U100L Turbo

[Felipe]

Hello,
My name is Felipe, Im new to the forum. I have owned a 1962 Swiss Army 404 for several years that I used mainly for camping and for transporting my RC model jets, but I had to let it go. Im allowed to have only one toy at a time.
I have been after this one for over a year, and finally everything aligned, got a buyer for my 404, talked to the owner of the U100L, made an offer, he accepted, done deal.

Here is some information:

1999 U100L
16,000 KMS 375 hours
Imported into Mexico by UNIMOG Mexico to perform a demo to potential buyers (Government)
After the demo, it was stored for 2 years. In 2002 was bought by the guy I got it from.
He had custom built the camper box, which it would have not been my personal choice, but it is ok as a start point.

Plans:
Go out and have fun for two or three weekend trips to get a filling of the performance and functionality. Then decide any modifications to the camper, to the point that I might decide to get a new one to my specs.

Any ideas or comments are welcome

Best regards
Felipe

[LandCruiserPhil]

Very Nice!
Any pictures of the interior?

[Esmi]

Congratulations on a great-looking rig! And welcome.

[Felipe]

As I mentioned before, it is not what I would have done, but it is what it is.
Regards

[mhiscox]

Congratulations, Felipe, on such a nice truck. The size of the unit is wonderful and I predict you will have many nice adventures.

I agree that the interior is perhaps not all it could be, but there's a good chance that it'd be easier to completely rebuild the interior (including changing/adding windows) than to replace the cabin, which looks to be well suited for the truck. And, assuming the cabin is appropriately mounted now, keeping it would eliminate worrying about getting the mounting right for something new.

If you find you have specific questions, just ask here, as there are many of us who would be glad to help. Also, several of us recommend the book Travel Vans which you can order easily at

http://www.travelvans.co.uk/.

It has considerable useful information about how best to lay out a camper and its systems.

All in all, I'm pretty envious. :drool:

[whatcharterboat]

Hi Felipe,

Looks like a great thing. Would you mind telling me what tyres are on your truck? Size and make. Not something that I've ever seen here.

I'm sure you have some great mods planned already. Good luck with it anf thanks in advance.

Regards John.

[Felipe]

Hello Mike,
Thanks a lot for the tip on the book.
The interior of my cabin is VERY basic, no kitchen, no bathroom, only a bed with some storage and a small sink and that's it. Interior dimensions are 8.5'x5.5'. The cabin is bolted on top of the original factory installed flat bed and it is supposed to be easy to remove with four jacks that were included in the deal, to return it to the original set up for personnel transport. (I have the benches) At this point my wish list is so big that it is unreal. I hope that the book you recommended, helps to get my feet on the ground, to end up with a nice and simple functional design.
Best regards
Felipe

[Felipe]

Hello John,
Tyres are Dunlop SP T9 335/80R20. They are not in good shape.
Best regards
Felipe

[mhiscox]

Hello Mike,
Thanks a lot for the tip on the book.
The interior of my cabin is VERY basic, no kitchen, no bathroom, only a bed with some storage and a small sink and that's it. Interior dimensions are 8.5'x5.5'. The cabin is bolted on top of the original factory installed flat bed and it is supposed to be easy to remove with four jacks that were included in the deal, to return it to the original set up for personnel transport. (I have the benches) At this point my wish list is so big that it is unreal. I hope that the book you recommended, helps to get my feet on the ground, to end up with a nice and simple functional design.
Best regards
Felipe
Good day, Felipe,

One of the things that is discussed in Travel Vans that is absolutely essential to designing small yet liveable cabins is how to have a bathroom without devoting any square footage to it. By having the toilet pull out, using curtains for the shower enclosure, etc., you can have the facilities without using up floor space.

Yours certainly is a small cabin, and with the flatbed mounting it sounds like it'd be straightforward to put on a bigger one (in exchange for making the vehicle less nimble.) But don't give up on the current cabin until you've drawn out some plans. My EarthRoamer XV-JP cabin has not quite 30 square feet, so your cabin sounds like a palace to me. ;)

[charlieaarons]

There is a 99 U100 for sale by Greg Sheridan in BC, with an Alaskan camper, on the Unimog Exchange
Unimog® Exchange
Greg used to be in charge of sales of the U500 in NA, now he's out of that job I think.
It looks really nice in the pictures....
No connection etc.
Sorry copy and paste didn't work.

Charlie

[mhiscox]

The description is here:

http://www.unimog.net/exchange/index.php?page=3

and there's an album of nearly 60 good photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Greg.S.Sheridan/1999U100LTurbo#.

Nice truck . . . it looks like this:

http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp283/mhiscox01/P1020918.jpg

However, Charlie and others, is there any reason to think this truck could be imported into and licensed in the U.S.? I would think not.

[charlieaarons]

Canada's rule of unimpeded imports is 15 years, the US 25 yrs. This is only 10 yrs old so it's in under another loophole. Perhaps because the motor is the 5cyl OM602LA which is "homologated" in North America already? Maybe transferable to US, maybe not. One could call Greg and ask, he is pretty knowledgeable.
It has only a 5spd with a 1.765 transfer case, no super low gears, but it will go 110 kph particularly with 335/80R20s instead of stock 10.5R20s.

Charlie

[whatcharterboat]

and there's an album of nearly 60 good photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Greg.S.S...999U100LTurbo#.

Nice truck . . . it looks like this:


Thanks for the link Mike. Really like it.

[MonsterBronco]

Nice truck Felipe. This is very similar to what I am looking for after I do some more research. Sometimes I tend to over do it with pre purchase research but it has worked well for me in the past.

While the cabin of your vehicle is austere it seems to me that it leaves a lot of room for your own customizing if you are in to that type of stuff. Which is why that would be perfect for me. A good base to build off of.

[mastermog]

Hello Felipe.

I am Javier Herrero from Madrid. For me will be easier if you are able to talk in spanish...

I am the owner of a camper Unimog U100l turbo.
In my opinon you have made a better adquision with this truck.
It is special Unimog. It is lighter, faster, better fuel range and also cheap to fix, because it shares the same engine than Mercedes Sprinter Van.
I have traveled with it a lot and it is a fantastic truck.
You can checked it in youtube as Unimog marruecos.

Take care

[mastermog]

Some pictures

[mhiscox]

Thank you for posting the pictures, Javier. It is such a nice-looking camper. (And I'm sure that many of us with much larger campers are jealous of the compact size.)

Muchas gracias.

[Felipe]

Hello Javier,
Of course I can speak spanish. Thanks a lot for the pictures of your UNIMOG, it looks grate. It is a shame you did not post before because I spent last week in Madrid and we could have met.
Best regards
Felipe

[78Bronco]

That is an amazing truck:drool: Congrats.

You have many options for tires including running re-caps to save some $. I would recommend a lifting device to get the spare tire down and up without breaking the backs of two people.

The camper unit can be reworked quite easily with some time and basic materials to suit your needs. A big box is easy to work with.

Maybe add some gauges for pyro, boost. Onboard air and CTIS for on the fly tire pres adjustments.

[DzlToy]

For the lazy:

Felipe's exterior:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31660&d=1251297930

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31661&d=1251297930

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31662&d=1251297930

Felipe's interior:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31667&d=1251301677

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31668&d=1251301677

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31669&d=1251301677

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31670&d=1251301693

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=31671&d=1251301693

[DzlToy]

Javier de Madrid:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32975&d=1254243052

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32976&d=1254243052

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32977&d=1254243195

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32978&d=1254243195

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32979&d=1254243195

[charlieaarons]

Su camion is muy bonito y es menos pesado que el mio; que pesa ~12 toneladas metricas o un poco mas cuando es lleno con agua y combustible. Puede verlo aqui:
http://www.unicat.net/en/info/TC49compact.html
Las especificaciones son un poco diferente: lleva 600-840L de combustible, tiene 2 guinches (palabra mexicana) etc. pero las picturas son de mi camion y mi familia.
Me parece que el suyo pesa menos que 5.5 toneladas.

Charlie

[Felipe]

Charlie,
You have a VERY nice truck.
Javier left Madrid for a 4 month trip around south america. His truck was shipped from Spain (Bilbao) to Buenos Aires. It was supposed to get there on Nov/01 but the ship had a mechanical failure and was beached in Dakar for over 2 weeks. Hopefully he would be able to pick up his U100L in Buenos Aires very soon. He has a nice web page where he posts from time to time the progress. It is in spanish, but Im sure you will be able to read.
http://www.expedicionesmastermog.com/
He visited me here in Mexico like a month ago and we had a very good time chatting about our U100L's and his trip to South America.
Best regards
Felipe
U100L
Mexico