Purchased an Expedition G Wagen

[Overland Hadley]

Good to hear about the performance of the new KO2's.

Rig looks truly impressive! The fender flares will finish it off nicely.

 

[McBride]

portals next to stock

Here are some side by side pics of the G500 and the G Camper with the Tibus portals.

The G500 has slightly larger than stock tires, wheel spacers and ORC springs.

The camper suspension has ORC springs; other than that it is stock height. With the addition of the portals and larger tires it has gained 5 1/2".

Interestingly, when parking them side by side for these pics, I noticed that the camper wheel base is almost a foot longer than the 4 door G500. You can see the difference in the one pic take from above; the front axles are aligned.

As you can see I still have a lot of work to do on the camper.

 

[Marc Beyer]

Pictures from Tibus portal axle install on the G-Wagen Camper

What a great project and so happy the maiden voyage was a success! Have fun at the Overland Expo.
Marc
http://www.ocdcustomcycles.com/mb.html

 

[McBride]

Marc,

Good to finally see you here on EXPO! Thanks for taking this Tibus portal project on and doing it so well, and also for taking such good care of the G's in general.

Thank Frances for all of her coordination efforts. I have to say that we are incredibly fortunate to have you both in Santa Fe.

Have fun at your big event in El Dorado. I'll try to stop in.

William

 

[McBride]

And thanks for the pics!

 

[So-Cal G]

WOW! I've been away from this thread for awhile :Wow1:
you have certainly been busy making this awesome rig

 

[RMP&O]

I did not read the entire 30 pages of this thread but I did read the part about your IP problems. I am not familiar with G's at all but if the truck will only start with starting fluid, sure seems like a glow plug problem. Also, bit of advice, never start your diesel with starting fluid. That is bad bad bad and will cause damage to the engine. Although keeping a can of starting fluid in it for that emergency start is a good idea. I would start the thing with starting fluid vs walking out 50 miles!

Portals did a lot for this truck!

Cheers

 

[McBride]

WOW! I've been away from this thread for awhile :Wow1:
you have certainly been busy making this awesome rig

Yeah, my wife said I could spend a little money on some G upgrades so I really went for it... Now I'm in the dog house! After 25 years of marriage I think I'm actually getting it figured out; make a really nice, comfortable well equipped dog house!

Jus kidding of course. I think. (She might be lurking so I have to be careful). She really is the best!

 

[McBride]

I did not read the entire 30 pages of this thread but I did read the part about your IP problems. I am not familiar with G's at all but if the truck will only start with starting fluid, sure seems like a glow plug problem. Also, bit of advice, never start your diesel with starting fluid. That is bad bad bad and will cause damage to the engine. Although keeping a can of starting fluid in it for that emergency start is a good idea. I would start the thing with starting fluid vs walking out 50 miles!

Portals did a lot for this truck!

Thanks. The starting issue was had by the previous owner about 3-4 years ago and was resolved before I got it. It was actually an issue with the Bosch rotary injection fuel pump. They replaced the pump and the issue was resolved.

Fortunately it has stayed away. I installed a factory water separator and run stanadyne in every tank. In my tenure the engine turns over immediately.

 

[da10A]

I fully understand the purpose of running wheels spacers since I am running them on my Jkur, but the G or any other vehicles for that matter, just look wrong when the tires stick out of the fenders., as if the wheels are mismatched. I believe wider fenders would complete the classy looks of the G and serve their purpose. I love Gs, if only I knew more about them and they were more economical on gas, I'd definitely be considering getting one. Then, I also remember the last time I went for a european in the form of a LR D2, and well, we all know how that was destined to end-up ;-)

 

[McBride]

I fully understand the purpose of running wheels spacers since I am running them on my Jkur, but the G or any other vehicles for that matter, just look wrong when the tires stick out of the fenders., as if the wheels are mismatched. I believe wider fenders would complete the classy looks of the G and serve their purpose. I love Gs, if only I knew more about them and they were more economical on gas, I'd definitely be considering getting one. Then, I also remember the last time I went for a european in the form of a LR D2, and well, we all know how that was destined to end-up ;-)

I agree. I have the flares and just need to find time to install them. The rear flares are going to require serious mods to get them attached to the custom camper body.

Beyond the aesthetics I see the camper as a tool. Function/performance/reliability has dictated almost every mod I've done. The flares will help keep the vehicle from getting covered in mud.

My wife is getting 15.5mpg out of her G500... Not bad. I get between 12.5 and 17 in the camper; it's super vulnerable to driving conditions.

I also agree with you that the Europeans can be an expensive endeavor. I've spent more maintaining and modifying my two G's in the last two years than all other vehicles in my life combined times 10. Part of that is that I got old G's (and want them to be mechanically perfect) and part is that I've gotten into overlanding ($$$$$).

To give credit to the G, when I bought the 2000 G500 it needed $20k in work but drove perfectly. That impressed me more than anything.

G's are addictive but there is nothing like them. Get one and you'll love it.

 

[ILIAN]

What is the curb weight of your camper fully loaded? Is it OK to load these cars above GVWR as long as the springs/shocks and tires can handle it? Are the OEM tires the limiting factor on GVWR?

 

[McBride]

What is the curb weight of your camper fully loaded? Is it OK to load these cars above GVWR as long as the springs/shocks and tires can handle it? Are the OEM tires the limiting factor on GVWR?

I weighed it a couple of times when it was fully loaded. Both times it came in at just under 7000lbs - more like 6800. Now with the portals and Hutchinson wheels I expect it will be a full 7K.

Mercedes has a rear sway bar set up designed for their heavier G's that I have on the camper. I wouldn't want to try that weight without it. It also has ORC springs and Koni Raid shocks. I have them adjusted to the firmest setting which I'll likely back off a bit - I recently cranked the rear up and it's a bit too firm.

With this setup the camper drives significantly flatter than my G500. I can drift corners on dirt roads at scary high speeds with no body roll or rear end drift. On dirt it's the fastest car I have.

The tires are load range E. They haven't been an issue to date. Have yet to have a flat - knock on wood - I keep the tires above 50%. I do air up and down regularly, as terrain dictates.

There are much more knowledgeable G Wagen owners out there but my opinion is that with the proper setup the G can easily handle these weights. The fact that they are available in numerous factory military configurations is a bonus; lots of factory suspension options are available to handle everything from high performance street to heavily armored vehicles.

 

[McBride]

What is the curb weight of your camper fully loaded? Is it OK to load these cars above GVWR as long as the springs/shocks and tires can handle it? Are the OEM tires the limiting factor on GVWR?

I weighed it a couple of times when it was fully loaded. Both times it came in at just under 7000lbs - more like 6800. Now with the portals and Hutchinson wheels I expect it will be a full 7K.

Mercedes has a rear sway bar set up designed for their heavier G's that I have on the camper. I wouldn't want to try that weight without it. It also has ORC springs and Koni Raid shocks. I have them adjusted to the firmest setting which I'll likely back off a bit - I recently cranked the rear up and it's a bit too firm.

With this setup the camper drives significantly flatter than my G500. I can drift corners on dirt roads at scary high speeds with no body roll or rear end drift. On dirt it's the fastest car I have.

The tires are load range E. They haven't been an issue to date. Have yet to have a flat - knock on wood - I keep the tires above 50%. I do air up and down regularly, as terrain dictates.

There are much more knowledgeable G Wagen owners out there but my opinion is that with the proper setup the G can easily handle these weights. The fact that they are available in numerous factory military configurations is a bonus; lots of factory suspension options are available to handle everything from high performance street to heavily armored vehicles.

 

[mk216v]

The Koni Raid's are so darn beefy; add in the ORC springs and they can handle the weight. My G500 with Koni Raid's and OE HD springs weighed in ~7000lbs fully loaded for expedition.