EarthCruiser G - did the USA get the pick up version of the G?

[swb]

Given the increased payload I would guess its stronger, but dont have any actual detail on this.

Interesting comparision here, from the people who make my camper:
https://www.trayon.com/blog/mercedes-g-class-ute-vs-79-landcruiser/

 

[Wyuna]

Cheers SWB,

That was a good read, it only thing i don't like is that the auto transmission change over cost, no one would spend that much (21k) on a new ute to change over from manual.

Thats why i'd go for the G Wagen in the first place, factory auto, everything is already fits and ready to go.

It does cost a little more than a kitted out 79 series, but that payload increase and auto is worth it.

Still both utes are brilliant utes, we are lucky to have both options here in Aus.

just comes down to what you can afford, both will get you everywhere

 

[Oshkosh-P]

Very interesting read indeed! But i am still wondering how the G-Wagon can handle this much GVM tbh. I am from germany, i have seen many standard g-wagon frames. They are built very well, but with a boxed profile of 155x75x3mm they are in the normal "car sized" range.

A Ford f-2/350 got a profile of 240x90x4.5mm, this is soo much more and the Ford is not ment for a lot more GVM, when it's configured to be single rear wheel and going offroad.

The Humvee with its 4500GVM has a bigger profile too (had no chance to measure it) and 6.2mm thick sheets!

 

[swb]

Not sure how they do it, you might have to contact an engineer in Graz.
But you can be sure that they achive what they say, to win all the military contracts.
This is the only model which is certified to use a winch and has matching front end barwork to match. Not so with the W461 wagen. The Australian army only have winches on the utes.
I believe they are working on an official winch solution for the W461 wagens.

 

[Oshkosh-P]

So i might be a different chassis is what you are saying?

 

[Oka 374]

Talked to a few NP rangers that had the Merc's in QLD and they reckoned they would rather have a Landcruiser any day, they reckoned the Merc wasn't anywhere near as good in the bush and off road as the cruiser.

 

[lanceatm]

Talked to a few NP rangers that had the Merc's in QLD and they reckoned they would rather have a Landcruiser any day, they reckoned the Merc wasn't anywhere near as good in the bush and off road as the cruiser.

Thats interesting, observations from people who depend on a 4x4 as part of a normal day peeks my curiosity.

 

[swb]

The cruisers are not "standard" and have lockers fitted. If the were standard a G would be significantly better offroad.
The G's have bigger load capacity and safety rating which is why they won some fleet contracts. Of course they have never had great articulation but they have coils where the cruiser has leaf springs.
I spoke to the driver of this G recently and he said they find the locker engagement frustratingly slow on some of them (random), they have fuel filtration issues, various electronic glitches and the 3.0L V6 diesel engines work very hard with the loads. The cruiser has a 4.5L V8 diesel.
They can carry a lot more water than the cruisers, the fire trucks.

 

[Oshkosh-P]

Yeah i can see the Mercedes beeing at a big disadvantage concerning the engine, it's simply too small. But there is simply not enough room in die G to put ina full grown diesel engine.

 

[ex m38a1er]

Greek Army has in service a LWB cargo version with a 2900cc turbo engine auto trans.
More than efficient...

 

[swb]

Well, they did have an infamous V8 diesel in a G and managed to fit a V12 petrol in one. So they have the engineering prowess to fit big V engines.
Its a bit of a dichotomy I think, why Mercedes consistently chose smaller capacity diesel engines in many models, including full sized trucks like the Unimog.
Where their competitors such as Toyota, Nissan, Ford, GM, Cummins, Perkins, etc, used bigger capacity, lazy, less-stressed diesels.
3 litres is considered small outside Europe for "commercial" or "light truck" engines.
The Toyota 4.2l was used in many commercial trucks, even forklifts.

 

[Oshkosh-P]

Well both this terrible V8 diesel and the v12 are car-engines, they are not really tall. The height is the problem and truck engines with long cylinders need the height. That's why the Bandeirante from toyota got the OM 364 engine, which would have been ideal for the G. Sad if you think about it.
But i agree, in general Mercedes has this tendancy to put small Diesel engines in their trucks. The older Unimog got the OM 366, which had über 6liters of displacment, also the U3-500 with the stiffer frame got the bigger 6+ liters engine, but the modern era flexibal-frame unimogs are also a bit undersized.

 

[lanceatm]

Interesting write up

 

[Roverchef]

Nice write-up and info! Utilizing the MB Ute for Camping/Glamping/Overlanding then they have more than enough power and with the worldwide parts availability seem like a no-brainer. As a commuter on freeways with all the idiots trying to Nascar ****************...NO!