MAN HX60 Expedition Truck Build

[Kakapo76]

Hi Everyone, its time to introduce myself and the new project.

I have just taken possession of a ex-UK Army 2008 MAN HX60 4x4 Flatdeck truck. It's one of the many that are being sold into Civvy street as the MOD starts a fleet refresh. The truck has covered 18,000 KM.
It arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday and is currently going through the initial certification inspection at VINZ Airport branch. So far it looks like I will need to get a L400 on the deck as it has container twist locks and there are a few niggles (brake leaks, low response etc) that are the result of it sitting inactive as well as a crack in the deck frame that will need welding/ certifying.

WARNING: This is a slow burn project and updates will be sporadic initially. I intend to document the whole purchase, export/import and certification to road-legal status here in New Zealand first. The next step will be the removal of the deck, relocating the radiator and spare wheel carrier and then a 4 point torsion frame build.

As far as I know, this is the first civilian HX60 in NZ- there are a number of these on the water now so we might have to set up our own wee HX60 thread- in the meantime, feel free to message me or comment as I am more than happy to share the journey/ cost/ pitfalls etc so others might avoid any mistakes I will inevitably make.

Let the fun begin!

 

[RoamIt]

Looks awesome- Congrats!!

 

[Blowby]

Very Cool!Will also be following along as I love these types of builds.
Am also intrigued as being a fellow Kiwi it is fun to see what is being done at home considering the
hoops you have to jump through!

 

[natt48]

All the best with the project, I will be good to see photos of moving the radiator. Thanks for sharing

 

[Kakapo76]

Update:

It's finally road legal in New Zealand. They say you should never be the first to do anything as you have to make all the mistakes that others will learn from and that gets costly in either time or money or both.

It took nearly 3 months to go through compliance. I will make a detailed post as to what I think went wrong and what worked but here are a few takeaways:

Mechanical Engineers in NZ have more work than they can deal with in a timely fashion. It took 6 weeks to get a sign off on the ties downs on the deck. If I did this again I would do the following before anything else:

1) Fix all basic COF issues (brakes, lights etc) before you head to compliance. This is because you only have 28 days to rectify issues before you trigger a new inspection- cost me $350 times 2.
2) Organise your engineer in advance and get the timeframe sorted.
3) Make sure all your documentation is complete- specifically Emissions, seatbelts, seatbelt anchors and brake standards. (mine was, but it got held up at NZTA due to there not being a logo on the paperwork).
4) Get a chassis weight from a certified weighbridge before compliance.
5) Apply for a chassis number from NZTA immediately you start the inspection.

Ok, the fun stuff- it is a hoot to drive- the whole cab over the wheels is great, I love being right close to the nose as it makes tight manoeuvres much easier- the auto box is ok- I don't have a great deal of big truck experience so I don't have a benchmark, but so far it shifts nicely and seems to use 4-12 in auto mode, I am assuming 1-3 is more a crawler set of ratios.

It is surprisingly quiet in the cab and the V6 is smooth- the tyres make more noise than the engine in that respect. Currently, the truck is electronically limited to 85kph at 1800 rpm, I am going to get that looked at and get it lifted so I can run at the legal 90kph limit here in NZ (and I mean GPS 90 not indicated 90).

Like all military trucks and their utilitarian nature, she has lots of rattles and squeaks from the various trays, boxes, general attachment thingy's everywhere- that and a bit of surface rust. One of the key changes I would like to make is to rubber mount anything that is bolted on- I have quite a bit of experience building Aluminium jet boats and resonance inside from engine vibrations/ exhaust noise is a huge issue (they are after all, tin cans), aftermarket replacement engine/ transmission mounts are cheap and are a great way to reduce vibration and stress on components like cargo trays etc.

Road User Charges: Currently in NZ, RUCs are charged based on the type of vehicle and its weight. I had to register the truck as a general goods vehicle and as she's rated to 18ton GVW the RUC charge is $349.00 per 1000 km travelled. If I want to register it as a motorhome (long-term goal) then it has to be reinspected and I have to have a habitat permanently attached on the back. This will reduce the RUC charges down into the $130 per 1000 km range. Add in your fuel cost (yet to be determined) and it's not a cheap option- currently Diesel in NZ is running about $2.10 per litre.

On a side note if you are considering importing one of these- you could buy the Falcon Model which has a radio operators box on the back and that would qualify.

Another issue is due to her weight we are meant to run a hubometer to record the distance travelled (for tax RUC purposes) - this won't work on the HX60 standard wheels as the meter would be totally exposed and likely wiped off on the first bush track or muddy hole it goes through. I applied for an exemption based on these grounds and it was accepted by NZTA immediately- in fact, it was the easiest issue to resolve.

So that brings me up to date- excluding the repairs to the trucks brakes and the serving costs- these will vary so much as to be useless, the cost of compliance worked out at $1350 NZD on the road with 1000km of ruc's -basically $1k to get plates on.

I have yet to insure it, but will get that sorted today.

Cheers and see you guys next time.

 

[Blowby]

After seeing what it takes my buddies to get a Hotrod certified in NZ I reckon you did well considering the hoops you have to jump through to get any compliance.You must be quite happy seeing some progress,and it looks like the family is enjoying the adventure as well.
I am sure you also get the looks on the roads as that is not your typical mode of transport!

 

[tofapost]

Are you planning on putting in 4 seats up front instead of the 3?

 

[jono@solpont]

Hi there.

I am in Tauranga and also building an HX60 expedition/camper. I don't know how far along you are already, but I I am contacting you in case you may be interested in some of the stuff that we have had to design/built, for example the 4-point independent mount system for the habitat box, the composite habitat box, window and doors / molds etc, ATV lift and garage, electricals, .............

Regarding your comments on driving, they are quite complex modern trucks that take a bit of getting used to. ZF12 speed. Not sure exactly what vintage you have but it should be a case of just putting the selector switch dial in "D" for drive and let the truck select the gear. It should drive fine like this (on the road). Off road 4x4 is a different thing.
"Dx" is offroad
"Dm" is maneuvering (very low speed)
"N" neutral
"R1" reverse
"R2" maneuvering in reverse (very low speed)

Select manual, braking modes, exhaust break modes, gear kick-up/kick-down etc from the control column stalks. Then there the off road / 4x4 modes, and the difflocks etc. it is a bit involved to just write here, but I have a manual if you need it.

Jono
Solpont Ltd
j.clarke@solpont.co.nz
07 571 5114

 

[tofapost]

Hi there.

I am in Tauranga and also building an HX60 expedition/camper. I don't know how far along you are already, but I I am contacting you in case you may be interested in some of the stuff that we have had to design/built, for example the 4-point independent mount system for the habitat box, the composite habitat box, window and doors / molds etc, ATV lift and garage, electricals, .............

Regarding your comments on driving, they are quite complex modern trucks that take a bit of getting used to. ZF12 speed. Not sure exactly what vintage you have but it should be a case of just putting the selector switch dial in "D" for drive and let the truck select the gear. It should drive fine like this (on the road). Off road 4x4 is a different thing.
"Dx" is offroad
"Dm" is maneuvering (very low speed)
"N" neutral
"R1" reverse
"R2" maneuvering in reverse (very low speed)

Select manual, braking modes, exhaust break modes, gear kick-up/kick-down etc from the control column stalks. Then there the off road / 4x4 modes, and the difflocks etc. it is a bit involved to just write here, but I have a manual if you need it.

Jono
Solpont Ltd
j.clarke@solpont.co.nz
07 571 5114

Have you got some pictures of your build so far? This is on the future project list for me...

 

[trackhead]

How does the government levy the RUC?

 

[Joeplamus]

Update:

It's finally road legal in New Zealand. They say you should never be the first to do anything as you have to make all the mistakes that others will learn from and that gets costly in either time or money or both.

It took nearly 3 months to go through compliance. I will make a detailed post as to what I think went wrong and what worked but here are a few takeaways:

Mechanical Engineers in NZ have more work than they can deal with in a timely fashion. It took 6 weeks to get a sign off on the ties downs on the deck. If I did this again I would do the following before anything else:

1) Fix all basic COF issues (brakes, lights etc) before you head to compliance. This is because you only have 28 days to rectify issues before you trigger a new inspection- cost me $350 times 2.
2) Organise your engineer in advance and get the timeframe sorted.
3) Make sure all your documentation is complete- specifically Emissions, seatbelts, seatbelt anchors and brake standards. (mine was, but it got held up at NZTA due to there not being a logo on the paperwork).
4) Get a chassis weight from a certified weighbridge before compliance.
5) Apply for a chassis number from NZTA immediately you start the inspection.

Ok, the fun stuff- it is a hoot to drive- the whole cab over the wheels is great, I love being right close to the nose as it makes tight manoeuvres much easier- the auto box is ok- I don't have a great deal of big truck experience so I don't have a benchmark, but so far it shifts nicely and seems to use 4-12 in auto mode, I am assuming 1-3 is more a crawler set of ratios.

It is surprisingly quiet in the cab and the V6 is smooth- the tyres make more noise than the engine in that respect. Currently, the truck is electronically limited to 85kph at 1800 rpm, I am going to get that looked at and get it lifted so I can run at the legal 90kph limit here in NZ (and I mean GPS 90 not indicated 90).

Like all military trucks and their utilitarian nature, she has lots of rattles and squeaks from the various trays, boxes, general attachment thingy's everywhere- that and a bit of surface rust. One of the key changes I would like to make is to rubber mount anything that is bolted on- I have quite a bit of experience building Aluminium jet boats and resonance inside from engine vibrations/ exhaust noise is a huge issue (they are after all, tin cans), aftermarket replacement engine/ transmission mounts are cheap and are a great way to reduce vibration and stress on components like cargo trays etc.

Road User Charges: Currently in NZ, RUCs are charged based on the type of vehicle and its weight. I had to register the truck as a general goods vehicle and as she's rated to 18ton GVW the RUC charge is $349.00 per 1000 km travelled. If I want to register it as a motorhome (long-term goal) then it has to be reinspected and I have to have a habitat permanently attached on the back. This will reduce the RUC charges down into the $130 per 1000 km range. Add in your fuel cost (yet to be determined) and it's not a cheap option- currently Diesel in NZ is running about $2.10 per litre.

On a side note if you are considering importing one of these- you could buy the Falcon Model which has a radio operators box on the back and that would qualify.

Another issue is due to her weight we are meant to run a hubometer to record the distance travelled (for tax RUC purposes) - this won't work on the HX60 standard wheels as the meter would be totally exposed and likely wiped off on the first bush track or muddy hole it goes through. I applied for an exemption based on these grounds and it was accepted by NZTA immediately- in fact, it was the easiest issue to resolve.

So that brings me up to date- excluding the repairs to the trucks brakes and the serving costs- these will vary so much as to be useless, the cost of compliance worked out at $1350 NZD on the road with 1000km of ruc's -basically $1k to get plates on.

I have yet to insure it, but will get that sorted today.

Cheers and see you guys next time.

How’s the build coming along? I’m also in NZ, looking to import an HX60 to convert.

Where did you purchase from? UK?

would love to see your progression and pick your brains.

Joe

 

[EddieBNZ]

That is awesome. There's a 'new' 2011 one advertised on Trademe now at $115k NZ in Tauranga which peaked my interest. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/trucks/other/listing/4638355437

It's out of my budget but if I won Lotto tonight I wouldn't tell anyone but there'd be signs...

Jono-Solpoint How is yours getting on? I'm in Tauranga as well though usually do my travelling on an old BMW GS.