How wide can you go?

[Capo]

Hello!

I am new here and I guess I should have looked for this forum much earlier. As an introduction, I own a stock G55 and an expedition modified G400. I have not modified the G400 myself apart from minor works on the interior custom made structure. Two different European workshops have modified the car in accordance with my personal amateur needs.

Please let me bother you with a few questions. I have 30mm spacers with MB 16' standard wheels and standard tyre dimensions (All Terrains 265). The car is heightened ca 80mm and has an aluminium roof rack with a Hannibal large tent and some stuff. Total roof rack weight ca +160kg. Total car weight when loaded for long trips 3.400kg.

I'm considering a little more width and/or minimising the roof rack.
Are there wider spacers?
Or do I go for deep dish wheels with wider tyres?
Will the axles take the strain from additional width?

How would you go about?

I am a happy amateur. I've taken some off-road classes in Scotland and learning by just happily driving the G400 everywhere when fishing and hunting. I've broken things along the way, fixing with improvements, long slow learning curve etc. it's a great car and it has done me well in all climates.

Thanks!

Capo

 

[Capo]

Before the suspension lift

 

[Capo]

After the suspension lift and reinforcement

 

[DUTCH]

The wider you go, the more strain you will put on the wheel bearings; and the sooner they will fail. Also, you'll reach a point where your vehicle's track will be wider that the trail tracks.

You should go to the pointedthree.com G-Class Forum and talk to Loki from Iceland. He has many suggestions regarding wheels, etc.

 

[Capo]

Thanks a million!

Lowering by 20mm and getting rid of the tent is likely also great for handling.

 

[Capo]

My two Rommels side by side.

 

[Capo]

Continuation From Other Thread

Continued from other thread in order not to impolitely hijack that thread:

" Originally Posted by mk216v
Very nice! What different build are you going to do?"


Thanks!

Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit.

Rommel is now totally proven and a very solid, all-together vehicle. I bought it new and drove it stock only for a couple of years before rebuilding it. The rest has been a journey of continuous minor improvements by either breaking things or by redefining my needs. It's been tested in Morocco, Lapland, Spain and in Europe in general. It's been very well taken care of and quite expensive to build due to plenty of custom made installations.

Over to my very possible new build:

I have always dreamed of portal axles so that would be highly likely.

I am hooked on plenty of power ever since I bought the G55K so it would have to be an AMG. This is because they don't provide the wonderful V8 Diesel option anymore. I have a 300hp KCR-chip on Rommel and it is a beast.

Rommel's bull bar is awesome. By retracting two lockable spindles it tilts down and doubles as a loading platform. It is engineered for heavy duty so it easily carries two deer or two wild boar. I use the front winch to load up. I'd like the next owner to keep that bull bar and I'd make a duplicate for the new ride.

The 140l additional fuel cell with transporter fuel pump will be copied.

I'll copy the two-level luggage compartment with tie-down ring bolts and a steel grid bulkhead to the cabin - all very strong and clever and it all stays with the vehicle when I sell it.

I'll also copy the foldable cooking station which hangs on the bull bar at perfect ergonomic height. It's a great location as it keeps annoying smoke away from the cabin. When cooking in fierce sunshine I stick a parasol on the bull bar which provides excellent protection without trapping uncomfortable heat from the three-burner cooker. In Morocco I've been getting fresh fish from the fishermen on the beach, straight from the Atlantic into the Bouille à Baisse cooking on the stove - quite splendid indeed!

Other general gear I would definitely copy from Rommel for the new build are: compressor, portable rear hitch winch, RC search lights on the flanks of the roof rack, roof rack mounted rear flood lights, GPS, extra battery, underbelly protection, heavy duty suspension with extension stop-slings, steel braided extended brake hoses, twin hydraulic jacks, Hi-Lift and complete recovery gear including sand anchor and extra plasma rope for long distance winching, rear standby air bellows (in case a coil spring breaks), water capacity and of course the awesome stock Bose sound system.

However, the new build will not have a roof tent, neither a fixed awning. Instead I'll sacrifice the rear seat bench to give room for stowage and I'll have a flatbed inside of the cabin. There will be a light weight roof rack which will incorporate another feature from Rommel which I quite like: a hinged "emergency exit" opening right on top of the sun roof. It opens from both sides and flies up on gas struts. It's great to keep open when there is a risk for needing to shoot out quickly like if you go into the drink or flip the vehicle and the doors get blocked. For normal use it's handy when I need to quickly go up on the roof rack to identify an animal with the binos or take a quick photograph from up high with a clear view.

Those are my thoughts, more or less.

 

[Capo]

I pulled the car out of storage a couple of days ago since I'm taking it down to Spain for the annual compulsory vehicle inspection (it has Spanish licence plates). Right now there's bad weather here in the Alps and a hurricane warning for France so I'll hang back. I went down to check on the car just now and took some pictures. The light was poor so please excuse.

From the rear you can see the additional fuel tank on the bottom of the luggage compartment. Equipment is stored in boxes between the fuel tank and the deck, on top of which the luggage is stored. The foldable steel grid bulkhead is seen on both pictures. On the inside (cabin side) of the bulkhead, I've attached the ax, saw, wood and metal cutters and two foldable spades. The fifth seat to starboard has been sacrificed to give room for the recovery gear and the portable rear winch on the floor and the fridge on top. Only the fridge can be somewhat seen in the picture plus the twin seat and the forest-tool panel.

 

[Capo]

In this side view picture of the luggage compartment you'll see the foam covered chains which anchor the bulkhead in case of a heavy head on collision, making sure the bulkhead doesn't cave in and keeping all the heavy luggage behind the bulkhead.

 

[Capo]

Thanks to this forum I have now fuelled up some new inspiration. Today I'm seeing Alessandro at Entdecker to have a chat about how to proceed. They are in the same city as I and when speaking to Alessandro half a year ago he mentioned he had a couple of Entdecker-Gs for sale, perhaps a swap? - I guess it's best I settle with just a refreshment of the already great Rommel.

After thinking for a couple of days I've come to the conclusion to get rid of the whole roof rack with all the bells and whistles. The lights are the only equipment I might keep. I'm tired of top heaviness, tired. By all means, top weight works fine when the vehicle is driven accordingly. My roof weight is almost within limits but I miss the agility from when I had less weight. Roof weight is unfortunately the worst agility killer, second worst is excessive weight in front of the front axle and behind the rear axle.

I've gone through a process of little by little adding gear to Rommel. I guess it's normal, it's the gear for great camping comfort that add up most of the weight. But do I really need a five star hotel on the roof rack when I do more driving than camping?! Only the rack is 40kg, the search-light and long-range light gear another 10kg, the emergency exit with its reinforcements in the roof rack 5kg, the two aluminium boxes and twin water can holder 10kg, the tent 60kg(!), the awning 15kg. That's 140kg without load... By removing the twin rear seats I reckon I'll save some 25kg, plus freeing up space for the light luggage I used to pack in the boxes on the roof (sleeping bag, goose down jacket, etc.). This means 165kg come off the rig like a wedding dress at midnight - off! There will still be room for enough luggage and gear after ditching the rear seats and in five minutes the bulkhead is folded down, the luggage shoved to one side and voila: a flatbed in the cabin. I carry a Hilleman tent too for the occasional copilot.

I'm heading back to the essentials; optimising the off-road capability. Losing the penthouse and the terrace on the top floor will make me feel like I'm flying again. Any G is heavy as it is stock. All the necessary off-road gear adds on a bundle of kg: two winches, bull bar, extra fuel, water, recovery gear, kitchen, etc. I'm surprised there isn't more carbon fibre gear out there. I'm surprised MB chose a steel body before an aluminium body. Imagine a G with carbon fibre body, cf winch housings, cf wheels, cf seats, cf jacks, cf axes, spades, etc. that would be quite a machine... I wonder how light you could go? - going full on crazy on lightness would be quite a costly venture but fun...

 

[Capo]

As I was just speculating on how light you can go; bringing lightness to the detail is what Alessandro showed me a bit of yesterday with his Entdecker G. A carbon fibre roof tent and substituting as much steel structure as possible with aluminium is serious enough but custom ordering a titanium spade with a carbon fibre stick and handle is taking lightness to a whole new level, my living! How about carbon fibre ladder, titanium shackles, ceiling cargo net structure in CF, camping chairs and table in CF? Yep, he had that too! What's next? - Light weight tobacco and a CF pipe?!

I got one of those ceiling nets with a CF frame from Alessandro. Great stuff, i am very grateful for it and for getting to know him.:bowdown: Alessandro put me in contact with G guru Davide Pozzate at MaGicauto and Davide is going to homologate Rommel for Switzerland. Finally (!), everybody else I've talked to have declined. The complete roof rack with ladder, tent, protected search lights, flood lights, alu boxes and custom exit door above the sunroof is coming off now and is for sale at MaGicauto. We will need to take the foldable oversize bull bar off temporarily for the homologations but the rest including the 140l fuel cell will pass according to Davide. A cam chain change is scheduled, apparently normal at 120.000km. After homologations it will get progressive springs, body lift and 35" rubber on 18" rims. 18" wheels enable me to upgrade to AMG brakes. Davide took me for a spin in his 98 G500 with such springs and wheels and I liked it, a supple ride with comfortable initial compression and firming up nicely as it progresses, just like you would imagine.

So instead of driving Rommel down to Spain for the compulsory vehicle inspection I leave Rommel with Davide to import Rommel to Switzerland and I'll take the G 55 K "Arnold" to Spain. I'm quite chuffed about this last development of things! At my fishing cabin in Spain I keep a hunting equipped Yamaha Grizzly with band tracks. That boy also gets to come and reside in Switzerland. It gets loaded on the trailer together with extra wheels and gear belonging to Rommel. This will be a fun setup insuring me more time to use these toys. I can't wait to try out the new stripped Rommel.

Here's the Grizzly by the snowmobiles and one of the dirt bikes:

 

[mk216v]

Hehe, love it. Carbon and titanium G!
Well Mansory did make a carbon G (only front fenders/wings, hood, side skirts, headlight trim were carbon, all else was a carbon overlay I suppose).

 

[mk216v]

I really enjoy my Front Runner cargo net(same as you). Great piece of kit!
http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/Storage-Systems/FRONT-RUNNER-G-WAGEN-NET-KIT-p196.html

 

[Capo]

Hehe, love it. Carbon and titanium G!
Well Mansory did make a carbon G (only front fenders/wings, hood, side skirts, headlight trim were carbon, all else was a carbon overlay I suppose).

I saw the Mansory carbon G at the Geneva show. I asked for the weight savings but the umbrella girls in the stand were clueless on the spec. I didn't mind since their charm and "I've been a baaad girl" clothing style more than compensated for the lack of spec knowledge. I guess the ultimate light weight G is yet to be made. For now, light weight lightly dressed show girls will have to do...

 

[Capo]

I really enjoy my Front Runner cargo net(same as you). Great piece of kit!
http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/Storage-Systems/FRONT-RUNNER-G-WAGEN-NET-KIT-p196.html

Thanks for the great link!

I like the broad supply of water tanks. Now that all the rear seats are coming out I'm going to do some measuring to see which water tank will suit me the best.

I'm thinking not too much fixed structure permanently attached inside the cabin. I need loose boxes, tanks, fridges, etc for a variety of optimum space using combinations with lots of tie-down points. That way I can quickly dress the car for either a full on long expedition, a hunting weekend, a day of fishing, an afternoon of dirt bike riding or just completely emptied out for a lightweight off-roading exercise.

I'm looking forward to the new setup!:smiley_drive: