Thread: U1700L Unimog in the flesh - HUGE

Thanks David, I'm hoping the Unimogs may be closer to the $20k mark but guessing more likely higher. Thanks for the guide to prices, that's very useful for me and I'll follow up that previous post.

Cheers Troy

In the army I have driven Mogs when they were just coming into the Aust army system and compared them with the Internationals which they replaced.
They were new and relaible at that time.
Loaded and pulling guns etc the performance of the two different types of vehicles were the same , give and take abit.
I was thinking how 20 years would effect these Mogs with something like 9 vee belts on the front of the motor and diffs which had to be whinched apart to drop out the transmission , or a morse chain steering conversion running under the full lenght of the dash board, or the fact they couldnt be lift towed without spending about 2.5 hours dropping the winch on the front etc.
The army mogs were light years ahead of the internationals in comfort and much easier to drive and have a very good suspension for a load carrying vehicle.
The Ex aussie army mogs are a medium size truck just like the Internationals they replaced.
Any one thinking they are in the landrover class .....forget it.
I recently done afew miles behind the wheel of a S404 Mog
This vehicle is completely different to the aust army ones and shows you must understand what model you need.
It had a 1.5 tonne payload similar to my 101 landrover, but is still amuch bigger vehicle, but one which a normal home handy type man restorer could own and store........about the size of a aussie army 6x6 landrover(which is similar vehicle for uses and payload )
The motor is only 2.2 litre petrol, and forget about any diesel repowering ideas without gearing up grades which may not be to straight forward to do.
First impressions in driving it after stepping out of my 101 landy is the lack of power.
Top speed with the motor screaming its ti@s off is 100 KPH and is happy at 75 KPH cruise speed.
The gearbox had a big jump from 6th to 5th, but the motor is flexable enough to handle it.
A few things stood out at me with this vehicle.
Its portal diffs and lockers with low gearing is fantastic.......those deep washed out rutted roads and tracks are no problem.
The ride for a coil sprung load carrying vehicle is not that good( a defender 130 and the twin leafs of the 101 landy do a better job.)
The way the cabin and rear tray and chassis is designed to flex is brillant.
Forget any long distance touring....the vehicle will do it, but just was not designed for it , even my 101 landy is more comfortable over distances.
Its lack of power wastes alot of its advantages off road with the portals and lockers ect and the drive one of these vehicle off road with a load is very.very slow and alot off work.
To change a clutch, is a cabin off job and work on oil seals on the portals etc is alot of work too.
Would I have one.......the answers is yes.......they are well built and generally pactical for what they were designed for.
You must look at if you have the correct needs to own one and not just looking for that I own a Mog image.

Hi Ron, thanks for your thoughts. They certainly sound complicated. I worked as a tour leader in Central Australia driving an off-road Merc which wasn't a Mog but something similar. I also drove a Merc 1617 Truck converted to a bus body from the UK to Kathmandu. I'm looking into building up a capable camper trailer and there are plenty of versions of Mog's made into them. Hardest part is knowing what to buy.

I'll check out some more threads and try to keep learning. Hopefully I can get to play with one in the flesh to learn a bit more about usability.

Cheers, Troy

if you are going to get one for doing as a tourer look for an Ex RAAF 1750.

they come with Aircon a slightly taller gear ratio so they will do 105 and will sit on 95 comfortably.

other than some minor changes they are essentially the same as a 1700 and you MUST have the winch with a snatch block and decent anchoring gear. get stuck without that and you are in for a BIG recovery bill.

If you are thinking of doing that big lap of australia , I can think of many better vehicles.
Mog is designed with off road work in mind and not distance.
A ex rural fire service 4x4 truck, ie Mitsubishi/Mazda/ Isuzu would be a better vehicle for that sort off work with better running costs, cruising speeds and parts advailiblity etc while still having resonable off road ability.
I am not against the Mog, it is a fine vehicle, but you must look carefully at your true needs and pros and cons in the real world.
Many people look at 101 landrovers for off road tourers etc and I tell them the same thing, some civie designes are worth a look as they are designed with civie type uses in mind other than industrial/military type uses and owners who have better bank accounts.

Thanks Dave and Ron

I've been grappling with the Mog idea. A Mitsubishi Canter or preferably a Hino is probably more practical for 95% of the road's I'm likely to travel on. Sad part is that the 5% is where I find the most memorable experiences come from. The places where few others go. Perhaps I look for a Hino and go find someone with a Mog to tow me through the other areas.

Thank you again for your insights - it makes more sense to get your view points than make some expensive mistakes. Cheers Troy

Originally Posted by TroyF

Thanks Dave and Ron

I've been grappling with the Mog idea. A Mitsubishi Canter or preferably a Hino is probably more practical for 95% of the road's I'm likely to travel on. Sad part is that the 5% is where I find the most memorable experiences come from. The places where few others go. Perhaps I look for a Hino and go find someone with a Mog to tow me through the other areas.

Thank you again for your insights - it makes more sense to get your view points than make some expensive mistakes. Cheers Troy

Have you looked into when they are getting rid of the Mack's?

Noticed a lot of the power line service vehicles cherry pickers and the like are 4by4 6by6 8by8, some of the older ones are MAN's too be pretty hard to go past them the other thing to look into is a ex logging truck or perhaps an ex drill truck but these tend to work for a living pretty hard.

Keep this guy in mind when you want a recovery.
http://www.unimogexpeditions.com.au/