Unimogadventures - Our build and travel thread

[Iain_U1250]

Thanks everyone, it has been a long project but now the fun starts

I have a few little teething problems, but sorting them out one by one.

I got the speedo sorted, it is now spot on. I got some new gears for my Kienler Argo ratio box from SGESCO, only cost $87 for the gears. I worked out the ratio I needed by driving from home to the shop and comparing what the GPS trip meter said vs what the odometer read. I needed a 1.263 gearset due to the fast axles and bigger tyres. It would have cost a lot more for them to do all the measurement, and if I did not already have a ratio box.

I hopefully have sorted out all the leaks in the water system. I replace the damaged fitting on the hot water tank this morning, and the water inside it was still very hot. There was another small leak on the cold water line at one of the t-pieces, so I replaced the connection. If the pressure stays up over night, then I think the water system is sorted. One thing I found out this afternoon, the water inside the hot water tank is at engine temperature, so around 80-90 Deg C. I have a thermostatic valve which mixes in cold water, however the first bit of hot water is likely to be a lot hotter, as the valve takes a second or or so to react.

 

[piratexpress1369a]

Just wondering do you have to reweight the unimog on road side government scales again

 

[Iain_U1250]

We will have to most likely, on the way to one of our favourite beaches is a RTA weighbridge where any vehicle over 4.5tons has to stop and could be weighed. I'm going to assume I will be stopped, just not worth taking the risk.

Once we have loaded up all out tables and camping gear, then we ill take it back over a weighbridge again, that way we will know how much we weigh. We will not normally run around with both water tanks and fuel tanks full, and with a bit of trial and error see how much we can carry and not have to worry about being over weight.

I talked to Mercedes Benz Australia, and they are gathering info about a GVM upgrade, just have to be patient as they need to find out all the various details of what I might have to do.

 

[Bergermog]

Well done Iain, Your build thread has been great to follow. I remember when I started with this 1985 non runner from grays a few years ago..

 

[Iain_U1250]

We wanted some more storage in the cab, especially for our cameras. Our main camera is quite big, and with the 70-210mm
F2.8 lens on it, is quite long as well. I made a mock up of the console out of cardboard first, and drove around with it for a couple of days to see it if worked out.





We got rid of the smaller box as it made it too difficult to climb through.

I made the box out of thin plywood, but with 1mm angle reinforcing in the corners.



I added 2" of padding on the bottom of the camera side of the box, and lined both sides with marine carpet.



The lid of the box had to be narrower, as the armrests stopped the box lid from being raised when they were in the raised position.



The carpet is pretty tight, so no need for a catch. If it does loosen up, we will add a magnetic catch to the one side.




We added another storage net to the front of the box - Trish can never have enough storage for her stuff.

The final things to do before we head out on our first camping trip is to fit the aluminiumanchor tracks in the boot and other storage boxes. I have about 8m of the track, and will fit it around the sides and back of each storage compartment. We have found that if it is not tied down , then it likely to get damaged or damage over things.

The track allow you to adjust where you put the tie down rings. We have used this in the Land Rover for a few years, it is great stuff,and strong enough to really tie thing down properly.

We have also lined all the drawers with marine carpet, and will use velcro strips to strap everything down inside the cupboards and drawers. Something else we learnt on our last big trip around Australia, if we tie everything down, then less things break when you hit a washout or big bump at speed.

 

[piratexpress1369a]

In the third picture is that the camera standing up on the lens? Hard to tell for me looking on my cell phone

 

[Iain_U1250]

Yes, it goes in vertically, we have a lot of padding down the bottom, and some other supports attached to sides out of one of the camera bags that hold the body as well.

 

[BjarniThor]

Hello
I have a question about the "crawl through" between the cab and the camper on your truck. What are your dimensions (Length x with) of the opening?
Is the opening of the same size as the back windows of a standard cab? (Just the middle post removed?)

How comfortable is it to crawl trough? Kid or teenager must be ok.
A adult in shape ? An adult not in shape ??

You described earlier that an opening between the cab and the camper is a
requirement if the truck is registered with passenger seats in the camper.
It is a logical requirement. But in your country, is there some further
specifications/requirements of the (minimum) dimensions of the opening?

 

[Iain_U1250]

I'm down at the beach at the moment, so can't give you and exact dimension as we don't have a tape measure.





The crawl through is around 1.2-1.3mm wide by 0.65m tall. It is narrower than just the two rear windows, I had to make a plate to cover part of the window opening, and it is taller - the maximum height you can make it. Removing the rear cross member in the back of the cab is not allowed in the "Unimog Body Builder Handbook". This photo gives a good indication of the size of the opening relative to the standard rear window opening.

The Land Rover seats are a lot bigger than the original ones, and I have moved them inwards so that I am directly in line with the steering wheel, not off-set a bit like the OEM ones. The seats restrict the access a bit. My wife and I are botj approaching our 50th birthdays soon, and neither of us have any problem climbing through the hole, even with the table in place, but I would say that we are fairly active.

The requirement here is that you can access the cab from inside the camper and vice versa. I looked up the actual statute once, and there are no minimum dimensions, just "freely access the living area from the cab" . The Queensland Motor home inspection form says "....where the living area cannot be accessed by walking through the cab" (then it is not a motorhome/campervan ) I demonstrated to the Inspector that I could stand in the cab, step over into the rear and duck under and be standing in the rear. He accepted that would be sufficient. I must admit I did practise it a bit to make it look easy

Another reason the opening is so big is that the rear seats can be used whilst driving, and the big opening gives them enough forward vision to see out of the windscreen. We had our first passengers in the rear for an hour yesterday driving around ( my wife and her friend) , and they found it really comfortable, although they had to duck down to see where we were going to give me directions as the rear seats are quite high relative to the windscreen. They found the Jaguar seats really comfortable, and held them nicely, they did not slide around like on a flat bench.

We have used the crawl through a couple of time, it was just easier than getting out and walking around to the side door. I can reach nearly everything in the front by just leaning into the cab, but my wife has to climb in if she wants to get something out the glovebox.

I need to put the central locking into the rear door, just have to find a suitable contact arrangement for the door. our old Toyota Tarago has a nice little set-up for it's central locking, might have to go to the wreckers and get one. It would get great to know that the rear door is locked when I switch the alarm on .

 

[LukeH]

I'm down at the beach at the moment, so can't give you and exact dimension as we don't have a tape measure.

View attachment 319146

View attachment 319147

I hate you

 

[BjarniThor]

Hi Ian, thanks for your detailed description of your crawl through.
Btw, as everybody says (except LukeH), Congratulations of finishing the build!
I really want to tackle a similar build, but only time will tell wether
or not that will realise.

 

[Iain_U1250]

I decided to increase the rpm range a bit on our way home from the beach, just for a short while, still in running in mode but mog is getting stronger with each drive, easily held 100kph into a headwind.


We also got some great footage of us driving down the beach with our little drone, just need to edit our the boring bits.

My mog is not that noisy either

 

[LukeH]

Hi Ian, thanks for your detailed description of your crawl through.
Btw, as everybody says (except LukeH), Congratulations of finishing the build!
I really want to tackle a similar build, but only time will tell wether
or not that will realise.

I'm just jealous, that's all. I think you've done wonderfully!

 

[piratexpress1369a]

That is cool. ..sounds great. .the ride looks smooth on that road

 

[BjarniThor]

And more about an opening between a cab and camper:
On a truck with a camper with some good thermal insulation, and
camping in cold climates, one would also like to be able to close the
opening. As known, heat escapes quite easily out through the cab since it
does not have (normally) any insulation.

For a "large" opening, a one that is also used to provide forward vision
for passengers in the camper while on the move (such as your truck) what would be the most convenient solution to provide a thermally insulated closing when camping overnight in cold climates??

Don't know if you have, or need such a solution, but I wonder how to design it. Probably some sort of soft insulated "blanket"
fastened with zippers or something, that you just unzip and pack together and store elsewhere while driving?
A fixed door construction of some sort is probably very difficult and inconvenient to apply?

Finally I wonder a little bit about how it "feels" to be a passenger in the camper of a Unimog while driving.
By this, I mean the passengers look out of the front windscreen of the cab, (especially if seat are facing forward),
but on the mog there is usually a lot of twisting motion between the cab and the camper, especially on rough roads and offroad.
This must be quite a unique feeling, could it be uncomfortable in some ways to the passengers? Those more
prone to carsickness, could they be more affected?

This must be difficult to judge, but Ian, If you can say anything about this, it will be interesting to hear.