Wonder what happened to Swazi man's Mog rebuild? Went quiet when Covid hit. Think his plans was to take to Aussie outback?
He sold the business, must be two years ago now.
His Mog rebuild turned into a labour of $$. I shudder to think how much it would have cost him all up. Possibly three to four times what @Mistral will have outlaid. Took 18 years from start to finish....
But he's a free agent now, so he could well be over there at some stage.
The prime reason the NZ Army purchased this family of medium-heavy trucks is that the UK Defence Force offered them up real cheap. Back in the mid 00's the UK MOD put in an order for thousands of these trucks...then promptly downsized their Force by 25%. (since 2010 they have dropped a further 40% of their personnel strength...throwing up even more kit to be sold) But the funds had already been committed. So they were left holding thousands excess to requirement, and hit up their mates to see if they were interested in the deal of the century.
The MAN family of trucks themselves have limited cross country capability for several reasons: Their tare weight is crazy high...cause they are built to accept tons of modular armour to improve troop survivabilty. This rules out coil suspension. They also have a payload (when not armoured) of 6 tonne, vs the mogs of 4 tonne.
The MAN family of military trucks purposely use as many parts from their commercial family of trucks. So that rules out portal hubs, which reduces the MAN's ground clearance significantly.
The trucks are also very wide. 2.55m. So are over width for NZ roads. So legally need to wear overwidth fluro placards everywhere.
Being so heavy their fuel consumption is 50% more than a Mog. 30L/100km vs 20L/100km. @Mistral 's one may be even more fuel efficient than that, given his motor sports 40 year younger technology.
I see the NZDF is going to reduce its Mog fleet by 90 ish vehicles some time later in 2024.......
This is the ex spreader I noted early.
This sort of wagon could be an option.
Most trucks used as spreaders would be fairly competent offroad.
Others on here will know more about them.
Would have to consider fert residue,damage etc
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DO NOT TOUCH an ex spreader.....all the metal is corroded after only a few years..all the wireing will be brittle ..I used to go through 2-3 trailer connection plugs perseason.....the scania killed 3 dash boards in 7 years 5K a pop.... fert redisue just gets in and eats wires.
75/15/10 black powder matters
Personally I wouldn’t be looking at the heavy ex-military vehicles at all.
We spent many years knocking around the Overlander scene and - all things considered - by far the most cost effective & practical truck builds were those on commercial bodies like the Hino 300s and 400s, Fuso Canter, Isuzu N-Series, etc. Especially for couples travelling alone.
Just...say...the...word
As @Thar has alluded to, it would be wise to do some sort of analysis as to what exactly you will do in your offroad camper. In many cases a 4x4 variant of a commercial common as mud light truck would be more sensible to use as a basis for you to build a camper upon.
But if unbridled capability is your prime motivator, a Mog is hard to beat. Many is the passenger that has said to me..." We'll never get up/through/across ther.....well fuck me, we are across!"
Although the NZ Army Mogs are 40 years old, parts are still easily available. The chassis is C section, so nowhere for rust to hide. The cab is the biggest rusty thing but is so basic that any panelbeater/competent DIY mig welder can fix stuff. The motor is a common as mud German truck motor (most Army mogs do bugger all miles anyway). The gearbox is expensive....but nothing real special so capable people can poke around inside. Air valves do all the work that modern vehicles do with electronics and solenoids, so are far more robust. Parts for the portal axles are also expensive, but keep an eye on the oils and they will last well. Remember they were designed as a 4 tonne cargo truck. Most RV build will see them carting 2-3 tonnes of home about, so will not stress the drivetrain much at all.
But you should be fairly mechanical to own one...Or have deep pockets.
As a Zombie apocalypse prepper vehicle, they have no peers
For those interested, I forgot to add this OIA titbit from 2022:
Well it's out of the shed!
Dropped the truck at the Sparky's workshop this morning, so he can put the cab & wiring back together, then fit the front winch & bar and then it's just a few little things to tidy up.
Nice.
It takes 43 muscle's to frown and 17 to smile, but only 3 for proper trigger pull.
What more do we need? If we are above ground and breathing the rest is up to us!
Rule 1: Treat every firearm as loaded
Rule 2: Always point firearms in a safe direction
Rule 3: Load a firearm only when ready to fire
Rule 4: Identify your target beyond all doubt
Rule 5: Check your firing zone
Rule 6: Store firearms and ammunition safely
Rule 7: Avoid alcohol and drugs when handling firearms
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