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RE: Get out the BIG checkbook, guys! ;-)
I'd rather have something on a Unimog chassis.
True offroad.
Like mine?
Not for sale.
http://www.unicat.net/en/info/TC49compact.html
Charlie
Unimog U500/Unicat camper
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m37charlie
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12/18/09 12:12pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: TC Fulltiming
One thing I can guarantee you'll want will be a 100lb propane tank. It gets old fast changing out small cylinders during the winter.
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Get a diesel fired Webasto or Eberspacher hydronic heater/hot water heater. They also make forced air unitshttp://www.webasto.us/am/en/am_rv.html
Charlie
Unimog U500/Unicat
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m37charlie
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12/14/09 12:08am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Is a garbage truck conversion a "B"
Why is this on here.
Oh, I'm sorry, vehicles like the 6X6 MAN Unicat and my 4X4 Unimog U500 Unicat do make some people (not the owners) uncomfortable for some reason. My rig:
http://www.unicat.net/en/info/TC49compact.html
And it has no relation to a garbage truck.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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12/07/09 08:44pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Road dust
Unicat doors and windows are double gasketed and seal perfectly.
Charlie
Unimog U500/Unicat camper
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m37charlie
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11/24/09 12:40pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Have you seen a Unimog 4x4 Camper?
It makes a very good chassis for a large heavy camper.
Quiet, good ride on and off roads, 9 mpg @ 60mph weighing >26000 lb; top speed = 70mph. Really a heavy duty Class 7 truck with excellent offroad/badroad capabilities. You can see mine at:
http://www.unicat.net/en/info/TC49compact.html
Charlie
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m37charlie
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11/21/09 07:19pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Boondocking RV
There has been much much discussion on the Expedition Portal forum about camper mounting to frame.
Unicat uses the standard Mercedes Unimog system of a pair of tubular mounts in the center which allow fore-aft pitch roll relative to frame and front/rear pivot mounts which allow roll articulation. All in a diamond pattern. Understand that if the truck is level the camper cannot move; it only serves to allow the camper to adjust to frame twisting without torsion being applied to the camper floor.
the problem with this system is that stress is increased where the mounts attach to the frame and the frame and mounts must be properly engineered for this.
There are many many variations of mounting systems that people have tried with varying success.
Unicat states they have built >250 units and none have cracked under stress of Africa, RTW (round-the-world) etc trips.
Watch the movie of mine in Morocco on Youtube (enter "unimog u500 long 4x4") and you will see lots of articulation of camper vs. cab. Even with a straight frame, 9mm thick, with 7mm reinforcement in the front third.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/28/09 04:03pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking RV
Australians tow travel trailers to the most incredible places. Ideally, with a Landcruiser or Patrol or similar vehicle and a proper bad road trailer like the one mentioned above.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/28/09 10:13am |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking RV
Class C cutaway-based motorhomes and other heavy rigs don't take too kindly to twisting of the main coach box.
That's my point. Have you been on the road to Eureka Valley from Saline Valley via Saline Hot Springs? I don't think one can go there without twisting at least few hundred times.
You said it more convincingly that I could have - Class Cs aren't made for bad roads.
Last month I was on the Canol Road in NW Territories, unmaintained since WW2 but highly used. In one section I was in a gear with top speed 1.7 mph, I was actually going about 1mph: 1-2 ft boulders interspersed with mud. We were travelling with some Landrovers that went over it a lot faster, about 2 mph.
By the way, this was the road, not off-road.
Charlie
Unimog U500/Unicat camper
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m37charlie
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09/27/09 06:15pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking RV
I always wonder why all of these "dreaming of a true off-road RV" posts ignore the issues of where the vehicle can fit without damage to itself or to the natural features (trees, rocks) of the area. Everybody sounds like they want to just take their giant Earthcrusher and go out there and mash things.
As the poster above points out, the vast majority of illegal offroad travel in the US is ATVs and motorcycles. Road-legal 4X4s are a small percentage. 4X4 RVs aren't even measurable.
I don't dream of crushing fragile plants. I do sleep better at night knowing my vehicle and the camper's insides aren't falling apart driving on a corrugated dirt road, or articulating on an old mining road.
Incidentally, speaking of going offroad, when you aren't around a "designated campsite", do you park right in the middle of the road?
I certainly don't; I admit it, I do occaisonally drive "off-road" (for a very short distance).
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/27/09 11:35am |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking RV
I'm sorry I don't.
Check Unicat's site, 2nd hand part. They have some incredibly nice rigs all redone for ~165000 euros, ~$220K. No more than a nice diesel pusher...
Legal the rest of the world, not registerable in the US due to EPA/DOT.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/15/09 07:28pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking RV
The CG of my vehicle is at the floor of the camper. The upper half of the camper is mostly air surrounded by foam encased by thin fiberglass walls. The tipping angle is ~38 degrees.
The camper must clear the tires, and the torsion free mounting raises it a bit from the frame.
Sure you could put weeny tires on it, but then you'd get stuck more often. And you need a pretty big tire with a GAWR of 9000 kg (almost 20,000 lb) with singles. A smaller tire would have to be a dual, like a "small" 11R22.5 (42.3" instead of 46.7", would reduce radius only 2.2")
I have driven on Baja burro trails across sidehills.
The U5000 has 100mm (4") wider track, not available in US and has only a 4.8L 4cyl and 6.94s instead of 5.92s. You could buy wheels with a smaller offset (like 4" instead of 6.3") and get 4.6" wider track but it would stress portal box output bearing. Which is about 6-7" across outside diameter, at least.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/15/09 06:21pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking RV
We are very happy with our Unicat on a 2005 Unimog U500 chassis. But one must truly not be too concerned about costs to not be unhappy after paying for what one gets.
Someone on another thread was shocked that the chassis cost me $125K ($95K + $30K options). I pointed out that to equip a Peterbilt (his example) with central tire inflation, dual transfer case ratios of 5.76 and 55.7 (the latter allows one to match winch speed to tire speed), central and front/rear locking diffs, 4 wheel disk brakes, 395/85R20s, automatic shifting manual 8 spd, etc, etc would cost well over that. I just priced a Chevy T8500 forward control 4X2 with GVW 33-39K. Almost $90k with some necessary options. That still leaves the 4X4 conversion at Tulsa Truck. CTIS is probably impossible with its' axles, as is front locking diff. And this may sound minor, but putting big singles on a rear axle designed for DRW and matching the front track, especially without two wheel offsets, usually requires a spacer. Do you want to be driving a Class 7 or 8 truck with a wheel spacer?
The Unimog U500 is a unique chassis for North America, you can't order or even custom build any chassis available in N. America like it.
The camper is thorougly ruggedized, corrugated gravel roads don't faze it. Twisting offroad doesn't bother it either since it's mounted on a torsion-free mounting.
Again, for most people the problem is the cost. In the ballpark of an absolute top end diesel pusher; but much less than a Prevost (half that or less).
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/15/09 08:15am |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Unicat- TerraCross
Honestly, Unicat has excellent used ones totally refurbished like new for 33-60% of new price, "relatively" affordable. The problem: except for the International MXT (for which they want new price) you can't register them in the States. But just to titillate yourself check out "Second Hand" on their European site.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/09/09 07:59pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Unicat- TerraCross
I just can not believe the truck alone is 125 large....... Whats the current price of a Single wheel Peterbuilt?
You'd have to pay more than that to aftermarket equip a US made vehicle with electroautomatic shifting, central tire inflation, front/rear hydraulics, heated windshield, disk brakes, 2 low ranges at 5.76 and 55.7:1, fulltime 4WD with 3 locking diffs, 395/85R20s etc etc. And then it would have a huge long hood sticking out eating up wheelbase.
Believe my I researched it. There is nothing else remotely similar available in this country.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/08/09 08:10pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Unicat- TerraCross
Maybe a bit more than $200K; the chassis alone was $125K.
I wouldn't touch a diesel pusher with the proverbial 10' pole. I'm shipping it to Australia for 18 months and then returning home via SE Asia, Yunnan, Tibet, Sinkiang, Inner & Outer Mongolia, Russia and Europe. Could you do that with a Class A, even a Prevost?
It gets 9mpg on the highway but yesterday my EGR system fell off so I anticipate hopefully 9.5 or even 10.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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09/06/09 10:41pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Unicat- TerraCross
There are lots of interior shots on the Unicat website. One really nice feature is that nothing falls off or falls apart after thousands of miles on dirt/washboard roads. Mine has a simple ladder but for lots (more) money you can get hydraulic folding steps.
If we have to pee at 5am my wife or I just get up and go to the nice ceramic toilet in the heated bathroom.
I have 7 windows, each about 4 square feet; 5 of the 7 open up.
It has R-13 insulation with no cold spots (urethane foam sandwiched between fiberglass, toal 60mm thick) and in -20 F. burns at the most 1 gallon diesel/day to keep very warm.
Charlie
05 Unimog U500/Unicat camper
PS: my vehicle is on the Terracross part of the Unicat site, it's the blue one with the 4.8 or 4.9m camper
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m37charlie
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09/05/09 09:19am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Family RV Trip around the world
You might want to transfer your inquiries to the Expedition Portal forums. that forum is totally populated by people with interests in bad road RVs and travelling to out-of-the-way places.
There are very few US legal vehicles that are serviceable worldwide. You might also check out Stephen Stewart's treatise on "which van?" on the Silkroute Motorcaravan Club site. He goes into the many vehicle-based decisions that must be made in order to have a good experience travelling overland.
He feels that a Mercedes based diesel vehicle is the best chassis choice. 4wd is nice but not absolutely necessary. The only current US choice fitting these criteria is a diesel Sprinter (only 2wd in the US). Definitely too small for your family.
I ended up with a 2005 Unimog U500 with a Unicat camper, which meets all the criteria.
If you are willing to have a non US registerable vehicle your choices widen immensely. For example, a Mercedes 1828 4WD Atego with single rear tires and a quality European built expedition camper body would be an excellent choice, depending on budget.
Again, I strongly recommend visiting the Expedition Portal site and reading Stephen's article on the Silkroute Motorcaravan site. And I'll personal message you right now.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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06/24/09 02:40pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: MH from Sweden in the US...IS real!
Cool
Any issues importing to USA?
Not at all, since it's a US legal chassis. Except we did spend 4-1/2 days at Jacksonville Customs with them going around in circles about the body, but they finally let it pass.
If I had been smart, I would have shipped from Bremerhaven to Halifax and crossed the border by land. My other entries to the US (Nogales, Beaver Creek) have been quick and easy.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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06/09/09 04:30pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: MH from Sweden in the US...IS real!
I'm sorry, I don't have a way to easily post pictures but you can see the truck and its' interior by going to www.unicat.net , European section (specify English), "Vehicles", "Terracross", 4.9m (blue) camper. That's mine. Some of the specs like fuel capacity are different on mine.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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06/08/09 09:51pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: MH from Sweden in the US...IS real!
Thank you.
Charlie
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m37charlie
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06/08/09 07:09pm |
General RVing Issues
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