I've driven in that truck - belong to an American guy who came to visit me a month or so ago to compare Unimogs. It's huge - much bigger than my Unimog U1250 which is only a little bit smaller than the U1700's. To put it into perspective - those are 49" tyres on that truck.
As far as the the SBU ( U1000- U2150, U3000-U5000) Unimogs being complicated - compared to even a D1 they are very simple - the air over hydraulic brakes are the only "complicated" bit - but even that is easy if you have a manual. All the older SBU Unimog run the OM352 or OM366 series engine - any must be one of the worlds most reliable engines used in hundred of applications. They are all 6 cylinder diesels, some with turbo and some without.
The Australian army has both U1300, U1700, U1750 and some U2150 6 wheel drive units - they have almost 2000 of them.
My U1250 drives very similar to my D1 Tdi - disc brakes, power steering and coil suspension - just a bit bigger. My U1250 has a 12.9m turning circle - so very similar to a D110 and better than a D130. It is relatively slow - 90-100kph and it will struggle up a steep hill - but then so does my D1 when it's loaded ( over loaded?) with camping gear. The truck is 6m long and 2.2m wide with a 1.8m track. It has 500mm clearance under the diff, and 700mm everywhere else. The top speed of a standard U1250 is 75kph - but mine has high speed portal gears and a Claas overdrive and should sit at 2200 at 100kph. I'll be adding a water-air intercooler and LPG - should run at around 170hp and 600nm - which is adequate for a 7.5 ton truck.
Driving a 404 or even a 416 ( that's the smaller rounder cab mog's) would be the equivalent to driving a Series 1 or an old army jeep - they are from a similar era - when men were men and didn't worry about comfort :)
Last thing - Unimogs are not cheap - but if you want something for a round Australia trip or round the world trip - they are the ultimate expedition vehicle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by isuzubob
