Alaskan Mog Eye-Candy
- Thread starter Scofco
- Start date
mountainpete
Spamicus Eliminatus
Very nice. Wow. There's my dream truck right there.
Christophe Noel
Expedition Leader
Imagine....finding that vehicle at a gas station of all places.
Robthebrit
Explorer
That truck belongs on Charlie who is an expedition portal member.
charlieaarons
Explorer
Yes, that's me. Actually it's my wife in the passenger seat.
My advice to all expedition truck owners: weigh your truck!
When I picked up the truck at Unicat it weighed 4200 kg in front and 6000 kg in the rear. It was 1/3 full of fuel and water. They figured out the inflation pressures based on 4700/6500.
Just because I was suspicious it weighed more than that I ran about 10 psi higher in the rear (77 instead of 67). I weighed it in Canada. Full of fuel, water, tools, etc etc, it was 4200 in front and 7700 in the rear. Kg, not lbs.
So my rear tire pressure needed to be 86 psi for 55-70 mph running! Good thing I had kept it down 60 indicated (59 according to GPS). I'm adding landing mats (90 kg) and a 45 kg 4X4X4' air jack bag. If I do the Canning Stock Route in Australia (1100 miles, no gas stations) figure on another 600 lb of jerrycans on the roof. That will take me up to 8100 kg in the rear, the GAWR is 8500 kg.
Even with the giant Pullmaster winch on the front and a 40 kg Danforth anchor tied to the front bullbar, I won't be over 4400 kg in front, way below the GAWR of 7200.
I think the Hackneys will be unpleasantly surprised when they weigh their FG today.
The truck averaged about 8.6 mpg. The best fillup was 9.5 with a tailwind, worst about 7.7 with a headwind.
I need to know what the mpg is offroad/bad road for that Australia trip. I'm figuring 5.0-5.5 mpg.
Problems on the trip (California-Baja-Arizona-Alaska, 6000 miles):
1) Aftermarket Koni shock broke in half and gouged out sidewall of tire, ruining it. In the middle of Baja on a fair dirt road.
2) Replacement 395/85R20 XML that was found in Tucson (unfortunately not stock XZL) fell apart after 800 miles, half on dirt roads. I found two 90% XZLs at Dollar Tire in Edmonton for 60% off. Highly recommended for Michelin offroad truck tires.
3) Alternator light has been on for a month, batteries still charge at 13.0V, not 14.0V. I think it's a burned out diode. Did not turn on the diesel generator once!
Charlie
My advice to all expedition truck owners: weigh your truck!
When I picked up the truck at Unicat it weighed 4200 kg in front and 6000 kg in the rear. It was 1/3 full of fuel and water. They figured out the inflation pressures based on 4700/6500.
Just because I was suspicious it weighed more than that I ran about 10 psi higher in the rear (77 instead of 67). I weighed it in Canada. Full of fuel, water, tools, etc etc, it was 4200 in front and 7700 in the rear. Kg, not lbs.
So my rear tire pressure needed to be 86 psi for 55-70 mph running! Good thing I had kept it down 60 indicated (59 according to GPS). I'm adding landing mats (90 kg) and a 45 kg 4X4X4' air jack bag. If I do the Canning Stock Route in Australia (1100 miles, no gas stations) figure on another 600 lb of jerrycans on the roof. That will take me up to 8100 kg in the rear, the GAWR is 8500 kg.
Even with the giant Pullmaster winch on the front and a 40 kg Danforth anchor tied to the front bullbar, I won't be over 4400 kg in front, way below the GAWR of 7200.
I think the Hackneys will be unpleasantly surprised when they weigh their FG today.
The truck averaged about 8.6 mpg. The best fillup was 9.5 with a tailwind, worst about 7.7 with a headwind.
I need to know what the mpg is offroad/bad road for that Australia trip. I'm figuring 5.0-5.5 mpg.
Problems on the trip (California-Baja-Arizona-Alaska, 6000 miles):
1) Aftermarket Koni shock broke in half and gouged out sidewall of tire, ruining it. In the middle of Baja on a fair dirt road.
2) Replacement 395/85R20 XML that was found in Tucson (unfortunately not stock XZL) fell apart after 800 miles, half on dirt roads. I found two 90% XZLs at Dollar Tire in Edmonton for 60% off. Highly recommended for Michelin offroad truck tires.
3) Alternator light has been on for a month, batteries still charge at 13.0V, not 14.0V. I think it's a burned out diode. Did not turn on the diesel generator once!
Charlie
charlieaarons
Explorer
charlieaarons
Explorer
The Konis much improved the bouncing but of course I put one of the originals back on in place of the broken one. I don't know why it broke except I noticed before it broke it was the only shock not getting warm on dirt roads. I let Hellgeth know in Germany, who sold me the Konis. Hopefully they'll at least replace the broken one.
The truck is parked in my driveway in Anchorage. I'll do some trips in Alaska this summer, after changing the oil and fixing the alternator.
Charlie
The truck is parked in my driveway in Anchorage. I'll do some trips in Alaska this summer, after changing the oil and fixing the alternator.
Charlie
adventureduo
Dave Druck [KI6LBB]
I love it. Wish i could afford one.
Dumb question of the day.. how the heck do you get the spare tires down? Especially the one on the roof top. Seems a bit high... does the back open like a hatch or a bridge or something?
Dumb question of the day.. how the heck do you get the spare tires down? Especially the one on the roof top. Seems a bit high... does the back open like a hatch or a bridge or something?
Robthebrit
Explorer
charlieaarons said:
WOW you are more than twice the weight of my 416 camper, where does it all go? Fully loaded with nearly 200 gallons of diesel, 1 spare, 45 gallons of water, 30kg propane, misc spare parts and tools, food, clothing, misc camping equipment and inside supplies I am about 5000kg, 2900kg in the rear and 2100 in the front (11000 pounds total). The previous owners when loaded up for a long stretch could get the weight up to about 7000kg (GVW).
I am not sure how the u500 behaves offroad, the milage in all my mogs doesn't drop significantly when on dirt roads, my 416 doka gets about 14.5 normally and at 10-30mph on a dirt road I get over 13mpg. I have never measured it on the technical stuff but after a whole day (basically idling all day) the gas needle doesn't move - its not using much but you don't cover many miles either.
M Hans Ross, mog dealer in BC, Canada has XZL's in all large sizes. I cannot find anybody in LA who can get them in mog sizes. I am thinking of switching to Conti MPT 81's which don't have quite as stong sidewalls but are silent on the road and have a nice shape when aired down. XZL's sound like wooden clogs.
Rob
charlieaarons
Explorer
The bare cab chassis weighs about 6500 kg. Fuel/water/batteries account for 1350, generator/winch/bumper 300, camper box about 2300. The other 1500? I don't know. There's about 250-300 kg of tools and recovery gear in the back, I'm adding a 40 kg Danforth anchor (hopefully in front), a 45 kg air lift jack bag and a 200 kg Pullmaster winch in front. And the 3 camper mounts are humoungous, look like about 150-200kg.
At least there's a reliable fuel station now on the middle of the Canning Stock Route in Australia so I won't need jerrycans on the roof.
The tire on the roof is unmounted and only 100 kg, I may carry another.
Charlie
At least there's a reliable fuel station now on the middle of the Canning Stock Route in Australia so I won't need jerrycans on the roof.
The tire on the roof is unmounted and only 100 kg, I may carry another.
Charlie
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Robthebrit
Explorer
I guess it adds up pretty quick!
What are your plans for the unmounted spare? Are you planning on using the mounted spare and then having a shop mount the tire to make a new spare? If you are planning on mounting them yourself I suggest you try a couple of times at home, especially with XZLs and the nightmare sidewalls that come with them.
Rather than carry a second unmounted tire adding another 100kg to your gross, why not carry a couple of inner tubes? XZL's can run tubed or tubeless. Inserting a tube is easier than remounting a tire because you only have to break one bead and you don't have to worry about reseating before inflating them.
Also carry a good tire repair kit.
Rob
What are your plans for the unmounted spare? Are you planning on using the mounted spare and then having a shop mount the tire to make a new spare? If you are planning on mounting them yourself I suggest you try a couple of times at home, especially with XZLs and the nightmare sidewalls that come with them.
Rather than carry a second unmounted tire adding another 100kg to your gross, why not carry a couple of inner tubes? XZL's can run tubed or tubeless. Inserting a tube is easier than remounting a tire because you only have to break one bead and you don't have to worry about reseating before inflating them.
Also carry a good tire repair kit.
Rob
dhackney
Expedition Leader
charlieaarons said:
Charlie,
Check the specs carefully on that Danforth. If it's an actual marine Danforth anchor it is unlikely to be suitable for your application. I fear you may be disappointed in the direct pull (anchor rode) capacity.
Boat anchors are not made for vehicle extraction. It's primarily the weight of a properly scoped rode that keeps a boat in place, not the ultimate holding power of the anchor, which is unlikely to be tested in anything but survival conditions.
Doug
dhackney
Expedition Leader
charlieaarons said:
Charlie, that is great advice. When we were looking at factory built rigs one common characteristic of all types, across all market segments, was how overweight they were and how little carrying capacity most had. The worst offenders were the North American RV segment, especially class A and C.
Coming from the perspective of our comparitively Lilliputian FG, your weight capacities are huge. 7,200kg / 15,873 lbs front and 8,500 kg / 18,739 lbs rear are each individually more than the entire FG rating. Amazing.
No wonder the Mog guys look at us like we're building a TinkerToy.
So even more important to note that even with those massive capacities you found it important to weigh your rig and know what your actual weights are. Kudos to you.
charlieaarons said:
One of the things I think we did right during the build was to do repeated field testing and weigh-ins. That has helped us make design and materials decisions along the way. I encourage anyone building a rig, especially neophytes like us, to find a way to do the same.
Weighing the rig during tests and the chassis during the build can help minimize unpleasant surprises. And yes, there have been times when I wished we had some of your weight capacity!