global expedition vehicles, inc

haven

Expedition Leader
Global Expedition Vehicles, Inc is a company in Missouri that develops and builds expo vehicles using Unimog U500 chassis.

Mike Van Pelt, the owner of the company, designed the first vehicle for his own use. Mike and his wife traveled in the first model for 30,000 miles on a 9 month trip around South America.

Now Mike is building replica vehicles, incorporating lessons learned on his long trip.

Here's one model
global-expo-3.jpg


And here's a second design
global-expo-2.jpg


The company's web site is
http://www.globalexpeditionvehicles.com

Contact Mike by email at globalexpeditionvehicles [at] gmail [dot] com

Chip Haven
 

boblynch

Adventurer
The original vehicle had a very extensive exoskeleton up to the over cab rack, and down the side over the fuel tanks. The sides between the cab and camper appear to have a series of recovery hooks all the way up the side of the frame. Not sure what they were for?

The original build also shows corner jacks mounted on frame. They don’t appear on original chassis photos or the final build photos (although they may be removable). Wonder what they were used for?

I really like the details on the construction build pages. Hope they make a go of it.

Bob
 

Ursa Minor

Active member
not recovery mounts

Think what you are referring to are little folding steps, find 'em at West Marine or similar, used on boats, so you can climb the mast or transom. Nice touch!
 

rhodos

Observer
In my opinion this design is too big and heavy for the U500, loading the Mog up to a total of nearly 30000 pounds and 8 m length robs the Unimog his supreme offroad advantage. Such a box (and weight) is better situated on a bigger Mercedes or MAN 4x4 truck.

Beside this there are some details in the construction of the box that are not optimal (imho)

bye, Werner
 

haven

Expedition Leader
wrong photo

My mistake -- The photo of the grey camper with the folding steps is the vehicle that the van Pelts drove around South America. The vehicle for sale has a more conventional 'roo bar front bumper, no exo cage, and no heavy duty frame behind the cab.

Check the web site for photos and details for the two models for sale.

Chip Haven
 

boblynch

Adventurer
Wonder what they plan to do once they sell the couple Mogs they have? There are very few newer Mogs available. Not sure folks will pay big bucks for a new camper on a 20+ year old truck. Suppose they could mount on an International chassis like the Unicat rig. Would be interesting to see if they would build and sell the camper box separately.
 

Lynn

Expedition Leader
boblynch said:
The original build also shows corner jacks mounted on frame. They don’t appear on original chassis photos or the final build photos (although they may be removable). Wonder what they were used for?


Leveling?
 

haven

Expedition Leader
future unimog

Somebody (Charlie Aarons?) posted to say that the Unimog was being withdrawn from North America due to emissions issues. Once the emissions package for the Unimog is re-engineered, the Unimog will return. This might be in two or more years.

That was before MBZ jettisoned Chrysler, which owns Freightliner. Now that there is no corporate connection, Freightliner may decide to get out of the business. I have written to a couple of Freightliner dealers to try to answer this question.

Chip Haven
 
haven said:
Somebody (Charlie Aarons?) posted to say that the Unimog was being withdrawn from North America due to emissions issues. Once the emissions package for the Unimog is re-engineered, the Unimog will return. This might be in two or more years.

That was before MBZ jettisoned Chrysler, which owns Freightliner. Now that there is no corporate connection, Freightliner may decide to get out of the business. I have written to a couple of Freightliner dealers to try to answer this question.

Chip Haven

No, no. Chrysler has nothing to do with FL. FL is directly owned by Mercedes. Mercedes also owns Detroit Diesel, which sold and services the MB 906 motor (my Unimog has the 902.912 iteration of this motor) and does warranty work on the Unimog motor. And at least my local DD dealer (Pacific Power Products) can get all Unimog parts (for the U500) and can work on any part of the U500. There are many more DD dealers than just listed U500 service dealers (on the U500 North America site). I therefore have two service & parts sources in Anchorage! Within 3 miles of my house.
What I find bizarre is that Mercedes did the engineering to certify the 926 motor (same block, 7.2L) for 2007 but not the 906. They undoubtedly sell thousands of 926s per year (in all sorts of class 6-7 Sterlings, FLs, etc.) but were only selling maybe 80 U500s a year in North America.
Perhaps someone expert in EPA 2010 vs. Euro 5 (also due in 2010) emissions can tell if they are close enough so that Mercedes will relaunch the U500 in NA in 2010.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
Daimler AG

Thanks for the correction. It turns out that Mercedes-Benz purchased Freightliner way back in 1981, long before it purchased Chrysler.

I just read that the Mercedes unit that includes Freightliner and Detroit Diesel will be renamed Daimler Trucks North America LLC in 2008.

DaimlerChrysler renamed itself Daimler AG after the sale of Chrysler. The company sells trucks in North America with Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Unimog nameplates. I don't think they sell any current Mercedes-Benz trucks (Actros, Axor, Atego, and so on) in North America today.

Daimler AG also owns 85% of Mitsubishi Fuso, which explains why Sterling sells re-badged versions of certain Fuso trucks.

I still don't know when Daimler AG will bring the Unimog back to USA.

Chip Haven
 

TomG

New member
I think the U500 is still available in N America

I used to work at Freightliner, and I still do things with a bunch of Freightliner people. I have not heard anything about the Unimog U500 being unavailable.

A check of http://www.unimog-trucks.com/ did not turn up any reference to Unimogs being unavailable. Maybe there was a period at the start of 2007 when Unimogs were unavailable, maybe they switched engine models (the website does not list a specific engine model) or maybe people heard wrong info. Given the strong dislike for how the new emission regulations were implemented, it seems unlikely to me that they would suspend selling Unimogs but not use the opportunity to illustrate the problems with the regulations.

If I remember, I will ask about the Unimog when I see the Freightliner gang in a couple of weeks.

Freightliner has been owned by Daimler since 1981, and Daimler makes the Unimog and uses Freightliner to handle the North American sales, service, etc. Only Chrysler was sold off. Cab over engine heavy duty trucks sell poorly in North America. Freightliner quit making the heavy duty Argosy COE at the beginning of 2007. Medium duty COEs have stronger sales.

While at Freightliner, I climbed into may trucks including the Unimog, medium duty COEs such as the Sterling 360 (a slightly modified Fuso), the Argosy, the medium duty M2 and Acterra, and a bunch of heavy duty truck models. The Unimog is definitely the hardest truck to get in and out of.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
availability

The Freightliner dealerships I have corresponded with in the last two weeks confirmed that no 2007 or 2008 U500 models are being offered for sale. The dealers said it was because the U500's emissions package doesn't meet current regulations. None of the dealers had unsold stock from earlier years, but several said they knew where to purchase used U500 models with low miles.

If anyone knows of a dealer with a new U500 on the lot, please let us all know where the dealer is located!

Chip Haven
 

haven

Expedition Leader
vehicle specifications

Here is information gleaned from the Global Expedition Vehicles web pages about their original camper design.


Vehicle dimensions overall
--------------------
26 feet long, 8 ft wide, 12 feet tall
traveling weight ~29,500 lbs


Truck chassis
--------------------
U500
154" wheelbase
8 speed transmission
Michelin XZL 395/85 R 20
air seats
custom fuel tank, 150 gallons
custom front bumper and exo roll cage over cab
custom rear bumper with hydraulic extension for towing
four winches (front and back, tire lift, motorcycle lift at rear)
inflatable pillow jacks

capacity to carry 130 gallons water, 200 gallons diesel fuel


Camper
--------------------
aluminum framing members and exterior skin
framing and skin welded together

Seitz windows

cassette toilet in wet bath
second shower outside
diesel cabin heat, hot water, cooktop
12V refrigerator
microwave oven with convection feature
queen size bed
air conditioning
two TV monitors
AuraGen generator, powered by the Unimog engine
reverse osmosis drinking water system
Tundra? AC unit
Farenheit backup camera
Sirius satellite radio (does this work in South America?)
Garmin Nuvi GPS receiver
solar panels
four 250 amp hour AGM batteries
 

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