct the camper body from, there are many challenges to be faced. The most daunting of these challenges can be finding the time to construct the camper…
Home on the Range
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Winter 2018. Photography by Chris Cordes The trailer listed hard to the side, the 44-inch tire deep into the crevasse, the Hilux’s frame broken, and a tire peeled from the bead. The Expeditions 7 team had just crossed Greenland and was now fighting for every…
From Van Life to Overlanding
It was nearly 100°F. I sat on a metal chair with water soaking my shirt, a last-ditch effort against the stifling heat. Even in the shade, the temperature was nearly unbearable. Inside the open-air pavilion, Jessica and I sat enraptured, listening to the stories being told by Pablo Rey and Anna Callau, two travelers who’d…
Trying the Van Life in Northwest Oregon
Oregon was calling, and I knew it was time for us to go back. The summer heat had been getting the better of us for a few months, and the cool, crisp air of the Pacific Northwest seemed dreamy. As we started to plan our next trip, we wanted to incorporate what we learned from…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: The Turtle III
Gary and Monika Wescott of The Turtle Expedition are some of overlanding’s greatest pioneers. They have been traveling the world since the mid-1970s, visiting every remote and beautiful destination they can find from Afghanistan to the Amazon and back again. Their stories have been published in over 15 countries and 10 languages, and their vehicles…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: 2013 Kimberley Karavan
Kimberley Karavans are legendary in the Land Down Under. They have set the gold standard for off-road campers in Australia for over two decades, but earlier this summer some hard news came out of their home office: the company was shutting their doors for good. Several buyers have looked into the brand, but no deal…
Nitro Gear’s Adventure RV
For most people, an RV is not an all-terrain vehicle. It’s a bus, a home on wheels, and a reason to own tiki lights and pink flamingoes. If anything, they encourage their owners to stick closer to the pavement, not venture further from it—unless, of course, you’re Carl Montoya of Just Differentials. When he needed…
Ultimate R&D at Zone RV
Australia is not a forgiving place. While it’s people might be some of the kindest and most welcoming on earth, its landscape is anything but. Bone-rattling corrugations lead across sun-scorched deserts for days without fuel or water. Tight trails through dense rainforests are crisscrossed with deep fords through swirling rivers, and if the coastal drives…
Expedition Portal Classifieds: 2017 Fuso 4×4
If you’ve gone shopping for a full-size diesel truck recently, you’ll know that they’re far from cheap. These “utility vehicles” now carry price tags exceeding those of many luxury sedans, and are just as luxurious inside. But what if you wanted something different? Something with a massive payload, a ridiculous amount of room, and a…