Thread: Mercedes Benz 6x6.................

I have been speaking to tibus engineering about portals for my 6x6 expo truck. Coming in at sub $20k for the 6. Makes it look like a bargain compared to the $350k for the merc
Maybe I should copy mercedes and go the route of working the cleveland 302 currently fitted and adding huge fuel tanks, rather than the 4bd1t install i have planned. haha

if you are serious about custom building your 6x6, I would say you may consider talking to Wagoo regarding the rear suspesnion set up.....

slightly off topic, but are portals ok under Queensland road rules?

Originally Posted by 86mud

slightly off topic, but are portals ok under Queensland road rules?

AFAIK only if it is manufactured with them i.e. unimog

marks adapters makes them for patrols and are engineered for all of Australia except Qld

I have read the marks portals now engineerable/legal in Queensland...The whole engineering thing really boils my skin as some guys in the biz will scream black and blue stuff isnt engineerable and they know right. Then some one goes and gets it done, legal, legit and passed by DOT themselves. There is sooooooo much here say and miss information floating about...

If you want to mod this is the basic steps:

#1 fill out a DOT form 1854 for vehicle mod, and submit it to them. They will generally phone you back. The did with me within 2 weeks of form being sent. The guy was very helpful. His response was that what I wanted to do, and since the new code had just come in, #2 was to contact a DOT approved ENGINEER (not a seat belt blue plater) and it would be up to them if: A, it was doable, B what procedures, methods, designs rules etc needed to be followed and C what code/s it would fall under and 4 costs.

Well I did #1 easy, but am yet to get onto a bloody engineer. I have spoken to a couple and they ummd and arhhhd sounding very vague (read not interested) about what I wanted to do. I have asked on another forum for any recommendations re engineers and got only a couple names that are closeish to me. I have been trying to get onto one who is reputed to be good, approachable and not closed off to 4WD (alot only have experience with road car mods).

I can easily do my mods. I have most of the design nutted out. I have been trying for years to get it sorted legal so I can do it.

All just to run longer trailing arms....what a bloody joke.

BTW if I had a bag full of $100 bills I bet I could get it done!

That merc is a real show piece. Land rover need to be looking at this kind of development for the replacement defender. Ok not 6x6 or luxurious leather interior but portal axles, all round locking diffs, tyre inflation system - keeping the same kind of rugged design, only adapting it where necessary. Not a shared disco platform (for the sake of cheaper production) with bloody terrain response!

Agree though, could totally commission a better 6x6 defender/series for that money - just wouldn't be road legal

I had a discussion on Facebook with Robert Pepper (author of the 4wd handbook) about this truck and raised my concerns about how the Australian tax payer has funded the engineering for this "Hero" car (Through the army), so Mercedes can turn a profit. A have to say though that I absolutely love the truck and would love to see it go through some mud instead of just the desert!

Originally Posted by manic

Agree though, could totally commission a better 6x6 defender/series for that money - just wouldn't be road legal

For $350k you could build one road legal. Just start with a LR 6x6 and mod from there.