Challenge:Design a survival vehicle

This is your challenge, design a survival vehicle based around these points

-Model can be bought or found easily

-modifications that would be needed

-Storage? What can it store and by how much?

-Design base? Is it an offensive, defensive, intelligence, multifunctional, etc. vehicle?

The basic concept is, if you could design a vehicle that can be easily mass produced cheaply for survivalist needs.

(Yes it is true that in true survival, you take what you can get. However this vehicle is for pre-emptive/prep survival. Or just for your fellow traveling man that needs a vehicle to live in.)

Ok first thing I need to know is if there is a price range you are shooting for?

I will post mine tomoorow

Design specifications would be nice.


Couple of suggestions, if this is to be a land vehicle:


-Incorporate a diesel engine modified to run on Bio-Diesel fuel. Anything with fat (including fallen comrades!) can thus be rendered into useful fuel.

-Minimal use of eletrical systems, and no vital systems dependent on micro-eletronics. This would minimize your vulnerability to damage from electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks. Also would make repairs less dependent on non-mechanical sources.




I'd suggest either a Land Rover "Defender" (older madels have survived some of the harshest conditions on the planet) or a Toyota pick-up (a long-time favorite of rebels and mercanary forces thorought the wold) as a jumping-off point.

[edit on 13-8-2009 by Bhadhidar]

Originally posted by Cool Breeze
Ok first thing I need to know is if there is a price range you are shooting for?

No price range, this is not for me (At least not right now) but to build up a guide for things to look for when building a survival vehicle using easily accessable resources.

reply to post by Bhadhidar


No design specifications, again, this is an information thread to figure out what is accessable for the general public. That way for the moment we wont have to get special licenses for certain trucks and the like.

I'm building a tear drop camper at the moment. Not that I need a bug out vehicle as such - I'm already as far out of the reach of civilisation as it's possible to get - but - YA NEVER KNOW!

The reasoning? IF I ever need to move further away, I don't want to be restricted to one particular vehicle. I want options, and if anything ever happened to my car, for example, a blown head, major part coming adrift, shot to pieces or stolen by someone a bit nastier than me, then the theory goes that I can simply "liberate" an abandoned vehicle, hitch the teardrop to it and continue on my merry way. The value of the teardrop camper is that it can be towed by a really small 4 cylinder car or large motorbike, can be easily hidden, yet provides insulated sleeping comfort, cooking facilities and storage.

If necessary I can rig this thing to attach to a horse - it's light enough to be pulled by one.

It's probably not particularly glamorous, but it's unobtrusive, and even better can be "practised" with as a weekend getaway vehicle. Doesn't draw the crabs.

Something like this

Only without the kevlar.

Edit to add link

[edit on 13-8-2009 by tangotemper]

reply to post by tangotemper


Actually that is a pretty dang good idea. True you can go simple or try to have a gas and electric generator so you can cook and steal some wireless or radio. Would be pretty neat.

Mini van body on a old 70's or early 80s Jeep Waggoneer frame and running gear. The old waggoneer's would go just about anywhere.. 4wd hi, 4wd low, and if you realy got stuck 4wheel lock. Posi track for the off road.

On top throw a few solar panels to charge batteries stored in back for running lights, equipment. Build a air dam on the side to funnel air through to a fan located in the back that runs a alternator, which also charges batteries as you drive.

10 ply off road tires , dang near impossible to puncture.

You have room to store stuff, sleep, what ever.

build cost would not be that bad,

We have one that we bought as it was and then modified it to suit the needs... of getting from point A to point B (the shelter)

We bought a British Saracen vehicle, modified the suspension system with heavy duty shocks, made it bullet proof to everything up to (but not including) a 50 caliber rround...

Made it NBC compliant.... armed fully with some nasty surprises in it...

no flat tires (makes it a little rough riding)

and increased the sizes of the fuel tanks....

all in all it is (or was) a little spendy but it gets us to where we wanted to be.... ought to see the looks in the city when I drove it down town... funny as all get out.

OH OH OH, I wanna play...........Okay this build is DONE!

86' Chevy suburban.
6.2L diesel with a side winder turbo
400 turbo hydromatic transmission.....rebuilt good for another 150k 16mpgs.
custom 50gallon fuel tank.
raised 6 inches
dana 60 front axle..... arb locker ratio 3.73
corp. 14 bolt free floater in the rear.......open ratio 3.73 wanted it for the highway.
I put an atlas ll transfer case in it.
Also there are custom bumpers with custom rock bars on the side.
Roof rack that doubles as tent set up(AUSSIE STYLE)
There is a lowpro awning that looks slick on the rt side....got it from the rv store in town.
Cobra CB with a 350 watt linear amplifier...not quite fcc approved

Pioneer sound system; so I can cruise Armagedden in style.
I left the bench seats in it; as I like them. I used roll on bedliner for the floors.......I like it a lot. propane tank in the rear mounted up under the rig. It pulls out for quick fills. I have a gas line that runs up to a fold out stove on the back door. Open the door, crank the gas on, and hot food.
I put in 12 volt lighting into the headliner. I've got a rectifier(I believe that's what it is called) for AC to DC. The other way would be inverter.

Any ways that's all I've got done on it so far.

The most expensive thing was the transfer case.

Other than that; I'm into a really great package including the rig for around 8k

I had a hard drive failure and lost all my CAD drawings, but what i had essentially designed was the ULTIMATE toyota.

Starting off with a mid 80's toyota, i'd yank the R22 out and completely strip the entire engine bay. Next, i'd beef up the entire chassis with 4130 chromoly tubing in a warren truss type skeleton and fit hardpoints where the skidplates/underarmor will be attached. In the front of the bed i'd mount something like a 4+ liter turbo-Biodiesel with a PTO attached, and use a shaft and a V-box (like the guys with the mid-motor el-caminos i've seen do it) to connect to the rest of the drivetrain.

I plan to do a chromoly fill cage around the entire vehicle outside the body, and protective enough that even a rollover would be a non-issue, just get out and flip it back on it's wheels. The space where the stock engine would be is now sealed watertight and is dry storage as well as aiding in flotation should it be necessary. Throughout the entire vehicle, any space in between body panels, and any unused voids will be filled with foam for flotation. The entire cab is sealed off and ventilation can run through whatever filter system you deem appropriate. I'd go for a good hepa filter system on mine.

As for the PTO, you've got it available. I'd use it to run a decent sized generator, but you can use it for whatever you want, including running a propeller, impeller, or some sort of water drive unit for amphibious use.

Naturally I'd beef up the suspension the same way that i'd do the frame, and make it solid enough to handle the extra weight of all the chromoly frame stiffeners, a bigger engine, more gearbox, generator, and all the armor that will be added. I'd also widen the track to help stabilize it and to allow more suspension travel. While i'm at it i'd beef up any drivetrain components that looked like they needed it, maybe score some beefier stuff that'll fit a bigger bolt pattern so some real gnarly tire and rim combos can be used. I'd also pick up a set of the tank tracks that bolt on to your standard lug patterns for some serious offroadability.

And armor, for times of peace i'd be happy with some good aluminium skidplates on the bottom to protect from rocks and stumps, but if i were building it to operate in a hostile environment, i'd be trading my aluminium plates for some thick steel or whatever else i could get my hands on that'd absorb some of a blast from underneath should that be an issue. Also in such an environment i'd do some armor around the entire outer cage to help deflect small arms fire, or at least around the engine, fuel, and passenger spaces.

Don't forget some securely mounted and snug fitting racing buckets, a 6 point safety harness, heavily padded interior, and lexan windows all the way around. A hydration system built into the cab would have retractable hoses with bite valves above the driver and passenger, with the option to select either hot or cold water. Hot water would be supplied via a heat exchanger tied to both the radiator and oil cooler. Cold will work off another exchanger tied to the cold side of the AC and will work when the AC is running.

Feel free to add rocket launchers and machine guns as you see fit, but that's the general idea of how i''d build mine for when we're in full tilt boogie mad max style apocalypse time.

There's a lot more detail to my plan for building the ultimate vehicle, and would take me probably 100 pages to lay it all out, and a ton of cad models which i don't have anymore, but if you're serious about it and have the skills to build it, you'll figure out what needs to be done, but the general idea is presented above.