EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT UNIMOGS - Top Speed, Fuel Consumption, Price, Air Con? 

Nice one Guys. One thing about you that really impresses me with your dialogue, is your respect for each others discussion time. Many times in similar situations, I see the partner being talked over and cut off while trying to make a valid point, there just seems to be some sort of competition for face time. You both have a wonderful rhetoric with each other, and to the viewers. All the best for the build. Take care and stay safe, Cheers.

I’ve Owned 3 Unimogs..1), 1988 -1300L37 w/ Fast axles 2), 2008- U5000 w/ 18,000 lb. Hiab Crane 3), 2005- U500 ... My First Unimog was the 1300L 37 Ex Fire TRK ...After Driving it for 3 months in Virginia/ USA ..I Changed my Will , Planned Final Directives ,to Be Buried in it ,sitting at the , Driving Seat ,Hands Tied to the Steering Wheel, Buried 25’Ft. Under the Earth !!! My Good Friend who Owned a CAT Dozer ,promised to Excavate the Grave ‘ for me...Can Honestly Say that the Only !! Thing to Break on 1300L 37 .after 3 years of Hard Driving ,was a Serpentine Belt ( that I Bought at NAPA for $22.85 ) Unimogs are The BEST Vehicle’s on Planet Earth !!! ( Many People Do Not Know , But IF , You Have a Breakdown in the Middle of Africa.. Alaska ..B.C. Churchill Canada ..Mercedes-Benz Will Air-Drop the Part to You by Parachute Cargo Drop ..ANYWHERE on the Globe ,Once they have your Coordinates!! MB has their Own Fleet of Fokker Prop Cargo Planes, Around the Globe for just that Purpose ) I Believe That in 100 years from Now..There will be only 3 Conglomerate Automakers on Earth ..Mercedes-Benz Being the Largest , Best ,Technology Advanced of the 3 !!!!! 💀☠️💀🇺🇸🇦🇺

There is no better vehicle for off-road use than the Unimog. Have fun and success ... Greetings from Germany.

Hi there. I'm enjoying your videos very much. We also have a 1983 Unimog Ex Australian Army, purchased in August 2020. Originally we were going to put body on the back but we found out that if we leave it stock that it qualifies for historic registration in NSW. This means our registration costs less than $100 per year! We are restricted to driving it 60 times per year and to all club events. This is more than once a week which is plenty for us at this stage. We have purchased second hand seats out of a Mercedes Benz Sprinter bus, a double and a single that have the seat belts fitted to the seats. I have yet to fit them but it looks like I can mount them to the original seat bases with minor modifications. We have decided to purchase an off road caravan to tow behind the Unimog and leave the canopy on the back so we can carry our kayaks, pushbikes and anything else we need all under cover. I have a few other ideas for the Unimog that I will video as I go and post them up on youtube. Good luck with everything.

I really enjoy watching these types of builds on old military vehicles. Besafe

You are learning fast. Some suggestions: 1) If you are not going to go for a cab aircon don't bother too much with sound deadening. Rather focus on heat, especially from the passenger/left footwell. Windows open is great for ventilation but nullify all sound attenuation. 2) Air ride seats are pretty expensive and does not do much for your comfort. Spend the money elsewhere. 3) The overdrive is a huge expense but it reduces your noise level immensely (if you keep the speed/revs down)

Back in 1983 my driving instructor showed us just how resilient the Mog is by pointing out that NO CRITICAL PARTS of the unimog operate on electricity. Its all compressed air operated. In fact you could strip every single bit of copper wire off a unimog and it would still operate fine. No electricity to operate a starter motor? Fine. He got us to jack up one rear wheel, chock the front wheels and then wrapped a long tie down strop around the jacked up rear wheel and four of us ran away pulling the strop then the driver dropped the clutch in third gear and started the engine :) Have had a Mog stuck up to the top of the wheels and still managed to self recover using the pto wich, but yes a straight pull can easily ruin the wire rope or winch. We used the spare tyre as a deadman and had two snatch blocks to reduce the work the winch had to do. Oh, and an awful lot of digging was needed too! Your fuel consumption is bang on with the owners manual of 20-22L/100km. Those motors were common as mud in German busses for several decades.

Can't wait to see the adventures in this beast! You're living my dream!

Great work guys. I worked on quite a few of these and as for speed all Army ones are set at 2300rpm BUT the RAAF ones are set at 2700rpm and do 100kph no issue. I can tell you now that they drive more like a car at 100 as well. Keep it up and see you next week.

excited to watch the build guys , thanks for sharing your journey

You have done so well with your purchase, 85 km is plenty for Highway. Keep the streams coming ,the build going to exciting, glad to see you are doing your reach.

Like your thinking around all your plans - just make sense. Best with the build and other mods - outcome will be awesome !!

Sounds like great fun. Looking forward to the adventure!

thats a big project guys , just remember the more weight the more fuel u will use, and the harder it will be to get out off a bog. best of luck with the start of the build.

Like your videos. Watched all of them here in South Africa

Oh I remember the days of being on the back of those as a rifle man. You also need ur recon jeep up the front :)

Great detail of your project , maybe instead of painting you can give it a wrap, may work out cheaper if you can get a sponsor. Thanks for showing us guys and looking forward to the next one.

Having done some traveling (Europe) we found 50 mph /60 mph was fast enough we were also towing a caravan . You soon learn to slowdown and see the scenery and sights

Great choice , a lot of elbow grease ahead as I’m finding out , look forward to seeing your progress , if you need a hand at all feel free to contact anytime 👍🍻🇦🇺

Thank you for sharing your experience.

6 ton payload, you could build an actual brick veneer house on the back!

I wish I had taken picture of one I saw in Canberra a week ago - I think with NSW plates. Immaculate condition and a full solid rear compartment. Will keep an eye for it.

So excited!!

Can’t wait to see it unfold

So happy for you guys, this is exactly what I pictured for you. Cant wait to see your final build and keen to see more of your adventures. As a side note: Today I finished working for a company, I now have a 3 month deadline to finish my builds and hit the road full time also (my build is no where near as cool as yours...). I'm on RU-vid too, and if we cross paths while exploring Aus. I will hit you up to meet up for an explore. Keep up the good content, legends !

Wow good luck guys , I hope it turns out awesome for you

Looking forward to seeing the build videos.

Just going south in summer and north in winter would be fairly good with no air con. Great project to have.

Cant wait to see it as a camper. 👍👍🇦🇺🇦🇺❤❤

Looking forward to a SERIES on the fitout

Love the habitat reference.

The uni of is a tractor that goes on the road. It has a short wheel base like my 4wd and might be a bit uncomfortable because the wheel base might mean it will land it the ruts of other 4x4’s. Good luck with the build, a light coloured paint job will reflect a lot of heat. Just find a black car and white car parked next to each other in the sun and put your hand on each, the temperature difference is startling.

Super interesting q&A

"aircons not that big for us but it might be for the baby" ....yeah bro bet 😂

Loving the hell outa this , you two are taking on the very project I was in the process of researching , just missed out on a good turbo 1700L at the last Hobart Auction 🙁 but will keep trying .

Oh man, this is going to be a channel to watch! I have always wanted a Unimog, i think they are just the ultimate rig.$28K!!! WOW! I just saw a DOKA on Gumtree for $128K. Kids always add that little bit of drama to the design process. I am looking forward to seeing how you deal with that, when it comes about, I have two girls, so ill be looking for a dual cab, when comes time. Not in the current Covid Tax time. 14ltr per 100kms is way better than i thought, 30lr per 100kms is pretty rough. You two are in WA? Stoked to have found another WA RU-vidr. I am based up near Moore River. Anyway, I am looking forward to following the build and the adventures. One Life, One Search, Shane

You guys are loving the dream. Steve 🇦🇺

Yahoo,can't wait 👍🍀🇦🇺

Well done guys - you are going down the right path! Removing the rear boards gives you access to all the parts that need some TLC - A small tip whilst everything is opened up is; please check all your airlines and make sure they are in good order, not cracked or rubbing on any part of the chassis or each other! The whole vehicle runs on air and if you have a leak the park brakes come on and you won’t move, the brakes will lock, as I’m sure you know - also leaks will mean you won’t be able to engage your diff locks either! Your friend on the farm can advise you on this issue? It’s a pain, but my advice to you is check every connection and replace the connectors if they look dodgy. Again, I’m not being a wise ass, but have done exactly what you are doing but had to go back to the air system and repair connectors when everything was rebuilt and it was a major hassle due to access restrictions and limitations! Hope my comments help you and hope I’m not stating the obvious? Cheers Guy

Awesome!

Don't overlook a set of Snow Chains, never left home without them

Pls update all the mods videos you do to this beast. Kinda interesting to watch the Changes to upcome👍

Would the box on the back be a pop top ? A visit to some caravan yards to look a layouts might help and take plenty of photos of what you see.

Another great vid. I drive an ex military Land Rover 101GS forward control here in the uk fitted with a V8 petrol, and cruise at around 70kph. The truck was designed and built specifically for the army as a gun tractor so it has really low gearing for the road. I have fitted an overdrive for 3rd and 4th gear but hardly ever use it. The whole truck is very basic WYSIWYG with not even power steering and designed to be fixed ‘in the field’ so while it’s really low tech it still needs regular fettling. Looking forward to future episodes with the build on your truck. Btw, very envious of the portal axles.

For tyres, check out Hankook AM15's. They are a good mix of on road/off road tread. Sort of like an AT tread, not MT. We got 5 super singles (so that's 385/65 R22.5) for around $4500 I think.

Get some suspension and sound insulation and it will be perfect for riding and living. Great project :)

There was a hard cab built in sunshine. There was a roof air conditioner fitted. It was not too large and had vents.

The heavy duty which just need a roller below the front installation, very long wire rope and a guide under the unimog and one at the rear. This way you can feed the rope through all this and can pull the mog out back and fwd.

I used them when i served in the german army. I liked it a lot! But one vehicle i loved more in the army. The MAN KAT 4x4 or 6x6 Enjoy the Unimog 👍🏻😎

Drove the 8 ton mog back in the 70s and 80s plus the mine protected and light armour Buffel (Buffalo). Incredible vehicle, drove all over Namibia and Southern Angola on bush tracks or through the bush, mainly through the bush and did do 120km/hr on dirt roads and tar, never bogged once plus drove through 2mt deep rivers and shonas. the mog can go where a baboon with a walking stick cannot go.

Yeah, rockin’ life !! ☮️❤️🙂

Have you thought about hydraulic winches? Hydraulics would be an extra expense but it is relatively feasable for these trucks.

Will the Defence Export Control Office allow you to export the vehicle ?

Hi guys looks like a cool build. I have a idea for the walls and roof for the sleeping part it's a fibre glass product called ( styromax ) I think they are in Queensland it's white and insulated it's the same product they use to make modern caravan walls. Very strong and lightweight. They have a website and some youtube videos about how to install their product to help you out. It might not be what your looking for but thought I'd mention it.

We drove our U1700 back from Levin to Auckland on Sunday (2/4/23) after driving there in my Discovery. Stuck the disco on the back and drove straight back. It hammered along at 80K's with the Disco on the back, no worries & ended up getting back home in just a slightly longer time thane we went down to the disco on. We bought our one from a private owner too and he and his predecessor had done all the service work and fixed everything up. So good move buying one from a private owner. Luckily, the previous owner put a rear winch on and going to put a hydraulic or electric winch on the front. You videos are a great resource for our plans which are similar to yours. PS An overdrive for highway running to keep consumption down would be a great idea. Where do I get one?

What wheelbase does your MOG has? It doesn't look like the regular whelbasses I know here in Europe...

I have a goal to travel around Australia in 2026 with my wife and three kids. I want to buy a unimog with seating arrangements for five so a dual cab unimog will have to be. One of the reasons I want a unimog is you get a different perspective compared to a lower vehicle but most importantly, safety; if a smaller 4x4 vehicle like a Landcruiser or similar size vehicle crashes into you, you and your family have a greater chance of not being hurt or killed. Also, they have more ground clearance than your everyday off road 4x4. Apart from looking cool, safety is the most important thing for me as I've seen a lot of idiots on the roads trying to overtake and nearly coming on a head on collisions (at least I would be safer if this happens)

With your winch. I highly recommend you go for an industrial worm drive winch, I like comeup winches. Purely because they have mechanical braking via the worm drive and if its rated at say 15000lb, it is actually closer to 30000lb being industrial standard. Any more info let my know! Cheers

rear winch first, pul yourself back out of trouble, not further into it. winch box usefull for side restraints, and mud means 4x vehecle weight, so consider snatch blocks

You should doing a steel frame camper for strength. I'm working on one now .

Check out. "Rotzler" winches . Hydraulic drive side mounted on frame rails(working forward and backwards 1 winch 2 direction pull) like on MAN KAT Aus military. MAN had what the called a Sahara roof, it was pretty much a fiberglass cap to keep direct sunlight of the roof and direct the windflow up the windscreen over the roof . Helps a lot

Parabéns pelo canal e por postar a reforma do seu caminhão sou apaixonado por motorhome e por viagem/acampar /fazer caminhadas e trilhas /pescaria...Eu estava a procura de um veículo 4x4 para comprar e fazer o meu e vi O MERCEDES BENS UNIMOG 5000 De 2020 a 1980....Vi o canal de vocês e estou vendo todos os vídeos de vocês e outros vídeos....SOU DE PASSO FUNDO -RIO GRANDE DO SUL -REGIÃO SUL -BRASIL...AMÉRICA DO SUL UM ABRAÇO PARA VOCÊS E A TODOS DA AUSTRÁLIA...SHALOM...SHALOM...A DESCULPA POR NÃO SABER FALAR INGLÊS

great vid guys. I always wanted a touring mog after having one in sand mining as a service vehicle years ago. Without becoming too personal do you think you guys can do an episode on travelling budgets and/or income options with full time travelling..We are just retired pensioners and are hating this stupid world right now and want to pack our camper and head away indefinitely but are concerned that on fixed pensioner income we might find ourselves in trouble with hidden costs..i would appreciate anything you guys might share.

Hey guys I love your channel. I guess this never-ending debate over the best vehicle for what you intend to do goes on forever. I have always said you can't expect one truck to do the work of everything you need to do. For me I just think if this is going to be your home, can you imagine the living room being bashed around back and forth while you're 4W driving. If as you said you are not going to go bushwacking then what is the point. You might as well have a comfortable off-road caravan towed by a conventional 4WD. Then you can unhitch and go bush without the trauma of wrecking the home. I sure you are familiar with the youtube channel of Justin & Bec called Trip in a Van. They have three kids and go everywhere with their very comfortable rig. Best of luck.

Is that the stairwell hole to the babies room?

Split gears would help to bring the revs down and so the noise as well. 80-90 km/h is a good highway speed. Larger and second fuel tanks, change the exhaust. Splitrims and better tyres. Stay safe and enjoy.

If you are going to get Hutchinson Rims with run flats and bead lockers, there are many many places in the USA where you can buy them and import them for approximately A$500.00 per unit. In 2016 I bought twelve units and landed them in Brisbane for A$423.00 per unit - I don't know what they would be like at this current time, but well worth getting on the computer and reviewing availability and prices - In Australia people sell these units for ridiculous prices - waiting time is approximately two month delivered to a port in Australia.

MUITO OBRIGADO RU-vid POR COLOCAR CANAIS COMO DESDE CASAL QUE O ETERNO OS PROTEJA E SEU FILHO YAUSHA...SHALOM...SHALOM

You'll need to factor in an elevator to get up to the living cabin on the back :) I don't think you are subject to building regulations and red tape for such things, so it could be a step that slides up with the help of a 1000kg winch (must have reverse).

About replacing the tyres, I heard a rumour in the army that apparently the army also wanted beefier tyres, but something with the axels (and them snapping?) meant they couldn't. It was a passing conversation years ago, so i don't remember more. Could just be a classic digger rumour, but might be worth checking out! Safe travels

You should get better mileage with the overdrive, maybe? I found over 20L/100km somewhat eyewatering; was that as is, or were you hauling some weight? Also, will the fitout be a fixture, or a slide-on type of unit and to what extent will you ultimately be self-sufficient? It's a lot of questions, I know, but I've only just stumbled onto your channel and I'm intrigued ; I subscribed about 5 minutes in! One more question; are you familiar with OKA trucks? They're basically the same type of vehicle as the Unimog. If memory serves, I think they're made in W.A.

5:30 An Unimog is not designed to be a racing vehicle. It was originally made to help farmers plowing their field.... But you can go with this vehicle to places where you never thought you can go with any vehicle. I noticed this several times when I joined the german army. And I have seen them up in the mountains, in the woods. Don't forget you can drive through 1,20 m deep water... So you can still drive in the rainy season on roads where a standard vehicle would just stuck in the mud.

Loving your channel. Great photography, and i love you’re new Unimog. Have you thought about creating another tier in Patreon for poorer subscribers? I would support, but prefer 3euro/month rather than 8euro + tax (= almost the same price as Netflix in Europe). I think you’d get a lot more subscribers that way, and a bit more cash towards the monthly costs. Keep going guys - you’re living the dream.

I use to drive this during 1987 while I'm in the Malaysian police field force . Good vehicles...very powerful. Like it ?

Hey guys love the channel, check out styromax for the camper build. Super light composite panels cut to any design you like. They are in Queensland I think. Awesome product.

Hey Chris & Ang, Love the Stats!! Definite strong frame foundation!!! 💚 🚌 love your ideas on making the MOG comfortable, necessity based refurb & revealing your thought process behind the scenes. Thank you 🙏 I’m not sure if this is sooo left field an idea that prob laughable however, when you explained your seating arrangement & future design for little ones, my initial thoughts went straight to suspension for child....& extra sleeping/seating possibilities. I understand you plan to adjust vehicle suspension once complete weight is confirmed, & plan for some sort of bench seat between you both while travelling, 💯 Idea - Hammock suspended behind you from corner (approx) roof of inside top cabin L to top cabin R with obvious safety spacial consideration (I’m sure your physics better than mine) Maybe... Just maybe you could set up a seat with you up front & a sleeping hammock (caboose wrap) above and behind you ??????(suitable shade on back window) Maybe tooo Left field an idea and not obtainable however thought I would share. Maybe your Peop’s can entertain it. Best of luck with your home making. 🚌 🤙⭐️ 🦞

If you put an exhaust and dyno tune. It would increase your fuel consumption

I am really following you for your life with a Jeep....

My mate is building a living space on the back of a 1300L he's been on the project for well over a year. He does not recommend air seat for off road, may be there an air seat you can then lock out for off road use? 50 mph is good for traveling you have time to take in the views, and as you say your mot stressing the drive train, make sure you look in to the problem of gear oil migrating from the portal hubs. Make sure when your cutting welding grinding (hot work) you have fire fighting equipment close to hand and be on fire watch for a couple of hours after finishing hot work, my mate had a total loss of his cab due to hot work. Check the owners hand book of how to check your engine oil, I was doing it wrong you need to check straight after shutting down your engine is it OM352 or OM366A. Another good reason for choosing a Mercedes Unimog they have Mercedes dealership networks in most countries in the world so spares could be sent to where ever you are.

Tint the window with some reflective stuff, not with the black tint.

Hey guys how is it going I sore one on a tow truck on Friday on the Freway after seeing you broken down on the Thursday I hope it wasn't yours. Hope all is good

I understand you not wanting to do a Doka conversion, waste of time and money but what about extending the cab rearwards by about 800 mm would future proof for an extra child, (small child day bed which could be curtained off) plus space for a fridge and your seat room, still only have access from the front and probably have very little effect on your habitat build. Wouldn't have to have a baby seat between you non stop while driving.

I hope I'm wrong in saying this, but if you have ever talked to anyone that worked in the military the vehicles were not exactly well looked after. Sure service history means you will have a vehicle that's been fixed when needed but it dosent mean it hasn't been abused. But I really hope you got one of the few that didn't leave the base and hardly left the tarmac. Either way I will enjoy the build.

Major downside other than cost which probably isn’t bad when compared to the 70 series, is if you get stuck good luck getting recovered anytime soon unless there a good size tractor nearby or a 6x6 mog wrecker

You never want to make gearbox repairs without Mecedes SSD tools .Mogs underpowered and thirsty but amazing offroad worthy.

#.30 in and i can help you big time... #1 if you linex the whole body on both sides (a bit of work) it will cut temp by 15 to 20deg #2 if you tint with XPEL you can do all the windows including the windscreen. It's darkest legal tint cuts BTU from 990 to 115 BTU that's the shit that makes you tired when driving in the afternoon sun. It also cuts temps about 10deg, but hey don't take my word check it out for yourself LINE X and XPEL are the brand names. cheers

Where did you buy the MOG from ?

Is it tiring to drive this fulltime? You guys seem to always look tired in your videos since getting the mog.

Something to think about ? Turn the truck into a container hauler ? Then you can design different modules and nothing is set in stone !!!

What happens if you guys have twins? Or triplets?

build sounds almost as expensive as a child is ;)

What do you think our camper will be like? 🚚

My comments on a DOKA got deleted (I put in a link to how we set up our MAN 4x4 - so it looks like you can't put in URLs in RU-vid comments!). If you want to see how we set up the back of our canopy you can do a search on 'David Deere MAN Truck Build' and you'll find it. We got a professional truck body building company to build the canopy frame, and the outer "box" on top of the frame. The frame/canopy has to lift away from the chassis rails when the chassis flexes or you'll crack the walls. We fitted out the internals, which took 3 years (I was working 3 or 4 days a week, so 2 or 3 days a week on the MAN), so if you are doing it full time with 2 people a year is achievable. Our fuel usage is 24L/100Kms, so pretty much the same as you are getting. We have 340L of diesel, which is good for ~1400Kms, so 180L on yours is going to be a bit light. Can you get another 180L tank for the other side from another UNIMOG? Cheers - David

I cannot recall if the cab has dampers fitted BUT if it does, they are probably dead by now.

Look at lizard skin for sound & heat proofing!😎👍

You would have a hard time finding parts or a Unimog in the US - I"d love to have one here, but well, it's the "not invented here syndrome" Americans have and since the Unimog had portal axles some 70 years ago, Americans don't like it (they think the HumVee was the first vehicle to have portal axles and they think portal axles are a US design - LOL). The original Unimogs were designed as universal machine platforms (which is actually what the acronym Unimog refers to). The special thing was ports you could attach machinery to, very much like modern tractors. Interestingly and you refer to that, a Unimog does not come with loads of horsepower. Original old Unimogs had maybe 50hp or less - something completely unthinkable today. The gears however gave it so much torque that it would go literally anywhere even a horse wouldn't go. Slowly though. Old Unimogs don't even make 50kph. Today's Unimogs are street legal in Germany - which also means they can go onto the Autobahn (which simply is the German word for Highway - and yes, any minimum two lane road with a center divider is without speed limit in Germany unless there's a posted speed limit - it does not have to be a highway) Still, Germany has a minimum speed requirement of 61kph for a vehicle to be allowed on the highway system (autobahn). Personally I would never even attempt that because it's scary to be that slow on a road where people go 250kph. Edit: Interesting you need a special drivers license for it down under. In Germany this is a 7.5 ton truck - which means any car drivers license will be ok to drive it. Only over 7.5 tons you'll need a truck license to drive a vehicle, or you also need a truck license for more than 3 axles independent of weight. In the US it's pretty much the same: you can drive any 2 axle vehicle up to 26000 pounds with a regular car drivers license.

I miss the Jeep 😢

Why no Fuso?

Not sure if this question has been asked - What happens if u decide to have more than 1 child - how will u all fit into the Mog?

I'm a bit concerned about the legalities of having a child in front! I'm excited about your future plans. Ian from QLD