Thread: Progress on My Unimog

I sometimes wish I had started something that simple - in fact my first Mog was a 1:32 scale model with a snowplow - but I made it into a camper with a balsa wood box - that where the bug first bit.

Next thing you know your will start your own 3 year odyssey.

Been working on the dust seal between the cab and camper - first I had to work out how much flex.

Check out the flex in this Unimog - articulation between cab and camper scales off at around 400mm.

U1300 Articulation NWMF 2010 - YouTube

Just drive on smooth surfaces & its not a problem Ha Ha

Its an interesting problem,,

bellows?

How do they do high speed trains?
its the join at the two axis's thats the problem,,

After much experimenting on a small scale, we are making a "sock" from 0.9mm vinyl - same stuff they make the soft sided trucks from. We have about 600mm of material between two steel frames, and the sock had extra material in the middle by being pleated in the corners. In the centre of the sock, there is another seam where the material if folded over to create a stiffer section. So that the thing does not just sag down - pretty difficult to explain in words, but when it's finished, I'll post some photos.

The main problem is that the axis of rotation of the cab is different to the camper. The cab is fixed at the front spring mounts, the camper at the rear, and the joint is about 60% of the way along. Most of the flex of the chassis.

In a bellows, the rotation is normally perpendicular to one of the sides - we have that type of movement as well - about 25-50mm, but a 400mm lateral rotation is the tricky part.

A bit late now as it sounds like you have it sorted, but how about neoprene? That way it can stretch, like a wetsuit on a fat girl. Actually, if anyone knows where I can buy neoprene please let me know as I want to make a dust seal on the tailgate on my ute