AND SO THE PROCESS BEGINS
Around October 2017 the process began to design Matilda and there have been many, many Skype calls with Dmitriy from Krug Expedition since then! The initial discussions were primarily around high level costs and the legalities of owning and registering a truck as Australians (see this post for details). Once both of these things seemed viable the design process started.
As this had been our dream for a number of years we did have some idea of what we wanted and a floor plan we designed way back in 2011. As you can see from that original plan, there are definite similarities to the final plan for Matilda. There are also differences, in particular the length of the cabin, with the end design having an additional 630 mm of living space! Our truck also has far more luxuries, such as a washer/dryer, generator, underfloor heating etc, than we ever thought we would be able to afford.
The first detail to be confirmed was the overall size of the living space as this would determine which chassis we required. Initially the plan was to go for a 13 tonne MAN TGM, however this model did not come from the factory with the extended wheelbase that we required. Yes it could be lengthened post delivery but this would have impacted our warranty. In the end we decided to go for the MAN TGM 18.290 as this came with the right wheelbase with the added advantage of the ability to take more payload. The chassis was ordered in February 2018 and delivered in June. The technical details can be found here.
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Best wishes for your future journey, I commend you for having the courage to go ahead, I am sure there are many adventures and experiences ahead. Stay safe and enjoy.You will have many envious followers,me for one.Richard.
PS Barb,was good enough to pass your details on to me.
Hi Richard. Great to hear from you and thank you for the encouragement. Our adventure is definitely not for everyone, but it has been our dream for a number of years and we are so fortunate to have been able to turn that dream into a reality. Hopefully you will enjoy our travels from the comfort of your armchair!
Elizabeth
Wild! Good on yer! Not often I say that I am a little envious. All the best! Did you add a little safe?
Thank you! I think people either want one or say they could never do it!