New member from Norway, soon to have a new truck!

[fuoristrada camper]

My first set of Conti MPT where balanced with " special sand, it worked well only problem is when deflating the valve gets blocked by sand and the tire looses all air. So out the sand in my new set of XZL , who don't wobble .
Seems now there is a system for balancing with little plastic bals in the tire, didn't test it yet.

And many people are searching for more road type 20 inch tires , but the only you will find are trailer tires.(Think Bridgestone as them)
Only solution is mounting 22.5 rims/tires. You can find them easly second hand if your truck has 10 lug wheels , 8 lugs will be more difficult to find.

I stopped searchingg and will get new XZL when they are gone dead.

Grts

 

[julius0377]

And many people are searching for more road type 20 inch tires , but the only you will find are trailer tires.(Think Bridgestone as them)
Only solution is mounting 22.5 rims/tires. You can find them easly second hand if your truck has 10 lug wheels , 8 lugs will be more difficult to find.

The Atego has 8 lugs, so no luck for me. I'm asking around, but looks to cost a pretty penny in custom fabrication to get 22,5 inch wheels.

The XZL's are somewhat slippery on the snow, this is the largest gripe I have with them. I'm thinking about siping the tires, but need to look at longevity before I go through with it. Another solution on snow and ice could be to mount "screw in" spikes of the type farmers use where you can mount them with a cordless drill. Seems a lot of work though…

 

[julius0377]

Fuel consumption and range of the Bimobil EX480

The figures are in, here is the "real world" fuel performance of the Bimobil EX480 on the Mercedes Atego 1024 4x4 chassis:

Conditions for the measurements:
*Full tank at start.
*Fully loaded vehicle, all tanks except gray water, as well as all equipment, food and personal belongings.
*Only one person in vehicle (driver).
*Michelin 365/80 R20 XZL tires.
*About 4/5 of the driving is highway, 1/5 is city/small roads.
*About 1/3 of the driven distance is in strong headwind and snow drifts during the highway sections, with the speed ranging from 75 km/h to as low as 35 km/h due to visibility and traffic, the rest in "normal" conditions with about 90 km/h speed for the highway sections.
*About 2,5 hours of webasto (5kw) usage with the vehicle at standstill waiting for ferries, etc.

The driving distance is 1425,4 km to fueling (trip meter on vehicle), and the diesel used: 313,5 litres (fuel pump measurement). This gives:

22 litres pr. 100 km driven.
10.69 MPG (US)
12.84 MPG (Imperial)

With a tank capacity of 380 litres this gives the vehicle a total range of a bit more than 1700 km pr. tank. (Adblue was not measured.)

The "fill tank" warning came on at 1267 km, and I found that the tank shape gives the initial impression of high consumption, but after about 1/4 of the tank the gauge moves slooooow

 

[Gretar]

Hi Julius
The XZL are not good on slippery roads. In Iceland it is common to "microcut" the tyres. It is effective and I am told that "microcut" tyres last longer.
The fuel figures are something to be expected. 22litres/100 km is quite reasonable I should think.
Is it Iceland this summer?
Gretar

 

[Overland Hadley]

22 litres pr. 100 km driven.
10.69 MPG (US)
12.84 MPG (Imperial)

Thanks for doing the conversion.

 

[julius0377]

Hi Gretar,

Thanks to the happy circumstance of a new family member arriving in the middle of summer, Iceland will have to wait for a bit. Happy I added all the seat's to the Bimobil

Do you have any tips on bringing animals (a dog) on tour in Iceland? I have heard this is out of the question, but maybe there are options including veterinary checks and vaccine shots?

In Iceland it is common to "microcut" the tyres.

We call this seiping, a process where you cut into the tyre crosswise, is this the same as microcut?

22litres/100 km is quite reasonable I should think.

I was initially slightly disappointed as the dealer (of course, the sneak) sold me on a better figure. But after a little bit of thinking and use I'm really happy with the mpg, it's about double what my VW T5 van uses, and considering the weight difference is a really good figure!

 

[nick disjunkt]

For comparison, I'm getting about 9 mpg (US) in a 2003 Mercedes 1823 weighing about 14 tonnes. It also has the OM906LA engine, although it has no adblue as it is Euro III

 

[Gretar]

Congratulations on your expected baby. Being a vet myself I can confirm that you can not bring your dog to Iceland for a holiday, sorry. Seiping and microcut must be the same thing. It is commonly practiced over here and I have been thinking of having my XZLs done. I am told there are not any disadvantages in doing this on the contrary they last longer plus less slippery.

 

[charlieaarons]

I am getting 8-9 mp USg on 2005 Unimog U500 with Unicat camper, weighs about 12.6 metric tons fully loaded, 2 unmounted spares on camper roof increase air resistance. Road speed 80 to 100 kph depending on road.
It has fulltime 4WD and portal gears, OM906LA rated at 260hp, EPA 2004 emissions minus EGR which makes it approx. Euro III. Except the timing is 14 deg BTDC, I'd like to advance it to 18 deg BTDC.

Charlie

 

[LoRoad]

I'd like to advance it to 18 deg BTDC.
Charlie

Can you explain why 14 / 18 before top dead center? why do it at all, what's the purpose?

 

[charlieaarons]

To improve fuel economy. The timing is retarded to decrease NOx but is less efficient.
Sorry about the name mixup on the other thread.

Charlie

 

[LoRoad]

To improve fuel economy. The timing is retarded to decrease NOx but is less efficient.
Sorry about the name mixup on the other thread.
Charlie

Thanks, never knew that info. As for the other, no worries.

 

[SpudBoy]

An old thread, I know, but I was wondering if someone can link the "follow on" thread to this one from julius0377.

This one seems to be all about the decision to buy, and I thought there might be another thread about some of Julius' travels.

Thanks
David

BTW - Julius, I have a MAN 4x4 camper weighing 9.5 tonnes, and the fuel consumption averages 24 litres/100Km, so I think you are doing well with 22L/100Km!

 

[julius0377]

An old thread, I know, but I was wondering if someone can link the "follow on" thread to this one from julius0377.

Hi David,

No follow up thread yet I'm afraid. I'll make a thread about some of our travels shortly if you like (after this years holiday...) We got a son the year after delivery of the truck, so the really long trips are somewhat postponed until he can be more involved.

BTW - Julius, I have a MAN 4x4 camper weighing 9.5 tonnes, and the fuel consumption averages 24 litres/100Km, so I think you are doing well with 22L/100Km!

We changed the 365/80 R20 XZL's with 385/65 R22,5 XZY's, and have a noticeable improvement in fuel consumption as well as a marked improvement in comfort and noise. (Really happy about the change.)

I just calculated the consumption from my last trip. Pure highway from the south of Germany to the north. The figures are 838,8 km and 152,04 litres diesel (mix with 7 % biodiesel). That gives 18.2l/100km (12.92 US-MPG), a marked improvement from when it was on XZL's with 20 inch rims. Interesting to see what the figure will be in more "real world" driving (not pure highway.)

 

[julius0377]

BTW, I'm selling the used wheels and tires, if anyone is interested see this thread:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...semi-drop-centre-rims-(Atego-4x4)-for-sale-EU