Survival or Doomsday Vehicle BOV

We would all like to have something like this when the SHTF and I have been thinking a lot about the questions of (1) I have a family to transport out of the hot zone. (2) Have to transport supplies and gear for extended travel if needed. (3) Needs to be able to run on road and off road. (4) Has to provide protection from mobs, bullets, bottles, rocks and so on and allow some form of defense against the outside world from within the vehicle. (5) Has to be able to get in tight places and (6) Is the question of fuel

Now here is what I’m thinking and would like any insight I’m ok when it comes to
Red Neck ingenuity so I am thinking something along this



Find old 4x4 truck frame with working 4x4 parts strip it down clean it up rhino coat all of frame replace any 4x4 internal parts and oils/grease. Locate older small diesel engine and manual transmission weld in new mounts and brackets drill and cut skid plate for the motor and trans. use a good tube steel to make frame and roll cage all one piece then fabricate your body out of 1/4 steel and bolt the panels on so they can be removed or replaced use metal straps on the back side of the body plate to fasten Kevlar panels from old vest and flak jackets which would add to the protection of the passengers and lessen the weight of using thicker steel and rhino coat all panels. As for doors only 3 driver, passenger and tailgate area box the vehicle in leaving fire ports on all 4 sides with steel cover plates that can only be opened from inside the vehicle. Use bullet proof glass on windshield, drivers and passenger door, windows that can be dropped down from inside use scoops on the top and sides like the cold air induction systems to get a breeze inside the vehicle just have them where you can shut them off. Try and angle the front and sides just a little to help deflect any rounds from a mob off set some plates in the front to protect engine and vent the hood run exhaust up the side to keep out of water. As for seating flat against body on a spring system
and 90% of the parts and materials can be picked up around a junkyard. The reason I chose diesel is you get more travel time than with gas, engines are stronger, last longer, less maintenance and I think at least for a little while diesel will be easier to come by in a SHTF. Oh almost forgot a camo version of Good Ol Dixie painted on the top. lol

Anyway pass on any ideas you might have

 

I'd personally prefer a diesel Suburban 2500 4x4. But for your concept, I would use military Humvee run flat tires. Consider lexan panels for windows. Add a roof rack. Put a hell of muffler on it. For the engine, I'd use a GM 6.2 liter diesel. Easy to find milsurp engines and parts for, plus you can use any GM tranny with it. Add a pusher bar and a trailer hitch. Consider a similarly ruggedized, custom trailer.

 

I'd also go with an automatic transmission. *gasp*

Ever try to shoot - or perform any other task - when shifting through the gears? How about shifting through a curve with only one good leg? I know, you can't push start it (unless pre-1965 tranny) but the advantages outweigh the downside.

 

Great point. Also, if every possible driver in your family cannot drive a manual, you automatically (pun intended) eliminate those who cannot from your pool of drivers.

 

The biggest advantage (next to push starting) of a manual transmission is the fact that normally, all you have to do is replace the clutch parts (unless you've beaten on it, or it's getting really OLD).

If you've ever sat in traffic, and had an automatic transmission shit the bed on you, you'll appreciate the manual transmission so much more!

 

This

 

Or this.

 

keep some chain link fence around if you go with then open air version... you can wrap it and use some wire ties to hold it in place and keep others from getting inside where you don't want them.... ( also will keep grenades from coming in... ok so I still have issues in a bar that doesn't have chicken wire over the windows....

 

I have actually seen pictures, where someone took an old deuce and a half, took off the bed, and built the back end into a small SHTF camper.

Here's one, on Popular Mechanics website (scroll thru the pics for other people's ideas).

Here's what I'd like to get my hands on, if I could find one nearby, and in good shape. Like most CUCV's of the 80's vintage, it comes with a bulletproof GM 6.2 liter diesel engine (which can run on almost anything petroleum related, except gas & ethanol) and a 3-speed automatic transmission. While having a manual with this would be great, I've also seen where people have swapped out the 700R transmission with a 700R4, which adds the overdrive gear. Swapping out the gears in the pumpkins (front & rear) can also make it more highway speed friendly, if you plan on vacationing long distances away.

BTW, this is a M1010, commonly used as an ambulance by the military, before the Hum-V's came along. The box above the cab is an A/C, and it also has a heater that runs off of diesel. Not really huge inside, but you can access the back box from the cab, and since it's only me, I don't need more than this.

 

Maybe one of these....

but if money was no object, one or two of these would be nice...

 

Hey, It's a start !

 

Your example vehicle is really just a glorified dune buggy. I'm not sure how you are going to turn a heavy truck frame into something like that, but anyway...

I also agree that an automatic transmission is a better fit. Onceuponatime, manual shifts were more reliable, easier to fix, and gave better gas milage, but automatics have evolved to the point that all these advantages have been eliminated. Unless you have a very unusual application that makes a clear, compelling case for shifting it yourself, then do not get a manual transmission just for the sake of having one or base your decision on decades-obsolete shop talk. You also have to consider operator skill. Maybe you are a wizard at driving a stick, but what about everyone else in the group? Do you really want to be the only qualified driver? What if someone else drives the vehicle and fries your clutch? I have a stick shift Jeep myself and can tell you driving a manual in off road/snow/difficult conditions is not a skill learned in a weekend or so.

Engine: Gas or diesel is a personal choice. Have you considered gas with a propane option? Whatever you go with, I think you will need more than a "small" engine to lug all that bulletproof hardware around. I would choose an engine based on ease of maintenance and parts availability.

Suggestion: Find a used armored bank truck at a junk yard and alter it to suit your needs. Old armored trucks should not be that hard to find and they are already about 80% of what you want without a lot of welding and fabricating. Why reinvent the wheel? Or, scrap out the ballistic glass and steel plating and recycle it onto another vehicle.

In the end, I do not think you will be able to have it both ways. You'll have to choose either fast, agile, light or powerful, well hardened, defendable.

The Dixie flag is nice but the bright colors may attract unwanted attention.

 

The buggy was just the way I was considering working up a body design. With a roll cage and angles. By using the truck frame I can design a heavier made body as long as I keep within the specs for the suspension. The automatic trans do have some benefits but in the area I live the standard would give better service and you would have more torque when pulling and having to grunt through some of the old mining roads the great state of WV has to offer. If the SHIT 80% of my travel to my BOL would be off road on these washed out mining roads. With these roads a large vehicle like the armored truck is to big. I had actually thought about that and would love to set one of them beast up but wouldn't work. Oh and Dixie would be in a subdued green and black (lol)

 

If you go with an Automatic Tranny... take a hard look at it's specs some modern ones have electronic chips and won't be EMP proof...

 

Good point! The one thing I failed to mention, is that the box on those M1010 ambulance vehicles is aluminum, for that very reason. Not very bulletproof, but I'd still take one of those vehicles over many others out there.

 

Sounds like you should talk to @Yard Dart about that roll of kevlar he picked up....

 

Look at my avatar and you'll see the Landmaster from Damnnation Alley. Awesome wheel system but not quite as armored as it looks. I've seen it firsthand, Jeffries offered to sell it to me.

My newest love is the M577 APC from 'Aliens'. There are quite a few design flaws though and i've re-designed it completly, drivetrain, suspension, powerplant, weapon systems, fields-of-fire, driver/ gunner interface. These designs are not done with some fancy 3D software or some gaming software, but with MS Paint with an eye towards building it eventually. We can all dream, right?

Before you flame me too hard, be aware that i have a welding/ fabrication business, i rebuild older Toyota 4x4's and do extreme offroad upgrades to them, i have extensive knowledge of heavy servo-control systems, hobby robotics/ RC, extensive weapons knowledge (to the point of designing my own 40mm 4-drum-fed grenade launcher), HUD flight systems GUI design, video-surveillance system design and installation (micro-sized high-resolution .0001 lux cameras), electric vehicle conversion, solar/ wind system design, super efficient home design, etc. I've also worked in the special-effects industry in Hollywood. So if i say i can build it, Believe me. All i lack are the funds.



I plan to build a 1/4 scale model before the new year. I'll call it the M583.

Fantasies aside, a good all-round utility vehicle that will go Anywhere is one of the Unimog Freightliner FLU419's.

Do a search for 'unimog FLU419' and you will see an amazing vehicle.

Written after taking half a Lorcet because i sneezed at 5pm, and my intestine squirted out of my abdomen (and hasen't sucked back into place this time). Can you say HERNIA?