A truly great overlanding rig isn't the sort of thing you buy turnkey off a showroom floor. No, overlanders are the sorts of custom machines made to reflect their owners' sensibilities and desires, built by hand using trial and error and endlessly revised to take on the tasks their creators need them to do as their lives and responsibilities change.
That said...if you don't really have time for all that and don't mind buying a secondhand off-road camper, there's a Ford Super Duty-based on up for grabs in California right now that just might be the perfect overlander for you.
The overlanding rig you see here is listed for sale on the Expedition Portal classified section, but given the quality of the build, the editorial team at the site took a little time to interview its builder, Scott.
"We started off on this journey with the goal of creating a smaller, more capable, and higher performing EarthRoamer. We’d been in one before and liked many aspects of it, but we felt like it was much too big for true off-grid exploration," Scott told Expedition Portal. "My wife refuses to camp within five miles of anyone, so we wanted something that was really comfortable but small enough to get to the out-of-the-way spots we love to visit."
The brief was complex: create a super-capable overlander with enough power and consumables to last away from civilization for lengthy periods, while still offering enough space for the 6'6" Scott, his family, and their two large dogs. To do so, they took a 2015 Ford F-550 chassis and whipped up a pop-top living compartment for the rear that offers nearly seven feet of headroom in popped-up configuration. The front wall even articulates out of the way, enabling those sleeping in the nearly-king-size bed to take in the fresh air.
The dinette converts into a second, smaller bed that's ideal for children, but most of the time it'll likely do duty as a place to sit and relax. A microwave, an induction cooktop, a refrigerator and a sink are all on hand inside for food storage and prep, while a composting toilet slides out for under a bench for...later.
This brute also packs a 100-gallon freshwater tank and a 40-gallon graywater tank, and can carry 70 gallons of fuel on board to keep the 6.8-liter V10 running for hundreds of miles of off-roading. You won't need it to run the alternator for the on-board electricals much, though; the truck packs a 1,300-watt solar panel array, which feeds into a giant array of lithium-ion batteries.
You can check out the full "for sale" post here if you want to see the complete list of specs and modifications (and if you like what you see here, it's worth reading). Scott says the entire truck and mods ran him a total of around $500,000, but since he's jonesing to make a new overlanding rig, he's asking $225,000 for it. Sounds like a deal, right?
