Survival Van/Truck

I thought we might need a thread on making our Survival vehicles ready as well as share a few ideas amongst ourselves...
Now I realize everyone is going to have their own ideas of what works for them and what doesn't... that's fine as no one will have the perfect answer for all...

Anyway I'll go first and talk about my rig a 1990 High Top conversion van. I recommend a hightop van as they get registered as an RV so my monthly insurance is only $20
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e9e9d64cacec.jpg[/atsimg]
Now let me say I bought this monster for $800 last summer when gas prices were pushing 4+ a gallon. it started life as a normal family van but I pulled out the seats added a set of cabinets a tiny little kitchenette porta potty and an outside shower... you cant see it from this photo but I have a small solar panel glued flat on the roof and use that to charge my house batteries, in my case 4 6 volt forklift batt's. total refit cost was $2.737 not to shabby when you consider a full sized motorhome costs upwards of $100,000 plus another 1,000 each time you fill the tanks
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/89614c2b718e.jpg[/atsimg]
The wife and I use our van to visit the grandkids so do put a lot of miles on her. while one could say a big high top conversion van does stick out it's not out of place in say a walmart parking lot...

That brings me to a bit on stealth parking...
someplaces frown of people sleeping in the cars trucks and vans so I've picked up a few tricks over the years...
Walmarts welcome RVers and over night campers. most of them. 24/7 grocery stores are also a great place to blend in. I've been known to park in dealers parking lot in front of the service bays... I figure if anyone ask I'll just say I was on my road trip when suddenly I broke down,,,course I'm long gone before they open. side note: I have completly covered the side and back windows so while I'm watching TV in back no light leaks to give me away and I kind of keep this forsale sign with me just in case I do have to park street side.

Truck stops are both good and bad good as they well have showers laundry rooms and RV dumps to get rid of your gray/black water. their bad in they tend to be frequented by hooker drug dealers and other not so friendly folks..

Highway rest stops, what can I say, we've all heard stories about people getting murdered if a rest area Nowadays because there becoming so bad a lot of states are just closing them down.

there are RV parks and for my van I pay around $25 to 45 per-week some will cost a good deal more especially if their just off the beach.

I'm going to leave you all with a link to a group that promotes the mobile lifestyle and has a few stories posted on how to's as well as safety well worth a look see
Cheap RV Living

reply to post by DaddyBare


Great idea! Here's some more from a vehicle that you may not think could look so good.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8a0d2fba4c6c.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/03b7cd60090b.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/403e6ed15cbe.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ae0bce53f5f2.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/61ccc49b387d.jpg[/atsimg]

And this is what it is:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e04cd46392e2.jpg[/atsimg]

Yep a garbage truck.

[edit on Jul 18th 2009 by TheMythLives]

Hi DaddyBare, I noticed your headline about "survival".

If something really bad happens and you're planning to live in that van, you have to think about how people can easily steal or hijack that car. I would never stock food or survival gear in a truck. In desperate times of food shortage, you would have to hide all important stuff or join a survival group.

I think you are talking about the current situation, but survival in a world with desperate people with guns, out of control, thats not an option.

But for a camping trip, these cars are great

Nice job, i was looking at one of those last year, but just didnt have the cash, while i'm a fan of vans, we ended up with a older mini van this year, not the best for that type of stuff.
But for survival, we are getting another Jeep.
79 Wagoner, hard to beat, 4wd full time,4 high, 4 low, 4 lock..
will get you through things most trucks wont think about , espicaly with the weight balance over all tires.
Had one same year severl years ago and loved it, but it ended up wearing out..
you can pick them up in decent shape under $1k a little tinkering, new tires and you are ready to go about any where.
Not exactly a rig you want to camp and survive in, but it will get you to places that very few other vehicles will. Get you up and away from the crowds.

reply to post by TheMythLives


Aww, I thought that was about the coolest looking garbage truck I'd ever see in my life. Then I looked around a bit and found those images also on here www.hoax-slayer.com... stating that its not actually a garbage truck.

The truck shown in the photographs, and other similar such vehicles, do in fact exist. However, in spite of the appearance of the vehicle shown in the photographs it is not actually a converted garbage truck. In fact it is a purpose built mobile home. The vehicles are made by UNICAT, a company based in Europe that now also has an American branch.

reply to post by TheMythLives

Yeah thats not a garbage truck

more like a $300,000 ulta rich mans toy

Originally posted by Duvant
Hi DaddyBare, I noticed your headline about "survival".

If something really bad happens and you're planning to live in that van, you have to think about how people can easily steal or hijack that car. I would never stock food or survival gear in a truck. In desperate times of food shortage, you would have to hide all important stuff or join a survival group.

I think you are talking about the current situation, but survival in a world with desperate people with guns, out of control, thats not an option.

But for a camping trip, these cars are great

Ya know I lived out of a similar camper for three years. you'd be surprised how well they do work as a survival mobile home... true I did have access to propane but in that old camper I also had a little sheepherder wood stove for both cooking and keeping warm at night... not the best choice for a family but for me, an old retired guy and his wife its pretty darn good... makes bugging out really quick too

Hey Daddybare, do you have any other pics of the inside you could post? I am intrigued by what you've done but it's hard to tell what you've got in there. Thanks!

WOW!!! Star, and Flag to you!!! I was gonna do a post like this, and still might. I'm working on outfitting an older 80's suburban for similar uses. It's gonna have an Australian style roof rack for tents, and awning coming down from there.

Yes, those GEV's are nice, but the price tag on a 4x4 model is around 400k, and the 6x6 models start around 600k...........a little out of my price range.

That's a great tip about the service bay parking!

Will be back.

what happens once there's no fuel to power these vehicles?

expensively large paper weights?



cool ideas for the short term civilization exodus

here is a link to an article which shows the 12 best post apocalyptic vehicles of the 2009 Chicago Auto Show. My personal fave has to be the Power Wheels Jeep.
jalopnik.com...

It doesnt show it on the article, but there was also a truck made by the company International that was perfect for survival. It could last for a week without filling up and a few other nifty things about it. Cant remember hte name for hte life of me though.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by warrenb
what happens once there's no fuel to power these vehicles?

expensively large paper weights?

cool ideas for the short term civilization exodus

Many of these are flex fuel.. meaning the will run on alcohol as well as gasoline... currently mines not but when it come time to a motor rebuild that will be my next project... not as tough as you might think it's mostly things like replacing all the fuel lines, from rubber to metal tubing and a timing change... the hard part will be in convincing my wife I really do want a still to make fuel for the van and not me

[edit on 18-7-2009 by DaddyBare]

Uplander ...
I do have more pix I'll upload later this weekend but something even more useful is I'm gonna try to scan into the putyer the plans I used... other then buying the stove from a trailer supply store everything else came out of Home Depot

reply to post by TornMind


Before you go buy an awning you might want to look at an Add-a-room
I first ran into one of these a fellow had attached to his pop-up trailer. he and his wife stayed in the pop-up and the put the kids in the add-a-room. they use the same hardware as an awning so you could say its a 12 foot crank out tent.

reply to post by TheMythLives


It looks Like the van ate an Ikea ,

That thing is Awesome!!!!

Henry Ford with his Model T was Flexi-Fuel. Also every vehicle in Brazil uses Flexi Fuel e.g Gasoline and Ethanol.

Guess just have to learn how to make large amounts of Alcohol (Ethanol).

When you change to Ethanol based add extra filters as it does loosen dirt crap in the motor. If your car is old e.g. 1980's or older then look at larger carb jets.

Most vehicles after the mid 90's can handle E85 with no problems...

Originally posted by EyesWideShut
reply to post by TheMythLives

 

It looks Like the van ate an Ikea ,

That thing is Awesome!!!!

My family owned a cabinet shop when I was a kid and woodworking is one of my more useful skills... But you don't need to make it yourself Plenty of times I've looked at the craigslist ad's looking for people parting out their old motor-homes. Right now I'm looking for a 12 volt/propane powered freezer. Honestly it might have been cheaper to go that way just trim to fit rather then start from scratch

You're right about craigslists. There's a lot of RVs on there right now going for pretty cheap.

But I like your idea a lot better! It blends in well, you know? I don't think that a big ole' 50'er will blend in too well.

Nice van 1SGT! I just started a conversion project myself last week, got a Ford Econoline E350, the extended cargo version for 400 bucks. Hopefully it'll make a nice camper, as I plan to live in it when I go to school for 2 years. I can only hope it'll turn out as nice as yours (doubtfull though...). I was debating wether to build a high top for it, but hearing now how it could be registered as a RV w/ low insurance rates that sound like the way to go.

I served in the Corps aswell, though only for 5 years, with 2/2, so Semper Fi!

I was only thinking about this the other day. Good topic. I was thinking you'd need a criteria; mpg, toughness, mechanical and electrical complexity, varied fuel acceptance, longevity, to name a few.

I'd say bikes and camping gear but if we're using a fourwheel then it's got to be diesel and European or Japanese. Landrover, Mistubishi, Toyota, Range Rover, Nissan, whatever. You can run chip fat through these and they'll keep going. Watch Top Gear (BBC - UK) to see how tough a Toyota HiLux is.

American's are great but their mpg is terrible compared to the smaller engined Euros and Japanese. If you knew your stuff you could do an engine swap but it would be a monstrous job requiring a heck load of equipment, but it would be a great vehicle.

Space for comforts isn't necessary, nearly all of these vehicles can easily accomodate 3 adults with modification. We are talking about a survival vehicle, not a mobile home.

I'd say the 60's Landrover LWB, electronically void, mechanically simple, large enough to carry everything and proven the world over in it's off road ability and durability.

I still think a trailie and a Terra Nova would be better in any situation.