Military trucks can become awesome expedition rigs, with a little imagination, money, and a lot of hard work. But the vehicle you see in these images is like nothing you've ever seen, as it is tech-packed in ways you can't even begin to imagine.
The rugged house on wheels covered in this article goes by the name of Nugget and it is based on a 1994 Stewart and Stevenson LMTV (Light Medium Tactical Vehicle) M1079. It wasn’t exactly cheap to convert, with its owners admitting the total cost of the build is somewhere in the $100K ballpark ($98,908, to be more exact).
Nugget belongs to Isabelle and Parker, a young couple of nomads who converted the army truck themselves in about one year and a half. They bought the vehicle last year for $20,000 and it had a mileage of 8,000 miles (12,874 km) when they got it.
Because Isabelle and Parker are both into sports (they work as ski instructors in Montana during the winter, and Parker is also a filmmaker for National Geographic), they designed their Nugget to accommodate their active lifestyle. They keep all their gear inside the truck, including their paramotor, dirt and gravel bikes, which they store under the bed.
The Nugget comes with a cozy kitchen equipped with a generous sink, a three-burner propane stove with oven, and an Isotherm freezer and fridge for boats, which is close to the door and is the first thing you see on your right, as you enter the vehicle.
A stool and a bar give them access to the bedroom area, which comes with Arctic Tern windows, a small TV with a swivel stand, a sound system, a fan, and two cabinets with lights that automatically turn on when you open them.
The Nugget also has a small bathroom with a composting toilet and a shower with only hot water. You select the water temperature from the digital screen of the instant water heater. The water heater is also powered by propane just like the stove, but they also have 700 watts of solar power on the roof.
There’s a teak countertop in the dinette area of the Nugget, which was turned into a dining table that uses a Lagun table mount, and there’s also a small pull-out pantry close to it.
The electrical system of the Nugget is controlled via a techy PSI Marine dashboard, where you can see everything that’s happening with the vehicle, including the power consumption, fresh water and diesel levels, inside and outside fridge/freezer temperatures, the temperature of the hot water, the barometric pressure, and more. You also get all the info on your phone via an app.
But the most jaw-dropping part of the expedition vehicle is definitely the truck’s cab, which looks closer to that of an aircraft rather than a ground vehicle. There’s a military-spec helicopter joystick in there, which they use to control stuff like engine braking, their audio system, their 7-point camera system, and more. The Nugget also has Apple CarPlay, a full PA system, a panel full of switches that control the lights of the vehicle, and JBL speakers in the cab above both the driver's and passenger’s sides. There’s also a Rockville amp in the front.
You can watch the video below for an in-depth tour of the state-of-the-art Nugget expedition truck.
Cristina’s always found writing more comfortable to do than speaking, which is why she chose print over broadcast media in college. When she’s not typing, she also loves riding non-motorized two-wheelers, going on hikes with her dog, and rocking her electric guitars. Full profile
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