Glacier Banff Jasper NP 7,000 miles round trip!

[Willywalderbeast]

Just got home from doing 7,000 miles in the rig! Ive put roughly 35k on the Chinook since I bought it a couple years ago. Had an awesome trip from Connecticut out to Montana to Glacier NP, then up to Canada to Banff and Jasper! On the way home dropped down into Wyoming to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons quick then to Colorado to visit some friends.

This was the first trip the rig gave me some trouble. Nothing major but I had to replace a coil pack on cylinder 1 in Montana, and then a rear brake line broke at the very end of the trip (1hr from home) and had to replace it in a part store parking lot after limping it 40miles down the highway to the closes advanced auto.

I’m currently looking into a storage location out west to leave the camper. As much as I love to drive, it would be so much more cost effective to fly out west and then just pick up the camper and drive around out there. Also not having to waste 6 days driving (3 out and 3 back) I could take more trips! If this happens I’m going to build a simple small camper van for weekend/east coast trips.

Some photos from the trip!

[Willywalderbeast]

The glacier fed lakes are amazing, and get better as you head north!

[Willywalderbeast]

Saw a ton of cool wildlife up close...

[Willywalderbeast]

And this cool Bison!

[Willywalderbeast]

Some random photos from the trip

[Willywalderbeast]

[68camaro]

Great pics and sounds like fantastic trip, I hear you on leaving rig out west, makes a lot of sense. I am in VA and driving to West takes alot of time out of vacation.

What type of front bumper are you running? Was it stock or aftermarket. Love the stance on your Chinook, I assume 4WD? What size lift do you have? Also is it a E350 or E450?

Thanks

[Willywalderbeast]

Great pics and sounds like fantastic trip, I hear you on leaving rig out west, makes a lot of sense. I am in VA and driving to West takes alot of time out of vacation.

What type of front bumper are you running? Was it stock or aftermarket. Love the stance on your Chinook, I assume 4WD? What size lift do you have? Also is it a E350 or E450?

Thanks

Thanks!

It’s a custom winch bumper from Weldtec designs out of San Deigo. That’s the same company that makes the lift I have, 6inches custom rear leafs on fox shocks. 33” tires on dodge dually 17” steel wheels.

It’s a E350 and is not 4x4. After all the places I’ve been with this rig (trails, beaches, snow storms) I don’t feel 4x4 would be needed in this rig. I’ve been everywhere I could get with this camper and never was needing 4x4 what stopped me from getting more remote. The size of the rig is the limiting factor always.

[68camaro]

My original plan was to to get 4x4, but when I looked at cost and do I actually need it I decided against it, it is reassuring to hear your positive history. How does it ride over long distance highway travel?

I had my MorRyde installed today and next stop is to order either Action Van or Weldtec lift, for your Weldtec did you get the 6" Complete System or their Class C 6" system? I was undecided on sticking with their standard blocks or getting the custom leaf springs, since I am having work done on east coast I was thinking of sticking with blocks to start and see how they workout.

Was there a specific reason you went with the custom leaf springs? Lastly, how high is wheel wheel from ground?

Thanks for all the info....

[chin_k]

I love the mama bear with three clubs.

Maybe we can exchange our Chinook since I would love to fly over to CT and hop on one that is ready to go.... however, even though I am out "West," it also took me three days to get to Jasper so I guess it is not going to help you much in term of time saving, so it is probably not going to work for you