Recent content by charlieaarons

We were in the vicinity about 13-14 years ago. Can’t remember if we went up that dune. Backing down is usually the right move.

I think, but not completely sure, that’s an “AEC Matador”.

Do you remember the “Watchayoucallit” or something like that? Pretty sure it was built on a huge ancient British chassis, maybe a MAN-KAT? Really huge. I will add that Hutchinson wheels are miraculous in terms of being able to change a 100kg tire + 10kg beadlock in the field, with 75yo me...

“Disaster” is perhaps a slight exaggeration. We traveled in Oz in our U500 for an elapsed time of of about 30 weeks. No, I didn’t do the CSR, but we did visit Rudall River, Cape Range area, Cape York and some other out of the way places. Absolutely zero tire problems. Now I did destroy an XZL2...

I think there’s a way to enter your VIN Correction: not possible to enter VIN. However, for example in my case, once I selected the correct model (405.230 = U500, North America homologation), and the correct engine designation ((906.912), when I then went to “engine electrics”, then “alternator”...

http://www.catcar.info/mercedes/?lang=en&l=Y2xhc3M9PTR8fGNvdW50cnk9PTF8fHN0PT0yMHx8c3RzPT17IjEwIjoiQXNzb3J0bWVudCBjbGFzcyIsIjIwIjoiVHJ1Y2stRXVyb3BlIn0%3D Entry point for European built trucks. Back up 1 more level if built in Brasil etc.

As you can see, the exploded diagram plus individual parts ID below DOES show gear ratio!!

http://www.catcar.info/mercedes/?lang=en&l=Y2xhc3M9PTZ8fGNvdW50cnk9PTF8fHN0PT01MHx8c3RzPT17IjEwIjoiQXNzb3J0bWVudCBjbGFzcyIsIjIwIjoiVW5pbW9nLUV1cm9wZSIsIjUwIjoiNDA1LjIzMCAgICAifXx8Y2F0YWxvZz09MTRVICAgfHxjYXRhbG9nMT09MTRVICAgfHx0eXBlPT00MDV8fHR5cGUxPT00MDV8fHN1Ym0xPT0yMzB8fHN1Ym0xMT09MjMwfHxhZ2d0eX...

Re bringing in box on US homologated chassis: No, by comparison getting a box installed by Unicat was simple. I ended up paying duty (2.5% then and now, who knows in the future?) at a US seaport. If I had been smart and shipped to Halifax and then crossed my quiet remote land border…. I was...

Re 6x6: They’re huge unwieldy, expensive etc. But RWS (rear wheel steering) can make them a lot more “wieldy”. For a price. Paul Nutzfahrzeuge in Passau could probably retrofit RWS to most chassis. Not that I’d seriously recommend 6x6. https://paul-nutzfahrzeuge.de/zetros-8x8-ta/?lang=en

Hello Iain. If you’re running XZLs, I think I mentioned a few years ago that a Michelin (military) tire engineer I met at a exhibition told me that Michelin military tires need to be kept <75C. I keep track with the CTIS pressure display.

Other than liability insurance, what are the monthly expenses associated with owning an expensive toy that only a deranged person (there’s a pandemic of that) would buy on installments?

I think my wheels on my U500 might be the 62161s (it’s on another continent). 90mm offset. Work perfectly with factory CTIS. And factory beadlocks, which is very important reason to have this type wheel.

I put MRAP Hutchinsons (20x10”) on my U500 Unimog and the results are totally satisfactory. Please be specific about what size tires you want to run. Presumably with internal bead locks, since that’s a massive advantage of 2 piece bolttogether wheels as opposed to alternatives. In June I was...

Ditched propane cylinders and stove for induction. But you want lots of batteries (840ah@12v in my case) and solar panels (950w nominal). And 2 x 45a dc to dc chargers. And of course Webasto for heat and hot water. Using electricity for heating in a camper is crazy. IMHO