Alaskan Mog Eye-Candy

[Scofco]

I was filling the propane tank and this pulled in. I had my camera, so I thought I would share.

[mountainpete]

Very nice. Wow. There's my dream truck right there.

[Flounder]

Imagine....finding that vehicle at a gas station of all places.

[Robthebrit]

That truck belongs on Charlie who is an expedition portal member.

[charlieaarons]

Yes, that's me. Actually it's my wife in the passenger seat.
My advice to all expedition truck owners: weigh your truck!
When I picked up the truck at Unicat it weighed 4200 kg in front and 6000 kg in the rear. It was 1/3 full of fuel and water. They figured out the inflation pressures based on 4700/6500.
Just because I was suspicious it weighed more than that I ran about 10 psi higher in the rear (77 instead of 67). I weighed it in Canada. Full of fuel, water, tools, etc etc, it was 4200 in front and 7700 in the rear. Kg, not lbs.
So my rear tire pressure needed to be 86 psi for 55-70 mph running! Good thing I had kept it down 60 indicated (59 according to GPS). I'm adding landing mats (90 kg) and a 45 kg 4X4X4' air jack bag. If I do the Canning Stock Route in Australia (1100 miles, no gas stations) figure on another 600 lb of jerrycans on the roof. That will take me up to 8100 kg in the rear, the GAWR is 8500 kg.
Even with the giant Pullmaster winch on the front and a 40 kg Danforth anchor tied to the front bullbar, I won't be over 4400 kg in front, way below the GAWR of 7200.
I think the Hackneys will be unpleasantly surprised when they weigh their FG today.

The truck averaged about 8.6 mpg. The best fillup was 9.5 with a tailwind, worst about 7.7 with a headwind.
I need to know what the mpg is offroad/bad road for that Australia trip. I'm figuring 5.0-5.5 mpg.
Problems on the trip (California-Baja-Arizona-Alaska, 6000 miles):
1) Aftermarket Koni shock broke in half and gouged out sidewall of tire, ruining it. In the middle of Baja on a fair dirt road.
2) Replacement 395/85R20 XML that was found in Tucson (unfortunately not stock XZL) fell apart after 800 miles, half on dirt roads. I found two 90% XZLs at Dollar Tire in Edmonton for 60% off. Highly recommended for Michelin offroad truck tires.
3) Alternator light has been on for a month, batteries still charge at 13.0V, not 14.0V. I think it's a burned out diode. Did not turn on the diesel generator once!

Charlie

[stevenmd]

Charlie - sweet ride! Got any interior pics?

[charlieaarons]

You can see interior pictures on the www.unicatamericas.com site.

Charlie

[FusoFG]

1) Aftermarket Koni shock broke in half and gouged out sidewall of tire, ruining it. In the middle of Baja on a fair dirt road.
Charlie

what caused the shock problem?

did the koni's fix the bouncing problem you mentioned in a previous post?

are you switching back to the stock shock absorber?

BTW, nice looking camper!

Are you going to take it to Prudhoe Bay?, Innuvik?, or Yellowknife?

[charlieaarons]

The Konis much improved the bouncing but of course I put one of the originals back on in place of the broken one. I don't know why it broke except I noticed before it broke it was the only shock not getting warm on dirt roads. I let Hellgeth know in Germany, who sold me the Konis. Hopefully they'll at least replace the broken one.
The truck is parked in my driveway in Anchorage. I'll do some trips in Alaska this summer, after changing the oil and fixing the alternator.

Charlie

[adventureduo]

I love it. Wish i could afford one.

Dumb question of the day.. how the heck do you get the spare tires down? Especially the one on the roof top. Seems a bit high... does the back open like a hatch or a bridge or something?