8x8 Man Kat

[Spwluna]

I have found far and few between about man Kat’s in the USA... but, here is my question and background.

we are a family of 5 and growing. We were looking into a camper van with the Mercedes 170” high roof. Well.. for what we want it for it is still too small. My wife and I want the of road Ability with the RV room. Well class A’s are roomy enough but not off-road capable. So we are looking into the Man Kat 8x8. We found a fair priced one however laws are 25 years not just for military but any foreign car, though there are few exceptions to the rule for a price of course...I am not familiar with all department of homeland security laws in regards to customs. I am active duty military and wondering if there are exception for active duty or any other way to export from England to the United States? However, we contacted BOxManufaktur here in the states but everything is still made ingermany. So my biggest question is, can Itransport the 8x8 to Germany for assembly of the box living quarters and re-register it as an RV by EU standards and then when it’s imported within the United States they will not ding me for a military vehicle but see it as an RV since the paperwork shows such? Iam too scared in a way to pull the trigger on a piece together build that will cost min a minimum of 150k to 250k just to have customs seize /destroy or donate it. Does anyone have this experience or any experience with man Kat or exporting/importing foreign military vehicles? This will be a full timehome For us especially for moving around.

 

[gregmchugh]

That is a big leap to an 8x8, if you could live with a 6x6 then you could go with an Acela 6x6 or the original 6x6 military surplus truck.

Acela Truck: Monterra 6x6

Acela Trucks

www.acelatruck.com

 

[martinf]

Someone once said that 95% of the places you travel can be done in a 2WD VW van, and that everywhere else is too rough to risk damaging your house on wheels.

Unless you plan on traveling abroad, a 8x8 is probably way overkill in North America. I recall seeing a post on these forum about someone meeting a German guy with an 8x8 that admitted that it was overkill for the USA and that he was usually too large to fit anywhere and was damaging a lot of trees. Where a smaller sprinter could not go due to the roughness of the road, an oversize truck might not pass due to its width or height.

Like gregmchugh said, a 6x6 is a smaller yet still very large truck that you can outfit with a large box to sleep 5. Have a look at the Hunter RMV Predator II. It sleeps 6 on a 4x4 truck. RV quality at an RV price with offroad capabilities. It might not be the quality you're looking for but it gives an idea of what a 27.5' 4x4 truck can be.

 

[gregmchugh]

Here is an example of a US military surplus 6x6 converted to a camper, currently for sale but maybe not the layout you would want.

2016 GXV 6x6 FMTV 29’ w/ Gear Garage

Update for August 15, 2021: We're out of the shop now and it's available for show in Reno until September 1st. After that I'll be a moving target, traveling E/NE. ☑️ New brake drums, chambers, spiders ☑️ New windshield and seal ☑️ CTIS system overhaul: new ECU, all air leaks fixed, Highway...

expeditionportal.com

 

[Joe917]

The MAN Kat 8X8 is not a good choice as a base vehicle. There will be many places you are too big to access.
As for putting a brand new camper on a 25 year old chassis and trying to call it a 25 year old motor home... forget it. It will be a "new" motor home Plan to pay the full duty as a truck on the chassis (25%)
As far as I know there are no exceptions on the 25 year rule bar one. Lowly the Lorry somehow got a 1 year temp permit when it was 24.

 

[Spwluna]

The MAN Kat 8X8 is not a good choice as a base vehicle. There will be many places you are too big to access.
As for putting a brand new camper on a 25 year old chassis and trying to call it a 25 year old motor home... forget it. It will be a "new" motor home Plan to pay the full duty as a truck on the chassis (25%)
As far as I know there are no exceptions on the 25 year rule bar one. Lowly the Lorry somehow got a 1 year temp permit when it was 24.

I haven’t heard back from the DOT but I got approval from the EPA for 21yeR and older for vehicles 15T on heavier.

 

[Spwluna]

I have looked at the 6x6 , however they are small. I would have to do a lifter top for strictly sleeping quarters and dedicate the main floor to dining/kitchen,crawl through space and full bath. I have 3 kids and we are still growing. I will eventually need bunks so why buy small when we are going to expand anyway. Also the mankat A1 is not bigger than a diesel pusher, high maybe depending on the size of the box. Again we are active duty military and we are missionaries so global movement is a very common thing for us.

 

[grizzlyj]

Hiya. If you mean a MAN Kat 1 rather than its later versions, the engine being behind the cab means you can't make it into a double cab. As issued it seats three. Four could fit but would be a squeeze and probably get in the way of the gear change even with a kid sitting there.
Roughly speaking the centre of the 4x4 version back axle is the same distance from the front as the centre of the rear two axles on a 6x6, so 6x6 and 4x4 have pretty much the same turning circle. The 8x8 puts a lot more pressure on the front end, so to prevent damage the amount of front wheel turn was reduced giving not just a bit bigger but massively bigger turning circle.
The 4x4 has no turbos, the 6x6 and 8x8 both have a pair and produce the same power. The 4x4 gearbox is about half the size of the same one in the other two. The 6x6 rear tray is almost 6m, you could extend that and/or the wheelbase for a lightweight camper (compared to what they could carry) if you needed more space than that.
Buy the book, printed in German and English, Tankograd 5027 MAN Kat 1, lots of nice pics and info.
Some parts are standard truck, the bits that are specific can cost. The bed is about 5 feet off the ground. Width for a crawl through if you move the standard spare tyre location gives a very narrow space, and you still need it to be removeable for that side of the engine access.
Maybe 5 miles per UK gallon.
Theres a German language forum on which some speak English.
Are you sure the one you found exists, or just a standard advert to generate interest? The level of release has drastically dropped recently, even with the released ones being bought back.
A EU camper constructor can bounce a truck between build partners to your requirements without you registering it I would think. Getting it into the USA- no idea. Good luck

 

[DzlToy]

An MAN KAT1 is a terrible platform for overlanding, as are most large commercial trucks or military vehicles. They are loud, uncomfortable and terrible on fuel. They are meant to be maintained by a fleet of mechanics, not the DIYer.

If you want to see the country, buy a reliable SUV (Toyota or Honda) and spend time with your kids outside letting them learn for themselves, find what fascinates them and what they are passionate about. In 2021, it costs nearly 250,000 US dollars to raise a child from birth to 17 years of age. So, four kids cost a million bucks. Unless you are fabulously wealthy shipping vehicles back and forth across the Pond, is quite silly. If you are rich, it's still silly, just more affordable. Obviously, there is more to it than this, but I grew up camping in a tent out of the family pickup truck, van or Chevy Suburban, fishing, playing in creeks, building forts in the woods, learning what Poison Ivy looks like, the hard way, swimming in lakes and rivers and being forced to come in at dark, nearly every night.

If the journey is the goal, make it interesting. A 10 hour drive to "get somewhere" is only fun once in a while. If the destination is the goal, "Load up kids, we are going to see Mount Rushmore.", you most certainly do not need or want an 8x8. Days in a car glued to an iPad demean the experience. Tech has replaced common sense and real world skills. Less is more. Teach your kids about animals, trees, weather, edible plants, wild fruits, herbal remedies and Earthing. Visitor's centers, 'interpretive centers' and Jellystone type parks whitewash the truth and diminish the experience. Visit a mom and pop family farm and small, family owned attractions, volunteer somewhere for a day or two. Take behind the scenes tours and get to know people. An MAN 8x8 is neither desirable nor required, for these activities. One could argue, it would indeed be a detriment.

Play games in the car and on the trail, unplug from tech, have treasure hunts or do some geo-caching. Learn proper techniques for hiking, preparing and building a fire, crossing a creek, load balancing a back pack, how to select proper gear for each activity, etc. Rent bikes, kayaks or canoes. Challenge yourself, teach your kids to cook healthy meals instead of eating at restaurants, lodges, food trucks or campgrounds, scare yourself once in a while. Let each child pick a topic of conversation, a goal for the week or a place to visit, keep a journal or diary, get off the beaten path, which you can do in an AWD minivan or bone stock SUV for the most part. Teach them to research, read an atlas and a topographical map, plan a trip, to change a tire, basic first aid, on-the-road vehicle maintenance and repairs, ad infinitum. These skills have been lost for at least a generation, in many cases longer. With more knowledge available at the tip of your fingers than ever before, people are more ignorant, less educated and dumber than they have ever been, when it comes to common sense. I have friends who literally cannot change a headlight and one whose 17 year old son, had never used a spanner wrench in his life.

It's your life and your kids to raise, but there were no 'overlanding' rigs in the 70s and 80s and I had the time of my life growing up outside. More is not better, it's just more. I bet you find yourself and learn a thing or two along the way, if I were a betting man.

 

[Chuckles!]

You're active-duty military, so surely you've heard of the HEMTT:

Vehicle's & Equipment For Sale - 8 X 8 Truck's - Currently For Sale - Midwest Military Equipment

midwestmilitaryequipment.com

 

[Steve_382]

I have friends who literally cannot change a headlight and one whose 17 year old son, had never used a spanner wrench in his life.

We bought a multi use squat rack/bench press for our 17 YO nephews and when they tried to help with the assembly, we found they had never used a wrench either. What a sheltered life. Just video games.

 

[JRhetts]

After a couple hundred thousand overlanding miles in a number of different vehicles, I have to join the chorus of: "an 8x8 is not necessarily what you actually need" [certainly not for load carrying] and "an 8x8 will present significant - if not extreme - limitations on where you can actually go."
A manual transmission Fuso FM-260 has a GVWR of ~54,000#. If you can't get your house within that limit, I cannot help further.
Where do you really want to go? You'd never get off the Pan Am Hwy with something as big as an 8x8. If you are itinerant volunteers, then why not a really strong crew-cab pickup with a good trailer with goose-neck hitch that you beef up in ways that seem important? [That is not how I have gone, but I have always been a single or pair of souls going to the most remote places I could imagine.] But that sort of arrangement would allow you to park the house and all of you explore more remote with only the truck.
Mostly, I am suggesting you think outside the parameters [i.e., constraints] you seem to have begun with. Best of luck.

 

[terra-exp]

Hello, we are terra-exp, inc a US company representing 4wheel24 a German based company, converting firetrucks and military trucks into expedition trucks. There are certainly ways to sent trucks through Europe meaning from the UK to Germany/EU for converting and then into the United States. We have explored ways how to do this. Please make sure you do it correctly, if you do not want to end up paying VAT (value added tax) in certain countries. As the UK separated from the EU the exchange and taxation of goods between the EU and the UK changed.
If a KAT 8x8 is the right vehicle for your needs, that would need to be determined. Certainly there a more trucks to explore. We just finished a KAT 6x6 for a family of 5. Less axle better milage!


The main question would be what size of habitat do you want/need. With this information we can determine the size of possible trucks. There are certainly ways to fit a habitat between 18 and 20ft still on a 4x4 truck:
Here a base truck Mercedes 4x4, 15.1l V8, with a large driver's cab which can fit 5 people and the wheelbase still fits a 20ft cabine:



Of course the bench will be converted to 3 seats.
A finshed truck would look like this one (this one is shorter):

As you see there are severals ways to accomplish your needs.

Let me know if you need more information.
Thank you.
Martin

 

[mep1811]

What seems to be cool Is not necessarily practical.
A vehicle that big would be limited to truck routes to accommodate the size and weight.
Another factor the consider is driving way under the speed limit on the highway.
I recently passed a MB Unicat on I-10 in Texas. It was barely doing 60 in a 75 mph zone. The speed limit quickly changes to 80 mph.

 

[SootyCamper]

If you insist on a man kat, I suggest getting high quality hearing protection with integrated comms for yourself and children. The sustained high decibels from the engine will damage your children's hearing.