“And what may the fuel cost!?” is probably the first thing an average Dutch person thinks when they see this huge wattle of a thing. Apparently nothing at all, if we are to believe the owner. He converted this army truck into a camper himself for a reasonable price and the fuel is virtually free.
Back to the beginning for a moment. In 2017 we already wrote about this old army truck. The cabin comes from a so-called Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), also popularly called Dragon Wagon. The undercarriage is a BMY M932A2, a six-wheeled army truck from the 1980s. At the back, the owner mounted a caravan to live in.
The old army truck cost about $14,500 to build, which is roughly the same amount in euros today. Currently, there is still about 3,000 dollars for solar panels and energy storage. The parts are very cheap because a lot has been produced for the military. New tires cost only $75 each. The insurance costs $237 per year.
But how does he get free fuel?
The owner says that he collects residual oil from car shops and restaurants. It converts this into fuel for the 8.3-litre Cummins 6CTA diesel engine. As a result, he actually has no fuel costs for the thirsty diesel engine. The electricity is also free from solar panels.
If you provide a little budget for food, you could travel all over America for little money. The old army trucks (like the BMY M932A2) are for sale everywhere and nowhere in America for prices from 5,000 to 20,000 dollars. Quite a cool idea for a road trip, isn’t it?
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