A new (to me) SMB in CO

[COJC]

After a stellar week in Powell, I came home to my new rig...



After lurking on the forum and searching craigslist, we found a rig that was exactly what we wanted.

I have read many posts about purchasing SMBs and thought I would share the experience....

EASY... Bought the vehicle site unseen.

Financing was a bit tricky... my advice is to be on the phone with the lender and walk them trough the valuation. This seemed to be the most problematic... I have my computer open to Kelley Blue Book and NADA as well as the Sportsmobile website. Walk the underwriter through the chassis and engine first... Then add the Sportsmobile conversion. Then direct the lender to the SMB website and walk them through the 4x4 price lists - primarily for the 4x4 conversion... After a bit of hand holding - bam - we had our value and sent out our deposit. All in all took less than a week.

Our other problem was getting the van since we are in CO and the SMB was in Idaho. After researching rental cars, flights, etc. We decided to ship the vehicle. We used Around The Globe Auto Transport. They were the least expensive (less than flying up and driving back) and did exactly what they said they would.. Picked up the SMB a day early and had is sitting behind my office when I returned home. I couldn't really check up on them while at Powell. They communicated well and I could have been happier.

Can't wait to get on the road (off the road) in the new SMB.

[EMrider]

Glad your buying experience went well and congrats on a nice rig. Let us know how it goes on the first few trips.
R

[saline]

Nice! Welcome to spoiled camping and the underlying SMB addiction. Where in CO?

[lactic]

Congratulations on the new ride/accommodations!!

Ole #47 will be cruising Fruita and Moab this weekend!

[Stumpalump]

Wow! It's even got a great shine on it. Congrats! If you don't mind me asking what transportation cost then I'd like to ask. I'll be moving from Franktown Co to Phoenix soon and need to ship my beloved 1951 Ford 8N tractor with a couple of implements. It's not as heavy as a van but I'm looking at shipping vs making a return trip to pick it up. What part of CO are you in?

[COJC]

Thanks for the comments... already began working on the smb with some adds....

saline... We are in Denver. Where are you?

lactic.. Have a great trip to Moab... We plan on heading out in a few weeks. In NY for the next few days (wish I was in Moab tid weekend).

stumpalump...The van cost $570 to ship.. door to door. we did one of the online quote (broker) companies and received 6 different quotes. It was surprisingly easy...

[kxkid715]

Lets see some more pics! I really like the lift/wheel and tire combo.

[Ford_6L_E350]

Those look like the factory van aluminum wheels.

Mike

[COJC]

Well,

We took the SMB out for a quick overnighter to test everything. Drove 285 to Georgia Pass - Over the pass and down USFS 355 into Breckenridge area.



Headed back around to Montezuma and up Webster pass were we planned to camp for the night.



Headed over Webster Pass this morning and hit an unfortunate washout 3/4 of the way down the 1st pitch. Tried to work with the tools we had to reinforce the washout with some RR ties But ultimately decided it wasn't a good idea to flip the SMB on our first trip out. We backed all the way up the pass and went back out the way we came in.





Overall, I was very impressed with the SMB 4x4 capabilities. I am used to driving a large truck F350 on 37s. We did have a couple clearance issues that we could avoid with good wheel placement. All the systems worked great including the furnace since it good pretty cold last night.

The next trip planned is Moab on the 9th-11th of Oct if anyone is in the area.

[jalapeno]

Hi, I was in Moab that weekend with my wife! I think I saw you go by us Sunday night at dusk on Main st... I pointed it out to the wife, thinking of coming over to the 4x4 van from an F250....