# BOV/GHV Ramblings



## CulexPipiens

While I'm not planning on leaving, I would like to eventually add a BOV or more likely a GHV (get home vehicle) to my preps. While it wouldn't be a daily driver, in the event of something bad I would want to be able to get to a few different family members and in my area and bring them back to my place, a major event could create gridlock for some areas I might have to go to necessitating some urban off roading (curbs, bushes, fences, etc.) however weather conditions could also range from floods to deep snow (let's say up to 2 feet in both cases).

As much as I would like a bobbed deuce or something from www.bigasstrux.com, they would definitely stand out and it would make more sense to have at least a crew cab vehicle. An older suburban or jeep might be the ticket however to get the "go anywhere" capability would still, I believe, make it stand out quite a bit.

So I guess my questions involve recommendations on possible candidate vehicles that wouldn't be obvious and/or what steps can be taken to make it appear as "normal" as possible? What paint color is "urban" camouflage? In my area driving around in a camo vehicle would stand out like a sore thumb. I'm thinking a flat medium/dark grey might be more unobtrusive and help to blend in.


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## UncleJoe

You could probably consider just about any color but to really blend in with an urban environment, go to your local hardware store and pick up a set of stencils. On the doors of your vehicle (preferably a truck, so add it to the tailgate as well) paint the name of a business such as "Harry's Handyman Service" or any other type of business that you would normally see driving around a sub-division; lawn mowing, landscaping, roofing, remodeling or pest control. You'll fit right in and nobody will be the wiser. If someone should ask for your card or an estimate, tell them you aren't taking any new customers right now.


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## Tirediron

What ever is common for the area is inconspicous, here there are lots of 4x4 crew cab pickups with 37"+ inch tires and lift that never see gravel , let alone off road. we call them pavement princesses and mall crawlers. here any thing street legal is pretty much just somebody strutting their ego. 
Most vechicles can have subtle modifacations to increase their "off street" capabilities, my son and his cousins had an old hyundi excell that they all polished their driving skills with all in the fields around the ranch. what that car went through was amazing, it is still ticking, we gave it to some friend for their kids to beat on. 
Ralley cars are a good example of what you can do to an automobile and still have it live.
most front drive cars have a pretty smooth belly pan and can slide over obsticals without much damage. 
- water crossing is usually hampered by low level air intakes, this can be cured by disconecting the intake side of the air box from the cold air ducting and hooking a piece of dryer duct to the box , this can be routed much higher. 
-water's effects on the engine electrical system can be checked at the car wash or in a driveway with a garden hose, run water over the ignition system and see if the engine stalls or stumbles
- driving through still water should be done at very low speed if at all possible, this reduces splash and gives you the chance to back out if you think it is too deep, 
- a plain 4x4 pickup or suv will go an amazing amount of places if it has just a little bit of preparation (water proofing) and as UncleJoe said can have generic bussiness signs added BUT check into this sometimes commercial vechicles need different liscencing and insurance.

-play the count the vechicles game for a month as you travel your local area and see what is common, another thing to consider is the "old city or utility truck" look, they tend to be almost invisible.
-and last but bears consideration most people don't pay any attention to vechicles especially ones that look middle age, not too shiney but not old and rusty.


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## BasecampUSA

CulexPipiens said:


> So I guess my questions involve recommendations on possible candidate vehicles that wouldn't be obvious and/or what steps can be taken to make it *appear as "normal" as possible*? What paint color is "urban" camouflage? In my area driving around in a camo vehicle would stand out like a sore thumb. I'm thinking a flat medium/dark grey might be more *unobtrusive and help to blend in.*


Urban/Suburban/Rural camoflage... or should I say *mimicry*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimicry









My BOV... lots of compartments/cabinets for tools, supplies & ammo. 
Kitchenette, bunks, portapotty, generator, ham radios.

Lights and siren still work, letter from local EMA to LEO's certifying 
this is an EMCOMM mobile backup repeater / command post.

...so what if there's a whacko at the wheel :sssh:


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## NaeKid

CulexPipiens said:


> While I'm not planning on leaving, I would like to eventually add a BOV or more likely a GHV (get home vehicle) to my preps. While it wouldn't be a daily driver, in the event of something bad I would want to be able to get to a few different family members and in my area and bring them back to my place, a major event could create gridlock for some areas I might have to go to necessitating some urban off roading (curbs, bushes, fences, etc.) however weather conditions could also range from floods to deep snow (let's say up to 2 feet in both cases).
> 
> As much as I would like a bobbed deuce or something from www.bigasstrux.com, they would definitely stand out and it would make more sense to have at least a crew cab vehicle. An older suburban or jeep might be the ticket however to get the "go anywhere" capability would still, I believe, make it stand out quite a bit.
> 
> So I guess my questions involve recommendations on possible candidate vehicles that wouldn't be obvious and/or what steps can be taken to make it appear as "normal" as possible? What paint color is "urban" camouflage? In my area driving around in a camo vehicle would stand out like a sore thumb. I'm thinking a flat medium/dark grey might be more unobtrusive and help to blend in.


To continue on from what TI had said ...

*1.* Make the internal mechanicals count. Any vehicle can be a good BOV with sufficient preparation. Move the air-intake as high as possible so that deep water can not get into the motor. Think of a snorkle (either visible or invisible) to be the beginning of the internal modifications. An invisible snorkle would move the air-box/filter as far from the front of the vehicle and have it suck the air through the air-grill at the base of your windshield. A visible snorkle would be cut through the side of the vehicle and run up the A-Pillar to the roof-line. Beyond that, seal all the electrical connections, make sure that the fuel-system is sealed (especially the return-lines and fuel-tank) and install an electric-fan that can be manually turned-off when deep-water crossing. Install temperature-guages to monitor engine water-temp, engine oil-temp, transmission oil-temp, transfer-case oil-temp and finally, axle temperatures. Talking about axles, install a selectable locker (OX-locker, ARB-locker, Eaton E-Locker) or an auto-locker to join the left-side to the right-side of the axles. I use Aussie-Lockers in the front of my Jeeps and factory Posi in the rear.

*2.* Protect it! If you have a 4x4, mount a heavy-duty bumper on the front and rear (doesn't need to be big, it just needs to be strong) that can be used to push-down bush, move vehicles blocking the roadway or path, use as a connecting-point for tow-straps, winch-lines or tow-bars. If you have a truck, install an exo-cage that can double as a roof-rack - throw a ladder on the top and no-one would be the wiser! _Pictured below is a friend's Suburban with Exo-Cage_

*3.* Choose an invisible color and sound. White and silver are the two colors that are missed the most by other drivers. Make the vehicle "mono-chromatic" - meaning one color splashed over the whole thing. White body, white bumpers, white door-handles ... skip the chrome and the bright colors. If pure-white is too much, then mix in some black or flat-black to give it that aged-look. Sound - have the best muffler on that thing that will keep it silent - you don't want to hear more than the motor itself. Make sure that there are no exhaust-leaks and that the piping is made of a high-grade 409 stainless-steel (or similar material) from header to exhaust-tip.


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## Kenny78

Not much to add all points are pretty covered. With a second vehicle, not a DD, I'd stay a minimum of 15 years behind current. Drive around less affluent parts of town and see what there is a lot of. NE Oklahoma has more 90's chevys than you can shake a stick at. I will stick with 70's and 80's chevy 4wd's for parts compatibility for my "fleet". I would keep the paint one color or color scheme, no out of place body panels. I rolled on a paint job and it looks great even with a LOT of orange peel. The bonus is the orange peel breaks the shine but looks normal at 10 feet


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## The_Blob

BasecampUSA said:


>


there's an older one for sale near me with all functioning lights and sirens, I'm thinking about getting it but I'm afraid I would "be a kid" and eff around with it too much "having fun" 

I'm not very mature


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## Tweto

NaeKid;


I read your posting yesterday and I keep thinking about the Exo-Gage. What's the advantage of this? It doesn't look strong enough for a roll-over. If I saw this truck in the wally world lot I would be looking at it (not good). The rest of the truck looks norman for my area of the world and would not draw any atention.


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## NaeKid

Tweto said:


> NaeKid;
> 
> I read your posting yesterday and I keep thinking about the Exo-Gage. What's the advantage of this? It doesn't look strong enough for a roll-over. If I saw this truck in the wally world lot I would be looking at it (not good). The rest of the truck looks norman for my area of the world and would not draw any atention.


Many ExoCages are designed for the Adventure Touring segment of off-road excursions. Most vehicles like a Suburban (as shown) or Jeep Cherokee are difficult to install an internal cage for protection in case of slow roll-overs and they help protect the vehicle in case of light bouncing off of rocks or trees.

Some ExoCages are equipped with lights (light-bar) or roof-rack (canoe, kayak, sport-box) or other touring equipment. The Suburban pictured above has gone further in its cage-system with lots of lights (forward, side and rear facing) as well as connections for a kayak and a sport-box. The inside of the rig has been outfitted with things like an ARB fridge, pull-drawer stove / BBQ and all kinds of other goodies.

Below is another ExoCage that is on a Cherokee, I believe the picture was taken in Moab, a rock-crawling adventure for many Jeeps (picture taken from JeepForum.com) ... if he gets twisted-up a little bit and flops, he will still be able to work the doors to exit the Jeep and might not even have dents on the body to repair. If it was painted to match the body-color, it would be virtually invisible unless you are looking for the cage. Utility and function all rolled into one.


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## NaeKid

If you did a search on images.google.com for ExoCage Suburban or Jeep or ... you will find lots of designs that people have tried. Some work well, some, not so well.

I found a "ZombieHunting" Jeep YJ that was ExoCaged on a quick search, love the design of the cage that I might even do something similar to my own mini-monster this summer if I have time.

http://krawltex.blogspot.com/2011/06/50-cal-exocage-yj.html


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## TimB

ExoCages are the way to go if you have the time to do it yourself or the money to have someone else do it. :2thumb: I wanted to do one on my Samurai but sold it before it came about.  Sure do miss that "little" guy (SPOA and lifted 8" and on 35s  ).

Tim


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## NaeKid

One of the members of my off-road club has one kind of like that - Toyota axles and 38" Swampers with either ARB or OX lockers in the front and rear. It also had a 6,000lb winch in front and a 4,000lb winch in the back. That little beast can go anywhere! Small and light, it was amazing offroad, but, lacked the highway manners required for a BOV.

How was your Sammi with 35's on the highway?


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## TimB

It would run 65-70 with stock gearing (3.73s). I had already found one 4.62 3rd member at the local pull-a-part and was looking for another. I guess I should add that I had installed a 3TC Toyota (1.8L)/ 5 spd. in it.  Ran very well on side streets but was done at highway speeds with stock gearing. I went overkill on the winch (9500 lb. MM) but it was on sale and you can never have too much winch.  If I had not developed bad knees (replaced in '10) I would still have it- it was too hard to get into with my knees. 

Tim


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