Man Kat 8x8

[Spwluna]

I have found far and few between about man Kat’s in the USA... but, here is my question and background.

we are a family of 5 and growing. We were looking into a camper van with the Mercedes 170” high roof. Well.. for what we want it for it is still too small. My wife and I want the of road Ability with the RV room. Well class A’s are roomy enough but not off-road capable. So we are looking into the Man Kat 8x8. We found a fair priced one however laws are 25 years not just for military but any foreign car, though there are few exceptions to the rule for a price of course...I am not familiar with all department of homeland security laws in regards to customs. I am active duty military and wondering if there are exception for active duty or any other way to export from England to the United States? However, we contacted BOxManufaktur here in the states but everything is still made ingermany. So my biggest question is, can Itransport the 8x8 to Germany for assembly of the box living quarters and re-register it as an RV by EU standards and then when it’s imported within the United States they will not ding me for a military vehicle but see it as an RV since the paperwork shows such? Iam too scared in a way to pull the trigger on a piece together build that will cost min a minimum of 150k to 250k just to have customs seize /destroy or donate it. Does anyone have this experience or any experience with man Kat or exporting/importing foreign military vehicles? This will be a full timehome For us especially for moving around.

 

[Joe917]

Are you sure you want the Kat 8x8? Absolutely terrible base for an overland camper, unless you plan to drive to the desert and stay there.
My understanding on the vehicle type is it has to be a motorhome that is 25 years old. This is to stop avoiding import tax by changing a truck chassis (25% duty) to a motorhome (2.5% duty) or even a firetruck(0% duty).
The problem is this is not a common question and lazy brokers will give a quick answer. You are best to contact CPB and get an answer in writing.

 

[Victorian]

I would buy the truck in Europe. Get the camper build/mounted in the USA. That way you avoid all possible import restrictions regarding an RV. For example: As soon as you mount a camper and it's not a truck anymore your vehicles manufacturing date will be issued new. Therefore all of a sudden it's not 25 years old anymore...

Btw, I agree with Joe, the 8x8 Kat is a monster!

 

[krick3tt]

I have seen one of those at a gathering in SoCal and it is a gigantic thing. Lots of attention but with a comparable amount of problems for maintenance and an MPG rating that might be described as horrendous.
Hope you have lots of money to keep that thing on the road and fueled up.

 

[SootyCamper]

Why not take a look at the Mercedes fire truck currently for sale here on expo? Has lots of room for the family

 

[egn]

Are you sure you want the Kat 8x8? Absolutely terrible base for an overland camper, unless you plan to drive to the desert and stay there.

For an "overland" camper it is fine. If you want to go through small communities and visit tight spaces, then it is the wrong vehicle, because the turning circle is about 88 ft.

The advantages are the available size for a cabin and the high off-road capabilities. MAN KAT 1 vehicles were designed to follow tanks offroad. The 8x8 is the vehicle with the highest capabilities in the 80s and 90s last century. The follow ups MAN SX are the descendants.

If you have to ask for the the mpg because of fuel costs, you probably cannot afford such a vehicle all together. The total cost of such a project will certainly be several 100.000 USD. With an 8x8 and the Deutz BF8L413F you will get about 4-5 mpg on regular roads, but real off-road this can easily reach 3 mpg or less.

The question is whether one really needs the 8x8 or if it could be a MAN KAT 1A1 with long wheel base. It has a much lower turning cycle of about 65 ft and 20 - 30 % better mpg with the Deutz BF8L513C.

If you want to have some info on how an 8x8 works as overlander you can visit this website. Petra is currently on a trip around the world.

Katweltreise

Weltreise, MAN KAT1 8x8, Wohnmobilausbau, Reisen mit dem Wohnmobil, Expeditionsfahrzeug, petra schürmann, petra schuermann, Ausbau, expeditionsmobil,

katweltreise.blogspot.com

 

[egn]

Here is a MAN KAT 1A1 6x6 camper ready to go for sale.

 

[JumpJ]

I had the same problem. We have a two up two down lifted 4x4 Sprinter. Son is taller than I am and we needed larger. Like others on here I think you are asking for a mess of problems taking on this MAN KAT. Box manufacture is way over priced. I tried to buy a MAN 6x6 from him and he played games with us for 6 months. If you have the budget I have a contact that can import a proper 5 person Overlander from Germany for you. But going to start at $400 plus thousand. He's USA based. There is a fellow on here-Tim selling a large international. Maybe you could buy that and adapt it for 5 they had 4. After that just got to GXV and have them custom build. Market is tight everywhere for family vehicles and always has been and most overlanders use smaller or have two people. Good Luck.

 

[tooFATtoDRIVE]

I have found far and few between about man Kat’s in the USA... but, here is my question and background.

we are a family of 5 and growing. We were looking into a camper van with the Mercedes 170” high roof. Well.. for what we want it for it is still too small. My wife and I want the of road Ability with the RV room. Well class A’s are roomy enough but not off-road capable. So we are looking into the Man Kat 8x8. We found a fair priced one however laws are 25 years not just for military but any foreign car, though there are few exceptions to the rule for a price of course...I am not familiar with all department of homeland security laws in regards to customs. I am active duty military and wondering if there are exception for active duty or any other way to export from England to the United States? However, we contacted BOxManufaktur here in the states but everything is still made ingermany. So my biggest question is, can Itransport the 8x8 to Germany for assembly of the box living quarters and re-register it as an RV by EU standards and then when it’s imported within the United States they will not ding me for a military vehicle but see it as an RV since the paperwork shows such? Iam too scared in a way to pull the trigger on a piece together build that will cost min a minimum of 150k to 250k just to have customs seize /destroy or donate it. Does anyone have this experience or any experience with man Kat or exporting/importing foreign military vehicles? This will be a full timehome For us especially for moving around.

Have ended up getting MAN KAT 8X8 after all?

 

[Spwluna]

Hey guys sorry for the long late reply. We have not bought the man Kay yet. We have also been looking at man TGA and international options . However the offroad capabilities of the TGA seem to be better than the international . We are we extremely picking because we don’t want to drop the money on something that we would be living in that’s a vehicle for the same price as a house that is not 80% what we want. Plus reduce the maintainence head aches. Being a min the military I see the cost of maintainence and the headache or using machines ,though the military uses and abuses them compared to how we would. I really appreciate all the feed back and would love to hear more and kee this thread going!

 

[Xenobian]

Hey guys sorry for the long late reply. We have not bought the man Kay yet. We have also been looking at man TGA and international options . However the offroad capabilities of the TGA seem to be better than the international . We are we extremely picking because we don’t want to drop the money on something that we would be living in that’s a vehicle for the same price as a house that is not 80% what we want. Plus reduce the maintainence head aches. Being a min the military I see the cost of maintainence and the headache or using machines ,though the military uses and abuses them compared to how we would. I really appreciate all the feed back and would love to hear more and kee this thread going!

I think that unless you are obsessed specifically with a MAN KAT 8x8 specifically (and good if you are, they're cool), it's a sensible idea to strongly consider alternatives.

 

[Mattlodi]

Does the 25 years rule also apply to trucks? Because MAN TGAs aren't 25 yrs old yet, if i remember correctly they're from the first '00s. In this case you'll have to look at MAN F90/F2000, MB SK/Actros, Iveco Trakker or MAN Kat. Another thing i don't like about the KAT is its engine location which steal space loading space.