dhackney
Expedition Leader
Fredy & Monika Baumann
Switzerland
www.baumann-unterwegs.ch
unterwegs means underway
Interview date: 2/17/2008
Interview location: Ushuaia, Argentina
Fredy & Monika have traveled extensively all over the world.
1971: Land Rover, 9 months touring Africa. Fred built a custom tilt up, lift top camper for the LR.
1975 - 78: Chevrolet S10, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, central, western and southern Africa, USA (8 months), Mexico, Central America. Fred built a custom camper on the S10. They brought it from the U.S. into Switzerland on a temporary import for the buildup.
April 2004 to planned return to Switzerland in September 2008: Iveco 4x4, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, Australia and South America.
Next trip: A few years from now hope to return to U.S. and Central America, then ship to Vladivostok and drive across Siberia, Russia, and eastern Europe.
Rig
Chassis: Iveco 4x4
Current mileage: 130,000 km / 80,000 miles
Dimensions:
Length: 5.8 m / 19.03 ft
Width: 2.1 m / 6.89 ft
Height: 2.9 m / 9.514 ft
Weight: 4,300 kg / 9,480 lbs
Capacities:
Fuel (diesel): 340 L / 89.82 gal
Water: 260 L / 68.69 gal
LPG / Propane: 30 kg / 66.14 lbs.
Purchased new as a rolling chassis for this project with factory body panels back to the A pillar.
Owner built everything aft of the A pillar including the doors.
Owner was a professional body repair technician and expanded into building campers.
Exterior and interior fit and finish is excellent
Swing down bed enables permanent, fixed berth, i.e. not converting a couch into a bed every day, stripping bedding every day, etc.
Camper box is made of fiberglass / foam sandwich panels with good insulating qualities.
Switzerland limits weight to 3,500 kilos for non-truck registration. If heavier and you need to register as a truck you suffer insurance challenges and driving restrictions on weekends, etc.
This is their 5th camper.
The body is mounted rigidly to the ladder frame. They have had trouble with the body to chassis connections breaking. The frame has a lot of flex and the chassis to body interconnection points have failed several times.
He has found that even though Iveco is sold in many places around the world his European chassis uses Europe specific systems and parts so he’s had to ship in parts for repairs wherever they’ve been.
Things he would do different if he did it again:
- Mount body on 3 point pivot frame
- Hard side pop up design so the vehicle would fit in a container
- Use newer camper panel construction material that is thinner but stronger, lighter and even better insulating. Estimates he could save as much as 20-25% in total weight.
- Alloy rims to save weight
- Camper design with separated sleeping and sitting / working areas so one can read/work and the other can sleep with minimal interruptions/disruptions [DH comment: We have found separate work / sleeping areas divided by a curtain and as much distance as possible to be a very valuable attribute of our camper design.]
Considerations for next chassis/camper:
- Their Iveco sold for $45k in 2004 and is now $95k
- Mercedes is releasing a new 5,000 kg 4x4 chassis next year
- Will probably completely overhaul the existing rig and use it again
Chassis repairs / failures:
Aside from the body to frame attachment points the major point of failure has been the independent front suspension transverse leaf spring. The count for broken leaves in the front transverse leaf spring is: China – 3, Laos – 2 (including the master leaf), Nepal – 1, Peru – 1. They made new springs in both China and India but the steel was inferior in both cases. They made an entire new spring set in Australia.
Notable bush repairs:
Driving 500 km with the broken master leaf in Laos. Fred wrapped breaker bars and socket drive handles to the spring pack so they could limp the 500 km.
Route Comments
China still requires a guide but theirs slept in their camper during the day, in motels/hotels at night and allowed them total freedom in villages. They had a planned itinerary but did not stick rigidly to it.
They booked their guide as part of a four truck group, which is the minimum group size for border processing. When they arrived at the border they told the officials the other trucks had to drop out due to mechanical failure and illnesses and were allowed in.
They switched from their Chinese guide to a Tibetan guide at the Tibet border to gain local language skills and local knowledge.
They entered China from Kazakhstan. The border officials were very pleasant, professional and courteous.
If they did that route again they would probably enter China through Laos and exit to Kazakhstan.
They spoke highly of their experiences in central Asia (the “Stans”) and Iran.
They know of an overlander who made it into and through Burma (Myanmar) but was turned back at the Indian border even though they had all the proper documents to enter India. India has closed their border with Burma (Myanmar) for non commercial traffic due to insurgency and unrest in the bordering Indian province.
Chassis width can be the primary limiting factor in Bolivia and Peru.
Chassis height can be the primary limiting factor in SE Asia. They often had to lift wires in villages to gain enough clearance to pass.
Shipping Comments
RoRo service is available between India and Thailand. Their truck was robbed of everything when they used that RoRo service. The thieves cut through a plywood barrier between the cab and the camper and stripped it.
They are too tall for a standard or high cube closed container.
They shipped in an open top container from SE Asia to Australia and from Australia to Peru.
Open top containers are charged an additional surcharge.
Lessons Learned
- It’s better to visit fewer places and experience them in depth than visit many places in a shallow manner.
Overall
Very friendly, open and engaging couple.
Very helpful with input and comments.
A notable and complete lack of the “we did it this way with this chassis with these systems so this is the best, in fact the only, way to go about it” attitude and outlook that you come across with some people.
Switzerland
www.baumann-unterwegs.ch
unterwegs means underway
Interview date: 2/17/2008
Interview location: Ushuaia, Argentina
Fredy & Monika have traveled extensively all over the world.
1971: Land Rover, 9 months touring Africa. Fred built a custom tilt up, lift top camper for the LR.
1975 - 78: Chevrolet S10, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, central, western and southern Africa, USA (8 months), Mexico, Central America. Fred built a custom camper on the S10. They brought it from the U.S. into Switzerland on a temporary import for the buildup.
April 2004 to planned return to Switzerland in September 2008: Iveco 4x4, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, Australia and South America.
Next trip: A few years from now hope to return to U.S. and Central America, then ship to Vladivostok and drive across Siberia, Russia, and eastern Europe.
Rig
Chassis: Iveco 4x4
Current mileage: 130,000 km / 80,000 miles
Dimensions:
Length: 5.8 m / 19.03 ft
Width: 2.1 m / 6.89 ft
Height: 2.9 m / 9.514 ft
Weight: 4,300 kg / 9,480 lbs
Capacities:
Fuel (diesel): 340 L / 89.82 gal
Water: 260 L / 68.69 gal
LPG / Propane: 30 kg / 66.14 lbs.
Purchased new as a rolling chassis for this project with factory body panels back to the A pillar.
Owner built everything aft of the A pillar including the doors.
Owner was a professional body repair technician and expanded into building campers.
Exterior and interior fit and finish is excellent
Swing down bed enables permanent, fixed berth, i.e. not converting a couch into a bed every day, stripping bedding every day, etc.
Camper box is made of fiberglass / foam sandwich panels with good insulating qualities.
Switzerland limits weight to 3,500 kilos for non-truck registration. If heavier and you need to register as a truck you suffer insurance challenges and driving restrictions on weekends, etc.
This is their 5th camper.
The body is mounted rigidly to the ladder frame. They have had trouble with the body to chassis connections breaking. The frame has a lot of flex and the chassis to body interconnection points have failed several times.
He has found that even though Iveco is sold in many places around the world his European chassis uses Europe specific systems and parts so he’s had to ship in parts for repairs wherever they’ve been.
Things he would do different if he did it again:
- Mount body on 3 point pivot frame
- Hard side pop up design so the vehicle would fit in a container
- Use newer camper panel construction material that is thinner but stronger, lighter and even better insulating. Estimates he could save as much as 20-25% in total weight.
- Alloy rims to save weight
- Camper design with separated sleeping and sitting / working areas so one can read/work and the other can sleep with minimal interruptions/disruptions [DH comment: We have found separate work / sleeping areas divided by a curtain and as much distance as possible to be a very valuable attribute of our camper design.]
Considerations for next chassis/camper:
- Their Iveco sold for $45k in 2004 and is now $95k
- Mercedes is releasing a new 5,000 kg 4x4 chassis next year
- Will probably completely overhaul the existing rig and use it again
Chassis repairs / failures:
Aside from the body to frame attachment points the major point of failure has been the independent front suspension transverse leaf spring. The count for broken leaves in the front transverse leaf spring is: China – 3, Laos – 2 (including the master leaf), Nepal – 1, Peru – 1. They made new springs in both China and India but the steel was inferior in both cases. They made an entire new spring set in Australia.
Notable bush repairs:
Driving 500 km with the broken master leaf in Laos. Fred wrapped breaker bars and socket drive handles to the spring pack so they could limp the 500 km.
Route Comments
China still requires a guide but theirs slept in their camper during the day, in motels/hotels at night and allowed them total freedom in villages. They had a planned itinerary but did not stick rigidly to it.
They booked their guide as part of a four truck group, which is the minimum group size for border processing. When they arrived at the border they told the officials the other trucks had to drop out due to mechanical failure and illnesses and were allowed in.
They switched from their Chinese guide to a Tibetan guide at the Tibet border to gain local language skills and local knowledge.
They entered China from Kazakhstan. The border officials were very pleasant, professional and courteous.
If they did that route again they would probably enter China through Laos and exit to Kazakhstan.
They spoke highly of their experiences in central Asia (the “Stans”) and Iran.
They know of an overlander who made it into and through Burma (Myanmar) but was turned back at the Indian border even though they had all the proper documents to enter India. India has closed their border with Burma (Myanmar) for non commercial traffic due to insurgency and unrest in the bordering Indian province.
Chassis width can be the primary limiting factor in Bolivia and Peru.
Chassis height can be the primary limiting factor in SE Asia. They often had to lift wires in villages to gain enough clearance to pass.
Shipping Comments
RoRo service is available between India and Thailand. Their truck was robbed of everything when they used that RoRo service. The thieves cut through a plywood barrier between the cab and the camper and stripped it.
They are too tall for a standard or high cube closed container.
They shipped in an open top container from SE Asia to Australia and from Australia to Peru.
Open top containers are charged an additional surcharge.
Lessons Learned
- It’s better to visit fewer places and experience them in depth than visit many places in a shallow manner.
Overall
Very friendly, open and engaging couple.
Very helpful with input and comments.
A notable and complete lack of the “we did it this way with this chassis with these systems so this is the best, in fact the only, way to go about it” attitude and outlook that you come across with some people.
