I visited Withams the week before last Marty. Excellent Leyland with only 13,000kms but I missed it. I also saw that Unimog 'in the flesh' there. Again it's lack of cab comfort that knocks the 'Mog out.
Our daughter is seven now and we need to be done for when she starts senior school at 11 so we have to decide on the vehicle & get on with this.
Steve.

that leaves you with a few years of lea way with the youngster to have your adventures, hope it all works out for you steve. When you get your truck send me a message and keep me posted, i`d be intrested to hear from you.
cheers.............marty.

I knew someone who drove a daf from NL to uganda with no problems.

Have you thought about Iveco cargo 4x4

Graeme

Hello Steve, I've been having these considerations for years now, and they go round and round.
Congrats on deciding to actually do it, that's a big step in itself.
I don't want to discourage you, but don't underestimate the time it takes to get a truck ready; Rob, a member of this forum who's gone to ground, built a lovely camper on an MJ but it took him much longer than he initially imagined.

The choice of base vehicle and the configuration of the vehicle depend on lots of factors, some of which are completely contradictory.

Fuel consumption: if that's a worry go smaller or get a new truck with a common rail engine. Most people cry NO to electronics but I know a family who have been travelling (Africa & now eastwards) since early 2003 in a nice new MAN without any electronic troubles.

Looking at the cost of a newer vehicle to reduce consumption:
If you compare a 10 MPG 8.136 with the 13 MPG 8.224 (what my friends run)...
At this stage I have to go metric: you save 7 litres per 100 km, if you saved 5000 pounds at purchase you have to drive nearly 143000km before the trucks have cost you the same amount of money. Do that sum with a spanking new truck and you've done a RTW before they cost the same (of course, reduced cab noise and aircon could be reasons to go newer, but they can be added)

Cruising speeds: improved by putting the biggest tyres that will fit, or going and hammering hard on a dealer (How are you getting on with that, Quintin?). And anyway only a problem in Europe, and once you're on the trip why are you on a motorway anyway? (Convoying with a TLC/LR can cause tensions sometimes)

Of your four candidates, as a (British educated) mechanical engineer I have developed a deep down mistrust of British manufacturing and build quality (remember the Leyland years? it took BMW a lot of work to get the LRs back up to standard) so for me the MJ and the Leyland are non-starters (sometimes literally ;-)
Have you considered Magirus? There are some inexpensive ex-fire trucks available in Germany and you'll find similar sized Magirus air cooled engines (& spares) all over the world (mostly in static generators). I presume you've combed Philipp Aus Dem thingy and mobile.de?

Going a little lighter I was intrigued by some of the ads I found at http://www.dimensioneavventura.org/vendo.htm (there's a class A motorhome on a Daily4x4 chassis and a rare 4 berth Mog with cab & body rigidly joined)
and also http://www.lt-4x4.de/ all mod cons in a less "in your face" package that's cheaper to run.

Big disadvantage of class A motorhome config: if ever you RoRo your truck unaccompanied, you need to block off access to the living area or risk losing the contents. Solution: take a cruise with the truck, you're on holiday after all (Grimaldi allow this, others?)

If my wife weren't hammering sense into me (and my weekends weren't filled with tiling/plumbing/roofing etc.) I'd probably already be mounting a recent(ish) MAN/MERC/RENAULT engine into a Tatra 813. Available in the Czeck republic for as little as 3500 EUROS, tougher just doesn't exist! A Renault Magnum 380 or equiv. with 1Mkm costs around 6000Euros and has all the plumbing necessary. (I'm told they get around 9MPG at 40 tonnes MGVW, the Tatra weighs 12T empty...)

Finding the space and lifting gear is another story.

I like Tatras! There, I've come out with it! Rigid chassis (= cheaper body mounts), protected transmission, 100T towing capacity (= tough transmission) independant suspension (= more stable on rough terrain), low CoG, I could go on.

She's right though, it would be very, very noticeable.

Oops! Lunchbreak over.
Let us know how you get on, what you decide etc.
Happy daydreams
er, sorry, preparations
Luke

Agree about the tatra,very sturdy indeed. But disagree about MJ (ok i`ve got one) brittish army have used these for decades and are still in service, others have come and gone the daf being one and there about to cahnge the ivecos but are still using old bedfords (not for much longer though) That speaks volumes about the truck. At the end of the day you pays your money and makes your choice. Any half decent truck, looked after will take you on your travels. Don`t get bogged down with the truck and camper build,after all it is only a means to an end, it`s the trip that counts.
marty

I have to agree with luke on the build quality of british stuff being quite poor. a friend of mine who was in the british army said when they went anywhere they had enough spares in the convoy to build another one, adding that the army doesnt care what it costs to run/maintain its fleet. you on the other hand wont have the back up of mr blair and our taxes!. look and ask some of the overland companies what they use. another friend of mine worked for dragoman and they use two wheel drive Mercs. Have you ever considered two wheel drive with a diff lock?

Graeme

Actually Dragoman generally now tend to use 6x6 and 4x4 Mercs but that's a small point however they use Mercs not Bedford TMs or other cheap ex-mod vehicles; presumeably because of reliablity and spares availablity issues. Generally though this is a tough call because modern trucks are astonishingly reliable, need precious little servicing, but are impossible to fix when they go wrong. A mate of mine was driving a newish Scania to one of the 'Stans when the starter motor died in Ukraine. He only got sorted because some kind soul he met took his old starter to a bus depot and 'swapped it' with one in a serviceable bus! On the other hand, trucks like Marty's MJ are dead easy to fix just about anywhere and by just about anyone. The problem is that you can only get 2 in the cab and they're slow, noisy and pretty basic. I have to agree with Luke though that there is much to be said for those old air-cooled Magrius trucks. Not only are there plenty for sale in Germany but they are cheap and very reliable. In the end though it comes down to money. If you can afford a nice newish MAN it'll be so much more comfortable, easier to drive etc, etc

Luke I (finally) got the axles done this week. Only taken a year! Couldn't find any second hand crown wheel and pinions and had to spend £2,500 on new ones. Merc truck spares are ludicrously pricey and my experiences of local Merc dealers here is unprintable. However it's sorted. The top speed is a tad higher (90km/hr max) but the main thing is that I can go at 70-80 without constantly worrying about red-lining the motor...and I've discovered first gear! Very pleased....but rather skint

Q

If cab comfort is desired in a Unimog check out the red U5000 for sale at Unimog, 4x4, Spezialfahrzeuge,Geländefahrzeuge, militärfahrzeuge und v.m.-MEREX Autovertrieb GmbH ; it has CTIS, electroautomatic shifting, etc. The latest Mogs are comparable to a newish MAN, etc. in cab amenities.
I can say from experience a U500 makes a very nice chassis for a 4.8m camper.

Charlie

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Unimog U500 w/Unicat