Expedition Rigs Encountered

[dhackney]

Date: 5 January 2009
Location: Otavalo, Ecuador
Overlanders: two - Bernt and wife (I misplaced their card, but will add the names when I find it and can get back online)
Nationality: Germany
Expedition: Europe & South America, goal is Germany to Beijing
Expedition duration: 3 years
Vehicle (year/make/model): 1998 Iveco
Engine (displacement/type): 2.8 turbo diesel, 120 hp; 5 speed manual; 2wd; dual rear wheels
Vehicle dimensions: L 6.85 m / 22.474 ft.; H 3.10 m / 10.171 ft; W 2.23 m / 7.316 ft
Vehicle Kilometers when new: 30,000
Total Current Vehicle Kilometers: 140,000
Kilometers in South America: 42,000
Solar: yes
House bank battery capacity: 110AH stock, added additional battery for total of 220 AH
Propane: Two (2) 11 kilo / 24.251 lb. tanks
Fuel: 95 liters / 25.096 gallons (75 liters stock)
Fresh water: 150 liters / 39.626 gallons
Grey water: 200 liters / 52.834 gallons

Biggest downside to vehicle: Low ground clearance and long overhang.

Repairs:

• Cuenca, Ecuador - Raised rear by 3 cm / 1.18 inches by adding 2 leaf springs to the rear; $180 USD for two new (replacement) leafs and two additional leafs.
• Mendoza, Argentina - 1 shock, oil change / filter, $110.00 USD

Editor's comment: Note that they have been all over Europe (~60,000 kilometers / 37,000 miles), now South America and plan to do Germany to Beijing in this basically stock class A motorhome. Another reminder that it's not about the truck, it's about the experiences.

They were part of a guided tour of South America before they set out on their own journey. They plan to travel with this same group when they do the Germany to Beijing trip.

 

[charlieaarons]

[

A brand new Unimog truck!

.

That truck looks somehow familiar.
Charlie

 

[dhackney]

I believe I've restored all of the photos in this thread and the interviews.

Please PM me if any of the photos from my posts are not showing up.

Thx,
Doug

 

[gusteru]

Date: 14 March 2008
Location: Bajo Caracoles, Argentina
Chassis: unknown, front engine, front wheel drive
Comments: Sorry, didn't get the chance to shoot the other end of the underside of the chassis. No idea what this thing is.

It is Citroen Mehari, same engine as the citroen 2cv

 

[juicebox]

I just saw this today coming back to work from my lunch break. :Wow1:


Excuse the picture quality, they are cell phone pics but also there is a huge wildfire about 15 miles away from where this picture was taken and all the smoke is blowing right in to my town.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Looks like a Daerr.info truck. German truck too.

Yeah, what to say about this? Higher as an average house! Just the biggest truck I've seen, 6 wheel drive MAN truck. Higher price than an average house too, must be around 250000/300000 dollars I guess, including living room, bathroom, and so on.

These photos were posted some time ago, and I wanted to comment on them. I love these rigs, but I did not see anyone mention the fact that the roof raises and lowers via hydraulics. Once it is all closed up you can not see any of the windows in the coach portion. I estimate that the top three feet or so (you can clearly see the outline of the portion that raises) lifts which if you check out the unicat page, you can see if gives you a loft style bed, and the dining area is raised considerably over a typical coach. This gives added room for storage, and the ability to maintain a departure angle should one want it.

Love these rigs, my favorite is this one with the option to CARRY a smart car on a lift on the bag of the rig.

Anyhow, thanks to ALL! These photos have been inspiring!

Thanks also Doug for starting this up for people to post up the wonderful vehicles they have spotted. Hope more will post up soon!

Cheers
Brian

 

[Nitromethane43]

 

[Schattenjager]

German plate Mercedes camper in Anchorage AK

Saw this last night - looked like the folks were camped out and crashed for the evening. Very cool and total Euro setup. I ddi not want to linger taking pictures in case they were sleeping - here is the best one I had:

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

A Swiss couple on the North Rim

 

[morini]

On the present fair in Dusseldorf, Germany

The DIY Easy Way :ylsmoke:

--- FORD - SCCV --- :
Frank's Original Recreation Device - Stealth Cargo Camper Van
http://www.wix.com/devaere/ford-transit---sccv
​

 

[Eric Mayer]

We encountered this Global Expedition Safari Extreme rig at Convict Lake in the Eastern Sierra this past weekend (10/29/2011).



It looks like an awesome machine in person!

Eric

 

[Walker]

I encountered this guy in New Mexico, last Decemeber on I believe I-15 headed North. They weren't moving inside, so I decided not to knock on their door in the rest stop. A very nice build, love the bumpers front and rear, not to mention the light bars... A solid truck for any expedition!

 

[Lewisgregory8]

Wagon and Drag Motorhome

This is our Motorhome based on a 13ton Merc

We built this ourselves

 

[LukeH]

Looks good Greg, now you've whet our appetite you're going to have to share your build with us.

I'm particularly interested in the mechanism you chose for the slide out; I want to put one into a 4x4 motorhome but most of the mechanisms look just too fragile.

Cheers
Luke

 

[Lewisgregory8]

Pictues of the build













I will take some Photos of the slide out, but basically it has two hydraulic rams which run the width of the wagon, which is controlled with a electronic solenoid switch, the same same switch control panel operates the hydraulic rams to level the truck, they can lift the whole truck up 300mm. The slide out opens out to about 1.2m