Question about expedition vehicles in Canada

[SB_411]

Hello everyone,

I have been researching expedition vehicles as of late and I was wondering if everyone could give me some insight into some of the ins and outs of importing and registering etc. It would probably help if there was other Canadians on the forum but any information would be appreciated.
My wife and I are interested in getting a larger 6x6 expedition vehicle( I have a commercial driving licence for tractor and trailer).
We have been researching some of the bigger names like Unicat, Krug,Action Mobil,Global Expedition and Bliss Mobil.
We are looking to go about 20 feet in length on the container. I was initially looking into a Zetros but it has to be 15 years old to register in Canada. I started looking at a MAN,
Mercedes Arocs and an Acela Monterra chassis to use.
Except for possibly the Acela Monterra, it seems like you will have to jump through a lot of government bs hoops to get a vehicle here from overseas,let alone register it.
I wondered about the vehicle having to be 15 years old when a new or almost new Mercedes or MAN is going to have good emissions and build standards and have been proven to be great world travellers.
I was thinking of going with Bliss Mobil because their container would be shipped to Colorado and be place on a chassis there.
Has anyone dealt with this? If so, could you fill in a few blanks before I start deep diving into what it all entails.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lbarcher]

I believe the 15 year rule is there to prevent competition with the domestic market.
I did see a 4x4 Acela chassis advertised in Edmonton.

 

[SB_411]

Tha

I believe the 15 year rule is there to prevent competition with the domestic market.
I did see a 4x4 Acela chassis advertised in Edmonton

Thanks for the response. I get it to a degree but it seems silly to limit a person’s options when there are so many great vehicles that you could use for your chassis.
If that’s the case, then most items we have should be made in North America and not say made in china on them then. Lol

 

[Joe917]

We imported a MB917 to Ontario. You have to have all your paperwork perfect. The Ontario license bureau was the worst part of the whole process.
Are you sure you want a 6X6. A terrible turning circle!

 

[SB_411]

We imported a MB917 to Ontario. You have to have all your paperwork perfect. The Ontario license bureau was the worst part of the whole process.
Are you sure you want a 6X6. A terrible turning circle!

Hey there,
I thought of a 6x6 because I’ve driven tandem vehicles and have been able to maneuver them quite easily in some tight spaces. Also, we are looking at a 20 foot container so I was considering that might be more compatible with a 6x6 chassis. I guess have seen them on a 4x4 chassis. I’m still learning.

About your MB917, did you use a customs broker to bring it in? What year is it? Where are you planning to travel? Just curious if you feel like answering. Another question would be about the emissions standards. I was interested in a Zetros originally because it’s such a rugged chassis but I heard you can’t have one here because it’s a Euro5 truck. Even though the Canadian army is getting about 1500 of them soon.

 

[Victorian]

If you are only planing of travelling within North America, I would go with a chassis that has been sold here. Every year we are hosting a handful European travellers doing the PanAm. Every single one of them is always complaining/asking for assistance finding a mechanic can do XYZ on their trucks. 99% of shops are not familiar with Mercedes trucks, can't read codes, don't have testing equipment or the time to figure this all out. Ordering parts from Europe, waiting for them, dealing with customs and hope that the parts are the correct ones can be very expensive and time consuming. I imported a German Sprinter several years ago, thought that a "simple old model" would be no problem at all... I was very wrong! Parts and shops that are willing to work on it was a nightmare in my home town.... Now imagine you are somewhere up north with a emission issue....
I'm not saying that an FMTV or LMTV are trouble free.... but at least you have access to English manuals, parts and support network.

With all of the above in mind, I opted for a 2005 GMC Top Kick as my new ride. Fingers crossed it will be a better experience.

Good luck!

 

[Joe917]

Hey there,
I thought of a 6x6 because I’ve driven tandem vehicles and have been able to maneuver them quite easily in some tight spaces. Also, we are looking at a 20 foot container so I was considering that might be more compatible with a 6x6 chassis. I guess have seen them on a 4x4 chassis. I’m still learning.

About your MB917, did you use a customs broker to bring it in? What year is it? Where are you planning to travel? Just curious if you feel like answering. Another question would be about the emissions standards. I was interested in a Zetros originally because it’s such a rugged chassis but I heard you can’t have one here because it’s a Euro5 truck. Even though the Canadian army is getting about 1500 of them soon.

We had the truck for 10 years and did most of North and South America. Service in South America was fine. North America is a PITA. You need to do a lot of wrenching yourself. Our truck was a 93 so all mechanical no computers. 18' box. Yes you have to have a customs broker. Our truck always passed the emissions tests . They have been eliminated now in Ontario although I don't know if that applies to commercial and heavy vehicles.

 

[driveby]

The other challenge may be that you can't get motorhome financing vs having a commercial chassis and then adding a box on top. Plates, insurance etc can be a challenge. One of many reasons we elected to move on from a custom imported box and back to a manufactured motorhome brand.

 

[mog]

I opted for a 2005 GMC Top Kick as my new ride. Fingers crossed it will be a better experience.

6x6 iron is out of my league as I am like Victorian, in my case a 2009 Kodiak is my largest rig, but in case you have not seen these threads, they might be informative.
Kenworth K370 6x6 - https://forum.expeditionportal.com/...ufaktur-habitat-torsion-free-subframe.227411/
Acela 6X6 - https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/acela-6x6-with-slrv-expedition-box-new-build.214505/

You might check with Terry Lee Enterprises in Colorado, they have/had a 2003 Unimog U500 (North American spec) that was 1 of the 2 that were converted to 6x6 by Unimog North America. The rear axle is hydraulically driven and has a differential lock ($140k) http://terryleeenterprises.com/index.html


I have seen this 6x6 in person and it is an impressive rig. It was in the €200k range. It is on a website I don't think the Expo Portal likes us to link (competition), so PM me if you want the link and link to videos. In Europe, 1999 so importable to Canada and US


And a 1997 MAN (in Europe) at €250k so importable to Canada and US, Same website so PM for link


Disclaimer - no relationship with above vehicles or sellers

 

[SB_411]

If you are only planing of travelling within North America, I would go with a chassis that has been sold here. Every year we are hosting a handful European travellers doing the PanAm. Every single one of them is always complaining/asking for assistance finding a mechanic can do XYZ on their trucks. 99% of shops are not familiar with Mercedes trucks, can't read codes, don't have testing equipment or the time to figure this all out. Ordering parts from Europe, waiting for them, dealing with customs and hope that the parts are the correct ones can be very expensive and time consuming. I imported a German Sprinter several years ago, thought that a "simple old model" would be no problem at all... I was very wrong! Parts and shops that are willing to work on it was a nightmare in my home town.... Now imagine you are somewhere up north with a emission issue....
I'm not saying that an FMTV or LMTV are trouble free.... but at least you have access to English manuals, parts and support network.

With all of the above in mind, I opted for a 2005 GMC Top Kick as my new ride. Fingers crossed it will be a better experience.

Good luck!

We were looking to be in North America for now and go through to South America on the stretches of the Pan American route that we could do with a larger vehicle. I don’t think you do it completely in a 6x6 but I could be wrong. Long term, we did want to get to other continents.
I’m getting further away from a Mercedes or MAN at the moment. You start your research process by checking out some of the bigger names in larger overland vehicles and everything is on a those two chassis. I guess I got caught up in the mindset of them being the main world traveller chassis and didn’t look elsewhere.
I have been researching Acela Monterra trucks and they seem like solid units. They probably should be seeing that they are refurbished Stewart and Stevenson military vehicles. I’m hearing good things about the Kenworth 370 too.
Also, one of the best things I’ve done is finally get on this site to learn from the people already doing and absorbing all your knowledge.
Thanks for all the information so far.

 

[SB_411]

We had the truck for 10 years and did most of North and South America. Service in South America was fine. North America is a PITA. You need to do a lot of wrenching yourself. Our truck was a 93 so all mechanical no computers. 18' box. Yes you have to have a customs broker. Our truck always passed the emissions tests . They have been eliminated now in Ontario although I don't know if that applies to commercial and heavy vehicles.

Thanks for answering some important questions for me. I didn’t know what PITA but know I now know you have trouble with service in North America for Mercedes. Haha

 

[charlieaarons]

Re 6x6:
They’re huge unwieldy, expensive etc.
But RWS (rear wheel steering) can make them a lot more “wieldy”. For a price.
Paul Nutzfahrzeuge in Passau could probably retrofit RWS to most chassis.
Not that I’d seriously recommend 6x6.

Zetros 8x8 TA - Paul Nutzfahrzeuge

Conversion of a 6x6 all-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz Zetros to an 8x8 special chassis for harsh off-road use.

paul-nutzfahrzeuge.de

 

[SB_411]

The other challenge may be that you can't get motorhome financing vs having a commercial chassis and then adding a box on top. Plates, insurance etc can be a challenge. One of many reasons we elected to move on from a custom imported box and back to a manufactured motorhome brand

The other challenge may be that you can't get motorhome financing vs having a commercial chassis and then adding a box on top. Plates, insurance etc can be a challenge. One of many reasons we elected to move on from a custom imported box and back to a manufactured motorhome brand.

Is it much easier for people in the United States to license the custom box solution? I found a member thread from some time ago where poohbearusavi documented his build of an Acela chassis that he had shipped to Australia and the build completely by SLRV. I know that Bliss Mobil builds containers in the Netherlands and ships it to their Colorado location to marry it to a compatible chassis there. It there that much of a hassle to import a box?

 

[charlieaarons]

Re bringing in box on US homologated chassis:
No, by comparison getting a box installed by Unicat was simple. I ended up paying duty (2.5% then and now, who knows in the future?) at a US seaport.
If I had been smart and shipped to Halifax and then crossed my quiet remote land border….
I was fortunate to purchase a brand new U500 chassis with a carefully considered option list that I studied for 6-8 weeks before ordering. Should have gotten the higher volume H06 hydraulic system so it would run my 3.6kw 220v home generator at idle instead of 1050rpm, but otherwise entirely happy with options I selected 18 years later.