Are Unimogs an impedament?

[Ruffin' It]

I've been thinking about expedition campers well past the point of obsession for the last year or so (just ask my wife and co-workers), but I can't seem to settle on one style. I love the Mogs, but am a little concerned that the size would end up being an issue. So, I thought I'd ask: how often do those of you with a Unimog find that you are prevented from going somewhere that you could have gone in something smaller (Taco or whatever)? Is it an issue that you are often having to work around? or is it something you rarely deal with?

Thanks,

Tyler

[charlieaarons]

Where do you want to go? Around the world, on a 2-3 month trip or just weekends and short holidays?
Do you expect to do hardcore rockcrawling like the Rubicon (A Mog could do it but with a camper it would be kind of hard) or other very hardcore offroad stuff? On a real expedition this sort of thing is avoided because you're so far from home and the risk of breakage in a remote location out of your own country.
A Mog is the most capable large 4WD vehicle. Large being defined as Class 5-7, capable of carrying a large camper body. Not many Mogs are available in the US.
I could not have a camper with a fixed large bed, bathroom, kitchen, fridge&freezer, 540L water, massive storage space for a RTW (round the world) trip and general lebensraum on a Tacoma, F350 or even F550.
There's no comparison between a Tacoma and Mog, they are for 2 different functions. You have define your desired function.
Incidentally: generally the size of the camper limits offroad mobility before the chassis of my U500 does. Which means in desert terrain it's very mobile but not so much in forest terrain. And the "drawbacks" of a U500 compared to a U5000 or U2450(slightly less ground clearance, no torque tubes) are minimal.
Think long and hard before you get a 404 for going to South America.
I'd recommend the latest possible diesel version you can afford, at least a 416 or 1300L. the 1300L comes with 5.31 axles, with 365/80R20s (43.1") top speed will be 62 mph, cruise 53-58. And the Claas overdrive can be fitted, not really necessary unless you move to the heavy version like 2150 or 2450 with 6.38s. And on the big ones you can up to 14.00R20s (49.1").

Charlie

[762X39]

I own a baby unimog (1.5 ton capacity S404) and use it to wilderness camp, fish and hunt. It suits my needs because I can travel up skidder paths knowing that I can traverse the terrain and that I probably won't have much company unless they walk in or somehow manage to get their ATV up the trail.
It is slow which suits me fine because I don't like to rush from point a to b (the journey is the point).
Most travellers will never need the Unimogs abilities, there is no crime in that. Most travellers cannot afford a Unimog with a german or austrian built camper and there is no crime in that either. I know people that still explore in VW campers and they go places I wouldn't have expected.
Define your needs and then get what you need , save the rest for your adventures.

[Robthebrit]

Another factor to consider is your comfort even for a short trip. Do you want the convienience, comfort and safety of sleeping inside with heating and air conditioning or do you want to sleep on top of or along side your vehcile in a tent?

Have you driven a mog, what model are you looking at? A 'mog' is a range of vehicles spanning nearly 60 years in an untold number of configurations. They are not for everybody and depending on what model you are looking at you get various levels of comfort, noise, AC etc. Unless you are looking at a U500 they are not the best trucks for road driving, if you spend 75% of the time on roads there are better big trucks. On the other hand a U500 is not as good offroad as some its older borthers, say a 416 or a 1300L. Its all relative, by comparison to most vehicles a U500 is remarkable offroad and compared to vehicles its own size its untouched. When you consider a camper U500 is plenty capable for anything you would want to drive over with your house on the back.

In general their foot print is not that big, my 416s are barely any wider than a full size dodge and have a shorter wheelbase. If you consider most mogs can turn on a dime they are better on switchback trails than pretty much anything - a 416 has a significanlty tighter turn circle than a tacoma:


Domestic (track widths - is this the outside?)
---------
Tacoma 44 feet
Tundra 44 feet
FJ Cruiser 42 Feet
Dodge Ram 50 feet
Ford Ranger 46 feet
F150 46 feet

Unimogs (outside circle)
--------
u404 42 feet
u416 38 feet
u1300 38 feet
u406 32 feet
u421 29 feet
u500 42 feet

Rough roads are fine up to the point you can no longer call it a road, narrow canyons are fine as long as they stay fairly level when its really tight. Its basically overhangs and trees that cause the problems which may or may not be problems depending on where you go. In the desert not a problem, South American jungles will be a problem at some point.

On the rubicon a mog camper, even a small one, won't fit. In general the Rubicon is fairly easy in a mog, the old round cab mogs (404,406,416,421,403,413 etc) just fit through some of the tight spots and even then you have to pick a good line otherwise the off camber angles will catch the cab or bed. Even if your camper was the same width as the cab you would wreck it and the higher center of gravity would cause problems. Any later mog be it a u1300 or a u500 has no chance, its simply too wide regardless of what you do it.

Rob

[Scenic WonderRunner]

The 404 Radio truck has always interested me. Seems a lot easier to mod up the inside and you're ready to go. Keep doing searches on the net.....there are lots of sites.



404 Radio truck pics............



http://classicunimogs.com/unimog_faqs.html <~specs


http://www.mraradio.org/mog/index.html?21,15

[Ruffin' It]

Thanks everyone weighing in. The 404 radio truck with fast axles or a 416 DoKa are exactly what I was thinking of. I generally wouldn't be looking for the most difficult terrain I could find with a camper mog. But I would like to be able to go down more difficult trails and not have to turn around if it gets harder than I anticipated. I tend to prefer longer trips that are at least a few days, but I am not into rockcrawling. I would like to ultimately use this truck to drive from the top of Alaska down well into South America (in three separate trips), but I don't know if I will actually get the chance to. I don't think the discomfort factor would be too much of a stretch for me (while driving). I would put comfort mods pretty high on the "to-do" list and I also drove my race-prepped (low, loud, hot, and stiff) MGB with no top, heat, or A/C as my daily driver for several years without minding it too much.
But, I have never even been in a Mog let alone driven one so I obviously am early in the decision making process. I'm just very attracted to how tough and reliable they are as well as how capable they are and the sort of loads they are carry. Besides, I love old vehicles. The character goes a long way with me.

[Ruffin' It]

Thanks for the links - very helpful. That radio box 404 is just right for conversion to a pop-up camper!

The 404 Radio truck has always interested me. Seems a lot easier to mod up the inside and you're ready to go. Keep doing searches on the net.....there are lots of sites.



404 Radio truck pics............



http://classicunimogs.com/unimog_faqs.html <~specs


http://www.mraradio.org/mog/index.html?21,15

[Spikepretorius]

never even been in a Mog let alone driven one

You're going to fall in love. They are my all time favourite vehicle. When I was based in the Caprivi it was my mode of transport.(14 months) They don't have a helluva top speed though.


Incidently our Mogs were eventually replaced by the SAMIL 20 (google it)
I never personally drove one (still too in love with the Mog) but the guys rave that they are better than a Mog.
http://www.truckfarm.co.za/samil-20.htm

[alaskantinbender]

The best way I can describe my 404 is it’s like driving a WV buss on steroids.
It will walk thru terrain and leave any other truck behind stuck.
And like has been said, the size of the 404 is not a big issue, it’s a baby mog.
But on the road it’s a slow ponderous beast.
It really depends on you and what you want, desire in a truck. Most things will work if you put your mind to it and mitigate the problem areas.
I would strongly suggest driving one so you can really check out the rig.
Its one thing reading about it, quite another to drive and ride in it.

Regards,

Jim

[762X39]

I just wanted to add 1 thing about "fast" axles. They were mostly only used on the fire tenders and ambulances. The purpose of the fast axles was to allow a short burst at higher speeds to get the ambulance or fire truck to the scene which would typically be a short (under 20 kilometers?) distance.
The road speed of a 404 is 80kph (50 mph?) and is governed by among other things the 2.2 litre 80hp engine (propelling a +6500lb vehicle) which doesn't have the juice to run a "fast" axle anyway.
As others have stated, drive one before you buy so you are not surprised or dissappointed. Having said all this I still love my truck even though it can't get out of its own way (I don't remember the 406/416's to be any faster), is noisy, has no creature comforts but does have a kind of panache that only a Mog owner/lover can appreciate.