Man converts retired military truck into stylish, modern tiny home and lives on the road full time

A person transformed a 1994 Stewart & Stevenson M1079 army truck right into a tiny house, and the result’s unbelievable.

Michael Ladden purchased a army truck for $18,000 and spent $80,000 to show it into a stunning tiny house overlander that he can take wherever.

It’s exceptional as a result of it appears to be like like a rugged truck exterior, and also you received’t imagine it’s a truck when you get inside.

Outside view of Mike's orange military truck.
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Mike is likely one of the founders of Drive Globe Overland Adventures, a journey firm, and he’s all the time on the street to exploring every thing that Earth has to supply.

He set off on a visit that might cowl 220,000 miles a couple of years in the past, planning it to be essentially the most epic enterprise within the firm’s 25-year historical past.

He did it with a 41-year-old Mercedes Unimog with a {custom} overland expedition trailer till 2021.

Mike's orange Mercedes Unimog with a custom overland expedition trailer.
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Nonetheless, he discovered an overland rig that was a army truck and transformed it into a stunning tiny house with a snug bed room, rest room, bathe room, and full kitchen.

In keeping with Mike, some benefits of selecting a army truck are that they’re well-maintained and constructed extremely rugged.

He picked up his army truck with 5,000 miles on it.

Mike mentioned that his background isn’t actually in constructing vehicles, and it’s not actually in any of the issues he does.

So, he watched many YouTube movies to see different individuals’s builds and constructed his truck in varied locations like buddies’ backyards and campgrounds.

It took Mike 4 months to completely end his tiny house.

Military truck's 48-inch tires with a central inflation system.
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Whereas the full value of his home will not be budget-friendly, he mentioned that he needed the within to really feel like house since he would dwell in his truck full-time on the street. However he saved it below a hundred-thousand-dollar mark.

Exterior the truck, Mike changed all of the army lighting with LED.

The truck has 48-inch tires with a central inflation system; it will possibly journey simply on terrains like mud, sand, and off-road as they robotically inflate and deflate with a push of a button.

It additionally has an 85-gallon tank for recent water and a 25-gallon tank for grey water.

Behind the truck, Mike has custom-made racks for his bikes and containers the place he retains his motorbike and kayaking gears, so he doesn’t must put these issues inside the home, which he referred to as the “Habitat.”

Mike's bike mounted on the back of his military truck.
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He changed the doorway with a daily RV door he purchased from eBay.

The doorway additionally has Torklift steps linked to a retractable platform.

Military truck's retractable platform and steps.
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The truck has 1,200-watt photo voltaic panels and a mount for his kayak on the roof.

Solar panels and kayak on the roof of the military truck.
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Going contained in the tiny house, you will note a full kitchen that may make you neglect you’re inside a army truck.

Mike entering his the military truck via Torklift steps.
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“The kitchen is what I didn’t have in my final constructed,” mentioned Mike.

Mike standing in the kitching inside the his tiny home.
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His kitchen has a burner prime with a working oven.

“Imagine it or not, you may bake in it,” he mentioned, including that it really works fairly good, particularly with frozen pizza.

Burner top and oven in Mike's kitchen.
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It additionally has cupboards he purchased from Ikea.

“A few individuals gave me some detrimental suggestions they’re not going to carry up, and I can let you know over the previous yr, I’ve been bouncing round, and the cupboards are holding simply positive,” he mentioned.

Mike showing his cabinets from Ikea.
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Mike magnetized the cupboard doorways and put in bungee cords to make sure that his stuff inside the cupboard received’t fall off.

The kitchen additionally has a double ceramic sink with an Acuva UV mild water filtration system.

Tiny home's mini fridge and freezer under double ceramic sink
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Below the sink are a freezer and a fridge the place he shops a variety of meals.

“No drinks in right here as a result of I’ve a complete different fridge contained in the cab,” he mentioned.

He additionally has an espresso machine, and toaster screwed down so that they received’t transfer.

Mike's epsresso machine and toaster.
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The tiny house has a daily window-type air conditioner for a home as an alternative of a split-type one as it’s cheaper and works nice in his 135-square-foot place. It runs for about eight hours on the battery by means of an inverter.

Mike, showing the window-type inverter inside his tiny home.
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The ceiling of the home is product of fake tin vinyl, which he utilized in his first builds, and every thing inside the home is plastic-based or non-wood because it often modifications environments and doesn’t need issues to shrink, contract, or wrap.

He maximizes all of the house in his home by putting in storage all over the place potential. As an example, he has two small stools which have storage, and his folding desk within the kitchen has drawers on the aspect.

Storage inside the stool and drawer at the folding table.
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The lavatory, a separate bathe room, and the bed room are on the opposite aspect of his tiny house.

His rest room has a cassette bathroom, an arrogance with a sink, and a mirror.

Mike's vanity, sink, and toilet.
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In the meantime, the full-size home bathe has a glass door and rain head bathe that releases roughly a gallon to a gallon and a half per minute.

Huge, square rain head shower at the shower room.
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“One in all my massive priorities was to have a pleasant bathe on board,” Mike mentioned.

In entrance of the lavatory and bathe is his wardrobe, and slightly additional inside the home is his bed room.

Mike, showing the overhead vent and bedroom in his tiny home.
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His mattress has a house mattress, making it very snug. The bed room has two home windows on both aspect and an overhead air vent fan.

The cab of the truck is spacious.

Inside the spacious cab of the military truck.

“Once I bought this truck, it was only a barren loud steel house,” mentioned Mike, including that he did some upgrades by putting in an air con unit, GPS, monitoring, and SOS restoration. The cab additionally has a fridge the place he shops his drinks.

“The most important expense on this truck and improve I made was the Scheel-Mann seats from Germany. They’re simply extremely snug and have twin armrests. They’re heated. They’re wonderful!”

Mike enjoying a cup of coffee outside his military truck.
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Mike additionally did all of the paneling contained in the cab. He used materials on the doorways and insulated the seats beneath for warmth and sound, so he might drive alongside the street comfortably, listening to the radio.

“To me, being out on the street, the perfect factor about it’s that I stand up in my mattress with my stuff each morning. I’m all the time at house. I look out the window and get a distinct view each morning.”

Take a tour on this wonderful tiny house in a army truck by watching the video beneath: