Seriously, I want one.  Is it a pipe dream, or something that is reasonably doable?

I want to know all about owning one, operating it, maintaining it, quirks, capabilities, etc...

I've seen a couple in real life.  One was some sort of fire truck in Greece.  From what I read, they can go anywhere they'll fit and are difficult to find parts for stateside.  Offroad guys like to use Mog axles in their Jeeps and such.  There are a couple companies that make overland expedition style vehicles out of them.

They seem like awesome rigs but have heard they can be a little maintenance intensive.

I like the ground clearance on the axles. One of the local guys runs a set of them on his jeep and it is pretty capable

I don't know much about them, but I like this one a lot.  

My neighbor has one and drives it around town quite a bit. I don't think he's ever taken it off paved roads. :(

A buddy of mine worked on a fire crew in Nevada, and he said that they were using them for wildfires, but had to stop because when they took one down too steep of a hill it would roll end-over-end.

One of my friends has three old Egyptian military surplus unimogs from the 70's, and they are awesome, but slow as hell.

I owned a 1971 404 mog for about five years, and I miss it everyday. Yes they are slow and have 8 gears in first and two in reverse but it was so much fun to poke around in.
Tire changes were HORRIBLE, they weigh around 100+ pounds. Factory spark plugs were also crazy expensive so I switched to standard plugs.

If you have any questions, ask away. I'll try to answer them as best as possible. I want another.

Depends on what you're looking at.

One of the surplus U404.1's?  parts are out there but pricey. Good luck finding mechanics to work on them as well. They are not simple vehicles, and some jobs like disassembling the portal axle outdrives require a bigger breaker and cheater bar than most shops can manage. Tranny swaps are downright interesting, requiring you to pull the cab and bed, then basically winch the rear axle back to get clearance. (Or remove it entirely). Even adjusting valves requires a special tool to turn the ball pivots for the depressors. Most have shielded ignition, and that means shielded plugs and cables. Not cheap or common. Overall engine access is cramped. Not as bad as some late 70's vans, but bad enough. The Zenith carbs like to vibrate themselves loose as well.

Surplus models are 24V electrical, the Swiss ones being preferable because they use circuit breakers instead of fuses, and tend to have better/more modern wiring.  Most of the 404's out there seem to date from the 50's and 60's, with the Swiss ones being a bit later. Latest I saw was a 72.
Some, like the Belgian and German surplus ones have major rust issues, especially with the cab. The Swiss ones seemed to be in overall better shape, and had a cab/tilt that was more functional than the canvas mess MB came up with.
Dont ever expect normal road speeds, or "average" creature comforts. (The heater will either keep your feet warm, or kind of defog the window, but not both.)

If you think you're going to make an Ex Kraut radio van or ambulance into a super-duper camper, I hope you like 6MPG and a max speed of MAYBE 45 MPH on the flats. (And the potential of breaking down in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas with parts being scarce and expensive). The Swingfire heater usually found with these radio boxes does make a mean weedburner, but I'd seriously suggest not using it unless you really know them. If you can find one, the Swiss radio boxes are much better, with a safer combustion heater, and they are composite instead of steel and masonite like the German/Belgian ones. (No hidden rust issues.)

The municipal trucks are a little faster and a lot more expensive to maintain. U 406's were imported by Case for a while in the 70's, and U-416's and later series like 1500's and 1700's turn up as surplus occasionally. Even seen some of the U.S. "SEE" 'Mog tractors popping up, all with various issues.  Great trucks if you have a spread of property or a small farm to maintain, and a source of parts and a competent mechanic.

You're basically buying a short range roadable tractor. Even the most basic cargo truck U404's are best thought of as a "tractor that can drive on a road" instead of as a "truck I can drive offroad".

I drove one this year from Bend,Or to Sanford, Fl.
(1961 404)
fun as hell...pure attention whore vehicle.

Slow, noisey, hot/cold.

crazy fuel mileage...between 12mpg down to 3 gallons per mile

That's also a much larger truck.

There's an old Benz Unimog for sale less than 2 miles from my house.  I'd say that's doable if you've got the cash, and can find one near you.

The Germans refer to them as a "road tractor."


That is rather accurate of the Older models.

Look here for some Ideas.

http://www.unimog.net/exchange/


The U series trucks are very road-able depending on the original configuration.

The Newer Uxxx trucks are serviceable by Freightliner.

Amazing video!

Damn!  He made that look pretty easy...

At one time that was a 404 Doka, but you try that with a stock 404 and you'll be shopping for a battery box and new fuel tanks.

Otrherwise, stock, are reasonably capable offroad.  Large tire diameter+portal axles+wacky compound low gearing helps.

Watch out if he discovers Pinzgauers and Haflingers then.

That was a heck of a road trip.  Can you post the link to the thread on adv.?  I lost the bookmark & never got to the end of the RT.

7mm

They have axles that are nice in other vehicles.....



Thats a 39.5 inch tire with and extra 5ish inches of ground clearence from the portals.  Things come with cable lockers front and rear and something like 6.9:1 gearing IIRC.  That not my rig, but a buddies at the Cove in Gore, VA.

Friend of mine back in Ca had one, and it was freakin' incredible, a damn beast! As mentioned, they are finicky, but as long as you're the least bit mechanically inclined and have patience, then you're good to go. If memory serves me correct, he purchased it from the California Dept. of Forestry, was used as a firefighting vehicle, was originally a German Army Radio truck, looked similar to the model pictured below, except it had a hard cab top with turret door over passenger seat, and was red in color. He used it as a camping vehicle and a work vehicle, he was doing finished carpentry work at the time, and he kept all his tools, and compressor in back, it would be a great BOV if you had a stock of "necessary" parts, it could go anywhere, but I will say, it's not the fastest thing, I remember one time we went up to our place up at Lake Arrowhead, and needless to say, we had a line of traffic behind us.

Oops! forgot pic of similar model, my friends resembled this, but was red, had a hard cab top with turret hatch.

I'd rather have a bobbed deuce.



http://www.100dollarman.com/trucks.html

Because why?

I suspect Saturnstyle qualifies as "mechanically inclined".   However, if he didn't hate German design engineers already, I have a suspicion one might put him over the edge. On the other hand, the one pictured has the right logo on the front for him.

800 series 5 ton, FTW.  

I love a deuce as much as the next guy, but the deuce aint going near the place the mog is.  Portal axles take a 37 inch tire and give you the ground clearance of a 49 inch tire.  Not to mention the gearing and it comes with front and rear lockers.

I think a bob deuce is awsome and thought about buying a dump bed one myself a couple times, just not really the same type of vehicle.  But don't expect either to go fast......

Kinda what I'm thinking.  I have no heavy equipment experience, tools, or lift.  So if its gonna be a pain in the ass, it might as well have portal axles and lots of cool options.  The biggest problem is price.  I found THE unimog, but its $26K.  And its from the '60s.  A new one is over a hundred thousand bucks, parts will always be expensive and scarce, as well as support.  And I imagine if you got it stuck, its probably going to just stay there.

A duece is relatively cheap.  Gets shitty mileage, but its probably easier to work on, and has a cool factor thats still 9.9 out of 10.  Parts more readily available and cheap too.  

They both sound great, but both have their own drawbacks.  I'd rather have a diesel mog though.

I looked at mogs and pinzsgauers. Ended up with a 710m. Parts are cheaper and more common. See mo profile pic