Unimog project
 

Does anyone have some thoughts or ideas on the practicality of converting an old mercedes unimog for an overland adventure vehicle. I would really appreciate any advice you could give me, as I am new to this game. Formerly a motorcycle overlander...

thanks

Some Unimogs apparently are able to climb 1m high obstacles (with the right driver!) and are probably very robust, I'd be a little wary: I only had one ride in one, on a good road towing a big trailer and what I remember vividly is the harsh ride and the very cramped cab. Remember: this is a truck/tractor.

I've done my apprenticeship in a largish MB franchise that did trucks and cars, but I haven't had the misfortune to have to do much work on them. What I remember is that access to the engine is somewhat restricted and for anything beyond routine servicing the cab has to be partially removed. I.e. it's a pain. Don't install a superstructure that goes over the cab...

(The above applies to the old model with the rounded cab; I know nothing about the more recent ones)

Lots of Germans have done what you are pondering, so my advice would be to find a German-reading friend and trawl the German speaking web.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

Hi
find below 2 very infromative sites for Unimogs

www.travelvans.co.uk

www.unimog.org.uk



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ChrisC

Have a nosey at www.overland.co.za

South African overland site (very good indeed!) with quite a few Moggies amongst the Rovers and Toyotas.

Search this forum, there's thread somewhere about this subject with links to some very cool Unimog projects.

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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.
Coordinates Converter – Lat/Long <-> UTM Conversion Tool.

And don't forget the MaxiMog!

http://www.maximog.com/

Sell your house, grandmother and soul for the Carnet though... http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

Seriously, I'm to be convinced how practical this is, but it's interesting to see how others build their overland vehicles.

Cheers,
Nick.

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Nick Taylor
www.exerro.com
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1996 BMW F650
1996 300 TDi 90
1997 NAS D90 ST #685
1998 Camel Trophy 110 CT47
Vehicle Specs

When you build something like the Maximog I don't think practicality is really a rpiority. It's more of a technology showcase if you ask me.

Here's a link for a practical and very well built Unimog camper

http://www.xor.org.uk/unimog/index.html

The guy did an amazing job.

And here's the link to the thread I mentioned above:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb...ML/000135.html

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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.
Coordinates Converter – Lat/Long <-> UTM Conversion Tool.

As Beddist says they are agricultural vehicles, and great for towing silage at 40 mph or having front and rear linkage with PTO, or fitted with cherry pickers to access anywhere. But IMHO they are too tall, short, expensive and unusual to make a great overlander, tho' great fun to drive.

You could always go big and turn your mog into a condo! Check out:

http://www.unicat.net

They have several mogs and seem to do some pretty amazing custom bodies.

cheers

Graham

Which Unimog model are you looking at ?

I saw both 404's and the U1300's being used in iceland this summer.

I saw 2 U1300's one with a custom built camper body and the other with a site cabin lashed down into the back. They are slow old beasts on the road but are awsome in sand with the right drivers and tyres and once away from good tarmac they are more than adequate in speed.

They can get where other vehicles can't simply cause they can carry a massive fuel loads, or of course a bike on the back for when you really want to go fast :-)

Met a guy on the ferry back fromiceland who bought one for 10000 euros with only 20,000 km on the clock so they are getting cheap now so if you need that much space thn its probabily a good vehicle




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Rich
LR101 300Tdi Ambi 'Tiggurr'

I've done quite a bit of surfing on this over the last few months by putting unimog camper, off road camper etc into searcg engines. Also look at witham specialist vehicles for cheap ex reserve U1300s
landy 110 (in bits)
Landy 101 ambie (in not so many bits)
Daihatsu fourtrack (not in bits)
www.plymouth-dakar.com

Hi, I am just going through what your thinking of doing but to an old Bedford MJ, a unimog is probably the best off road truck there is but there a few down sides, one they are not fun to drive to far and second they are a bit complicated on the oily bits, which put me off one. The later ones are better to drive but don’t expect to ever go faster than 80kph and they are not cheep. The ones that witham’s have at the moment are all short chasse models, some old railway working ones and some ex Dutch army and I Got my MJ from them and they are pretty helpful.
If you get a Mog and you want to fit a box body to it you need to use the 3-point fixing system as suggested by MB to allow for chassis movement.

there a few other mog sites =
http://www.ki7xh.com/camper.htm

http://www.rockymountainmoggers.com/

Luke. you can get the same from sprung bolts on the chassie mounts as some modern trucks are doing http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/redface.gif)
See that your a fellow Auto Design Engineer
Rob
Bedford MJ old and slow


[This message has been edited by Bert (edited 27 March 2005).]

In my view about the only upside of a unimog would have to be their ability to carry a motorbike as well.

I saw one driving through Zambia last month with a motor-scooter strapped to the roof. A much more practical way to get around town!

Hi Rob, welcome to the unhurried overweight mob http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif
The three point mounting, the powerbeam or the un-tipping tipper mounting are absolutely essential on ANY lorry that is destined to leave the tarmac(except Tatras).
To get the articulation of an off road truck the chassis is designed to twist, and needs to do so freely. There's a great description of why on the Unicat site (link above) in the technical section. If the body is held down as on a road-going HGV the box has to flex and the furniture comes away from the walls.
cheers
Luke

I've fit a moped in a fully loaded 110, even 1 time squeezed a 125 'trail' bike in, although with that kind of size maybe you would need a ramp, to make room on a regular basis.


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Mark

Hi lost1 – your question has brought in a lot of replies and links to a lot of helpful sites.
Rich Clafton’s contribution is generously modest, he didn’t mention his splendid Land Rover 101CF Ambulance (Tigurr) in which he travels worldwide.
I have traveled with Moggies from time to time – they look splendid, but oh! so heavy. I wouldn’t want to recover a stuck one.
The half-way point is a Land Rover 101FC Ambulance, it has excellent bodywork to convert, it’s strong and well insulated, and it’s better on spares and easier to work on.
And guess what… I have one for SALE!
Check out my website, it is on the front page, and for a lot less that the one Rich Clafton mentions!
All best


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Kitmax - Traveller
Desert Pictures at
http://www.kitmax.com/kitmax/kit03ph...velgallery.htm
homepage http://www.kitmax.com

Hi Lost1
I have been reading a report from a guy travelling in a Unimog (Mogrobin) and the fun and games he has had. I don’t know where your considering travelling but the one thing that he has pointed out about using this type of vehicle is maintenance in the country of travel.
Some of the Ex German army Unimogs use an Air operated 4x4 and dif lock selection system, this went wrong on Mogrobin From Dirkou to Bilma in the Sahara and was blowing oil out of the axles and gearbox, he tried getting it fixed in Niger, Mali, Ghana etc and none of the local bush mechanics wanted to know as it’s a very complex system and the parts were only readily available in Europe?

The best Guy to speak to regarding a Unimog conversion is Steven Stuart at http://www.unimog.org.uk/mymog/
Sorry if this link is a repeat but he is a very helpful guy (advised me on a few things) and has quite a lot of overland experience, he also knows of the above problem and which Mog’s have it.

Happy Travels
Rob
Bedford MJ old Slow and Orange.

Interesting on the axle / Oil leak

Travelled in Libya with a Mog that had a very similar problem, that too was an ex mil one so maybe this is a common problem



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Rich
LR101 300Tdi Ambi 'Tiggurr'

Hi Lost 1
While baddhist's answer on Unimogs may be of use, please be cautious. The info he gives seems very uncertain, with words like "apparently, probably, only, haven't worked on" and most interestingly, "know nothing". I'm sure he's trying his best to help though....he seems to mean well..

<< While beddhist's answer on Unimogs may be of use, please be cautious...>>
I thought beddhist's answer was fair, interesting and appropriate. We are lucky to have on this forum people who want to share their experience and knowledge.
So what is your point, denis brown?

Hi,
I almost bought a Unimog but in the end went for an ex Utilities landrover 130 with a workshop body on the back. The box is 7ft wide, 8.5ft long and 5.5ft high. It cruises at about 75mph.

I'm using it to travel in Africa but also as a mobile workshop / back up vehicle for a motorcyle rally team. You can actually get 3 motorbikes in the back of it plus all the tools and spares.

I was tempted by a big Mog... but in the end I thought they were a bit heavy, too slow, and had pretty high fuel consumption. However, they are just great in the desert !

Cheers


Simon