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Author Topic: New member saying hello  (Read 2396 times)

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New member saying hello
« on: May 20, 2013, 09:56:14 pm »
Hello everyone

Just a quick one to introduce myself, I'm Ben, I've got a '69 404 ex Belgian army ambulance. I bought it a few weeks ago as a non-runner but now she goes like a good'un and just sailed through her MOT. Other than some cosmetics, i can't see much wrong with her and was wondering if anyone here had any experience in using a 404 as an overlanding vehicle. So far, all i've used her for is blasting down country roads with the roof off.

Anyway, any advice, tips etc, please contact me.

Ben

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Re: New member saying hello
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2013, 10:45:30 pm »
Hi Ben, welcome to the club :)

good choice of the 404 for a camper, lots of them around so nice for getting parts :)

if you want to take it off road the first things i would do is make sure that:

1) the rear body is isometrically mounted, so that either you have three mounting points, 2 at the front one at the rear, or you have 4 mounting points, 1 at the front, 2 in the middle, and one at the rear. if you dont i wouldnt take it on rough land, i would first remove the body and fit it as above. This is because the unimog chassis is designed to flex, by mounting it wrongly this stops the chassis from flexing and can then tare the chassis.

2) if it is mounted correctly, make sure the body bushes arent seized, again this is like mounting it incorrectly, we tend to drive around with say a tonne or so weight on the back of the 406's when we do a resto project, frees the bushes up nicely :)

3) check all oils, ESPECIALLY the hub oils, they only hold 250/300 ml of oil, so a small leak drains the hub quite quickly, and it isnt a cheap fix.

i would also recommend in any vehicle that a roll bar be fitted, even though you have a rear body, it will provide protection, and daft as it seems, confidence.

 And lastly have fun with it, Unimogs take some getting used to with the driving technique, its very much different from most 4x4's, so play around with it to understand the style  :)

If you have any questions feel free to ask, thats what we're here for  ;)

Cheers, Brian ;D
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Re: New member saying hello
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2013, 06:55:28 pm »
Welcome to the forum Ben. That truck looks perfect for use as a camper. Keep us updated with pictures as you work on it - we all love pictures!

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Re: New member saying hello
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2013, 06:56:27 pm »
Welcome to the forum Ben. That truck looks perfect for use as a camper. Keep us updated with pictures as you work on it - we all love pictures!


pictures are always good! :D
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Re: New member saying hello
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2013, 07:18:58 pm »
Welcome along to the mog house :) nice to hear another old girl saved!! Looking forward to hearing about how you get on with the conversion. Hope to see it in the flesh too at some point  8)
cant beat the smell of diesel and 2stroke in the morning :)