Mercedes Benz and Land Rover Unimog U1250 and Discovery Tdi 1984 and 1997

[Iain_U1250]

Mercedes Benz and Land Rover Unimog U1250 and Discovery Tdi, 1984 and 1997


Good Points
Unimog
500mm clearance under the diff, 700mm under the chassis, 1.2m fording depth, 44" tyres, factory diff lock front and rear,

Discovery
Cheap, very economical - fully loaded I still get 10l/100km, parts are easy to obtain, very comfortable

Bad Points
Unimog
Still a work in progress.
It's a big truck and it's slow.

Discovery
Fully loaded it's a bit slow.

What mods have you done?
Unimog
Built a complete camper body, 7.5 ton winches front and rear, 320lt diesel, 300lt water, 52L fridge, 30LFreeze, queen size bed, and loads more.
Fitting Range rover seats, 7 x Hella Rallye 4000 with HID inserts,

Discovery
Tru Track diff locks front and rear, maxidrive rear drive shafts, 33" BFG MT on 0 offset wheels, full length roof rack, under body armour, flexiflares, Loads of lights

What mods are on the list to do?
Unimog
Fitting Range rover seats,
7 x Hella Rallye 4000 with HID inserts,
7.5 ton winches front and rear,

Discovery
Re-build the rear storage to take the Bushman Fridge.

Why did you buy this vehicle?
Unimog - To do a round the world trip
Discovery - to have fun

How often do you go offroad?
Try to get away once a month

What will your next vehicle be?
Maybe a Defender 110 Tomb raider to replace the Discovery

[bmurray2250]

I would have a unimog any day for a trip around Oz. Seen some that are decked with all the good gear. Looking forward to more photos are the project progresses.

[Jarh73]

I'm JEALOUS!

You have a UNIMOG

Can't wait to see more pictures.

Cheers

Justin

[teza h]

A big build there,good luck with that,but I'm sure it will be totaly worth it in the end.

[oznog05]

Unimog's are fascinating machine's. Good luck with the build. Nice rover too!

[Iain_U1250]

It's been quite a build - with quite a few high's and lows

I've attached a few photos of some of the low points and some of the high point. Taking a 25 year old truck from a Road Rail workhorse into a luxury off road camper you to expect the worst I suppose. If I could afford a newer Unimog ( and if there was actually one for sale) I would have saved myself a lot of time and labour. At least when I'm finished everything will be good on the truck - there will be not much left that I have not re-built

Some of the low point were the amount of rust in the floor of the cab, and finding the completely seized brake calliper, however I completely re-worked the floor and was able to find new brake callipers for $250 each. Finishing the painting of the cab was a high point, as was finishing the cladding on the camper box.

I reckon I have another 6 months of work before it's back on the road - that would be 18 months all up - not bad for weekends and evenings

[tankbloke]

Good stuff Iain, you've made me plenty envious.Goodluck with the rest of the build.

[Iain_U1250]

I suppose I have to be philosophical about this build up - better to find the problems now than out in the middle of the Simpson Desert - I stripped out the portal axles - and this is what the main wheel bearing looks like. Worst thing is that there are none in Australia, Mercedes Benz can fly one in - for $500 and they can get them here in 2-3 weeks, or I can buy them myself for UKP83.40 and get them here in less than a week.

The only good news is that there is apparently a heavy duty bearing now available for only a bit extra - I've sent details of my truck off to the factory to get them to confirm whether I can use them without modification to anything. That's the one great thing about Unimogs - the factory will answer any questions about the truck, no matter where it is or who owns it. I got a copy of the official MB "Body Builder Handbook" that told me everything I need to know about fitting things on the truck, what is allowed, what not to do, where to mount things etc - all for free. Gotta love German precision

.

[Iain_U1250]

Here a photo of one of the large portal gear bearings. Looks a little bit worn out

[Grumpy]

What a top job your doing, resurrecting the Unimog