Hey everyone,
I'm a new member of the site. I've been looking for the base for an adventure rig for quite sometime. I haven't pulled the trigger on a vehicle thus far. Been weighing pros and cons. I've been looking at m1078, Fuso canter, Unimog, mercedes benz 1017. Just frothing over your builds. Kind of just keeping my eyes peeled for the right rig to come along for me at the right price. Ideally I'm thinking of building a flatbed on the rig with a three point mount system so I could use the vehicle for construction when I don't have the box mounted. Which seems like that kind of rules out the m1078 since it might be a bit overkill as a work truck hahaha. The plan hopefully would be to buy a used base vehicle, drive it around town for work for awhile so I can work out the kinks and get it running reliably and then eventually build the box. Then I want to slowly outfit from a rustic camping situation to a more comfortable experience. We're a married couple that are kid free for right now but the wife is definitely starting to put the pressure on! Trying to buy myself a few more years hahaha. Hence a doka cab would be pretty nice, even though it will sacrifice room for camperbox. I Found a unimog 1300l doka fire truck with the short double cab, not full size rear doors. From what I've read though it seems like its pretty easy to max out the payload with a camper on a short wheelbase like that. I live in the states currently but am originally from Canada so we will be doing camping roadtrips from Idaho up to Canada to visit the fam. Trying to get on some rad backroads all the way up. Then will be doing camping roadtrips around Idaho, Montana, and possibly down to the Baja. I don't foresee needing quite as much water and fuel as some of you guys that are extremely remote for weeks at a time, but I do enjoy bringing the sports gear which can add up weight quick (mountain bikes, kite boarding gear, snowboards etc...). I know there are lots of mods you guys do to the engine and axles of these unimogs to make them more highway worthy that cost alot of $$$$. As far as this rig goes I attached a photo of pretty much the exact same truck I saw. They want around 10000 dollars for it and it has 25000 miles. It's in the states already imported with a title. From what I've read from you guys, it seems like the portal axles are a bit of the Achilles' heel of the unimog and can be some really expensive parts to fix. Would love to hear your guys opinion of this as a base for a camper or if I'm out to lunch hahaha. I would also like to be towing my snowmobile and camping sometimes which this engine probably doesn't have much power for that and I'm sure would eventually need to be modded.
Is that wheelbase and size a dealbreaker for a camper?
What size camperbox and weight do you think this truck could handle?
Do these 1300l used as fire trucks by chance have a beefier chassis then a regular 1300l doka?
If its a firetruck do they sometimes come with fast axles and a turbo?
How do you tell the difference between a 1300l and a 1350l?
Is there a way to lighten up the chassis to increase payload?
What do you think of this rig for a work truck?
What's the towing capacity?
How much are working gears crucial for off-roading with a camper?
Does the chassis on these fire trucks already have a three point mounting system for chassis flex?
Sorry for the essay with run on sentences hopefully its semi legible hahaha.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot,
Guillaume
I'm a new member of the site. I've been looking for the base for an adventure rig for quite sometime. I haven't pulled the trigger on a vehicle thus far. Been weighing pros and cons. I've been looking at m1078, Fuso canter, Unimog, mercedes benz 1017. Just frothing over your builds. Kind of just keeping my eyes peeled for the right rig to come along for me at the right price. Ideally I'm thinking of building a flatbed on the rig with a three point mount system so I could use the vehicle for construction when I don't have the box mounted. Which seems like that kind of rules out the m1078 since it might be a bit overkill as a work truck hahaha. The plan hopefully would be to buy a used base vehicle, drive it around town for work for awhile so I can work out the kinks and get it running reliably and then eventually build the box. Then I want to slowly outfit from a rustic camping situation to a more comfortable experience. We're a married couple that are kid free for right now but the wife is definitely starting to put the pressure on! Trying to buy myself a few more years hahaha. Hence a doka cab would be pretty nice, even though it will sacrifice room for camperbox. I Found a unimog 1300l doka fire truck with the short double cab, not full size rear doors. From what I've read though it seems like its pretty easy to max out the payload with a camper on a short wheelbase like that. I live in the states currently but am originally from Canada so we will be doing camping roadtrips from Idaho up to Canada to visit the fam. Trying to get on some rad backroads all the way up. Then will be doing camping roadtrips around Idaho, Montana, and possibly down to the Baja. I don't foresee needing quite as much water and fuel as some of you guys that are extremely remote for weeks at a time, but I do enjoy bringing the sports gear which can add up weight quick (mountain bikes, kite boarding gear, snowboards etc...). I know there are lots of mods you guys do to the engine and axles of these unimogs to make them more highway worthy that cost alot of $$$$. As far as this rig goes I attached a photo of pretty much the exact same truck I saw. They want around 10000 dollars for it and it has 25000 miles. It's in the states already imported with a title. From what I've read from you guys, it seems like the portal axles are a bit of the Achilles' heel of the unimog and can be some really expensive parts to fix. Would love to hear your guys opinion of this as a base for a camper or if I'm out to lunch hahaha. I would also like to be towing my snowmobile and camping sometimes which this engine probably doesn't have much power for that and I'm sure would eventually need to be modded.
Is that wheelbase and size a dealbreaker for a camper?
What size camperbox and weight do you think this truck could handle?
Do these 1300l used as fire trucks by chance have a beefier chassis then a regular 1300l doka?
If its a firetruck do they sometimes come with fast axles and a turbo?
How do you tell the difference between a 1300l and a 1350l?
Is there a way to lighten up the chassis to increase payload?
What do you think of this rig for a work truck?
What's the towing capacity?
How much are working gears crucial for off-roading with a camper?
Does the chassis on these fire trucks already have a three point mounting system for chassis flex?
Sorry for the essay with run on sentences hopefully its semi legible hahaha.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot,
Guillaume
