Hey Jason, I spotted that cute unimog in Dent last week ( pity you picked the dearest campsite in the yorkshire dales). was going to come over for a chat but was in a hurry - then you were gone, let me know if you get back up this way
Good luck with you travels
Chris

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Chris
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"Never have a stupid argument with an idiot - he gets a lot more practice than you"
there I go again
not too hard really

thankyou!

we'd only collected her the day before, and stopped at the first place we came across, too late for the office. we found out the next morning it was a bit pricey!

Many thanks for the replies..

I was reading Jason's web-site last night (didn't show the wife - otherwise she'd get the scale of how big a Mog was).

I've settled on nothing heavier than 7.5T, there are too many bridge, parking and license issues for it to be worth the hassle.

I've seen a couple of 1300L Ambulances & I'm trying to determine if these come with any usable heating / electrics / generators as standard.

3 meter bed by 2m high would be ample, I like the idea of the over the cab bed.

There appear to be a number of web sites on the UK that all point to the same UK suppliers - I don't understand the logic behind that bit.

RTS

Remember that you need to be able to tilt the cab forward for maintenance.

Charlie

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Unimog U500 w/Unicat

No-one seems to have answered your original question of suburbia 'camping'. We have a live-in truck now and as long as you don't park in the same area for nights on end then it seems to be ok. Obviously check out your chosen spot- if you're in view of a big sign saying NO OVERNIGHT PARKING, then you may only get away with a couple of nights or less. Of course it's not unknown for these signs to go missing now and again!
Quiet laybys can be interesting, we recently slept in one 15 miles north of Hull- it turned out to be a dogging hot spot. Everytime we stuck our head out the window to say we didn't have a dog, they kept coming back!
No-one can say travelling is boring!

Thanks for the replies....

I'd not twigged the fact that the Mog cab rolls forward... so that's that sorted then.

Thanks for the info about overnight camping. The area (at the moment) I had in mind is around York racecourse Monster.

I've located a couple of quite carparks and main drag to the race course is used by horse haulers during race weeks anyway and more importantly it's about 300m from the nearest house (but visible).

Normally I either hotel it or B&B it (two years and counting now), but I'd like my own space that I don't have to pack away each week now... and be able to tinker with the bike.

RTS.

Are you still looking for a vehicle? I may be able to help Please pm with a telephone number.
Chris

A friend of mine was recently demonstrating the 4x4 transit to a group of transport managers from large utility companies (Off the top of my head, i know that the AA, waterboard and scottish & southern electricity were there) and he said how excellent off road it was.

like you say, no driver input is needed, but I think Ford have licked it and made it totally idiot proof (althought this is kind of leaning towards utility drivers who might use & abuse the truck, whereas a private individual might have more mechanical sympathy)

But he showed me the video clips of where he drove, on road tyres, and it was truly awesome.

probably friggin expensive too though

Worry not about the tipping cab. Charlie's is a super modern and really very nice U500.
The ones in the available from Jacksons (and the ones my budget can reach) are not tipper cabs. The U1000 and 1300 are noisy, slow, thirsty and utterly fantastic at crawling over obstacles (which you'll be doing about 0.05% of the time you're overlanding). and so high off the ground you end up with a target for international terrorism once you've put the camper body on the back.
If that's what you like why not browse through VEBEG - Das Verwertungsunternehmen des Bundes all the german ex mil stuff comes through there, and you see Mogs & MAN KATs go for considerably less than 10000 EUROS, not pounds. There are dozens of Merc 1017s available at the moment; or even cheaper and just as reliable is the Iveco 110-17 with the indestructible deutz engine (separate cylinder heads so even if one blows you just drive on without losing coolant or anything, until you can stop and bolt on a replacement). It's all done by sealed tender, but there's a list of successful bids available to give you an idea of how much to bid.
Ideally however you need time to go and look at the trucks before bidding.
I was sold on the ex mil route for price reasons, but now and then a civvy gem pops up: 1996 N Reg VOLVO FL6 4WD MANLIFT WITH KING 22M TELESCOPIC SKY LIFT. that's going to be more civilised to live with...
So nothing's written in stone.
Whatever I end up with (and that's soon I hope) I've got lots of modifications to do to get it to my spec, not least of which is extending the cab to accomodate the kids, I concluded (with the help of a friend Q ;-) that the official double cabs trucks take up way too much camper length and really restrict your choice of truck.

Happy hunting
Luke

Hmmm,

Having stuffed my knee up racing, the whole racing scene and having to get the bike ready on the road is looking a bit suspect @ the mo' (i.e. family is stating....sell up you ol' gimp).

Kids are still up for camping and climbing so a camper is still on the books.

Does anyone know anything about Star 266's???., they look similar to Zil131, but a bit cleaner on the look.

I could just buy a "normal" camper.... not sure I could live with the looks though

Cheers!

RTS

This outfit in Poland is the specialist for the Star 266. They re-sell ex.mil trucks many of which have never been really used and can fettle them to make them reliable.

If you want a camper try for the incredible expanding 266! the rear expands each side to give you 30 square metres of tented space, used as a field hospital or command space etc so they can sell you the heaters etc (get's cold on the eastern front!).

Only problem is the NEVER respond to e-mails so you'll have to have a Polish speaker call them on your behalf. The man to speak to is Janusz Dunder - call him on his mobile. The guys on Zil131.com may be able to help you out here is you ask nicely.

P.W. Motodemont- STAR - RÓ¯NE MODELE

P.W. Motodemont- Star 266, Sprzêt wojskowy, T-55, BMP-1, BRDM, MTLB, P³ug wirnikowy-dmuchawa do ¦niegu

The star is of course a diesel, Zil is petrol but the Gaz 66 has the same engine, is very capable and looks like Start 266. Prices for Gaz & Zil are very low - around £1.5k should get you on six (or four x four) wheels

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Sounds interesting - does anyone have any pictures of the expanding 266 with the canopies up?

Seems like a lot of truck for the money, but what to do about spares when you are overlanding with a rare truck like that?

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www.overlandcruiser.wordpress.com

Sure - there ya go:-

For spares - buy two trucks and keep one for spares! The parts for these are stupidly cheap you can stock up on even complete axles for £30 but the Polish guys are best to advise. You have to get real though - these are ex mil trucks not brand new Mercedes Benz with world wide support who will fly you out a water pump direct to you in the Gobi Desert handed to you by a man in a white coat!


[IMG]file:///C:/WINDOWS/TEMP/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]

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Personally I'm not too worried about spares (I won't be going to Africa without a divorce)...

The expanding Star is pretty much king of the "Top Trumps" for trailer tents... not sure how much space is in the inside when it's packed away... another truck behind carrying the gear methinks????

I did look at ISO 20' expanding containers, as they have a central core where kit can fit, but you're into HGV land.

Anyway.... the schools hols are here!!!!!. We can't go abroad as I'm the only one with a passport... wife has NVQ work to complete..... I suggest camping with the kids on my own, no resistance... wales in a tent, followed by renting a full on campervan for Scotland later on.... kids are stoked and that would make it 3 to 4 in favour.... flipping it to a 6wd camper shouldn't be too hard .

RTS

Nice looking trucks!

What's the top speed and fuel consumption like?