Unimog Club UK

Hi Tom, welcome to the forum.

The problem with your gears could be that the selector cover has been taken off and not been put back on properly, they are quite tricky, however Moose will know more on the subject than me. It could also be that you are not pushing it completely over the gate, sometimes the gate is like a double step, so the gear lever sit's on the gate, if the gear stick doesnt wobble between the 3-4/5-6 gates then i'd assume this to be the case. So a good knock to the side might well be in order.
You can get workshop manuals from the Unimog museum, being a 64 yours will be a 411b (originally 32ps), you may also be able to get an operators manual.
I would change all fluids and filters, including (especially) brake fluids, a good upgrade is to take the master and slave cylinders off and send them of to be lined with a stainless steel lining.
Depending on how much it's been used recently it may also be a good idea to change the flexi lines on the brakes, these have a bad habit of furring up if the mog's not been used or the brake fluid hasn't been changed in a while.
The 411 is a good purchase, what are your plans for it?

Cheers, Brian 

Looks to me like the difflocks have been converter to air???
Those manuals will do the trick, I must admit though they go very little into any technical detail, no shimming up info etc.
Never thought about moose but I've always wanted to go boar hunting in Norway, have to be very fit i believe?
Working is what mog's we're built for I'm currently restoring a 1965 411 for a customer and it's having the lot done, will be very posh when it's done, but won't be worked at all.
The blocks under the springs are not standard, if it is for clearance for the engine, I would keep an eye on your torque tube angle. it could be that when offroading it will become too steep and cause damage to the torque tube coupling/drive shaft/dampers. Ideally the blocks want removing.
The chassis plate tells me only what you already know I'm afraid, it's a canvas top 411 long wheel-base.
I would think looking at the back body it has a u600 body on it, it looks very wide, I could be wrong though.
My dad (moose on here) has size 12-13 feet and drive's his 411-118
Do you have a closer picture of the rear linkage? the power arm doesn't look standard.

Cheers, Brian

with the gears on this....... on my 404 I had a similar problem to start with, the low two, nearest you, 1&2, then in neutral push lever away one click, then another - quite a long way! but then you must push forward 3rd as mine had a sequencing device so that you had to go to 3 after 2! You cannot short shift - at least on the military 404! There are actually 8 possible gears in there but you have to mod the guts to get them! and reverse only operates in low - dont listen to anyone who says "ah you can take the interlock out and get high reverse" its bulls$$t! as the reverse gear is on the low range shaft... ask me how i know!!
If you want to take the top cover off to play...... park or jack the back of the vehicle so the gearbox is level, it normally slopes down towards the rear, that way when inside the box it prevents all the dogs sliding rearward every time you try and line the lid up! Bitter experience!
This is all assuming yours is similar to the 4041
Phil.

Phil,

Thanks for your explanation, I tried it and unfortunately now I am locked out of even 1st & 2nd. That leads me to believe that it’s the plate you and Brian talk about. However, since I am such a wimp, I will leave that until the howling wind and slush storm clear up. I will be very careful about leveling the gear box.

A large part of the issue is that the truck has been heavily modified by an eccentric previous owner. Brian was right, the diff-lock is now air actuated. The air receiver is an old fire extinguisher that seems to be quite a bit smaller than the original. The hydraulic pump is directly driven off the Nisan diesel engine and from what I can see there are 3 reservoirs. The plumbing is a pile of spaghetti run through the cab and chassis so I don’t know, maybe there’s a reason for this. (pic attached)

I really don’t know where it came from originally but a scratch test shows the lowest paint coat to be green suggesting that it was in somebodies army. The guy I bought it from had it for a year and the guy he bought it from got it in ’85.

Casto, the wooden blocks in the picture were put in there when I tried first towing on the trailer. It bounced and rolled so much I drove blocks in between the axles and chassis then strapped them together. It rode pretty nice then. Coming back over the mountains in the blizzard could have proved to be a problem otherwise.

I’ve downloaded a bunch of pictures, manuals and anything else I can find to see if I can figure out what is original and what clever modifications were made. Brian was right, it is a long wheelbase, I didn’t realize the difference between long and short wheelbase is only 40cm.

I can’t complain, it is what it is and I got it cheap (by Norwegian standards).  Things like the electrics will probably just ripped out and started again new. All the brakes will be done as Brian says. For now I think that the only things I think I will have to find a good source for are springs. Just judging by the way it bounced and swayed on the trailer, I think they’re due for replacement.

There’s quite a bit of panel replacement required and I will reinforce the cut-outs on the chassis cross member, but welding isn’t an issue. Fortunately I’ve got lots of degreaser so should be able to find out what hydraulics are leaking. There’s too much oil everywhere to even bother looking yet. There’s 6 months to fabricate a front snowplough and add a winch so that shouldn’t be a problem. You’re supposed to find hobbies when you’re retired.

I also thought I’d attach a picture of my “other tractor”, a 1968 Agria Drabant. A belt tractor with a one tonne winch. People forget that Norway was a very poor country before the oil. Back then you had to be able to make do. This thing has nothing electric on it with a hand-draulic starter. It’s 14 hp but it replaced 14 actual horses. 

Thanks for the help.

Cheers,

Tom

Moose,

You’re right – I don’t know what I was thinking. The manuals I found online say that the springs should be +/- 5 mm within specs. Not really realistic. Dampers are the right thing to do for this 411’s semi-retirement. It’ll never be pushed as hard as it was originally designed for. Do you have any favorite damper make or supplier?

I dug it out this morning and from what I can tell, the blocks were added on the front axle to compensate for worn dampers rather than clearance for the new engine. Removing them will prevent problems with the torque tube angle like Brian says.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Tom

Thanks Moose,

There’s some Monroe dampers that seem to be OK:
Verstärkte Stoßdämpfer für Typ Unimog 411-2010-421
Der Marke Monroe Original Van-Magnun für Ihren Unimog 401-411-2010-421.
Reinforced shock absorbers for type Unimog 411-2010-421
The brand Monroe Original Van-Magnun for your Unimog 401-411-2010-421.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Unimog-Stosdampfer-421-401-411-2010-/142319812095?hash=item2122ebfdff:g:kpsAAOxyoA1RXKLx

I have to brush up on my German, I can order beer but that’s about the limit.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Tom

The Monroes will be fine fore your application the Sachs will be better suited to you unimog as original fitment so will be valves for the unsprung weight of your unimog but you'll be fine with monroes I can't confirm there the correct ones as I've never ordered them.
Moose