1999 G500 Pur edition

otiswesty

otiswesty

Regular guy
My main muffler has been looking increasingly ratty since I got the truck and the original exhaust parts are NLA according to the MBUSA parts network. I was googling the part numbers and found a NOS set of mufflers for sale in Russia on a private classifieds. Unbelievably, I was able to buy them and have them shipped to me in the USA for less than the wholesale cost of the larger piece alone. What a stroke of good fortune with a fair bit of luck and help from a Russian G-class forum member on a different site.:wings:

I found it interesting that the muffler is made by Eberspacher. They made the old gas fired heater in my 1978 VW Westfalia as well as the Espar heater in my 1989 Westfalia.
 

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otiswesty

otiswesty

Regular guy
I happened onto an Ebay listing in UK for the closed tear Ashtaroth 16" rims this week and just closed the deal with the seller. These are super pricey new and even in used condition. I have been looking for a good clean cheap set of them for a couple of years and it finally paid off. Can't wait for them to get here and get them mounted up. They are a super strong OEM 16" alloy used on armored and military G-class. These wheels have 3000 miles on them and are in like new condition, pulled off of a 2015 Professional version.
 

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Desertstar

Desertstar

New member
otiswesty said:
I happened onto an Ebay listing in UK for the closed tear Ashtaroth 16" rims this week and just closed the deal with the seller. These are super pricey new and even in used condition. I have been looking for a good clean cheap set of them for a couple of years and it finally paid off. Can't wait for them to get here and get them mounted up. They are a super strong OEM 16" alloy used on armored and military G-class. These wheels have 3000 miles on them and ore in like new condition, pulled off of a new Professional version.
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Nice wheels. What is the ET ?
 
I

ILIAN

Adventurer
You got lucky with both those items. Need a muffler myself. Do you mind weighing one of the new wheels? Also see if you can find a P/n. They are not on Harald's site. I have the regular 16" Ashtaroths and like how they look with 35's.
 
otiswesty

otiswesty

Regular guy
Just wanted to give a shout out to David Watkins of the GWOA whom I met in Graz in 2009.
David got the wheels picked up in London for me and is handling shipping to the USA as well.

I met David in Graz in 2009 at the 30 year G-class celebration. His G55 was being serviced in Munich whilst he was in Graz and so he spent a few days driving around in a couple of G500s with me, Heinz Neunzig and our boys. I also had the opportunity to make good friends with Jorg Sand and Guido Matthes on this trip as well.
Here is a great pic of us sharing some beers at the Halterhutte on Mt Schockl. Cheers David!
 

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DUTCH

DUTCH

Curmudgeon
otiswesty said:
My main muffler has been looking increasingly ratty since I got the truck and the original exhaust parts are NLA according to the MBUSA parts network.
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Interesting. EPC shows a different P/N for the large main muffler on my 2000 G500; and my go to source for parts shows that it's available. Not cheap (US$664), but available.
 
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I

ILIAN

Adventurer
So the closed tear is only 2lb heavier, which means it can't be that much stronger than the open tear wheel. Not worth the extra money we usually have to pay for them. Good to know. Harald should update his site with this info.
 
otiswesty

otiswesty

Regular guy
ILIAN said:
So the closed tear is only 2lb heavier, which means it can't be that much stronger than the open tear wheel. Not worth the extra money we usually have to pay for them. Good to know. Harald should update his site with this info.
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The 16" Ashtaroth is the strongest 16" factory alloy made for the Gwagen, it was used on all armored G-class 463 vehicles. Then they came up with the closed tear version a couple of years ago which is supposed to be even stronger. I think both are very good and an opportunity to pick up a set of either at a reasonable price should not be passed over. I was looking, on and off, in Indonesia for a while as they came on all of the Professional versions over there and many owners will swap them out for AMG rims or such.

I have not considered the Hutchinson bead lock rims very seriously for a couple of reasons. I'll leave it at that.
 
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mk216v

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
otiswesty said:
The 16" Ashtaroth is the strongest 16" factory alloy made for the Gwagen, it was used on all armored G-class 463 vehicles. Then they came up with the closed tear version a couple of years ago which is supposed to be even stronger. I think both are very good and an opportunity to pick up a set of either at a reasonable price should not be passed over. I was looking, on and off, in Indonesia for a while as they came on all of the Professional versions over there and many owners will swap them out for AMG rims or such.

I have not considered the Hutchinson bead lock rims very seriously for a couple of reasons. I'll leave it at that.
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Would be nice for Hutchinson to pull their **** out of their ***** and build a proper hubcentric wheel. I still can't believe they have the military contracts/clout they do for this reason. I guess the gov'ts and municipalities don't have anyone doing QC or care about precision? <rolleyes> Off the soapbox...
 
otiswesty

otiswesty

Regular guy
Had a nice little trip down to New Mexico for a get together with a bunch of other G enthusiasts. I got to meet William, owner of the famous G-ronimo camper, also Mauricio, Scott and his wife, Jay Couch +1, John E., and camped out with a bunch of old friends to boot.

We had a caravan down with Joroco and had a sweet little lunch spot in Moab on the slick rock..
 

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otiswesty

otiswesty

Regular guy
Awesome camping with the whole crew on a ranch outside of Santa Fe. Followed by a nice multi day drive in the NM back country. Nice Photo thread on CGW.
https://clubgwagen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&p=62150#p62150

We did a stop at the old Europa dealership which is now the MB dealer of Santa Fe. My G500 was sold here in 1999 for $135,000. I had a chance to meet Russ, the Europa sales guy during the lunch at OCD Cycles. He seems like a pretty nice guy.
 

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