Hi Guys, first post so go easy!

As part of my search for a base vehicle I've come across these MAN/VW ex-military 4x4 8 tonners (GVW). 8.136 or 8.150 FAE or FAL.
Does anybody know anything about them? Reliability?
Cheers,
Steve.

Hi Steve, sorry i cant help you with any info about the truck, but i can understand your plight as i was in the same position not so long ago myself. I was trying to gather information about various trucks that i could use as the base for an expediton vehicle. I eventually settled on an ex army bedford MJ 4x4 as this suited me well. The truck is a low milage (18000) example and they are of a simple construction, have a great reputation for reliability and are prety robust machines and best of all are quite inexpensive to buy, the fuel consumption is also not to bad 15mpg on tarmac is achievable. The down side is they are basic in the cab with few comforts, are really quite slow so long motorway miles would be a chore. anyway i thought i`d just say Hi and wish you well..........Marty
P.S. let us know how you get on.
P.P.S. take a look at this site for help/advice on the camper build
http://www.sbmcc.co.uk/

Thanks Marty.
My thinking so far revolves around four base vehicles, two of which I have eliminated (I think )

1) Bedford MJ - Eliminated because of the cab and lack of power steering. It's a planned 3 year full time trip with 3 of us up front so comfort is important).Power steering essential for my wife.

2) Man 8.224 (newish) as used by Unicat - my preference really but eliminated because of the scarcity of used examples (that I can find) and the exorbitant fees for carnets on such an expensive vehicle.

3) Man/Vw 8.136/8.150 - basically the forerunner to the new Man 8.224 above but lots of examples and can be had for about £5,000 upwards. Downside, geared for 87kmh max speed and about 10mpg. Still in the running though.

4) Leyland/Daf 45/150 4x4 as used as the military general sevice 4 tonner (10 ton+/- GVW). Exellent examples from military storage but despite the fact that they are very common I am struggling to get second opinions or decent drawings/specifications. Still in the running so will keep trying.

Anything that cannot accomodate permanant beds, shower & toilet is ruled out. I don't want to circle the globe but lose a family!

Any ideas folks?

Steve

If you want three in the cab The bedford is no use to you, might squeeze a seat in but it`s never gona be comfy. Out of curiosity what age is the yougster ? my yougest is still at school so we plan to wait a few years (3) so he can take some time out of education then travel with us if he wants to, but there are so many variables that it`s real hard to make definate plans. Have a look at this site http://www.witham-sv.com/infopage.php?ID=1103&Overide=1 this is a unimog but they also supply daf and bedford trucks all ex military
regards........marty.

I visited Withams the week before last Marty. Excellent Leyland with only 13,000kms but I missed it. I also saw that Unimog 'in the flesh' there. Again it's lack of cab comfort that knocks the 'Mog out.
Our daughter is seven now and we need to be done for when she starts senior school at 11 so we have to decide on the vehicle & get on with this.
Steve.

that leaves you with a few years of lea way with the youngster to have your adventures, hope it all works out for you steve. When you get your truck send me a message and keep me posted, i`d be intrested to hear from you.
cheers.............marty.

If cab comfort is desired in a Unimog check out the red U5000 for sale at Unimog, 4x4, Spezialfahrzeuge,Geländefahrzeuge, militärfahrzeuge und v.m.-MEREX Autovertrieb GmbH ; it has CTIS, electroautomatic shifting, etc. The latest Mogs are comparable to a newish MAN, etc. in cab amenities.
I can say from experience a U500 makes a very nice chassis for a 4.8m camper.

Charlie

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Unimog U500 w/Unicat

Steve i found this site http://www.padh.de/html/fahrzeuge_neu.html looks like there are a few MAN 8.136 trucks for sale along with a few other intresting looking trucks.........marty

[quote=ClassicCruiser;116416]Hi Guys, first post so go easy!

hi the place to get these 4x4 vw man trucks is in germany ,they come from a company called vebeg they are on the internet

Seems a very popular thread this, so some may be interested in impressions, pix and movies following 10,000kms in my 8.136:
http://www.overlanders-handbook.com/MAN/index3.htm

Saw a 9.150 FAE down in Djanet also being used for bike tour support. Around a metre longer, spare tyre underneath and full height in the back, but matey said there are only 10 in Germany. 8.136s are easy to find as we know.

Chris S

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Excellent write up Chris, glad it all worked out ok. Impressive fuel consumption! I'd better get on and make/fit the living mobile back to my merc ready for the autumn.
Steve

Chris,

Enjoyed the trucklette write up very much and am now thinking that I too may buy one and use the back to live in for more extended trips! Much more space than a Defender , cheaper than rebuilding one but with the downside of higher fuel costs (in the UK) and not so good for nipping down to the shops or chippy. How do you think it would cope with bigger dunes?? Can you get spares like shocks etc fairly easily?

I work in HGV transport and MAN's in their larger incarnations (16-44 tons) always struck me as having superior build quality over other makes such as Merc (esp later Mercs) and DAF/Volvo/Iveco. This was borne out by the fact that even at 900,000 km everything worked as original and nothing had fallen off. They all had very smooth and free revving engines. Actually we used to use 30 foot 3 axle 24 tonners for going to the chippy so as a standby runabout a small 7.5t truck could be a goer.

Will be interested to see the future camper body mod.

Presumably a truck like this would be ideal for something like the Gilf trip...?



Andrew.

Hi Andrew, glad the report was useful.

How do you think it would cope with bigger dunes??
At a bar and a half no worse than a regular 4WD but it's a bit more work to dig out unless you can reverse out. The Admer crossing is a pretty long and steep and it managed fine once I worked it out. Later on were worked our way through smaller, 20m-high dunes in the Taghera region to make a short cut. Getting stuck to the axles on a downslope here was frustrating (the 80 did too) but all you can do is dig, deflate and keep sandplating. Or better still, walk ahead to mark a firm route as we eventually did.

Can you get spares like shocks etc fairly easily?
Depends where you are I suppose - dont know the RTW range of MANs. As you read, I got a 15 year old clutch seal in Hassi M by just reaching out my arm and in the UK Matt has no trouble getting the usual wear-out bits just down the road, including a new slave cylinder. Shocks look pretty standard and anyway dont work hard coz the leaves do.

.... and MAN's always struck me as having superior build quality over other makes such as Merc (esp later Mercs) and DAF/Volvo/Iveco.
That's what I hear too but I'm coming from a knowledge base of zero. In Algeria any HG smuggler worth his salt runs a MAN.

Actually we used to use 30 foot 3 axle 24 tonners for going to the chippy so as a standby runabout a small 7.5t truck could be a goer.
It will be a doddle to park but still carries a lot of chips. Which reminds me, must get down to Macro for a pallet's worth of veggy oil.

Will be interested to see the future camper body mod.
We only have a back-of-fag-packet design and I've been looking at all sorts of designs on the web and have a good idea what will work best. IMO to live in an 8136 you need more space than the flatbed floor offers so moving the spare and all that stuff there needs to be done to extend the body forward - and then a bevel angling up off the back about a metre will add 4 feet all up. My plan is to have the module demountable like Thunderbird 2 so in between trips you can return it to flatbed mode to take a cow to market or do a bike tour.

Presumably a truck like this would be ideal for something like the Gilf trip...?
Apart from the getting there, yes, if not a bit OTT. A regular 4WD is absolutely maxed out on a typical 2200km Gilf run. For my 2008 tour I'll probably run mine in flatbed mode with no sheet and a couple of oil drums in the back; the payload won't be any more than I carried for the bikes in Alg. The problem might be the other cars will think it's a general purpose load carrier and tow truck!
And with a truck, the good thing in the Gilf is that it's so arid there are no oueds or run-off channels to speak of which makes cross country progress comparatively agreeable compared to oued-riddled central Sahara. And I'm already taking bets I'll get up the Aqaba Pass in one go!

Chris S

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail