Truck Chassis Choice
If you spend much time talking with avid expedition style truck enthusiasts (many of whom don't actually own a truck), it will soon become clear that many frown on using a new truck chassis. Instead they prefer an old, non-computerized, pre-electronics era truck. The argument for their point is that they can repair it anywhere, on their own, with not much more than a screw driver and an adjustable wrench. As desirable as this might be, it's not entirely realistic or accurate.
Ease of Repair… A common Myth
Although it's true that an old truck without electronics or computerization can be repaired with standard shop tools, not everyone is an experienced heavy duty diesel mechanic that knows how to use them. But even if they were, the truck itself might be beyond their abilities. You see, old trucks do have an Achilles heal. The biggest one is the availability of replacement parts. I've read numerous accounts of people with old trucks that have broken down. The worst so far was a couple who's truck had a drive train mechanical failure somewhere in Africa, and because of the truck's brand and age, getting a replacement part was almost impossible. I say almost, as they did eventually find one that got them going again. But it took two months of them sitting on the side of a dirt road, in the rainy season, with no way of moving the truck. And believe it or not, they were lucky! Their breakdown happened within walking distance of a small village. Although that village had very little by western standards, the kind and generous residents sort of adopted the couple, and brought them food, water and social support so the couple could endure the ordeal. It wasn't getting the part to them that was the issue, you understand. It was finding the part in the first place that took so long. Parts for old trucks are not something generally stocked by repair facilities. So their part probably had to be found in the back room of some old shop that had been in business for decades, and underneath a pile of other disused items next to the lavatory. At least with a truck of current vintage, part accessibility, especially if it's a truck brand that exports to all the different regions of the world, certainly wouldn't be an issue.
New Truck Advantages
Drivability
New trucks have a myriad of advantages over the old trucks. The one sitting atop the list is drivability. Since most people wanting an adventure truck plan on spending many hours each day behind the steering wheel, drivability should be an important consideration.
Truck design has come a very long way from the time before computerized electronics, and a great deal of it is in the suspension and steering systems. Drive train components have also vastly improved, and this all makes operating the vehicle easier. Of course there are also the creature comforts, now pretty much standard in all truck cabs since it was determined that driver productivity and safety greatly improves when they're not fighting their own discomfort and fatigue.
The Conscience Factor
The other big advantage of a new truck is what we call the "conscience factor". What this means to us is that we are being responsible global citizens by making our best effort to mitigate the deleterious effects of using something that is not really in keeping with the goal of maintaining a healthy planet. Although running a fossil fuel burning truck can never be "green", at least we are using one that, because of its pollution control systems, is going to output the least in the way of toxic compounds. To be sure, these trucks are more expensive to run because of the cost of additives and the more highly refined ultra low sulphur diesel, but we feel we are doing our best to reduce our carbon footprint on planet Earth.
Tesla has recently announced the development of an electric heavy freight truck. But until they actually get one into production, and more over, one that can run long enough to qualify as an exploration capable platform, the best we can do is to use a vehicle that has the lowest fossil fuel emissions.
Also supporting the conscience factor, is the fact that with a new truck, one gets the best braking system available. The worry of not being able to stop the truck quickly in order to avoid literally driving over another vehicle, or person on the road, is dramatically reduced. And believe me, when things go wrong with a heavy truck moving at speed, the outcome is seldom a good one. Especially for anyone exterior to, and in close proximity of, the crashing truck.
Compounding the braking strength of the vehicle, is the factor of vehicle loading. So often is the case when people select an older truck, they fail to consider the weight that it will eventually end up carrying. Just in our own experience, we've seen this countless times when people outfit a regular 4x4 for overland travel. By the time they add on all the 4x4 accessories, and then pile in all the kit that they feel they need, the vehicle can end up over the legal gross weight of the vehicle by as much as 500 kilos. Although they usually counter this by suspension upgrades that are available from ARB and others, most vehicles do not have a solution for upgrading the braking system. This means the stopping distance of a fully loaded overland vehicle will be much greater, and probably won't measure up to the safety requirements mandated by government transport authorities. The likely outcome of a crash with a vehicle like this is that the insurance company will likely not cover the policy owner.
For us, choosing a new truck for the project gave us the advantage of selecting a chassis engineered from the factory to carry the loads we want, with a significant safety margin built in. In our case, the finished, fully loaded vehicle weights about 17.5 tonnes (39,000 lbs.), but the gross vehicle weight is 27 tonnes (60,000 lbs.). This is a 50% safety margin. Not many overland vehicle builds end up with that. So with no disrespect to those old truck fanatics out there, after considering all the variables for our build, we opted for the new, safe and comfortable truck chassis.
North American Built Trucks
Since we didn't have the option to use a new Euro truck, we were left to choose from one of the brands made here in North America. Unfortunately, this meant a significant downgrade in quality and sophistication from what we had viewed in Europe.
What made the process even more discouraging was all the horror stories we'd heard, many from logging truck operators, about the poor reliability and durability of the various domestic brands, particularly when using them off road.
Compounding the choice is the necessity of any truck we select to be world serviceable in the likely event that we ship the truck overseas. Unfortunately, North American trucks don't have a significant presence worldwide like the Euro trucks do. So serviceability would be problematic because of the computerization of trucks these days. If a service shop doesn't have the brand specific computer diagnostics equipment, they're not going to be able to solve any electronics issues.
Fortunately there is one truck made in North America that does meet most of the requirements, and oddly enough is actually a European brand. Volvo is the only European company to manufacture trucks domestically for the North American market, and the great thing about it is that they use the same Euro-truck computer system on the N.A. trucks. This means a problem overseas can be diagnosed by any Volvo dealer, and there are Volvo truck dealers in almost every country worldwide.
The other advantage of the N.A. Volvo is that the engine and transmission are the same ones used in the Euro Volvos, and all of the other major components on the truck are sold worldwide as well. So Volvo was the best choice if we wanted a new truck that's world serviceable, and can be registered here in Canada. The only downside is that it is not a cab-over design, so the overall length of the finished build will be about three feet longer. A disadvantage in some situations to be sure. But considering how we want to use the truck, its a small compromise.