Progress on My Unimog

[spudboy]

HUGE blog post. Good to see where you've been lately.

Cheers

[Iain_B]

Yes, quite a long one. but it's a long way :)

A couple more hyperlapse videos from the CSR


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r7KvEb9kZQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBTt5cazd9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21PawoavzsU

[Surrufus]

Your build thread and blog are amazing!

The story and photos all make me want to do some serious adventuring in my 110.

I'd love to build a truck as tough as yours, but that would be a long way off for me.

Thanks Ian ( and also to your wife ) for the great read, and keep it the fantastic work!

[shanegtr]

Really nice mog! Loved your pics from Karijini too - just an hour away from home for me but I must admit I havent explorered there nearly enough in recent years (its not the most young kid friendly place)

[Iain_B]

Karijini if a great place, but most of the good walks are all "Grade 5", you need good balance and fitness. We saw quite a few people on some of the walks that should not have been there, they were really struggling to get back out of the deep gorges. One slip and they would be dead.

[Jitterbug]

Always enjoy seeing the progress on the truck and your trips. Still need to head over and check out the mog too, would be great to finally see it in the flesh and get some tips!

[shanegtr]

Yep and Tom Price has the most active rope rescue SES unit in the state so plenty of people do fall and hurt themselves each year

Sent from my GT-I9505 using AULRO mobile app

[Iain_B]

We had to help a lady walk out of "Hand Rail Pool" after she slipped and fell down the waterfall. Lucky for her she had a backpack with two large towels which took the brunt of the impact, I jumped in to help her out yet people who were metres away just stood and watched, including her husband. She was OK, just some large bruises but it could have been a lot worse.

[Iain_B]

A couple of modifications to the truck, first off is a new tool/storage box in the place where the air tanks used to go. It is big enough to hold four jerry cans, but most of the time we will use if for the heaviest items like the tool bags, jack, spare oils etc.

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14523099_344577132541928_2978575463589388791_n.jpg ?oh=849cb678426cccb989899db3794211be&oe=589D0BE4

As an open box is not as strong as a closed box like the fuel tanks, I had to make a bracket that allows the chassis to flex without putting strain on the box. A M14 bolt can pivot in the oversized hole, there is a teflon spacer between the tube and the flat bracket to handle normal loads, but still allow it to move when the chassis flexes.

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14572349_344577112541930_5910607850633306003_n.jpg ?oh=7b3ef5f176fd2035ddb24c0818e5cb44&oe=58A402B2

The guys at my sheet metal shop did a great job on the box, made from 1.6mm steel it should survive on the truck. I've lined it with marine carpet, and added some internal tie downs for the jack etc.

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14563314_345509799115328_772431499094073351_n.jpg? oh=12e9ebeed516b0db1d49c04e770a5834&oe=58A8439C

The other thing I finished is the 190lt fuel tank, this gives us another 70-80L of extra fuel capacity to increase our range to around 1200-1700km (off/on road)

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14650153_345509802448661_303378394413721446_n.jpg? oh=7abc6767a1f3de180442d6cc2525af32&oe=5861DBD9

[Iain_B]

Finally got around to editing the video footage we took on the CSR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegmM6B9KhY

[Iain_B]

Just a few additions, going to have to stop some day :)


Got a heavy duty bike rack so we can take our mountain bikes with us on the next trip.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

At the recent Defender Day Out we pushed the comfort limits a bit on one particular side slope.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

and finally, a couple more videos,

First just to show our truck is a little bit faster than a normal Unimog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65XWr0ncMQ0

This one shows a friend truck going down a tight creek bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXQIZVyrQng&t

[rar110]

Just a few additions, going to have to stop some day :)





Got a heavy duty bike rack so we can take our mountain bikes with us on the next trip.



https://fb-s-d-a.akamaihd.net/h-ak-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/15220041_370873626578945_7210480074257462901_n.jpg ?oh=d8ca0d47b6328a75603b38c5365b0710&oe=58F145EC&__gda__=1488228441_4d302c9c4d744cdec568a592c9436a9 c



https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15241346_370873659912275_8205026383103034258_n.jpg ?oh=d95350a21d77558e247975545c177fe6&oe=58BAF67A



At the recent Defender Day Out we pushed the comfort limits a bit on one particular side slope.



https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14666277_351829628483345_185137537799623725_n.jpg? oh=db2d2573f88e7f12f83d6aefa6bb9188&oe=58F97F8B



and finally, a couple more videos,



First just to show our truck is a little bit faster than a normal Unimog.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65XWr0ncMQ0



This one shows a friend truck going down a tight creek bed.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXQIZVyrQng&t



Are the U1700s a good base for a touring vehicle? They are around 30 years old now.

[Iain_B]

A U1700 would make a good touring vehicle, but it is quite a big truck, and the wheel track is about one tyre width wider than a Land Cruiser or Patrol. This is only a problem on tracks that have never seen a grader for years, like the CSR. We found that the remote tracks are Land Cruiser or Patrol size, and we had to push through the scrub, but at least we have the narrow track Unimog so our tyres seem to survive. Budget for two replacement tyres at the end of the CSR if you have a normal Unimog.

An ex-military U1700 is a very basic vehicle, no heat or sound insulation, no air con, very basic seats, etc etc. If you like driving very basic trucks, then it would be fine. To "Civilize" it costs at least $20K, unless you do it all yourself, then around $5-10K. Buying a 30+ year old truck and then taking around Australia in remote areas would not be a good idea. The military ones might have been maintained properly a few years ago, but looking at the ones I have seen come off the auctions, they stopped fixing things a long time ago. I would replace everything on the air system, tanks, hoses, valves, all components. They never ran air dryers on the military ones, so after 30 years, the air tanks are full of gunk, and that ends up throughout the air system, it is only a matter of time before something fails, and then you are stuck. Other common failures are the Omnitrac tyres they all come with, don't even think about airing down for the beach unless you are lucky enough to have a set new tyres, or they will disintegrate. Most of the tyres are way over 5 years old, and very brittle from being parked without moving for so long. I don't think the ADF ever wore out the tread on tyres, just replaced them through age, so check the date stamps on the tyres. A common mod are the Hutchinson bead lock wheels, they increase the already wide track by another 150mm and they need longer wheel studs. Michelin XZL 395/85R20 tyres are currently easy to obtain, the US military are selling loads from their stock piles, most are 5 years old, but never been fitted. They are suppose to be fitted on 10" wide wheels, and standard Unimog wheels are 11".

Top speed of the military U1700 is 90kph, and that's with engine sitting around the redline at 2700rpm to do that, to improve things fit a Claas Overdrive, and the bigger 395/85R20 tyres so you can do 100kph at 2200rpm. You will then need to fit an intercooler and get the injectors and injection pump reset so you can have enough power to drive at 90kph.

Then you need to fit the "Working Gears" so you can drive slow enough when going down creek beds. First gear is still too fast for crawling up rocks of slopes, imagine driving a Defender without low range on anything other than a road.

Then you will need a bigger fuel tank, as the stock ones have a useful capacity of 140lt, so only around 500km range off road.

From talking to other Unimog owners, it costs at least $50K to get an Ex-military U1700 up to basic touring standards. Then you need to build a box on the back to live in, budget $75-100K for that with all the fittings if you do it yourself, or $150-250K for someone else to build one depending on your taste.

https://fb-s-c-a.akamaihd.net/h-ak-xat1/v/t1.0-0/p235x350/15442394_1370384226325648_8116300259208097942_n.jp g?oh=9ae0fa202867af2451787324cee34069&oe=58B3F740&__gda__=1492476140_c883cea8ea7f9fff18e06055924f154 d

[spudboy]

Rar110 - Iain has summed it up pretty well. We seriously looked at using a Unimog, but the amount of work required to get it 'civilized' is enormous.

A Claas overdrive can be imported from Vos in the UK, but by the time you get it fitted, there goes $10K.

Airconditioning - I got a quote for $8K to get that fitted.

They are a stunning offroad vehicle, and if you are good at fabrication (like Iain is) they can be an excellent project. But for general touring, you might need the capability of a Unimog 1% of the time. The other 99% you have to suffer its shortcomings.

We solved it like this:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/12/617.jpg

See here: Deciding on a vehicle (http://daviddeere.net.au/dnnd2/en-us/Blog/Post/264/Deciding-on-a-vehicle) if you are interested in how we decided what vehicle to use.

Cheers
David

[rar110]

Thanks Gents. Much appreciated. Also, I've enjoyed reports from you both. Fantastic build up.

[veebs]

...


and I finally updated the blog as well.

Iain and Trish's Unimog Adventures (http://unimog-adventure.blogspot.com.au/?zx=ce141b2e2e0a58bf)

Great bit of reading here - congratulations on an epic build and tour! Is the blog above still working?

[Iain_B]

Blog still works, but set to private for a while, send me you email address and I will add you to the subscribers.


Great bit of reading here - congratulations on an epic build and tour! Is the blog above still working?

[W&KO]

Bump

[Iain_B]

We have had a great time in our truck, been traveling a lot when not having to work. My wife has a YouTube channel with quite a few videos now.


https://youtu.be/opDYxwoTlA4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBPeHa-1OE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkW9i9s98xQ

In terms of modifications, I have done a few small ones since last I posted here, but recently I decided to upgrade the transmission, and have taken out the 40 year old UG3/40 and replaced it with a brand new UG100/8.

It was a tight squeeze getting it in, but will be worth it to have a modern dual syncro transmission with overdrive 8th gear, should be a lot smoother and quieter as well. It will let us cruise at 100kph at around 1950rpm, and in low range, at 1kph.

175018

175004

175005

It has pneumatic forward/reverse and high/low ratio change over, and since it comes from a much heavier and more powerful Unimog, it should it will have no problems with our little truck.

175006

All I have to do now, is put the front and back axles, re-plumb the air system, a bit of wiring, and put the fuel tanks and storage boxes back in, piece of cake really :)

[Iain_B]

Our truck is now back on the road, and the new gearbox is great. It is a lot quieter, and now sits at 100kph at only 2050rpm. The pneumatic change works great, forward/reverse is really quick, the high/low range is a bit slower, but easier than pulling a lever.

175513

Most important of all, Trish is happy with the result, so it was worth the effort.

[Iain_B]

Just fitted some new wheels to the truck. Aluminium beadlock wheels.

177442

They have internal beadlock inserts, to hold the tyre on the wheel at low pressure.

177443

I also have internal tyre pressure and temperature senors, they shoudl be a lot better than the external ones, and are supposed to last 7 years or 100,000kms, so longer than the tyres at least.

177444

Getting the tyres off the old wheels confirmed that this was the right decision, it took about 20-30 minutes to get them off the wheel, using a proper set of Michelin truck tyre irons and an R&R beadbreaker. Getting them back on the new wheels took 5 minutes to fit the tyre, and another 5 to tighten up all the wheel nuts. I did a trial to get the tyre off inadvertently, when I forgot the seal ring, and that took only 5 mintures as well.

[86mud]

is there much difference in weight between the original wheels?

[Iain_B]

is there much difference in weight between the original wheels?

The new wheels with the internal beadlocks are 39.7 + 4.8 = 44.5kg

I had a pair of 11x 20 SDC "Super" wheels - 38.2kg on the rear so they were 5.9kg lighter

and a pair of 11 x 20 32,8kg "Standard" wheels on the front, 11.7kg lighter.

All up I have added an extra 46.9kg to the overall weight of the truck for the five new wheels.

[Iain_B]

The new wheels will make changing tyres a bit easier I think.


https://youtu.be/pQn7b-jEdU0

[Iain_B]

Before we had our Unimog, we had a couple of Land Rovers and this video show two of the trips we did.


https://youtu.be/d0nh8uXcxm0

[rar110]

A U1700 would make a good touring vehicle, but it is quite a big truck, and the wheel track is about one tyre width wider than a Land Cruiser or Patrol. This is only a problem on tracks that have never seen a grader for years, like the CSR. We found that the remote tracks are Land Cruiser or Patrol size, and we had to push through the scrub, but at least we have the narrow track Unimog so our tyres seem to survive. Budget for two replacement tyres at the end of the CSR if you have a normal Unimog.

An ex-military U1700 is a very basic vehicle, no heat or sound insulation, no air con, very basic seats, etc etc. If you like driving very basic trucks, then it would be fine. To "Civilize" it costs at least $20K, unless you do it all yourself, then around $5-10K. Buying a 30+ year old truck and then taking around Australia in remote areas would not be a good idea. The military ones might have been maintained properly a few years ago, but looking at the ones I have seen come off the auctions, they stopped fixing things a long time ago. I would replace everything on the air system, tanks, hoses, valves, all components. They never ran air dryers on the military ones, so after 30 years, the air tanks are full of gunk, and that ends up throughout the air system, it is only a matter of time before something fails, and then you are stuck. Other common failures are the Omnitrac tyres they all come with, don't even think about airing down for the beach unless you are lucky enough to have a set new tyres, or they will disintegrate. Most of the tyres are way over 5 years old, and very brittle from being parked without moving for so long. I don't think the ADF ever wore out the tread on tyres, just replaced them through age, so check the date stamps on the tyres. A common mod are the Hutchinson bead lock wheels, they increase the already wide track by another 150mm and they need longer wheel studs. Michelin XZL 395/85R20 tyres are currently easy to obtain, the US military are selling loads from their stock piles, most are 5 years old, but never been fitted. They are suppose to be fitted on 10" wide wheels, and standard Unimog wheels are 11".

Top speed of the military U1700 is 90kph, and that's with engine sitting around the redline at 2700rpm to do that, to improve things fit a Claas Overdrive, and the bigger 395/85R20 tyres so you can do 100kph at 2200rpm. You will then need to fit an intercooler and get the injectors and injection pump reset so you can have enough power to drive at 90kph.

Then you need to fit the "Working Gears" so you can drive slow enough when going down creek beds. First gear is still too fast for crawling up rocks of slopes, imagine driving a Defender without low range on anything other than a road.

Then you will need a bigger fuel tank, as the stock ones have a useful capacity of 140lt, so only around 500km range off road.

From talking to other Unimog owners, it costs at least $50K to get an Ex-military U1700 up to basic touring standards. Then you need to build a box on the back to live in, budget $75-100K for that with all the fittings if you do it yourself, or $150-250K for someone else to build one depending on your taste.

https://fb-s-c-a.akamaihd.net/h-ak-xat1/v/t1.0-0/p235x350/15442394_1370384226325648_8116300259208097942_n.jp g?oh=9ae0fa202867af2451787324cee34069&oe=58B3F740&__gda__=1492476140_c883cea8ea7f9fff18e06055924f154 d

Hi Ian, your recent post has me thinking this again as I transition soon to more time on my hands, after I finish a couple of LR projects. The mog is an impressive platform, but what about Japanese 4x4 trucks like the Mistsu? These are prob more available.

Also a mate of a mate bought a MAN camper a few years ago, and OMG looks amazing. Way way outside my budget.

[Iain_B]

The problem I have with a lot of those type of trucks, is that they are basically road trucks to which they add the 4x4 system. They are fine for the occasional dirt road, but are not designed to be at full GVM all the time on bad roads.

The Unimog is, so it is pretty much overkill for most situations, a 12 ton GVM on the U1700 means you are not going to be close to maximum, however on my U1250, I am always close to max GVM, but the truck can handle it, the chassis rails are 10mm thick U channel, and that is even strengthened in places. The Canters and even the MANs have thinner chassis, yet the same GVM or close to it, the laws of physics don't change, so I asked myself why is it that a Unimog chassis is thicker and made of high tensile tempererd steel, so much so you can't weld on it without the proper weld procedures etc. The others are much thinner, especially the Japanese ones. MAN have two different specifications for their chassis, the standard one and the miltitary one.

There are Mitsubishis and others that people use, and they have fun with them, I think they will have a limited life expectancy if you use them on a lot of corrugations, fully loaded for long trips.

I've seen quite a few with cracked chassis, failed spring supports,gearbox problems etc,

Just my opinion, but I did look seriously into all the options before deciding to get a Unimog.

I like mine because it is a smaller Unimogs, so I can fit in the same places people with Land Cruisers and Patrols do, the bigger U1700 ones will most likely find a way, but lots of risk of tyre damage etc. Bigger is not always better [biggrin]

[rar110]

Thanks again Ian for the detailed reply. The U1250 does sound like a good size, but not very common.

And thanks for the link to your videos. The build was good to see.