Man Kat

[Blair G]

So....
I receive an email from a friend of mine who just got his truck painted. Kurt bought the chassis and built the camper. I have yet to see it in person but will probably go down and see it pretty soon. Unicat who?

Blair

http://i5.pbase.com/g6/11/30811/2/73878364.GYFjYeIc.jpg

[articulate]

:rockon:
Sheeeeeezuz! Looks like it takes a crew to handle that sucker. My masculinity remains intact even though I say, "That Man is beautiful."

[charlieaarons]

That truck is beautiful.. I'd like to see some details.

Charlie

[Robthebrit]

Its huge, but its really spacious on the inside. I saw it at mogfest last October. Kurt was right next to me in the Man. His camper mog was there too, which looked like a little baby (mog is for sale). The spare tire is on a hudraulic arm, likewise for the cab tip. I'll dig out the pictures, I think I have some video of it on the trails too.

It had a mechanical problem on the 2nd steering axle, one of the drag link pins broke and as the bar swung away it ripped all the air lines off. But nobody is left behind at mogfest and it was fixed on the trail and driven out. Its a good job too because a mog wasn't going to move it.

Rob

[Robthebrit]

some pics from octorber before it was painted...

http://www.robanddenise.com/webpics/man1.jpg

http://www.robanddenise.com/webpics/man2.JPG

http://www.robanddenise.com/webpics/man3.jpg

[Colorado Ron]

Wow! My world travel Pinz setup is looking mighty small.:REExeSquatsHL1:

[Doin_It]

As the billboards in Australia read: Are you ready for a MAN

[XXXpedition]

can i borrow that for a year or so... :-))

[XXXpedition]

oh, just in case he hasn't see that (or similar stuff) send him this link:
http://www.europatrucktrial.org/
http://www.europatruck-trial.com/Site-Neu/Bildergalerie/2006_Lauf_4/slides/IMG_3215.html

[DaktariEd]

Where'd the pictures go?
:removeredX:

[2004ej]

Many years ago, back when I was a Pvt in the army. We were one of the only units in the US Army to have MAN trucks. The ones we had were similar to the one on this thread, ours were a bit different. We pulled Pershing II missiles with ours; they had a 5 th wheel for the semi-trailer. But mounted on the Truck were a 30KW generator and an 8 ton crane for moving different sections of the missile and for up-loading of the warhead. The cool thing about the MAN's we had was that they had semi-auto transmissions. You could put the clutch in and put the truck in any of the 8 forward gears, then put your other foot on the brake and release the clutch and just sit with the truck in gear while stopped. Then when you wanted you could move your foot to the gas pedal and away you would go. The higher the gear the slower you took off but it had some type of torque converter so you didn't need the clutch to take off from a stop. However you did need the clutch to change gears, oh I also forgot that the transmission was air assist. The US Army decided to go with the MAN because the American made HEMITT couldn't do the job we needed to do with them. Also the large part of our missiles were in Germany and MAN had a deal to get the trucks back to us with a very short turn around time, IF they broke. Pretty much the only time we would send them back to the dealer was if we cracked a windshield or broke something like GI's excel at doing. I don't remember how much the missile and trailer weighed in at but I do know that the truck and trailer w/missile was over 80,000lbs and we took them off-road quite a few times and never had to many problems with them unless it was driver error. The Pershing missile went away after the INF treaty back in the late 80's so the those MAN"S must have gotten sold in Germany but there was a large number of them in Oklahoma. I wonder where they are now, I 'd love to have one...Those are some TOUGH trucks... Your friend must have some deep pockets, his MAN looks sweet....

[DaktariEd]

I honestly woke up last night around midnight...a touch of insomnia...and one of the things that popped into my head was, "How in the world would you ever change a tire on that thing out solo on a trail?"

I just can't imagine owning something that big! But as a world traveler, it would be awesome!

:sombrero:

[jgolden]

is that thing street legal in the USA?

[Robthebrit]

It is street legal, Kurt drove it to mogfest last October, it is huge, it makes a mog look like tonka toy.

As for changing the tire, I have no idea how you do it. A mog tire/wheel is going on 250 pounds, this is the limit of manageable by yourself, the MAN tires must be 350-400 pounds each, ir does has a hydraulic arm that lowers the spare tire so no crane required.

The trick to mounting a 46 inch, 250 pound tire by yourself: Get the wheel in position, rotate the hub by hand so the studs align with the holes. Adjust the jack so the studs are half and inch higher than the holes in the wheel. Put your feet either side the wheel like chocks and roll it back onto your boots. The other way is you use the wrench as a lever, the handle of my 24inch wrench fits nicely between the treads of the tires so it can't slip.

[Metcalf]

Yeah, best way to change a large tire is to keep the jack as close to the correct height as you can, block both sides with something, then use a bar ( a truck size tire iron works best ) with one end shoved under the tire as a lever, your other hand on the tire. Lift up on the bar, and push the top of the tire a bit. If the vehicle has any kind of bearing hub sticking out its way easier. I've changed everything from truck to skidder tires this way.

The real fun is when you have to learn to take the tire on and off the rim yourself. I would highly suggest that anyone planning on using a larger truck learn this skill....

Thats a killer camper too! I wouldn't have painted it a military color however, that is a pain during international travel.

[pskhaat]

So cool!

[adventureduo]

Here's a short vid clip of it..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oTNUcQRPF6k

[ckkone]

I love the sound of those trucks!

[egn]

This is a very nice conversion!

Regarding changing the wheel:
It is possible by one person on a regular road. There are instructions and special tools to place the wheel including tire onto the hub. You just have to be very careful to avoid the wheel tipping over.

But the newest trick is to let the wheel be fixed and just remove the tire. This can be done if the wheels are converted to tubeless and because of the special wheels called "Sprengringfelge". I don't know the english word for it.

If someone has contact to Kurt he may inform him that most of the german KAT owners are found at http://www.lkw-allrad.de . There is also a forum with an international section.

[egn]

I love the sound of those trucks!

You can hear more at http://www.lkw-allrad.de/index.php?categoryid=11 and there are also a few DVDs available.

Further videos:

http://www.lkw-allrad.de/index.php?categoryid=13
http://www.lkw-allrad.de/index.php?categoryid=12
http://www.lkw-allrad.de/index.php?categoryid=10

Some of the links to not work currenly because the website has been moved to a new server a few days ago.

Enjoy,
Emil

[egn]

Here an additional video from the Mogfest:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=X6owHKkwsdw

[charlieaarons]

[QUOTE=egn]This is a very nice conversion!

Regarding changing the wheel:
It is possible by one person on a regular road. There are instructions and special tools to place the wheel including tire onto the hub. You just have to be very careful to avoid the wheel tipping over.

But the newest trick is to let the wheel be fixed and just remove the tire. This can be done if the wheels are converted to tubeless and because of the special wheels called "Sprengringfelge". I don't know the english word for it.

QUOTE]

It's called a "split rim" or "3 piece rim". The 3 pieces being outer flange, main part of wheel, and spring steel retaining ring. Another vital piece being rubber O-ring.
On my U500 they are made by Lemmerz - in India!

Charlie

[Tress]

Conio that thing is Soo cool, what she get for mileage Though? looks like you would need a gas refilling truck to travel with, kinda like the giant planes that refill in the sky LOL! Either way im a fan, maybe someday when i hiot the lottery for the 10th time i can buy one, but i would much rather that than some monstrocity of a house.....

:bowdown: