i'm reconsidering the used unimog as a option

[Gold Boy]

to continue on from...

subject to parts availability and maintainability.

i currently own and maintain a JDM diesel toyota land cruiser bj74, i was wondering how would the maintainability of a unimog compare to the bj74? how problematic is a mog from the maintenance point of view?

my applications for a unimog would be as follows

expedition camper vehicle

towing a 12000# [non expedition once a year move] travel trailer

commercial snow removal, ski hill maintenance.

one of the unimog models i'm considering [open to options] would be a :drool: U1500 doka :drool: .

so guys is all this viable or not?

thanks for your opinions!

 

[adrenaline503]

Anything is viable with enough money behind it. What is your budget like?

 

[Gold Boy]

about 40000$ for the mog, and about 3000$ annual maintenance expenses.

 

[Blair G]

about 40000$ for the mog, and about 3000$ annual maintenance expenses.

Better go rob a bank for the rest of it. 1550 Doka are pricey. The picture above is of a 1550.

Blair

 

[Gold Boy]

Better go rob a bank for the rest of it. 1550 Doka are pricey. The picture above is of a 1550.

Blair

maybe it want be a doka or that particular model....:Astrologist:

btw, how aboot this one?

 

[oonimog]

You do know that to drive an air brake equipped truck in BC you'll need an air endorsement on your license. Besides the air ticket for the Mog, to pull a trailer over 10K lbs, you'll need a class 1 (tractor-trailer) due to the air brakes.

 

[Docfranco]

maybe it want be a doka or that particular model....:Astrologist:

btw, how aboot this one?

That one today is about 53,000 USD....tomorrow it may be more..thanks to the dollar fluctuation

 

[findleywarren]

mog

You will have a hard time building a expo camper on a rear bed that short. What you really are looking for is a rare doka ambulance or doka long bed. Every one I have talked to or read a article by always wanted 2 more feet of living space in the camper box. Dont get me wrong it can be done but it gets to a point where its a sardine can on a rainy day. Also just buy a old truck and slap a plow on it, with rust and other issues you will be way ahead by not trying to do it with a camper. A unimog is a special piece of equipment if you are not willing to learn every part of it and do it yourself, you will be broke paying others to do it. You cant go to napa to buy parts most of the time.

 

[Michael Slade]

Listen to Warren...he speak'a 'da troof!

 

[mhiscox]

Warren wrote:
You will have a hard time building a expo camper on a rear bed that short. What you really are looking for is a rare doka ambulance or doka long bed. Every one I have talked to or read a article by always wanted 2 more feet of living space in the camper box.

Another "ditto" on what Warren said. The average "expedition" cabin is pretty small. If you contrast, say, the cabin of Darrin Fink's 1300L camper (which I know well) with the cabin on Camper Mog, you get a good example of the difference. Camper Mog, my DoKa built with a fourteen-foot cabin for long expeditions in the Sahara, is a lot more livable than the under ten-foot cabin Darrin has. In exchange, the increased length of Camper Mog makes her substantiallly less nimble in tight situations. It will always be so, a compromise between livability and physical size. You can't optimize both, no matter how clever the design.

That said, however, realize that adding ANY standup height cabin to a Mog a priori limits where you can go. The way I look at it, no ten-plus-foot high, five-plus ton vehicle loaded with dishes, electronics, spouse and kids, etc. will ever be a rockcrawler or a mudbogger, so why not trade a little ultimate off-road capability for long-term comfort. Others will validly argue you should sacrifice in order to stay smaller. (Interestingly, though, Darrin's newer cabins are a whopping 17 feet long with tons o'space.)

Pictures of Camper Mog are still up at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mhiscox01/CamperMogAssortment

for anyone needing examples of cushy Mog motorhoming.

Mike Hiscox
'77/'95 416 DoKa Expedition Camper (for sale)

 

[mhiscox]

Joaquin wrote:
Mike, I love looking a pictures of your Mog! It really shows that the people that put it together had lots of experience and layed it out for long cozy trips.

I very much appreciate the compliment. And you are very correct about the talent of the constructor. From an article in a Dutch 4WD magazine I got with the truck, I learned that the guy who bought the vehicle from the Netherlands Train Authority in '95 and then built the cabin was a semi-famous desert expedition guy who designed it from scratch so he could have exactly what he wanted. Near 600 liters of fuel and up to 400 liters of fresh water, generator, fully self-contained, etc.; he apparently never had to come home. In fact, I think it'd be great if the next owner was somebody, whether global explorer or surfer dude, who'd live out of her for long periods of time like the builder.

As I implied, the only shortcoming that Camper Mog has is her physical size, and in any moderately open space, be it the Sahara or Central Oregon, nimble doesn't matter. And while a rooftop tent or the back of a Land Cruiser will seem pretty plush if you've been sleeping on the ground, I'm convinced that having hot food, hot showers, good music, cold beer and a totally secure bed (all with no setup time) makes hauling the extra volume of a good-sized cabin around a smart tradeoff for travel in most locations.

Mike Hiscox
'77/'95 416 DoKa Expedition Camper (for sale)

 

[pattersonimages]

Still for sale???

Hi Mike.... I remember seeing your mog up for sale on Craigslist month and months ago... ( I think ) ..Amazing looking rig. I dreamed up ways to convince the wife that we could actually afford to buy it and live the travelling roadshow dream... but , sadly it just didnt seem that way!

Love to actually see it one of these days!
Jeff

 

[mhiscox]

Jeff wrote:

Hi Mike.... I remember seeing your mog up for sale on Craigslist month and months ago... ( I think ) ..Amazing looking rig. I dreamed up ways to convince the wife that we could actually afford to buy it and live the travelling roadshow dream... but, sadly it just didnt seem that way! Love to actually see it one of these days!

Well, Jeff, inflationary pressures did force me to double the admission fee for the Camper Mog Grand Tour, but that still leaves it at zero, so there's no reason not take a look. Just let me know by PM any time you want to come by. Same for anyone else from around or passing through Portland. I greatly enjoy showing off Camper Mog to anyone with any idea what they're looking at.

Mike Hiscox
'77/'95 416 DoKa Expedition Camper (for sale)

 

[pattersonimages]

thanks

much appreciated, and i'll take you up on that offer if I make it down that way!
Jeff