After deciding to buy an expedition vehicle, the question of the chassis comes up. The chassis is the basis for the entire expedition vehicle and with the choice, important preliminary decisions are made that can only be changed later with great effort. Travelers who have been living exactly your idea of ​​travel for a long time are the best source of information. It is worth discussing your ideas with them.

The following article is based on our personal experience. We have been traveling with our Globi expedition vehicle since 2014. We do not pretend that our personal recommendations are the right thing to do, but it is right for us and our way of traveling. We therefore recommend that all interested parties first of all be clear about why, where and how the expedition vehicle is to be used. Clarifying this question for yourself is perhaps the most difficult of all. Perhaps you come to the honest conclusion that a bus that is not off-road capable or even a smaller touring vehicle would be more sensible. Nevertheless, it’s absolutely ok if you just want a long-haul truck-based motorhome, simply because you like it better. That is legitimately and the way it should be. But if you know that, you can save yourself a lot of expensive constructions and extras when building and you can still have fun.

Used or new

Many travelers swear by their good old senior chassis. The most popular argument is that used vehicles are easier to maintain in less developed parts of the world than modern vehicles. As untrained truck mechanics, we have to counter that a diagnostic device on a modern truck can provide faster and more precise information about any problems on the chassis than a mechanic who has never seen a vehicle like this. In all of the countries that we have visited so far, there were workshops which are equipped accordingly. A diagnostic device and an internet connection are also sufficient to immediately receive professional information from your European garage. And sometimes it is just a bit arrogant to believe that only in Europe people are well educated. However, if you want to and can lend a hand on your truck yourself, that’s a completely different matter.

A used vehicle is often purchased for budget considerations. However, a used truck that is in good condition is not necessarily cheap. Old fire engines are mostly in good condition because they are rarely driven, but by definition are always well maintained. We know from a good friend that the amount for a used truck plus a perfect repair afterwards is almost the same as the cost of a new one. The purchase amounts to around CHF 30,000, then processing costs around CHF 20,000. Then there are all the little things that only become visible during the repair. Hole in the floor, new brake drums because the old ones are rusted and no longer worth reprocessing, the springs sag and have to be replaced and so on. A new truck can be bought for less than CHF 100,000 if you have some negotiating skills.

A used truck is more susceptible than a new one on the road because many parts have simply been in use for a long time. Since we as overlander hardly need the truck, purely judged on the kilometers driven, a new truck only incurs oil and filter change costs for many years. The price for our annual service has always been under CHF 1,000 so far.

A used chassis is what it is, it might have equipment that you don’t need and miss equipment that you would like to have. A new truck can be configured and personalized down to the last detail.

A new truck clearly scores when it comes to comfort. The handling and the various setting options as well as the driving comfort and ventilation are of course better in a new vehicle. There are also colleagues who exactly don’t want that, they prefer to drive hard through the terrain because that way they can better feel the ground with their very best. Of course that is also completely ok, you just have to know what you want.

Last but not least, sympathy also plays a major role. There are lovers of old front-end lifters or discarded military vehicles.

And if you just don’t like certain brands and models, you shouldn’t get them either.

Engine

In the terrain, more power is a great advantage. MAN offers a 9l and a 12l engine for the trucks of the TGS series. According to Spritmonitor.de, the consumption of the two engines is almost identical. The price difference at MAN is around CHF 3,000, the weight difference around 320 kg. I suppose it will be the same with the competitor brands. Anyone who has decided to build a vehicle that is as light as possible will opt for the lighter, slightly less powerful engine.

Most modern diesel engines in Europe are only available with Adblue. As a long-distance motorhome, Adblue is unsuitable, as it is very rarely available in most places outside Europe. This will certainly change in the foreseeable future, provided that heavy traffic continues to rely on diesel. There are conversion kits for all models so that you can bypass the Adblue system. These conversion kits are of course prohibited in Europe and will be punished. There is a whole industry in Germany that specializes in these conversions. These conversions are set up in a way that you can drive with Adblue in Europe and without it outside of Europe. This is also not allowed, but at least it allows us to drive around Europe reasonably legally.

Model

The expedition vehicle should be as robust as possible and have the highest possible ground clearance. It is therefore advisable to choose a construction site vehicle that for the most part already has these characteristics. At MAN, a tall construction can still be selected, which is an added advantage. However, if you are not driving through rough terrain, this is not necessary.

Driver’s cab

We are very clear when it comes to the driver’s cab; we can only consider an LX cab (new at MAN GX). A cab that is so high that we can stand in it and that offers enough space behind the seats to stow something. We spend a fair amount of time in the driver’s cab, so this space should be comfortable. Many back-cabin builders always order the low cabs for their customers and then build a relatively expensive roof rack on the cab roof. Most travelers with such vehicles have some sort of waterproof box on these carriers with material they never need, many don’t even know anymore what’s inside. In addition, according to the manufacturer’s installation guidelines, no weight is permitted on the roof. Usually even the heavy spare wheel (over 200 kg) plus the corresponding crane and roof rack is mounted on top, which can be disastrous, especially on corrugated iron slopes. We therefore advocate buying this space inside the driver’s cab, so you can easily access your things and the storage space also makes sense. This does not change the height of the entire vehicle, as the living area cabine is usually higher than the driver’s cab in one way or another. The aerodynamics are also improved by the high driver’s cab. The additional space behind the driver’s seats increases the length of the vehicle or shortens the length of the living area. Since we built a large passage between the driver’s cabin and the living room, it doesn’t matter to us. Part of our space is simply in the driver’s cab. When camping, we also use the driver’s cab as an additional space, to hang up laundry or to bake bread, etc. The price difference between the smallest and the largest cab is around CHF 1,000.

Number of axles

In our latitudes, a truck has more than two axles so that it can transport more weight, as the maximum axle weight is specified by law. For us overlander, this is actually not decisive, as we usually do not carry more than the permitted weight. A two-axle vehicle in Switzerland may have a maximum operating weight of 18 tons, a three-axle vehicle with three driven axles a maximum of 26 tons. Another axis is therefore not necessary for weight reasons. In rough terrain you could perhaps find reasons for a second steered front axle, but the disadvantages clearly outweigh this. We have to build our large tanks somewhere and the outdoor storage boxes are also very useful.

A three-axle vehicle just looks better to me than a two-axle vehicle, but that’s just a visual aspect and not really a tough argument. However, as soon as the chassis has a certain length, a third axis is particularly important in the field. If the wheelbase is too long, the ramp angle will otherwise be far too bad.

Or if the overhang is too large, the rear slope angle is too small.

Conclusion / personal recommendation

In order to build a personal long-haul motorhome, it is absolutely necessary to clarify with whom you want to go where, how long you want to be on the road, how long you want to be self-sufficient and what material and luxury you plan to take with you. Do you want to travel or primarily drive off-road? Are you a mechanic or a traveler? When you’ve settled all of these questions with yourself, you can buy your chassis. When purchasing a new vehicle, we strongly recommend that you go to a specialist to configure the vehicle correctly. In our experience, cabin builders simply order the same chassis over and over again because it seemed to have been worth it. And in our case the truck dealer in the country just didn’t know what is important for an expedition vehicle. However, we definitely recommend the LX driver’s cab and the most powerful engine, the rest depends on personal needs.