New - Start-Up Questions

[AtlasBound]

I recently moved and it's possibly going to be temporary. The rents in this area are extremely high so I'm thinking about building out my truck to live in for the short term. I have a 2007 Nissan Frontier (2WD) crew cab with around 160,000 miles that's in pretty good shape. I wanted to get the opinions of everyone here as to whether or not it's worth it to build this out. I'm not asking for what I should put in it (I've got that figured out mostly), but rather whether or not it's worth it. The benefits are that I can take everything with me if I get a new vehicle.

The biggest downfall is that the area that I'm in doesn't have anywhere to camp unless it's a designated area and those run around $400+/mo. I'd have a guaranteed spot with access to showers (though I'd install one anyway) and laundry, which is helpful. My initial estimates have me around $5,000 to get it setup. I do not have a camper top/shell for the truck nor will I install one, but I do have a cover on the truck to help protect the contents.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and insights into whether or not this is worth it and other things I should be looking at. I can provide a list of what I intend to put in it if that would be helpful.

 

[M Rose]

I built out my 00 Ram 2500 and lived in it for 3-6 months... it was a pita, but the best option at the time.

 

[smritte]

Are you asking about building an off-road vehicle out of a 2wd, 160K, Nissan or how can I make this dependable so I can live out of it or both?
Without knowing the vehicle's history, here's my opinion on making it dependable. Off-road worthy would be just adding in more stuff.

Anything high mileage needs to be baselined. What that means is your replacing most of the parts on that vehicle. This way you have an idea how long until it will need to be replaced again. Everything has a lifespan. Most items are not designed to last 100k before wearing out. I'm not talking normal maintenance items like belts and hoses. You hear people complaining about their vehicle being a money pit. Those people have something worn out and don't understand why everything is failing.

I bought my cruiser with 200k, over the last 4 years I've been modding and baselining it. In the first year it got all fluids, all hoses, belts "tune stuff", water pump, radiator, fuel pump, tie rods, ball joints, water pump. These items were original, still working but, even though "it ran great" they were past their life span. Tearing down the axles there was slight bearing wear, same with the power steering. At this point the engine has been resealed and everything bolted to it replaced, transfer case inspected and resealed, the diffs inspected but wear on the diff bearings and gears. All I have left is the transmission and refreshing the diffs.

That may sound extreme but, that's baselining. I have around 5k into it without counting the mods. What it wont do is leave me stranded because I ran something past its life time.

My opinion is based on this is not only being what I did for a living since the late 70's but working with resto shops and building my own and friends vehicles. I have on the other hand dumped a ton of money into projects that I regretted later. All this taught me to think carefully about selecting the proper vehicle before hand. I will not tell you to select a different vehicle but only to think it out. What do you want the end result to be? What is the aftermarket availability for your vehicle in the direction you want to go? Do you have access to an area to do this yourself or do you have to pay someone? If your going to pay someone, keep it running until you get settled then decide which way you want to go.

 

[Boostpowered]

Google how to be homeless, if you dont stay at a rv resort you will be on the move about every day as to not accumulate parking tickets. In dallas people just live in tents under the briges. Im not sure on squatters rights in fl but look into that too you could find an abandoned property to live on. Or make a friend with land you could park and stay on.

 

[M Rose]

Google how to be homeless, if you dont stay at a rv resort you will be on the move about every day as to not accumulate parking tickets. In dallas people just live in tents under the briges. Im not sure on squatters rights in fl but look into that too you could find an abandoned property to live on. Or make a friend with land you could park and stay on.

The last part is exactly what I did... up until I got my motor home.

 

[AtlasBound]

Are you asking about building an off-road vehicle out of a 2wd, 160K, Nissan or how can I make this dependable so I can live out of it or both?
Without knowing the vehicle's history, here's my opinion on making it dependable. Off-road worthy would be just adding in more stuff.

Anything high mileage needs to be baselined. What that means is your replacing most of the parts on that vehicle. This way you have an idea how long until it will need to be replaced again. Everything has a lifespan. Most items are not designed to last 100k before wearing out. I'm not talking normal maintenance items like belts and hoses. You hear people complaining about their vehicle being a money pit. Those people have something worn out and don't understand why everything is failing.

I bought my cruiser with 200k, over the last 4 years I've been modding and baselining it. In the first year it got all fluids, all hoses, belts "tune stuff", water pump, radiator, fuel pump, tie rods, ball joints, water pump. These items were original, still working but, even though "it ran great" they were past their life span. Tearing down the axles there was slight bearing wear, same with the power steering. At this point the engine has been resealed and everything bolted to it replaced, transfer case inspected and resealed, the diffs inspected but wear on the diff bearings and gears. All I have left is the transmission and refreshing the diffs.

That may sound extreme but, that's baselining. I have around 5k into it without counting the mods. What it wont do is leave me stranded because I ran something past its life time.

My opinion is based on this is not only being what I did for a living since the late 70's but working with resto shops and building my own and friends vehicles. I have on the other hand dumped a ton of money into projects that I regretted later. All this taught me to think carefully about selecting the proper vehicle before hand. I will not tell you to select a different vehicle but only to think it out. What do you want the end result to be? What is the aftermarket availability for your vehicle in the direction you want to go? Do you have access to an area to do this yourself or do you have to pay someone? If your going to pay someone, keep it running until you get settled then decide which way you want to go.

I am not looking to take this to a lot of off road places. Maybe some places off the road not but nothing that would approach needing 4WD; it’s mainly to live out of on a temporary basis. I bought the truck new and have kept it up. It probably needs some new hoses but I’m not certain that spending $5k is worth it. At least building it out I can take the things with me and reuse them.

Any maintenance on the truck would need to be done by someone else as I don’t have the space to do it.

 

[AtlasBound]

Google how to be homeless, if you dont stay at a rv resort you will be on the move about every day as to not accumulate parking tickets. In dallas people just live in tents under the briges. Im not sure on squatters rights in fl but look into that too you could find an abandoned property to live on. Or make a friend with land you could park and stay on.

I’m not looking to be homeless. I would stay at an RV park and pay the rent because it’s cheaper than anything else and, as mentioned above, gives me access to amenities. It also prevents issues with camping in prohibited places or trying to get away with stealth camping.

 

[Boostpowered]

I’m not looking to be homeless. I would stay at an RV park and pay the rent because it’s cheaper than anything else and, as mentioned above, gives me access to amenities. It also prevents issues with camping in prohibited places or trying to get away with stealth camping.

If youve already found a place to stay then begin adjusting to the change. It will likely be uncomfortable until you have adapted to the lifestyle change. You may be scoffed at by the rv folks for not being in a rv like them.

On insight. How expensive would renting a house vs what the rv park costs? I found a long time ago buying property is cheaper than renting in the long run and you dont have to deal with landlords or property managers. If the rv park saves you over renting id say go for it if your willing to tough it out.

 

[Prerunner1982]

What all are you planning on doing for $5K? Whether it's worth it or not is really your call, but sounds like it would serve a pretty important purpose. For $5k I would look at building my own trailer.

A camper shell would certainly make living out of the truck easier as you could build a bed platform with a place for storage underneath, a portable potty, fridge, etc with little to no set up time. It would also allow for stealth camping though it isn't completely uncommon to find people stay overnight at a Walmart, truckstops, or casinos. Not sure where in FL you are but https://freecampsites.net/#!(30.30176,+-83.55092) may give you additional places to stay on occasion to save some money if needed and a change of scenery.
A homemade teardrop or trailer with RTT would be another good idea for a base camp type setup.

 

[smritte]

I am not looking to take this to a lot of off road places. Maybe some places off the road not but nothing that would approach needing 4WD

Dont sell short a 2wd vehicle. I explored most of the Mojave desert, my local mountains and Death Valley in a 2wd 77 Datsun PU with a small lift and all terrains.

 

[MeHere!]

Define extremely high rent?

There are a ton of articles on there on "stealth camping" "boondocking"

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I recently moved and it's possibly going to be temporary. The rents in this area are extremely high so I'm thinking about building out my truck to live in for the short term. I have a 2007 Nissan Frontier (2WD) crew cab with around 160,000 miles that's in pretty good shape. I wanted to get the opinions of everyone here as to whether or not it's worth it to build this out. I'm not asking for what I should put in it (I've got that figured out mostly), but rather whether or not it's worth it. The benefits are that I can take everything with me if I get a new vehicle.

The biggest downfall is that the area that I'm in doesn't have anywhere to camp unless it's a designated area and those run around $400+/mo. I'd have a guaranteed spot with access to showers (though I'd install one anyway) and laundry, which is helpful. My initial estimates have me around $5,000 to get it setup. I do not have a camper top/shell for the truck nor will I install one, but I do have a cover on the truck to help protect the contents.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and insights into whether or not this is worth it and other things I should be looking at. I can provide a list of what I intend to put in it if that would be helpful.

My advise would be to invest your $5000 in a small travel trailer. Craigs list has tons of them for all prices. To me smaller is better because you can always sell a small trailer to a hunter or fisherman.You may even be able to buy one for $1000-$1500. This will still leave you with money to buy camping items you want. (BTY girl friends don't much like sleeping in a PU truck)
Find the cheapest RV park (or friends property if he lives out in the country ) away from the city. You can always resale a trailer and may not even lose money on it and then your cost will be almost nothing, You have a truck you can drive everyday without hauling everything you own with you everywhere you go. Living in an vehicle isn't ideal for any length of time but if you had to live in what you drive I would trade for a windowless van. This is the same advise I would give my own kids and one I would follow as well. Doing this will allow you to still be able to use your truck for weekend camping if that is what you want to build up too. Good luck

 

[AtlasBound]

What all are you planning on doing for $5K? Whether it's worth it or not is really your call, but sounds like it would serve a pretty important purpose. For $5k I would look at building my own trailer.

A camper shell would certainly make living out of the truck easier as you could build a bed platform with a place for storage underneath, a portable potty, fridge, etc with little to no set up time. It would also allow for stealth camping though it isn't completely uncommon to find people stay overnight at a Walmart, truckstops, or casinos. Not sure where in FL you are but https://freecampsites.net/#!(30.30176,+-83.55092) may give you additional places to stay on occasion to save some money if needed and a change of scenery.
A homemade teardrop or trailer with RTT would be another good idea for a base camp type setup.

That was in response to smritte stating that he had put around $5,000 into baselining. I'm not really interested in putting a lot of money into the truck itself. The bed rack is probably the only thing I'd do and even that I can probably sell.

I do agree with the trailer. I've been looking into that as well.

 

[AtlasBound]

Dont sell short a 2wd vehicle. I explored most of the Mojave desert, my local mountains and Death Valley in a 2wd 77 Datsun PU with a small lift and all terrains.

Absolutely. I've been to some great places with the Frontier; I just meant that I didn't have any plans in the short-term to really go exploring the backcountry.

 

[Retinens803]

If it is still reliable and is paid for, I would build!

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

That was in response to smritte stating that he had put around $5,000 into baselining. I'm not really interested in putting a lot of money into the truck itself. The bed rack is probably the only thing I'd do and even that I can probably sell.

I do agree with the trailer. I've been looking into that as well.

I searched all over Florida, Ga., Ala, La, for a reasonable priced small trailer for you yesterday. All of the gulf states and eastern seaboard states had ridiculous prices for a small trailer. Older trailers were hardly even advertised for sale. A new small trailer at $16,000 to $20,000 might be the way to go because the payments are so low. Much better than renting anything. If you want one for a reasonable price you need to search inland and westward states. I found plenty of low cost trailers in NM, Az, Nev, Ok, tx and a few more. It would pay you to drive over and pick one up while enjoying a nice trip as well.

 

[AtlasBound]

I searched all over Florida, Ga., Ala, La, for a reasonable priced small trailer for you yesterday. All of the gulf states and eastern seaboard states had ridiculous prices for a small trailer. Older trailers were hardly even advertised for sale. A new small trailer at $16,000 to $20,000 might be the way to go because the payments are so low. Much better than renting anything. If you want one for a reasonable price you need to search inland and westward states. I found plenty of low cost trailers in NM, Az, Nev, Ok, tx and a few more. It would pay you to drive over and pick one up while enjoying a nice trip as well.

Thank you, I appreciate the effort. In the end I decided the build out of the Frontier wasn’t worth it so I purchased a new full size truck and will decide the best option from there. Lots of potential so I’m looking forward to exploring the different ways to do this.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Thank you, I appreciate the effort. In the end I decided the build out of the Frontier wasn’t worth it so I purchased a new full size truck and will decide the best option from there. Lots of potential so I’m looking forward to exploring the different ways to do this.

Enjoy the new truck, there is nothing like owning a new one until the payment and insurance come due. :-)