4. How many miles do you have on your truck?
The truck has 107,000 miles on it. Since I started the trip
in Jan. '94 I have driven 17,000 miles in 10 different
countries.
32. Did I drive Bubba to Alaska?
No, Bubba was not built until 1981, so we went in a no-name
1956 Ford.
36. Has your truck ever had a crash or run out of petrol?
I had a little accident while in Chile, a man driving too
fast ran into me from behind. I have never run out of
petrol, it would just be too inconvenient, so I fill up every
chance I get.
37. How do you communicate with us? Do you have a computer in
Bubba?
I have a laptop PC and use MCI Global Mail to send my
messages.
40. What make and year is Bubba?
Bubba is a 1982 Dodge 1 ton, 4 door, dual rear wheel pickup with a utility bed that has 6 storage cabinets for my house
batteries, propane, tools and spare parts. I have a 12ft. Alaskan Cabover Camper mounted on the bed. The engine is a 1989 Cummins Turbo Diesel I purchased from a wrecking yard
and installed myself.
Bubba is a little unusual as I believe it is the only Dodge
Crew cab with a Cumins engine in existence. I have had many
people on the trip so far want to buy it. All I can say is
wait until I finish my trip and you can come to the US and
have it.
43. Why did you name your truck Bubba?
I guess the reason I named the truck Bubba is because he is a big tough but friendly kind of truck, like the guys we call
Bubba down in Texas where I'm from.
57. Why did you ship your truck from Panama to Chile, and
shouldn't you have a newer model truck?
I shipped the truck to Chile because there is no road between Panama and Colombia, the first ship with space available was bound for Iquiqui, Chile, the next ship with space to Ecuador did not leave for another 3 weeks and I could not afford to
wait that long. With regards to the age of Bubba, I could not afford to buy a new truck for the trip and I already had
put this truck together and I am a pretty good mechanic so I felt I could handle any problems that might come up. I broke the drive shaft while fording a river in Honduras and was able to get it back running in about 10 days. It looks like I will have to replace the makeshift one when I get to Perth, though. I couldn't talk Dodge into donating one for the trip...I guess they could not see any benefit in it for them.