My suggestion, first and foremost, is to ask yourself what kind of camping are you thinking of doing as most Parks in the US go by the 10 foot rule, so every 10 feet moves you into specific camping spots so a 30 foot spot might perhaps be sided on 3 sides with trees but a 40 plus foot spot will just be a drive through alley way. Also think of were you going, as an example some of the mountain passes in some of the parks are restricted to "X" feet.....ill kinda call that step one.
Step 2: Is to figure out what your local licensing laws are, so here were i live most MDT's without air brakes dont need an airbrake endorsement to drive them but one that has air brakes does [here thats 1000$ to add to mine and my wifes license].
Step 3: Next make sure you know what you need to convert it from commercial to RV or passenger vehicle status.
Step 4: Next figure out the necessities you want then look for something that suits your "box"......you have already figured out that you want something you can put the family in the cab......next i would figure out how much fluid your going to want on board....fluid is really heavy and that will dictate axle placement [ie: 150 gallons of water 6 feet off the rear axle is not the best]. Gray tank, black tank, generator, batteries and such all take up real estate that you may want for storage....so think it over carefully and then lay everything out in a drawing, even if that drawing is a rough sketch on graph paper.
Stretching a frame, as its known, although simple in theory is a very difficult thing to do safely and correctly [i can fab, weld etc but will have a certified welder do mine] and adds to your build cost...and dont forget that it cost the same to stretch the frame 4 inches as it does 4 feet.....lol.....so if you know going in how long a frame you need and find something already built around that "box" dimension your money ahead.
As for what year? Well anything before 2010 will not have a DEF/SCR emission system on it and anything before 2007 will not have any emission system at all......so for me, being a mechanic i stayed away from anything post 2010 as fixing emission stuff is major money. I currently am working with a 2008 so it has a DPF but no DEF, it was a compromise for what i wanted and needed but if i was going MDT it would be a none emission truck...period.
I'm sure others can add more insight into this as the above is just my opinion and the discussions my wife and I are having or have had getting everything ready to embark on our build as well....
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