OKA, does anyone know what happened?

[AndrewGJones]

Always admired these vehicles, never had the money to seriously consider one.

does anyone know why they have stopped production? it just seems like a fool -proof plan! massive county, mining industry, vibrant off road scene, etc

Was it the GFC?

always loved the idea of being involved in a business like this, so it's not all idle interest, it's also fantasy!

a friend once said when talking me out of my last big idea; " it is easy to make a small fortune in manufacturing, all you need is to start off with a large fortune..."!

[loanrangie]

They went out of production way before the GFC, not sure that actual cause of their demise - it was a shame.

[bobslandies]

Up to about 2011:

OKA 4wd - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


There is a forum, maybe more information on there:

Home Page - OKA 4WD . com (http://www.oka4wd.com/homepage.htm)

Bob

[AndrewGJones]

from the wiki;

Links to Malaysian Vell Paari

On 24th August 2011, The Malay Mail carried an article regarding various investigations being carried out against OKA 4wd, for 'allegations of misappropriation of millions of ringgit, missing accounting files and "stolen" intellectual property manuals.' Manuals valued at RM80 million had gone missing. They had contained trade information for the manufacture of all-terrain trucks and tour buses. Funds of the company had also been mysteriously siphoned out of Australia to a private account in Europe. There was also allegations of unpaid wages. Vell Paari, who controls OKA 4WD through Reymer Pty Ltd, denied responsibility for the matters raised, saying that he spent most of his time in Kuala Lumpur.[5] Vell Paari is the son of Malaysia's former Minister of Works Samy Vellu.


well there you go, how they managed to screw it up so thoroughly like this is amazing. Sort of comforting though, seems to imply that is wasn't market forces but the usual sociopaths at play.

[superquag]

Market forces to a certain extent...
Friend of mine looked at and drove one before he bought his Defender.

- Going back to when it was Australian owned... reckoned it was noisy and had vibrations in the cabin... Trim and general finish was not what he expected either. Whatever, he was less impressed and thus shelled out for a new tdi Deefer.

He is still very happy with it after all these years.:D

I prefer Forward Control especially when over rough stuff... the cabin movement may be greater, (discourages hoonish misbehaviour:p) but its all up/down which is easier on the neck than pitching in a car, which incorporates fore-aft rotation
. - After years of owning a 4WD van, drove a leaf-sprung 4WD up the freeway...only took an hour to give me a stiff neck and headache...

[DeanoH]

Lets just say allegations of incompetance and misappropriation of funds at the highest levels (in Australia) over a long period have not been refuted.:(

Deano :)

[AndrewGJones]

I seen that stuff happen from the inside of a company years ago, hence my sociopath comment. It not a random insult, it's very much a real reality in business, up to 10% of executives vs 4% of the general population.

they can lie without blinking and have amazing memories, will work 14 hours a day, but it's all directed towards the scam. the one i knew was working a double scam in the end. scamming the Millionaire behind the venture and living in one of the Millionaires houses for free on one hand, and scamming the trades and suppliers / staff on the other. He walked away unscathed.

I was grateful it all fell over because it is a slippery slope to becoming a sycophant (all the trimings of sociopathy without the mental illness). One white lie, then the next and before I knew it; what was 'innocent' bull**** that everyone gets at work, was wrapping itself into a neat trap for a wide eyed young manager like me.

Lucky 'escape' and lesson learnt. No lies are ever 'white' or worth the money that gets thrown your way. (That's how they get you in, throw money at you and then close the noose)

[DeanoH]

......................................... - After years of owning a 4WD van, drove a leaf-sprung 4WD up the freeway...only took an hour to give me a stiff neck and headache...

There is absolutely no comparison between an OKA's handling on highway or off road and that of a sixty series or a series LR, forward control or otherwise. :D

The OKA uses semi elliptical leaves in conjunction with aeon rubbers and dual HD shock absorbers in each corner (when fitted) which delivers a remarkably smooth and comfortable ride though like all vehicles if overloaded, driven too fast or with worn suspension components a rough ride will result.

One of the OKA's strong points is its smooth and progressive suspension, particularly off road. Rear spring leaves are 1540mm long, fronts are 1440mm.

It's interesting how times move on and the benefits of this design (long leaves and aeon rubbers) is lost in a world of coil spring suspension.

Coils might be fine for smooth on road performance but really don't stack up against the OKA's suspension off road.

Another benefit of the OKA's suspension is that you never, that's right never, break shock absorbers. Semi-elliptical leaves provide dampening by design as they slide across each other leaving rebound and further dampening to the large double acting Monroe shockers. No broken shockers, shocker mounts or eyes.:D The use of aeon rubbers means the suspension never bottoms out as they compress progressively to take heavy load.:D

See how far you get with zero natural dampening coil springs when the a shocker fails in sand dune country. Absolutely nowhere, wheras with leaf springs you can still move. :)

Don't knock it till you've tried it. :D:D:D:D:D


Deano :)

PS. The reason I sold my Defender 130 after six months of blood sweat and tears and a cartload of $$$ spent in 'doing it up' was that after a one and a half hour drive up the freeway I could hardly walk when I got out of it (in fairness I am 6' tall with stuffed knees). On the other hand I can drive the OKA 1000Km plus in a day and get out tired but not sore. :)

[AndrewGJones]

sounds great. What do you think of the allegation of 'stolen manuals?' I would have thought something like 'how hard can it be?' with regards to engineering them, they are using 3rd party engines and drive train, suspension (?), and a basic body any competent sheet worker could put together with workshop basics?

The more I learn the more I think 'how hard can it be?' in regards to this sort of vehicle construction. Why isn't anyone doing it?

Perhaps the world is a much smaller place than my imagination gives it credit for. :mellow:

[goingbush]

Wont be suprised at all if a new Malaysian OKA style 4x4 hits the market in the next few years.

[DeanoH]

I don't know much about the value of missing 'proprietary' information or its worth but I would think that the greater the loss the greater the write down the less the taxation liability. :p But don't really know, not my area of expertise.

Or maybe the staff who hadn't been paid for several months took out a bit of 'insurance' to ensure all ended well. ;) I don't really know.

Deano :)

[superquag]

Dean,

...There is absolutely no comparison between an OKA's handling on highway or off road and that of a sixty series or a series LR, forward control or ...."

My apologies, I was comparing the differant types of ride you experience when seated between the axles (leaf-sprung 4WD) compared with the preferable IMHO ride enjoyed when seated above or in front of the front axle.

If you have to know, it was a very old Nissan, compared with a Jap imported diesel 4WD, torsion front and ELLIPTICALS on the rear.

The Nissan with it's crude cart-springs and rock-solid shockers merely emphasised the motion.... that is, a pitch UP of the front, followed by a similar pitch UP as the rear axle hits the same bump. Net effect is, inertia makes the head snap forward...the snaps it backwards.

With a Forward control the driver is pushed UP... only. There is a slight rotation when the rear axle lifts up over the same bump... but the lever (chassis) is so long, that the effect on the driver is minimal.
Indeed, the natural reaction to being forced UP over a bump, is for the driver to lean or tense muscles to pull the head fractionally 'forward'. Only a gnat's hair, but enough to automatically counter the tiny 'head-back' snap induced by the car's rear going UP.

A long - winded way of saying that a FC gives the front occupants a nicer ride. - A properly sprung FC makes it even nicer, and a heavier one nicer still.
- Which you've noticed...:D

In a bus, with the front axle a few metres behind the driver....the ride is heavenly, whatever the springs are !

[blitz]

Damn I didn't know they had stopped production. Does anyone know if the NT model actually went into production?

[DeanoH]

Damn I didn't know they had stopped production. Does anyone know if the NT model actually went into production?

Yes. There's at least 14 of them out there.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/03/1174.jpg

This one was in Innamincka October last year.


Deano :)

[Carnut1100]

Not all buses have a nice ride....we used to have one at work we called the bone shaker....nobody cried when it got sold!!!

[Discomark]

I'm saving up for one of these Home- Earth Cruiser Vehicle | Luxury overland vehicles | Comfortable Luxury Travel (http://www.earthcruiser.com.au/home)

[loanrangie]

Love the Oka, pity they didnt sell like hotcakes so that us mere mortals might have the chance of buying one. For 1/4 the price i could import a fully restored FC101.

[Michael2]

I'm saving up for one of these Home- Earth Cruiser Vehicle | Luxury overland vehicles | Comfortable Luxury Travel (http://www.earthcruiser.com.au/home)

I saw a very similar set up to this in Alice Springs a couple of years ago. The guy had just come via the western deserts and reported a very rough ride with some (minimal) camper damage. I think that if you're going to invest in an off-road truck camper, then a coil sprung unimog will serve you better than any fancy box on cart springs.

[nugge t]

I'm saving up for one of these Home- Earth Cruiser Vehicle | Luxury overland vehicles | Comfortable Luxury Travel (http://www.earthcruiser.com.au/home)


I'm with you. Having driven one, I thought it was awesome and can be driven on a normal licence which is fantastic for husband and wife teams.

In reality it is not much bigger than a 130 or a Cruiser ute in length and width (minus the mirrors!)but higher.

[42rangie]

Looks like something Oshkosh Trucks would design if they got into the market!

Les

[nugge t]

Whilst still manufacturing in Brisbane, they are now making and selling them in the USA as well.

[Discomark]

Now this is a real Truck camper. Camped next to this guy in Switzerland last year. I'm 6' tall and it was double my height. Needed a jib to handle the spare as well as the wheels were huge.

[rover-56]

PS. The reason I sold my Defender 130 after six months of blood sweat and tears and a cartload of $$$ spent in 'doing it up' was that after a one and a half hour drive up the freeway I could hardly walk when I got out of it (in fairness I am 6' tall with stuffed knees). On the other hand I can drive the OKA 1000Km plus in a day and get out tired but not sore. :)

Hence my comment about why are you messing with Defenders when you own an OKA.:D:D:D:D
Cheers,
Terry

[Owl]

..... can be driven on a normal licence which is fantastic for husband and wife teams.



mmmmm. No! Not on Victoria anyway.

GVM is 5T. Anything over 4.5T requires driver with a truck licence.

[nugge t]

mmmmm. No! Not on Victoria anyway.

GVM is 5T. Anything over 4.5T requires driver with a truck licence.


They have several sand the that was certainly the case for the one based on the shortie Canter when I was looking at them. They were designed to fit in a shipping container as well for those who wanted to take them over seas.

[DeanoH]

Hence my comment about why are you messing with Defenders when you own an OKA.:D:D:D:D
Cheers,
Terry

Aaah.....................a self confessed Land Rover tragic, thats me.:p

I've got to have a daily driver as well and whilst the 2WD Hilux twin cab on gas might be reliable, cheap and practical it has no soul. :(

Hence the attempt at a Defender Tdi. Deep down I knew it's cabin was too small but had to have a go.

Deano :)

[UncleHo]

For anybody that is interested there is an OKA type vehicle for sale on the Bribie Island Road in Qld (15klms outside of Caboolture) it has the OKA bus style body and has been converted to a camper, old rego sticker is WA, it 4X4 (dual wheel diff fitted) 1 spare on rear and space for 2nd has wheel crane,engine and box look clean as does chassis suspension looks in good condition shackle wise, it's on 22.5 rims,advert states new motor and G/box,from memory the Chassis No prefix is LT or LF,there is a mobile no on it,0488-232-837, hope that is of interest to somebody :)

cheers

[blitz]

I down loaded the pop top NT camper technical data PDF if anyone is interested to see just what they were.

To late now but I was planning on buying one

[AnD3rew]

You guys are just messin around, now this I'd a proper camper.

http://www.unicat.net/pdf/EX70HD2M-MANTGA6x6-exposee-en.pdf

[Ranga]

Yes. There's at least 14 of them out there.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/03/1174.jpg

This one was in Innamincka October last year.


Deano :)

I think that's the Oodnadatta Mail Run Tour vehicle.

[DeanoH]

I think that's the Oodnadatta Mail Run Tour vehicle.

Nope ! :D, this one is

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/03/1155.jpg

This is an XT/LT OKA, don't know which, but I'd guess LT as the rear most bus body window is the same size as the others (on the XT the rear most window is about 6" narrower. The XT and the LT are very similiar to look at. Other visual differences between the XT and the LT is the XT has a small trapdoor in the panel under the windscreen, different spring mounts and an instrument binnacle that is 1/3 the width of the vehicle, the LT's is 2/3 the width of the vehicle.

The main differences visually between the XT/LT and the NT is that the NT is longer wheelbase (to allow for the Allison auto), 5 stud 19.5 or 20" rims (XT/LT has 8 stud 16 or 19.5" rims), NT has round headlights (XT/LT square), NT has higher capacity square fuel tanks (round for XT/LT) with 'blue' tank on RHS. NT has bigger air cleaner, revised sun visor, indicators in bull bar which has rounded tubing as opposed to the XT/LT's more angular bar.

The NT shown belongs to Wedgetails Tours from South Australia.

Deano :)

[Bigbjorn]

Dean,

...There is absolutely no comparison between an OKA's handling on highway or off road and that of a sixty series or a series LR, forward control or ...."

My apologies, I was comparing the differant types of ride you experience when seated between the axles (leaf-sprung 4WD) compared with the preferable IMHO ride enjoyed when seated above or in front of the front axle.

If you have to know, it was a very old Nissan, compared with a Jap imported diesel 4WD, torsion front and ELLIPTICALS on the rear.

The Nissan with it's crude cart-springs and rock-solid shockers merely emphasised the motion.... that is, a pitch UP of the front, followed by a similar pitch UP as the rear axle hits the same bump. Net effect is, inertia makes the head snap forward...the snaps it backwards.

With a Forward control the driver is pushed UP... only. There is a slight rotation when the rear axle lifts up over the same bump... but the lever (chassis) is so long, that the effect on the driver is minimal.
Indeed, the natural reaction to being forced UP over a bump, is for the driver to lean or tense muscles to pull the head fractionally 'forward'. Only a gnat's hair, but enough to automatically counter the tiny 'head-back' snap induced by the car's rear going UP.

A long - winded way of saying that a FC gives the front occupants a nicer ride. - A properly sprung FC makes it even nicer, and a heavier one nicer still.
- Which you've noticed...:D

In a bus, with the front axle a few metres behind the driver....the ride is heavenly, whatever the springs are !

If you told any line haul truckie that a COE rides better than a normal control, he would shake his head and look at you with complete incredulity. The only reasons for the existence of COE trucks, whether high cab COE or low cab forward, are restrictive length and/or axle weight regulations.

The best place for ride comfort is towards the centre of the wheelbase and as low as possible. High COE's have a much greater arc of pitch and full vertical movement. Low cab forward have lesser arc of pitch but an exaggerated vertical movement (a bobbing up and down). There are no longer any high COE's made in the USA since changes to regulations. All new trucks are bonnetted even rigid urban delivery vehicles. Hino even sell one with a bonnetted cab by Freightliner. The only new COE trucks one sees there are small capacity vehicles of Asian origin.

Think of the chassis rails as a seesaw which pivots around the axles according to which axle is rising over a bump. The axle goes up 6" and the forward control cab rises with it. The normal control cab is closer to the centre and rises proportionately less.

See "Principles of Vehicle Selection' and "Motor Truck Engineering" by J.Fitch. Industry bibles.

[Ancient Mariner]

After driving my Isuzu forward control 8 ton up Cape York as far as Bamaga
quiet a few times I have to say being towed on a sheet of tin behind would have been dusty but just as comfortable:p

[Thomber]

Just read a few comments here and I was extremely keen on buying an OKA at some later stage (wish list item until money available). However, I was lucky enough to drive a spanking new model OKA van in Kalgoorlie as I knew the agent in the Goldfields. Now there was a world's difference between this one and the old models- hard to describe the features in such little space but it was a heavenly experience! I am devastated that they stopped production! Will it ever kick off again???

[weeds]

Just read a few comments here and I was extremely keen on buying an OKA at some later stage (wish list item until money available). However, I was lucky enough to drive a spanking new model OKA van in Kalgoorlie as I knew the agent in the Goldfields. Now there was a world's difference between this one and the old models- hard to describe the features in such little space but it was a heavenly experience! I am devastated that they stopped production! Will it ever kick off again???

IVECO daily is the new OKA......

[BMKal]

If you told any line haul truckie that a COE rides better than a normal control, he would shake his head and look at you with complete incredulity. The only reasons for the existence of COE trucks, whether high cab COE or low cab forward, are restrictive length and/or axle weight regulations.

The best place for ride comfort is towards the centre of the wheelbase and as low as possible. High COE's have a much greater arc of pitch and full vertical movement. Low cab forward have lesser arc of pitch but an exaggerated vertical movement (a bobbing up and down). There are no longer any high COE's made in the USA since changes to regulations. All new trucks are bonnetted even rigid urban delivery vehicles. Hino even sell one with a bonnetted cab by Freightliner. The only new COE trucks one sees there are small capacity vehicles of Asian origin.

Think of the chassis rails as a seesaw which pivots around the axles according to which axle is rising over a bump. The axle goes up 6" and the forward control cab rises with it. The normal control cab is closer to the centre and rises proportionately less.

See "Principles of Vehicle Selection' and "Motor Truck Engineering" by J.Fitch. Industry bibles.

Have to agree with you Brian, having driven Mack Ultraliners, Kenworth K100's and compared them to "W" and later model Kenworth's. The bonneted Kenworths gave a far superior ride to anything COE.

Funny thing though - when I had pilot vehicles, the most comfortable ride of them all was a Toyota Hiace LWB Van. Much smoother ride than the Falcon ute and panel van that I drove earlier in the piece, or the F100 that I had toward the end of that life. The F100 ended up mostly parked up, as I spent more time driving an Ultraliner with a 100 tonne Drake dolly & trailer behind me than escorting toward the end.