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I'm curious about the pros and cons of air ride suspensions on expo vehicles. I don't know much about them, but my intuition tells me the added complexity might could be a liability. What are your thoughts? (and I mean full air ride like a medium/heavy duty truck would have, not helper air bags)

I've been researching fridge/freezer efficiency, I know its a topic of interest (and confusion/debate) for many people. I came across a series of tests (link) done by expedition extreme on youtube (and a pdf spreadsheet (link) of their findings). They performed 1 and 2 hour cooldown, cycling...

The benefits of a short wheelbase are pretty clear (1) tighter turning radius (2) better breakover angles (3) more maneuverable, etc etc. My preference in vehicles has always been to opt for the shorter wheelbase when given an option. However lately I have been questioning that conventional...

I'm curious how higher load range tires fair offroad. If you have a high GVWR vehicle you don't really have a choice in the matter, but I'm still curious what tradeoffs are made in going with a higher load range tire. They generally run much higher PSIs (sometimes upwards of 120 psi), does this...

Top line question for conversation: What is the effect of wheel size (for a given tire size) on offroad (and onroad) performance? What are the pros and cons to larger or smaller wheels given the same tire diameter? I've been looking into a vehicle that comes stock with 11r22.5's (standard semi...

Anyone come across a good solution for a hitch mount (or other type of carrier) for carrying both a smallish (dual sport) motorcycle and a bike (bicycle)? Preferably something relatively compact.

Can anyone shed some light on the rough cost of building a composite expo camper box? Obviously there are a bunch of variables to consider, but mostly I'm just trying to get a ballpark idea of the approximate cost of a basic box able to be mounted to a subframe or flatbed. In my case, I'm...

There seems to be a lot of these JDM vehicles entering North American markets is the last few years, but it seems like their is a severe lack of information on them. I'm hoping those of us who own or are interested in owning one of these capable looking little diesels can pool our energy and...

Selling my wildernest, decent condition for the age, see the craigslist ad

SOLD SOLD SOLD I've finally come around to the inevitability of selling my 87 Ford Sportsmobile "Big Blue." I've put this off for a long time but I've realized as much as I want to fix and keep him, I'm not going to get around to it and I don't have the space to store him any longer. The...

I've searched google and expo and couldn't find much information. Has anyone swapped a penthouse top onto a different van? I have a 2wd e-150 sportsmobile with the small gas v8. It has served me well but is currently not running (the engine is fine as far as I know) and the weight of a loaded...

I recently Learned of the existence of the Japanese "Isuzu Camping Car" based on the Isuzu Rodeo chassis (it looks like there is a pretty much identical Nissan/Datsun version as well). On paper it sounds pretty good, but there isn't much information on out there about these things. 4x4 with...

I have been searching for an up to date discussion of desktop route planning software (and, for lack of a better term, post route software). I have been unable to find a thread devoted to this so I decided to start one. Broadly, What mapping software do you use to plan your adventures? Why do...

I'm selling my 1987 Sportsmobile 2wd. The engine no longer runs (probably hydrolocked) but basically everything else functions as it should. Could tranny, pretty new tires, newer batteries, new brakes, among other things. This van took me 7k miles across the U.S. and to some of the most amazing...

My girlfriend and I are in the middle of a long north american road trip (4 months on the road so far). Our plans were altered dramatically when our 1987 Sportsmobile "Big Blue" was totalled in a flood outside of Detroit Michigan the day before we crossed into Canada. Needless to say it has...

It pains me to say it but, after living on the road for 4 months in our old 2wd sportsmobile ("Big Blue"), it may be headed to the scrap yard after a freak rainstorm in Detroit Michigan. (Skip this paragraph to skip my dramatic rambling) Over the last 4 months we forded some rivers, made it...

Hey Sportsmobile Owners, I'm a newcomer to the sportsmobile clan. My Girlfriend and I just bought an 87 2wd sportsmobile and set off on a half year long roadtrip. We bought an eccotemp l5 for showers. We haven't been able to figure out how to hook the eccotemp up to the onboard propane system...

I've read the debates on this forum regarding limited slip's vs. selectable or full time lockers. I'm curious how the debate changes if we are talking about a 2wd vehicle? If you were going to be getting a 2WD van to use mostly on paved or gravel roads with some forest roads and light off-road...

I've been searching all night and haven't been able to figure out, how wide a bed can be in a ford E-series van. Does anyone know how wide an E350 or other E-series van is (either stock or after insulation etc)? How big can the bed be if you are going to sleep width wise? Thanks