Diesel 80 Wagon versus Dodge Cummins Camper?

[rstl99]

or
a number of people are using these for their medium duty expeditions:
Luxury Imports - Calgary, Alberta

i have driven a couple and they are like the old VW bus, for those that are not in a hurry and want to enjoy the country. i would have no issue taking something like this for a 1-2 year trip around the Americas.

Yes, they are interesting vehicles for sure! I once owned a Type 2 bus for a couple of years, had to rebuild the engine completely and do other repairs. Just when I was completing it, chanced upon an older MB modified van/camper with diesel engine, so sold the VW and went with the MB. Too big, too slow, sold it after a couple of years. I regretted later selling the VW, would have liked to give it a try. My daughter wishes she had one to travel around when university is over.

Coming back to those JDM vans/campers: interesting vehicles, were it not for the dreaded RHD issue, and increasing difficulties licensing/insuring those vehicles...

 

[crushers]

i don't find issues with the RHD but then if it isn't for you then it isn't.
some like the ability to see the shoulder of the road, some don't.
some like to try the different, some don't ... it doesn't make one right or the other wrong, it just isn't for everyone .
i have no issues with insurance, registration or driving but there are more and more that are having issues. i have 9 RHD vehicles in the back yard and the wife and i have been driving RHD on LHD roads for 9 years with no accidents or issues but i also know of those that can not adjust, it is just beyond their capablities.
me, the idea of a Delica low roof, 4wd manual tranny for a 'putz' mobile works fine. for others it doesn't.
it was posted as an option between the 80 and the dodge to consider.
cheers

Yes, they are interesting vehicles for sure! I once owned a Type 2 bus for a couple of years, had to rebuild the engine completely and do other repairs. Just when I was completing it, chanced upon an older MB modified van/camper with diesel engine, so sold the VW and went with the MB. Too big, too slow, sold it after a couple of years. I regretted later selling the VW, would have liked to give it a try. My daughter wishes she had one to travel around when university is over.

Coming back to those JDM vans/campers: interesting vehicles, were it not for the dreaded RHD issue, and increasing difficulties licensing/insuring those vehicles...

 

[rstl99]

i don't find issues with the RHD but then if it isn't for you then it isn't.
some like the ability to see the shoulder of the road, some don't.
some like to try the different, some don't ... it doesn't make one right or the other wrong, it just isn't for everyone .
i have no issues with insurance, registration or driving but there are more and more that are having issues. it was posted as an option between the 80 and the dodge to consider.
cheers

Indeed, there are many alternatives out there and that could be one to consider, but I know RHD is not for me. I toyed with the idea of a JDM Land-Cruiser some years back, but realized it wasn't practical in my situation, nor something I would like to own from a personal preference perspective. As luck would have it, a LHD diesel Land Cruiser "fell into my lap" locally, so things worked out well for me in that regard, because I note that sadly, many seem to be having difficulties registering/insuring those vehicles in some provinces.

Another vehicular option I toyed with some years ago, was an older camper van (usually based on Dodge gas-engines vans ie. RoadTrek). Looked at a few of them, but found them too cramped to be comfortable for extended trips (if I was 5ft7 and 165 pounds might be different, but at 6ft and 230, I need more "comfort room" ), and not very versatile as a vehicle (ie. sits idle large parts of the year, when one isn't traveling/camping). However, the self-contained aspect of the camper-van does have some appeal, and offer good opportunities for "boondocking", (ie. traveling on the cheap). I recall looking at an older one that had a combination gasoline/propane fuel system, which made it more cost-effective for the long hauls (propane being cheaper!). In the end, it came down to size, same goes for VW camper vans.

Mind you, I had come across an older VW bus for sale out west by an australian couple who had literally traveled the globe with it! You have to have a GREAT degree of comfort with your traveling partner/spouse to spend so much time in such a vehicle (like that Austrian [?] couple who have traveled the world in their gas 60 series LC for many many years).

But I digress...

I really appreciate all the ideas and perspectives folks! Thank you again for sharing and chiming in! All of it is helpful to me.

 

[crushers]

i had a 1995 powersmoke 2wd E350 with a queen sized bed in the back rear most seat folded into a bed but came out easily. i used the van as my tow vehicle, wicked power (would pull 16,000 lbs across canada and the us) great fuel economy, NOISY but comfortable. i regret getting rid of it.
that, to me, would make a kickin PUTZ buggy. stick a winch on the front for those VERY few times (ooops). tons of room, queen size bed AND 2 middle buckets and frotn buckets. room for you and you buddies. might be a bit questionable sleeping arangements.

for 2wd capability is tires, locker, weight over drive wheels and driver ability...

did i ever tell you the story about... (man, i am showing my age here)
we had rediscoved a cut line 30 years ago in 2 FJ40s. 13 miles long and ended up on this ridge at 5800 ft over looking the eastern slopes in Alberta. it was a tough time re-finding the trails as they meandered through the foothills and near the end it was a 1000 ft climb up a steep switchback with a washout that cut back and forth over it. after my buddy and i claimed victory over the trail we returned to Calgary to gloat.
a few weeks later i went back up the climb to show some others the view, bragging all along that "only a Land Cruiser" can do this run.
when we hit the final top ledge here sat a 2wd ford truck with a HUGE camper in the back. i stuck around to meet the owners and after a few hours here they came, Momma and Poppa trucker, must have been in their early 70s.
i strolled over to say HI and asked him how he ever got that rig up here and his answer was:
"yah just gotta know how to drive sonny, how tah drive" and grinned.
those words stuck with me for decades to come.

no winch, no 4wd, no lift ... just skinny C/T mud tires
and the most important thing...
he knew how to pick his trail.

amazing character they were. never met them again but the tale stuck with me.

 

[rstl99]

for 2wd capability is tires, locker, weight over drive wheels and driver ability...

did i ever tell you the story about... (man, i am showing my age here)
we had rediscoved a cut line 30 years ago in 2 FJ40s. 13 miles long and ended up on this ridge at 5800 ft over looking the eastern slopes in Alberta. (...)
a few weeks later i went back up the climb to show some others the view, bragging all along that "only a Land Cruiser" can do this run.
when we hit the final top ledge here sat a 2wd ford truck with a HUGE camper in the back. i stuck around to meet the owners and after a few hours here they came, Momma and Poppa trucker, must have been in their early 70s.
i strolled over to say HI and asked him how he ever got that rig up here and his answer was:
"yah just gotta know how to drive sonny, how tah drive" and grinned.
those words stuck with me for decades to come.

no winch, no 4wd, no lift ... just skinny C/T mud tires
and the most important thing...
he knew how to pick his trail.

amazing character they were. never met them again but the tale stuck with me.

GREAT story Wayne, thanks for sharing!!
I can just imagine the look on yours and your buddies' faces, getting up there and seeing that old couple with their 2wd truck waiting for you!
"Know how tah drive", indeed!
If that old couple was in their 70's then (30 years ago), one can only imagine where they had driven to in their 40-50 years of driving! Before even there were Jeeps for crissakes!
Now of course most people wouldn't try to tackle something like that without a 4WD with $5-10,000 worth of after-market gear.

I remember when I drove back from Labrador, stopping at a combination junkyard/garage in Labrador City (at the western edge of the trans-labrador highway that I had just crossed from Goose Bay Trans-Labrador Hwy - Labrador Maps, over 500 kms of desolate gravel road). I hadn't had time to get the truck's fluids replaced before I left, so thought it a good idea to get that done before the next 500 kms of gravel road . The mechanics there were happily draining my tranny and transfer case, replacing with 80w90 and topping up the diffs. And telling me how sometimes they saw the oddest vehicles drive up that Labrador road, even strange looking 6 wheeled trucks (Pinzgauers I presume). Anyway, they seem to get a kick at people driving these fancy imported 4wd vehicles up there, when all the locals just drove regular pickups and cars! But I also remember a trucker in Goose Bay who had just made the run up from the St-Lawrence with a load, complaining how he had busted something underneath his truck on the rough gravel roads. So I know those roads can be very punishing, and you wouldn't want to get stranded 250-300kms away from the closest town. That's a long tow...

Oh and by the way, I'll avoid winter when I return to the Trans-Labrador highway
Trans-Labrador Hwy - In the Winter

 

[crushers]

that looks like a beautiful route, a true putz through the Canadian rurals. thanks for the links.
that looks like rugged country in that part of the country. i really need to travel east.

i think that the most important item for a trip into the back woods is common sense. if the person doesn't have it then no matter what kind of rig you build up it won't be enough...