Thanks a bunch Stumpy! Great intel! Funny, I posted similar questions on the Military Jeepers site and even the folks IN Germany haven't come close to this! Haha!!
The Military Jeepers site is a great way to meet up with the other guys and get groups together for wheeling trips. We had a reaaly good group when we were there, and did all sorts of cool trips (Normandy wheeling, Poland, etc etc.)
So I happened to have stumbled (Ahem...) across two inverters here in the sandbox. One says AR-2000 and the other says AR-5000. I'm only guessing but the numbers must reference the Voltage, correct? So either of these should theoretically let me use my Mig or Plasma right? Both are 110 units (Lincoln Mig and Plasma is a Longevety ForceCut 50D) and I know the Mig likes a 20-30 amp breaker. So should I try extra hard to bring these back or should I buy them over there? No idea what they cost...
The numbers likely refer to the amount of watts they can supply, although I have never seen anything over a 3000 watt inverter. I suppose it could be a 5000 watt though. How big are they physically? My 2000 watt weighed probably 30 pounds, but was only maybe 8 - 10" square. I would imagine a 5000 watt being quite a beast. To be honest, you cant have too much power, so I would go with the biggest you can get. The 2000 watt put out about 20 amps, and was barely enough for my Mig, but it worked. The 3000 watt should put out about 30 amps, and so on. If you can get them from the desert at a "GI Discount"

, then that is not a bad idea. To purchase a new 2000 watt inverter from say the BX, would cost about $150 dollars. They do have them at the base thrift stores for cheaper, and you can often buy them from folks getting ready to PCS out. I have no idea what the 3000 or even 5000 would cost, but you could bet it wouldnt be cheap.
The weather will really be a nice change for me. I don't mind dreary and rainy and even cold...Just get me the hell away from the desert for a while! LOL! It will be odd to play in mud again though. Being that I'm from Georgia originally I grew up wheeling the goopy stuff but lately its been rocks and scrub of Texass...Had about enough of that. If its gonna be rocks let them be in Colorado!
Yeah, due to the weather, it will mostly be lots of mud. I hate it personally, but it is what it is. There are a few rock gardens around the various 4x4 parks, but nothing too great. Seeing as how close you will be to the Bavarian Alps, definitely want to do a trip to the mountains in the spring. If you are a winter sports person, Garmisch, and Edelweiss is a cool place also. They have trips from RTT travel and the USO going there all the time, and being a single man, those trips will be easy for you to do!
My Scrambler has an AMC 360 that was swapped in by one of the POs. It looks absolutly stock down to the emmissions crap. I really, REALLY want all that junk to go away since its old enough to not need it anymore. The Jeep originally came with the 4.2 6cyl...Do you see any issues there as far as getting tags and what ever? I'm wanting to ditch the carb for a TBI but wonder what parts availability are over there? Its a GM unit that started life as a Howell kit but I need to gather some more parts to make it complete. The current carb it the factory MotorCrap 2barrel. I also have a nearly new Edelbrock Performer intake and carb to put on as well...Thoughts, Ideas?
They dont do an emissions check persey, but they do check to make sure your exhaust system is intact, no holes, and no exhaust leaks. The dont hook up OBDII scanners or anything to newer vehicles either, so I think you will be ok in that regard. Between my wife and I, we had 8 different vehicles while over there, so I spent more time than I wanted to at the vehicle registration/inspection places. It truly depends on who you get at the inspection station as to how easy you will pass or not. If you get some E3 or 4 kid, you will likely have zero issues, as most are too busy thinking about what the weekend holds in store for them. If you get a German guy (they do have local nationals working there), you may have a harder time. Germans are very particular about that kind of stuff....
My advice is this for when you go to have the vehicle inspected:
No oil on the bottom side of the engine. If you have leaks, you better clean it VERY well before taking it up there.
EVERY light on the vehicle has to work
Your braking system has to work quite well, they use a computerized skid pad in K-Town.
Your horn needs to work
Your emergency brake has to work
Your tires shouldnt stick out past the fenders
Your steering/ball joints better be tight. They have someone under the car while you shake the wheel back and forth. If something is sloppy, you fail until you get it fixed.
Thats pretty much it, and sometimes they frown upon rust spots.
If for some reason you fail, they issue a temp tag, and you have 30 days to get it fixed and re-inspected.
Speaking of tags...What do I do for insurance and the plates? I had contacted my current insurer (State Farm) and they don't do overseas coverage? Should I look into USAA or something along the military credit union stuff? How does one get plates over there? I know the drivers test is a bear...I'm already studying for it. But do you apply for the plates and when your vehicle comes in you go pick it up and then put on the plates? Not quite sure how the process goes.
You will definitely need to have the insurance on the vehicle, even before it ships out. I would certainly use USAA, and you might as well do it now. When you get there, and when your vehicle finally gets there, they will let you know. You canalso track your vehicle on the
www.wheresmypov.com website. Once it gets there, you will have to go down to veh reg, and they will check that you have insurance within their system (USAA does this all the time). You will have to present them with the "white card" which USAA will issue to you. Once you do all of that, you will then take the vehicle to inspection (usually in the same place). Pass the inspection, and you get a paper saying so. Take that paper to the tag place (same place), pay your 30 dollar fee, and they will issue the Tag right there. You put it on in the parking lot, and you're done. You car will be delivered to the vehicle registration place, so no worries about driving it with no tags. They do run front and rear tags, so make sure you have a place to put them on the front too. Its a pretty darn streamlined process, seeing as how much they do it. This process has taken any where from 45 minutes, to 5 hours from start to finish. Just depends.
And you said cash is king...Do the ATMs on post spit out Euros or green backs? Both?
Yep, the ATMS on post spit out both Euros and Dollars. The euroo rate changes everyday, and they update the exchange rate at 4pm in all the ATMS. I suggest getting an account with Service Credit Union. I worked for them while over there, and its a MUCH better place (less fees, better loan and savings rates) than Community Bank. (Community Bank is operated by Bank Of America). Service Credit Union will take care of you. If you use USAA for banking, you can still do that but there are no branches there.
Last question this go-round. Gas. Buying on post is less expensive, yes.?. Any wierd stuff involved with that I should know about?
Thanks again..and keep it coming!
Ahh yes... Gas. Gas is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper on the base. You will pay typically the US national average at the military base for gasoline. Say, about $2.60 per gallon right now. On the economy, you buy it by the liter. And its expensive. When we were there, it was over one euro per liter, which at the time equated to about 8 dollars a gallon. It just depends on the exchange rate, and the gas price.
When we first got there, they had 'gas coupons'. You buy them at the base gas stations for US prices, but you were able to use them at ESSO gas stations on the economy in most places in Germany. Basically, you could buy 25, 50, 100, liter coupon books for the US pricing, and use those coupons to buy fuel on the German economy. They were a pain in the *** because you had to fill out every coupon with your name, address, tag number etc before you used them. The German gas station folks hated them, but they did work.
Now, they use an "esso card" which is issued to you at the time of vehicle registration. That Esso card can only be used for the vehicle in which it is issued with. Basically, you go to the on base gas station, give them the card, and you tell them how much money you would like to put on it, and you can use it on the German economy gas stations. Its basically the same as the coupons, but MUCH easier to deal with. You are only allowed 400 liters per vehicle (at US pricing), per month if I remember right. I think vehicles with V8's are allowed a little more than 400 liters.
Its a lot of information to throw at you, but it will all make sense once you get there and go through orientation. Hopefully you get a good sponsor, ours was a TREMENDOUS help when we arrived there.
~ Stump