Unimogadventures - Our build and travel thread

[Iain_U1250]

We drove down a pretty steep side slope today, over 30 Degrees on our in-cab Tiltometer.




We were on a Defender Club day our part of a long convoy. We came down a steep hill and then were on the side slope, no way to turn around. It was way beyond our comfort limits, but we made it. We then had to turn around and head back along the slope again. One particular turn to which we made going uphill, would be very difficult now we were approaching it going downhill. We got one of the cars to rig up a winch line through a snatch block attached to a tree then onto the top of the roll bar behind the cab. It was more of a safety rope than anything else, and we ended up not needing, the line stayed slack the whole time, it but I think we were pretty close to our limit. On the way out the truck lent up against a tree, the roof bars doing their job protecting the edge and the solar panels from damage.

I'm not sure what our actual tipping limit is, but I think were were pretty close.

 

[Sitec]

I think you are too close.. My nerves are going just looking at that!! If one of the old tyres had let go at this point, it would have been Game Over! That's pretty impressive it has to be said.. I would never have put it staying upright at that angle. Well done.

 

[Iain_U1250]

It was pretty scary, lucky I had new tyres on. The worst point was when the roof bars got to the end of the tree we were leaning on, even going in 1st gear low range, iti did slip off quite quick. In hindsight I should have used the winch / snatch block on the rest of the slope as well. There was a lot of talk around the campsite on how to improve that, airbag suspension would be the best option, going to look into it.

 

[Joe917]

I think you had lots of leeway. The biggest danger is a sudden rocking motion caused by turning uphill sharply or dropping a wheel in an unseen hole, or perhaps building up side pressure by sliding along a tree the suddenly releasing it...

 

[charlieaarons]

That's why I went with the 90mm offset wheels (stock 161mm). Tipover angle is about 2.2deg greater with the wider track (1970mm, too wide for comfortable running on CSR etc).
Charlie

 

[Iain_U1250]

The video my wife took of me on the side slope.

 

[Coachgeo]

An old school KISS way rockcrawlers have prepped for such things is a small winch at each axle ends whose sole purpose was to compress down the suspension on the uphill side. Granted saw this done more for creasting steep rock faces to keep from flopping/EndO..ing backward but concpet applies same here.

 

[thebigblue]

Looks scary, yes - but as you know, as long as the center of gravity is within the footprint of the tires you´re good - seems to me there´s room for more leaning (based on my estimate on the center of gravity of the Mog)

 

[mrFelix]

your wife's a clever lass, hopping out of the truck to "take the video " :yikes:

 

[Iain_U1250]

To be honest I was quite sure it would be OK, or I would not have driven down the hill in the first place. By my calculations, we should be good up to 35 degrees, I estimate the CG to be almost at the level of the rear hatch handle. We have had it at 28 degrees before, and this was at 30 degrees for a short time, but the majority of the time we were under 25 degrees.

The worst part was not on the video, that was the downhill turn onto the slope, a 90 degree turn going downhill. I decided to get one of the Land Rovers to attach a safety rope to the roll cage as I made the turn, just in case.

I was in first gear/low range and just on idle, so going as slow as possible.

Sliding off the first tree was a bit unexpected, but since there was another tree there to lean on it would be OK, but it gave me a bit of a fright, any sudden unexpected movement was not pleasant at that angle.

 

[Iain_U1250]

I think you are too close.. My nerves are going just looking at that!! If one of the old tyres had let go at this point, it would have been Game Over! That's pretty impressive it has to be said.. I would never have put it staying upright at that angle. Well done.

Yes, if one of the downhill tyres let go with a bang, I think may have been in trouble. When they failed out on the road, it did take about 30 seconds for them to go down. It looks pretty scary, and I have to admit I was concerned, but also was confident enough to drive out.

That's why I went with the 90mm offset wheels (stock 161mm). Tipover angle is about 2.2deg greater with the wider track (1970mm, too wide for comfortable running on CSR etc).
Charlie

Always a balance on any rig, a wider track is more stable, but then the tyres will be out of the rut so even higher uphill.

Looks scary, yes - but as you know, as long as the center of gravity is within the footprint of the tires you´re good - seems to me there´s room for more leaning (based on my estimate on the center of gravity of the Mog)

I think there was another 5 degrees before it fell over, but it would not take much for it to go horribly wrong. My estimates of the CG are just below the handle on the rear. That also depends on how much fuel we carry, whether I have all the tools etc. If we had the extra spare tyre and 90lt of fuel on the roof, then we would have been in trouble.

An old school KISS way rockcrawlers have prepped for such things is a small winch at each axle ends whose sole purpose was to compress down the suspension on the uphill side. Granted saw this done more for creasting steep rock faces to keep from flopping/EndO..ing backward but concpet applies same here.

Sounds interesting, I found some turnbuckles that would do the same thing, but would need to weld on some eyes/brackets for it to work.

your wife's a clever lass, hopping out of the truck to "take the video " :yikes:

There was no way she was getting in the truck

 

[Sitec]

Yup, I commend Trish for keeping her cool while videoing! No real 'eeks' or 'shrieks'.. All very calm! This Mog didn't fare so well!

 

[Iain_U1250]

It takes a bit to rattle her nowadays



I think there was only minor damage to that one, all the tyres etc were props to stop if from going further. Would have been very scary.

 

[The Yak]

Yup, I commend Trish for keeping her cool while videoing! No real 'eeks' or 'shrieks'.. All very calm! This Mog didn't fare so well!
View attachment 372107

By coincidence, I have just been looking at the particulars of this Mog in the photo, as it is currently for sale on ebay. Located in the UK.

Cannot link, look for Unimog 4x4 Expedition Camper.

 

[Joe917]

It takes a lot to tip over, usually more than the driver will dare.