TheSurvivalist
New member
Great looking G. Thanks for sharing.
A G-Wagon from Austria
- Thread starter AxelG
- Start date
pop up hard side camper cabin
hello everybody,:smiley_drive:
I'm currently looking in Europe to purchase diesel G-wagon with automatic transmission as a base for a camper cabin to travel Europe firstly.
This seems to me quite difficult. Sure there are many offers around but nearly no chassis with cabin only.
Mercedes Benz is offering a long wheelbase of 3,400 mm with a max weight of 4,300 kgs but to buy a new one is out of my budget.
On the second hand market I found a wheelbase of 3,120 mm with the same total weight. Due to the fact that I don't want to change the front and rear angles when off road I'm thinking about extension to gain more floor length for the camper cabin.
Any experience and/or opinions on that?
The second problem is the cabin itself. I found only one builder in Europe offering a camper cabin for the Mercedes G http://www.bimobil.com/website/expedition_ex328/start_e.php
without any price tag. This cabin would be nice but seems to me not tough enough for off road use.
Sure there are plenty of custom builders around but anything of them will be for sure more costly. On the other hand I would like to have a hard side pop up roof like Unicat is offering for bigger Mercedes models to reduce the overall height and fuel consumption when driving. Beside that, this type of camper is less vulnerable for theft.
Getting a layout as shown in the link above allows to achieve a fixed bed above the drivers cabin and a lifted double floor for tanks, batteries and storage.
I had a look on former military ambulances, too. But the overall standing headroom isn't sufficient for a tall guy like me and I have no idea about this type of construction. When the roof could transformed into a pop up one it would something I could accept. However, military construction is always heavier than civilian and every lbs pound saved can be added to the payload.
Any recommendation/ideas?
hello everybody,:smiley_drive:
I'm currently looking in Europe to purchase diesel G-wagon with automatic transmission as a base for a camper cabin to travel Europe firstly.
This seems to me quite difficult. Sure there are many offers around but nearly no chassis with cabin only.
Mercedes Benz is offering a long wheelbase of 3,400 mm with a max weight of 4,300 kgs but to buy a new one is out of my budget.
On the second hand market I found a wheelbase of 3,120 mm with the same total weight. Due to the fact that I don't want to change the front and rear angles when off road I'm thinking about extension to gain more floor length for the camper cabin.
Any experience and/or opinions on that?
The second problem is the cabin itself. I found only one builder in Europe offering a camper cabin for the Mercedes G http://www.bimobil.com/website/expedition_ex328/start_e.php
without any price tag. This cabin would be nice but seems to me not tough enough for off road use.
Sure there are plenty of custom builders around but anything of them will be for sure more costly. On the other hand I would like to have a hard side pop up roof like Unicat is offering for bigger Mercedes models to reduce the overall height and fuel consumption when driving. Beside that, this type of camper is less vulnerable for theft.
Getting a layout as shown in the link above allows to achieve a fixed bed above the drivers cabin and a lifted double floor for tanks, batteries and storage.
I had a look on former military ambulances, too. But the overall standing headroom isn't sufficient for a tall guy like me and I have no idea about this type of construction. When the roof could transformed into a pop up one it would something I could accept. However, military construction is always heavier than civilian and every lbs pound saved can be added to the payload.
Any recommendation/ideas?
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scottishpinz
Adventurer
I know you say you want to keep good approach and departure angles but if your wheelbase is massive you will have such poor break over angle you'll get stuck on a humpbacked bridge 
The problem I see with the box on chassis is that floor level is already above the rear wheel height so to get standing room (say 2 meters) your vehicle is going to be at least 3 meters high.
Looking at the size of camper box you linked to I think it might be a better option just to start with a larger base vehicle.
I've gone down the really compact route and sacrificed living space and resigned to sitting height only but in a really compact package Steyr Puch Pinzgauer 710K. http://bagstraining.co.uk/Bags/Pinzgauer.html
The problem I see with the box on chassis is that floor level is already above the rear wheel height so to get standing room (say 2 meters) your vehicle is going to be at least 3 meters high.
Looking at the size of camper box you linked to I think it might be a better option just to start with a larger base vehicle.
I've gone down the really compact route and sacrificed living space and resigned to sitting height only but in a really compact package Steyr Puch Pinzgauer 710K. http://bagstraining.co.uk/Bags/Pinzgauer.html
Hi Scottish,
thanks for your input and the link to your Pinzgauer.
I agree with you on the departure angle and that's why I'm disregarding the ambulance box due to the overhang at stern.
A custom cabin can follow the original departure angle at the lower end and the
lifting roof top helps to get a reasonable overall height when driving and offers more interior space and air which is essential in the tropics.
However, the Pinzgauer is quite crampy inside especially for a tall guy and spare part supply is an issue, too when you are in the middle of no there.
Mercedes Benz guarantees a spare part supply worldwide even when this service isn't cheap but it may help in an emergency.
Anyway thanks again.
thanks for your input and the link to your Pinzgauer.
I agree with you on the departure angle and that's why I'm disregarding the ambulance box due to the overhang at stern.
A custom cabin can follow the original departure angle at the lower end and the
lifting roof top helps to get a reasonable overall height when driving and offers more interior space and air which is essential in the tropics.
However, the Pinzgauer is quite crampy inside especially for a tall guy and spare part supply is an issue, too when you are in the middle of no there.
Mercedes Benz guarantees a spare part supply worldwide even when this service isn't cheap but it may help in an emergency.
Anyway thanks again.
scottishpinz
Adventurer
I wasn't really suggesting a Pinzgauer as its much smaller than what you have in mind, but its the same size base vehicle just without the big box.
Steyr will supply parts worldwide for Pinzgauer so it fits the bill for worldwide travel + petrol ones are easy field repair unlike anything modern!!
Steyr will supply parts worldwide for Pinzgauer so it fits the bill for worldwide travel + petrol ones are easy field repair unlike anything modern!!