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the practicalities of using a 2wd truck the practicalities of using a 2wd truck
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Equipping the Overland Vehicle Vehicle accessories - Making your home away from home comfortable, safe and reliable.
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  #1  
Old 16 May 2008
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the practicalities of using a 2wd truck
Hi all,

For a long time I have been keen on the idea of getting a truck for living in and travelling, I am finally saving some decent money and so I am now doing serious research rather than far flung dreaming.

My background is probably different to many of your in that the truck will not only serve as a home when I’m travelling but also during the periods of time that I am in London, these will realistically compromise the bulk of my time for many years. Full time travelling is something I can aspire to for the future. I will live in the truck on traveller sites and so my choice of a large truck is based on the necessity for having a toilet and shower amongst other things. Camping is fine when you know you have a house to come back when the travels are done to but is obviously totally impractical for day to day working life in a big city.

I am not interested in testing my vehicle through masochistic excursions into Siberian tundra or through war zones in Africa, however when I travel I want to get far and do not want to be limited by being in an inappropriate vehicle. I expect much of my travelling to be in Asia and Europe and I eventually want to drive to Singapore, I do not expect to be going further into Africa than Algeria and Morocco.

For years I have been totally set on the idea of buying a large 4x4/6x6 military vehicle such as Bedford TM, man kat or magirus deutz but as the time to spend money draws near the reality of living with such a vehicle become more important to me. What will ultimately be important to me is that I have a vehicle which I can easily service, which will be reliable and which will be adequate for the areas which I want to travel.

My budget is in the region of £10,000 for the truck chassis, although it would be nice if a basic insulated box could be included in this price. My searches have basically shown me that I can get an excellent 4x4 truck for this money, but it will be a truck that is more than 20 years old and often will be from a manufacturer that either no longer exists such as Bedford or Magirus, or that has limited service or parts distribution in western Europe or beyond such as tatra or kamaz. If I want a 2 wheel drive truck I can get one which is around 5 years old from a major manufacturer such as Mercedes or Volvo. However well looked after and low mileage the military trucks are, I find it to believe that they will be as reliable as a modern freight vehicle, am I wrong about this?

My question is whether a truck such as the one shown below (with small modifications to improve ground clearance and approach/departure angle) will be adequate for round the world travels? If I am honest with myself much of my travelling will be on roads, but is 4x4 necessary for the times when good roads are not available? For information the truck below has a rear axle difflock as do many trucks in this weight class.



I am looking at trucks in the region of 10t to 18t, I want something which is operating well below its maximum weight limit and I am aware through experience that trucks in this weight category are built significantly more ruggedly than lighter ones.

Do most goods truck operating in the areas I intend to travel have 4x4?

I would not consider the use of a 2 wheel drive car but the improved ground clearance and more robust construction of large trucks may make them more suitable for travelling, is this the case?

many thanks for your help,

Nick
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Old 16 May 2008
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Hi Nick

As an Ex-Overland driver I have watched as Dragoman Overland have pioneered overland expeditions in 2wd trucks successfully.
Most of their trucks are still 2wd, some have Diff-lock. They now have a number of 4x6 trucks but these are bigger than you would need.

The advantage of their trucks over the Bedfords I was driving were:
Comfort, speed, reliability, consumption... just to name a few.

With steel sandmats for desert, and snowchains for mud I saw them all over the place.

For some daft reason -they dont seem to mention their trucks on their website. Most (if not all) of them from memory were Mercedes.

HTH
Graham
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  #3  
Old 16 May 2008
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........Floppy?
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  #4  
Old 16 May 2008
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Adding a winch that can be mounted both front and rear, as the stuck may dictate, is good insurance for lapses in judgement.

A rear locker can take a 2WD truck to some interesting places, and can also get you into more trouble.

2WD is lighter and cheaper to maintain.
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Old 16 May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onlyMark View Post
........Floppy?
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  #6  
Old 17 May 2008
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2wd??
Hi Nick

nearly all of the Overland truck companies run 2wd trucks - most popular seem to be Mercedes, closely followed by Scania and Volvo. Also consider Iveco - there are some 4x4 and possibly 6x6/6x4/8x4/8x6 versions available - as there will be with Mercs.
Other options might be Leyland type trucks.

4wd trucks are Bedford MK's and TM's, various versions of many mainstream trucks built pre-dominantly for the military markets, Unimogs and of course MAN.

The MAN if you can find one in your budget with 4wd and not too old would probably be the best choice or a Merc, Scania or Volvo if going 2wd.
Definately get a truck with difflock if poss and also look at power/power to weight ratios of the various models.
__________________
ChrisC
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  #7  
Old 18 May 2008
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As ChrisC says, most overland companies use 2wd trucks.

I've done a number of such tours and the main thing that the drivers swore by was the diff-lock.

I've had, on my tours, had to dig out both 2wd drive and 4wd drive trucks (several times when crossing West Africa on a 4wd drive Merc run by Bukima). And in all the bogged places, I've never noted any major advantage to having 4wd.

One place comes to mind while I'm typing this - the border from Morocco down to Mauritania. You got escorted (by the army) to within a couple of km from the border and then you face the worse soft sand anywhere. Our 4wd Merc chugged across with the tyres sinking in and needing sand matting just to get them up onto the surface. In the same convoy was a number of Peugeot 405 cars (2wd) which coped with the assistance of people pushing.

have fun
Tony
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