Show us your 4WD truck.

[DeanoH]

This is the place to showcase your 4WD truck for all to see (and envy).

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Sorry I don't have any recent photos.

[ame=http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m2/Auntikinus/Army%20Trucks/Mk3/PICT2066.mp4][/ame]

[DeanoH]

Well here she is, pride of the fleet.



1997 OKA (Bus Body) fitted out as a camper, which is a very common setup.

The interior looks like this






and it's used for this



and this



and it's very good at this



and most importantly, this.................



but hopefully doesn't end up like this




Typical camp setup




It's a tough life this 'OKA-ing' but someone has to do it. (Hint Dave, this could be you) .


OKA's advertising blurb described the OKA as 'The Ultimate 4WD' and for us it isn't far off the mark.

We've had a gaggle of Land Rovers over the years including series, Classic, P38, Disco and Defender as well as Toyota and Jeep, all good vehicles in their own way but nothing holds a candle to the OKA for its carrying capacity, simplicity/reliability, and sheer capability especially in the remote outback areas we like to visit.

The OKA is very much like a big defender TDi, no electronics, very simple mechanically though a bit quirky in some areas (just like a Landy really) and a delight to drive in rough terrain.

For the mechanically minded, 4 litre turbo 4 cyl Perkins diesel with a five speed Turner/Spicer manual all synchro gearbox followed by a Chrysler NP205 or Rockwell transfer case into Dana 70/60 diffs. Part time 4WD with FWH and optional LSD's. Dual batteries, 12000 lb Warn winch and dual 105 litre fuel tanks are standard on most vehicles.

One thing that puts the OKA apart from other small 4WD trucks is that it is made from generic off the shelf parts. With the exception of the chassis and (flat steel) panels the rest is off the shelf ie. fuel caps are Landy Defender, Heater controls are Camira, hand brake lever is XD Falcon, steering column is Leyland and so on. Lights are all generic sizes.

Pretty cheap to run at approx. 16 l/100 Km on the highway at 95 Km/hr, best I've had is 13.5 l/100 Km loafing along the Bourke Development Road at 75-80 Km/Hr doing 1300 rpm in 5th. Worst was 50 l/100 Km through serious scrub and dunes in the Great Sandy Desert.



Believe it or not I'm looking straight down the 'track' taking a compass bearing.

The driver height, carrying capacity and wheel size of the OKA make it very suitable for this sort of journey as a trailer (which IMO is a whole new load of pain and worry) is not needed to carry the supplies needed. There's no way you'd fit 300 litres of fuel, 200 litres of water and 2 weeks supply of food (and grog ) PLUS yourselves into a standard size 4WD for a journey such as this. Others have done this in 4WD's towing trailers but I'd prefer not to.


Deano

[spudboy]

This "4x4 Trucks" section has got off to a big start!

Here's a few photos of my beast and a few stats.

This is how it started, with a basic MAN 290HP dual cab 4x4 chassis:



So far, it has taken about 2 years work to get it to its current stage, where the canopy is 75% finished and it is quite usable as a camper. All the essentials have been finished, so it has:

425L of water on board, which is filtered and pumped to the inside cabin (also with an outside hot/cold shower)
a gas/electric hot water service
a kitchen, with running water, a microwave, a sink, a fridge and a gas cooktop
a bathroom with a composting toilet and a 'recycling' shower
a full sized permanent bed, with a TV/DVD player at the foot of the bed
plenty of cupboards inside
plenty of external storage space for 'dirty' stuff, like campfire things, a generator, and so on.

Replacing the standard skinny tyres with Super Singles, and adding the shell of the canopy got it to this:



Inside the canopy, I have built a kitchen area, with under-bench Ikea cupboards and a 12v/240v fridge freezer:





A full sized permanent bed:



There is a separate toilet/shower area, with a composting toilet that uses no water or chemicals (just Peat Moss):



Outside, there are storage bins for the gas cylinders and other assorted items that get dirty when camping that don't need to come inside, like a firewood, billies, tools, tow-ropes and so on:



It is a pretty big beast of a thing. Here's me standing in front of it to give you an idea of the scale of things:



It's been away on a number of trips so far, down to the beach and up to the Flinders Ranges, where it was extremely impressive over corrugated roads. Average fuel consumption over about 3000 varied Kms is 25L/100Km:




If you want pages and pages of detail on how it got built, try here: MAN Truck Blog

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8JqjR6-YZA[/ame]

[Tombie]

Wow!!!

I'm impressed!!! What a beast!!

[Greatsouthernland]

Man truck, not MAN truck, cos it's a man cave on tough wheels makes an oka look like a tonka toy.

Very impressive cinematography, I'm sooo close to getting a DJI UAV

[D110V8D]

Well here she is, pride of the fleet.



1997 OKA (Bus Body) fitted out as a camper, which is a very common setup.

The interior looks like this






and it's used for this



and this



and it's very good at this



and most importantly, this.................



but hopefully doesn't end up like this




Typical camp setup




It's a tough life this 'OKA-ing' but someone has to do it. (Hint Dave, this could be you) .


OKA's advertising blurb described the OKA as 'The Ultimate 4WD' and for us it isn't far off the mark.

We've had a gaggle of Land Rovers over the years including series, Classic, P38, Disco and Defender as well as Toyota and Jeep, all good vehicles in their own way but nothing holds a candle to the OKA for its carrying capacity, simplicity/reliability, and sheer capability especially in the remote outback areas we like to visit.

The OKA is very much like a big defender TDi, no electronics, very simple mechanically though a bit quirky in some areas (just like a Landy really) and a delight to drive in rough terrain.

For the mechanically minded, 4 litre turbo 4 cyl Perkins diesel with a five speed Turner/Spicer manual all synchro gearbox followed by a Chrysler NP205 or Rockwell transfer case into Dana 70/60 diffs. Part time 4WD with FWH and optional LSD's. Dual batteries, 12000 lb Warn winch and dual 105 litre fuel tanks are standard on most vehicles.

One thing that puts the OKA apart from other small 4WD trucks is that it is made from generic off the shelf parts. With the exception of the chassis and (flat steel) panels the rest is off the shelf ie. fuel caps are Landy Defender, Heater controls are Camira, hand brake lever is XD Falcon, steering column is Leyland and so on. Lights are all generic sizes.

Pretty cheap to run at approx. 16 l/100 Km on the highway at 95 Km/hr, best I've had is 13.5 l/100 Km loafing along the Bourke Development Road at 75-80 Km/Hr doing 1300 rpm in 5th. Worst was 50 l/100 Km through serious scrub and dunes in the Great Sandy Desert.



Believe it or not I'm looking straight down the 'track' taking a compass bearing.

The driver height, carrying capacity and wheel size of the OKA make it very suitable for this sort of journey as a trailer (which IMO is a whole new load of pain and worry) is not needed to carry the supplies needed. There's no way you'd fit 300 litres of fuel, 200 litres of water and 2 weeks supply of food (and grog ) PLUS yourselves into a standard size 4WD for a journey such as this. Others have done this in 4WD's towing trailers but I'd prefer not to.


Deano

Awesome post! We (mainly me, but she's keen enough) are currently considering "upgrading" our family camping rig/set up to an OKA.

Whilst I don't mind towing our camper most places I do find it a pain when we want to just stop for a night and move on the next day. Also I've found the 110 can get a bit overloaded with 5 people on board and everything required when 4 of the 5 are female.

I'm still yet to drive an OKA but I have been doing a lot of research in the last couple months and so far they're ticking all the boxes.

We'd be aiming for either a dual cab with camper rear end or a bus conversion to camper.

I was considering a proper truck, like a mog but they're just so bloody big, I'm not sure I'd even get it down most of the tracks around the high country, where we tend to go mostly. Outback I'm sure it'd be fine but those trips are few and far between.

How long have you had your OKA Deano?
Have you had any major issues with it?
I hear they are quite high maintenance. Any more so than a Land Rover? How do you find the engine when fully loaded up? I see a lot of people are going to the Cummins 6bt. Is the Perkins really that underpowered?
What sort of life span could be expected from the Perkins, with a good service history?

[oka374]

Our Oka is ex RAAF where it spent the first 11 years of its life and covered about 60k kms. The next owner didn't use it much only covering 10k in 3 years and we bought it and did the camper conversion which included poptop and rear slideout. Fully set up for remote extended travel with diesel heating, cooking and HWS, 240v via inverter for jug, toaster, inductive cooktop etc etc supplied by 500w of solar and a 400ah lithium battery.
Has loo, permanently made up queen size bed, cafe style seating for two, sink, cooktop, 130l fridge/freezer, external shower. Powered by the Perkins phaser 110 with turbo and GM 4L80E auto with GU Nissan transfer case.

[goingbush]

My old Acco , only had it a few years but went on a few LROCV trips in it

[goingbush]

and the current truck