Interesting vehicle, it looks like the 6x6 Sprinter has a much wider track, do you know the width? that's the only other disadvantage I can see combined with the ground clearance,, if its getting closer to an HGV track then you will find it very difficult to straddle deep ruts on a Western Trans Africa and with that amount of ground clearance it could be an issue - but this is only one area of Africa, people have got far less capable vehicles through. Id definitely be looking at diff locks on both rear axles, the ramp angle looks fairly good.

What are you planning for sleeping, will you have a back body on the vehicle? with the double cab there wont be a huge amount of room for a good sized sleeping compartment.

Ive often thought that a well prepped Sprinter diesel 4x4 on tall tyres would be the best compromise overland vehicle - decent living room for 2, fairly capable and quite fuel efficient, good luck!

Long term Im not sure if the petrol would be a good idea, I guess it would get you past all of the emissions Euro 3/5 can of worms for remote travel and if you are going to keep the vehicle for a long time not so bad, but the resale value will be very low in Europe with a petrol engine - most people wont touch it.

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

Hi Grif


5 diff locks available - across all three axles, one 'centre' diff plus one between the two rear axles - that should help keep me going! Check out the www.krugxp.com site for pretty much what I'd be specifying - a full live in cabin on the single cab LWB chassis. James I'll be having the back coach built by others - I don't have the time or temperament to build the whole of the cabin to the sort of quality I know it'll need to survive. Maintain it - yes, build it - I fear I'd never finish it!


Good point about the track width. I've been looking just now and can't find a figure but I suspect you are right that it may be close to HGV width. Hmm, food for thought. Ramp angle is good - 30 degrees or more depending on how I spec the back. Wading depth is 600mm as standard.


I'll be keeping it many years I hope and will be registering it in / setting out from Dubai. I guess if I bring it back here, where NOBODY drives diesel cars it'll be easier to sell. The diesel is 500ppm sulphur here and destroys modern engines, anyway why would you bother when a V8 petrol costs the same to run as a diesel.


All good points - keep 'em coming (I haven't been completely put off yet!)

Yep, agreed, if you are staying out of Europe then why worry about the price of fuel

I just prefer diesel engines, you get better torque at lower revs, range and engine braking IMO

Which petrol engine do they use for this conversion? probably a 3 litre straight 6 I guess ? its going to need some grunt.

I like it, Its a shame you cant fit taller tyres (XZL's) all round on it, if you have to go with BFG's Id get mud terrains, the treads are quite a bit tougher than the BFG A/T's and are surprisingly good on sand - in slick mud the A/T's are horrible.


How much do you think this build will cost all in ?

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

I'd prefer diesel myself (do Eberspacher make a petrol powered cabin heater anyway?) but was thinking about petrol because of the Euro 5/6 problems (and the cheap chassis offer!) BUT Surfy has kindly enlightened me!


I was told that the available 2011 chassis has a "190hp engine" but the M272, 3.5 litre V6 engine seems to be the only petrol option from 2006, I think, and that is 250hp. However that's the same as 190kW, so that may be where the confusion comes from. The petrol produces 340ftlb of torque, but the 3 litre diesel V6 OM642 produces 180hp, and a lovely 400ftlb of torque. MUCH more useful. (I'm not an engine anorak - Wikipedia knows the figures, not me!)


Yep, tyres is on my 'list of things to worry about' but not at the top right now, if I'm honest. If I start down the E. Africa trail, in the N Hemisphere summer (August on - ish), do I opt for mud tyres, sand tyres (with 5 diff locks, no burning desire to explore any MORE deserts and 20 years practice I don't believe I need specialist sand tyres in E Africa to be fair. I may well be wrong....) Then it's the old '80+% of my time on tarmac so do I opt for comfort on the road and less traction off road' quandary. 6 wheel drive and 400ftlb will get you a long way off road..... I hope. Definitely still more work to do on the tyre decision front. To be continued...:confused1:


Ah, the cost. You HAD to ask Good thing my wife, who is refusing to join me on the trail, doesn't know about HUBB and won't be reading my posts. At least EUR 140K, probably considerably more. I know, it's one of the many reasons for my wavering over the decision. 22 years in the Gulf has been good to me, but left me hungry for more travel, and I'm tired of Dubai now - it's time to leave the rat race.


Photography is my passion, and I write for local car and lifestyle magazines for a hobby, so hope to earn some money selling photos, some pieces for magazines in the Middle East, and maybe some local stuff as I travel. But that really is 'nice if I earn some but don't bank on it' money. The overland thing ticks every hobby box I have - driving, travel, photography, writing and gadgets, so it's been niggling away at me for years. 2015 is the year of 'get on with it'


I've also been doing some property development in the UK with the specific goal of paying for the truck. The first of project is on schedule and by the end of January I'll HOPEFULLY be in a position to sell it and reinvest, in project 2. But the profit on P1 will pay for most of the truck, at least, that's the plan. We'll see.. Which is why I'm firming up ideas because I'll be ordering soon. In fact today I was driving home, thinking about these posts, wishing I was back in the Masai Mara and thought "Sod it, I'm buying the Oberaigner". So well done to you all - I think I just got tipped over the edge....God help me

While it looks like a pretty cool vehicle... And not that I want to spoil the fun, but I can't shake off the idea that for that sort of money you could get something with very similar capabillities and enough change for a couple of years on the road... .
I wouldn't worry about the tyres. 285/75 is plenty for pretty much all routes that are also taken by pick-ups and bush taxis.

Hi Robbert

Whilst I could definitely buy another vehicle and run it for a couple of years for sort of that money, like everyone I have my own set of criteria which are important to me and so I need something which meets my specific needs.

• I definitely want a live in cabin. I look at images of over-loaded LC and LRs etc. with far too much weight on the roof, obscured windows, over stressed suspension, carrying god only knows how much weight in excess of the GVW, and I think “Nah, that’s not for me”. I can afford a bit of comfort, so I’m going to have it. This vehicle could be my home for at least 2 but probably 3 or 4 years, and I’d like, amongst other things, a decent shower, a permanent double bed, hidden secure storage for a lot of camera gear, and an extra large table to work from (writing / photo and video editing). Trying to do the latter in a tent, on the road, is totally unproductive. I’ve tried it, I don’t like it. Sand / mud / wind / tent floors and camera / memory cards / computer gear are a bad combination even in the short term, but long term – nightmare!
• Another very important consideration – for me – is the on road driving experience – specifically comfort. In 2008 I broke my back in a cross country rallying accident. It was bad enough that it ended my racing days, and I spent several months in a brace after a big operation to ‘fix’ two vertebrae. I was lucky, and blessed by having a bloody awesome surgeon do a brilliant job, and I was able to walk out of the hospital just a week after the accident. But as a result, even long ‘plane journeys (over 4 or 5 hours say) become very uncomfortable for me, so I’ll be fitting air suspension seats to whatever I buy, and would prefer something with a more forgiving suspension than a 30 year old ex fire truck! Corrugated track crossings of 30 mins+ in a well prepped 4x4 have been known to give me neck and back problems for days afterwards…. My travels will be over before they’ve started if every time I climb up into the cab, I start dreading the next few hours of driving.
• If we assume I’m going for a live in cabin, for years I’ve been looking at older Merc or MAN 4x4 trucks as the basis. First a Unimog, but I’ve read too many stories of people saying “awesome off road vehicle but overkill for RTW journeys”. And slow. And noisy. I’ve got a mate with one here, and nearly bought it, but I kept having second thoughts. So I looked at something a little less rugged but commonly used - something like a 1017AF and later, after I thought about the power / weight demands, a 1222AF. I was pretty much committed to taking that path, and looking for ready built overlanders, BUT. Always I kept thinking “why use a chassis that weighs 5 or 6 tonnes to haul a sub 2 tonne cabin?” Then when you look at the height of these trucks, the relative difficulty of using them in smaller towns, the fuel consumption and again, the cab noise and ‘back comfort’ levels, I kept delaying the decision.
• So I went to Bad Kissingen 2014, to do a lot of comparison shopping. And saw the Oberaigner with a Krug cabin fitted: 3 to 4 tonnes lighter than a big truck yet with the same rear cabin size, so significantly less fuel consumption, easier to tow out of a stuck, fewer concerns about ‘rickety bridge crossings’, not quite as tall – so better clearance under trees and low wires - a modern, quieter cabin with plenty of driver comfort, Mercedes global support, a commercial presence in Dubai already (important for various reasons), etc. etc.
• Besides which, I spent hours on their stand, they put up with my hundreds of questions and my crawling under their vehicles in good humour, I was impressed with the engineering (Mercedes don’t hand out 3rd party OEM approvals easily) and they’ve called me up twice since to meet in Dubai. I like suppliers who pay professional personal attention to their customers. It gives me confidence.
• So it meets all my criteria, can be tailored to suit my specific needs (fully opening panel windows both sides for wildlife photography, considerably more than ‘standard’ solar panels and electrical fit out for all my tech gear needs), and besides, it looks bloody awesome (which actually helps me to sell travel stories to media, because it’s ‘unusual’)
  

As I said before, no vehicle will ever be perfect – but this is as close as I suspect I’ll ever find to what I consider ideal. If I keep waiting for ‘perfect’ I’ll still be in Dubai in 5 years time!

If a Sprinter base is a given, it may be worth having a read around Mantras.

I saw quite a few Sprinter based vehicles in civilian use in Iceland this summer with various bodies on the back. Some had huge ground clearance.

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just what my cousin did. He has a camper van now, nothing like yours, just a nice hymer and he and his missus just follow the sun. I asked him how long could they keep going, he said 'as long as we want' They live nicely on a budget of 450e a month and have enough money stashed from the sale of their last development to pretty much travel forever if they so wish.

nice!

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014