O'erlanderwagen build

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
7/17/14 update; If you don't want to read the entire build thread, a current summary is listed in this front page article; http://expeditionportal.com/featured-vehicle-jeremy-williams-g500/


So as many of you know, my 1980 300GD "RadioFlyer" found a loving home with new friends in Seattle (W123 Mercedes and FJ60 Cruiser aficionados). It was sitting in my garage too often, and I couldn't bring myself to put a 606A in it (617A is still too slow for me), so I decided to sell my 3 vehicles and just purchase 1 newer G500. I had really hee'd and haw'd over this decision(vs finding a late Europa truck), but thanks to the advice of many G veterans here, it made more sense to pick up a well-loved MBUSA W463 and just build it up.
Pics of RadioFlyer, I do miss it!
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After searching and searching and searching for a Pewter G500, I gave in and went with my 2nd color choice, Tectite Grey(I had this on my '03 E55 and loved it, but I was aiming for Pewter to show less dust/dirt. Oh well). I got very lucky and found an original Oregon '03 G500, which had spent only the last 2yrs garaged in New Jersey. It had been impeccably maintained, lowered with Brabus dampers/springs so that it'd fit into the owner's garage.

Pics of when I found it;
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Coming off the transporter;
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The first order of business, besides re-inspecting the truck maintenance-wise, was to de-bling it. This was my biggest gripe with an MBUSA truck--too much wood, chrome, shiny stuff.
I had the G500/V8 badges removed, removed the factory stainless/polished brush guard, disassembled it, removed the horizontal light grilles for good, had the brush guard blasted and powdercoated in satin black.
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As I did on RadioFlyer, I had one of the body shops lightly smoke the front turn signals, rear signals, reverse light, and mirror blinker lights(don't try that one at home kids. The cheap ***** plastic that MB uses allows the securing clips on the back of the $400/ea mirror glass to break, and then even pro-grade glue doesn't keep them on and allow them to be clipped back onto the mirror, so I had to glue the glass right onto the mirror motors, eeeek!).
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I had the chrome strips sandblasted off the front grille and front grille repainted Tectite, the front star blasted and painted satin black, the 4 side reflectors painted Tectite(bulbs removed--I was going to use resistors to emulate the bulbs, but since they'd get hot, I'd rather not catch the truck on fire, so I'll just disregard the front bulb errors as the car doesn't care about the rear bulbs for some reason).
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mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
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Since I will be using this vehicle as an overlanding platform, I've been laying out plans for awhile, and accumulating parts here and there.
I picked up a slightly used Autohome Columbus Variant roof top tent (thanks SteveSmith's bro Barton!) from NorCal, and had it painted Tectite to match.
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Got a FrontRunner 2.4M Tall roof rack and Fiamma F35Pro 2.2M(special order from Italy, thanks Serpe!). I disassembled the Fiamma, had the shell powdercoated satin black, and painted the end caps satin black too to match. Do you see a prevailing theme here? ;)
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Other overlanding goodies have been arriving for the inside and outside of the truck as well.

Since I needed more ground clearance and springs capable of heavier loads, I decided on a set of Koni Raid HT's and OEM Red3stripe front springs and Brown2stripe rear springs (thanks Mario and Guido for the help, and of course Jon with the install!).
Installing the factory spring rubbers was difficult at first since we used glass cleaner and a rubber tipped air nozzle. However, thanks to Minh's tip about a bit of engine oil, the fronts went much easier. Due to the tight windings on the front springs, they would have been incredibly challenging with the glass cleaner method.
The ride is firm but certainly not jarring, and best of all, I gained about 2" over the Brabus susp! It's the perfect amount of lift for me.
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I'm having custom Shockwear covers made to keep the front shock shafts nick-free.
 

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Before w/ Brabus susp;
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After w/ Koni and OEM Red3/Brown2's(I also removed the factory running boards which helps with the beefier look. Karl's sliders will come later.);
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I also had the front windows tinted to match the rears, and new clearbra installed on the front of the truck, foglights, roof top tent. Tommy's did an awesome job. Now we're getting somewhere.
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Last order of business was the goofy OEM side trim(what were the Mercedes bean counters thinking with the 80's style trim?). I stumbled upon some uber rare special side trim(thanks Chris!!) which I installed. I think it really finishes the exterior off well for now.
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Hutchinson beadlock's have arrived, 285/75/16 E-load BFG AT's arrive later this week. I hope by this weekend I'll have those 5 mounted on the truck, factory tire cover cap removed. I'm really excited to see what they look like on the truck.

Next plans are to work on the interior; mount the National Luna fridge(thanks Paul/Equipt for the impeccable service!!), custom laptop mount, custom rear cargo platform, etc etc.

More to come....
 

ChuckB

Expedition Leader
Let me be the first to say congrats and nice start! I like all of the de-blinging that you have done and like the Tectite Grey. I'll be watching your build closely.
 
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RBA

Adventurer
Real nice dude! Keep an eye on those Koni's...mine sucked. 1 was busted on delivery and then I blew 2 within 9 months.
 

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Real nice dude! Keep an eye on those Koni's...mine sucked. 1 was busted on delivery and then I blew 2 within 9 months.

The Koni Raid HT's(90's)? Sorry to hear. :(
I know a G55K owner who wheels a lot with them and he's been very happy, so have a few others. One G500 owner had 1 or 2 that were **** off the bat. I believe they have a lifetime warranty though and thankfully they're not as much a PITA to install as the longer springs, so I suppose if one leaks or blows, it can be replaced fairly easily.

I was disappointed that Bilstein didn't have anything beefier off the shelf. ORC has some built Bilstein's, but I couldn't find anyone else running them so decided to try the Koni's.
ORC's Fox coilovers are way overkill for me. I like OEM engineering.
 

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Many many thanks for Tony Cruthers at Motorsports(he's the MAN if you want Hutchinson's, ARB, RotoPax, etc etc etc...die-hard G-Wagen, Halfinger, SDP, Mog, Pinz, VW/Audi/Porsche etc nut! 503.244.9010) generosity to let me peek over and take pics of the Hutchinson install process(key word there!). I was glad to see the Hutchinson craftmanship(made in USA!).
Thanks also to my crew for helping me get these on the truck at the end of work today. :bowdown:

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RBA

Adventurer
The Koni Raid HT's(90's)? Sorry to hear. :(
I know a G55K owner who wheels a lot with them and he's been very happy, so have a few others. One G500 owner had 1 or 2 that were **** off the bat. I believe they have a lifetime warranty though and thankfully they're not as much a PITA to install as the longer springs, so I suppose if one leaks or blows, it can be replaced fairly easily.

I was disappointed that Bilstein didn't have anything beefier off the shelf. ORC has some built Bilstein's, but I couldn't find anyone else running them so decided to try the Koni's.
ORC's Fox coilovers are way overkill for me. I like OEM engineering.

Crap, my bad. I had the SPXs, sorry. Koni's customer service sucked for me. Hopefully you never have to deal with them. After I busted the first one, I contacted koni about the warranty. They said I needed to fill out a form first and fax it before I could mail in the shock for them to test and determine whether there was a problem and then they would send me a replacement. Once faxed I needed a number in order to send the shock. Well, I never got past that first step. The form asked question about the truck the license plate number the vin, etc, etc. not sure why they even needed that level of detail. They also needed the receipt. So now after faxing it, no one ever contacting me with this number. I called and faxed a second time and then just gave up.
 

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
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Tony will be making custom caps to fit this 84.6mm centerbore(Hutch's shown on Harald's wheel site are the old forged units with 81mm centerbore...Hutch isn't making forged save for special military low-volume applications, so these are cast wheels). Notice the British military no-lose-em valve stem caps, thanks Tony!
The wheel halves studs on the other style Hutch(#0492) are long enough to accept the satin black caps that come from Hutchinson with the wheels.
My studs aren't long enough for the caps to thread right on, so I'll need to spend time milling down 64 black plastic caps. Woohoo! :snorkel:
I will be looking into H&R studs tomorrow which will help make it easier to mount the wheel/tire onto the hub in the middle of nowhere, as they're so damn heavy at 104lbs/ea!

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Now this is more like what I had in mind!

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PO didn't leave me with the key for the spare tire cover so we still need to grind that off and install the 5th Hutch/BFG-AT...bit worried about the extra 30lbs hanging off the cargo door...may be time for the DesertService rear bumper vs W461 split.

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mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Crap, my bad. I had the SPXs, sorry. Koni's customer service sucked for me. Hopefully you never have to deal with them. After I busted the first one, I contacted koni about the warranty. They said I needed to fill out a form first and fax it before I could mail in the shock for them to test and determine whether there was a problem and then they would send me a replacement. Once faxed I needed a number in order to send the shock. Well, I never got past that first step. The form asked question about the truck the license plate number the vin, etc, etc. not sure why they even needed that level of detail. They also needed the receipt. So now after faxing it, no one ever contacting me with this number. I called and faxed a second time and then just gave up.

Ok phew, thanks for the confirmation.
I've dealt with Koni warranty plenty...difficult to get them to answer the phone, but leave enough messages and send enough emails, and stuff will eventually happen. They just need more than one guy(Paul) in warranty.

Unfortunately this is the way the industry is--you either send your broken damper in for it to go through the warranty process(while your truck sits), or you buy a new one, send the broken one in for warranty, it goes through the process, then they reimburse you for the one you bought when warranty is complete.
As long as you have your proof of purchase, I'm more than happy to help you get your one warrantied. Send me a PM and I'll get 'er done. :)
 

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