Mercedes-Benz Unimog U1300

We offer our truck. in which we've been living during last 14 months. having lots of adventures in this time. It's ex-Bundeswehr (German army) model with no mechanical modifications. plain U1300L. We're the first owners of this truck. Vehicle is used but in good condition. it has just finished over 50'000km journey (15'000km through Europe. 35'000km through South America). Our plan was to travel longer. through Central and North Americas and sell it then. but life verified our plans and we have to shorten our trip. Below some technical data.

VEHICLE

Make: Mercedes-Benz Unimog 435/U1300L

VIN: WDB4351151W131492

Date of production: 07. 1986

Mileage: 75'000km (46'600 miles). 28 years of duty confirmed by army's documents (included)

Engine:

OM352 type. 5675cm3 displacement. four stroke. direct injection. watercooled. 6 cylinders. 130hp@2800rpm. 363Nm@1800rpm – possible adjustments (turbo kit) improving those parameters to about 170hp@2800rpm and 520Nm@1800rpm (doable in US)

Brakes:

hydraulic. dual-circuit disc brakes with compressed air booster and automatic load dependant brake control

Transmission:

manual. 8 forward gears. 4 reverse gears; 2WD. 4WD. clutch in good condition

Axles:

portal axles with low speed differential ratio (in oposite to 'fast' axles. which are possible to mount though). differential locks which can be pneumatically engaged and disengaged on the move without interruptions in traction

Frame:

ladder-type frame. extreme torsional flexibility; torsion-free subframe under the living unit

Suspension:

coil springs and telescoping shock absorbers. due to low weight of the car they are in good condition after at least 50'000km. vehicle rides smoothly

Tires:

Pirelli Pista PS22 in the size of 12. R20 ('small tires' in oposite to 14. R20 'big' ones). worn out (has done over 50'000 km) but has been great

Overall dimensions:

Lenght: 6. 3m (20ft 9in)

Width: 2. 0m (7ft 6in)

Height: 3. 5m (10ft 11in)

Weight: ~5700kg (12'566lb)

Gross weight: 7490kg (16'512lb)

Fuel system & speeds:

Diesel tanks: ~500L (2x250L)

Fuel consumption: 17. - 18 L/100km (13 – 13. MPG)

Range: should be about 2500km (1550 miles). 2100 km tested and there was still some fuel in the tanks

Maximum speed: 86km/h (54mph)

Minimum speed: imperceptible by GPS  (due to very low ratio of crawling gears)

Cruising speed: 67 – 70km/h (42-43mph)

CAB

new seats (from Mercedes-Benz W124; heating system can be installed. we provide parts – didn't have time to plug it. but the instalation seems to be complete) with brand new Range Rover L322 black leather in great condition

new upholstery on the floor. roof & walls

soundproofing (engine bay and inside the cab – floor. doors. front wall)

strong LED halogen exterior frontlight (9000 lumens)

spare wheel on the roof. hand winch + instalation for electrical winch

pass between cab and the living unit

isofix for child seat (3 people can travel comfortably in front at the same time)

12v instalation for internal lights above the head of driver and passenger

12/24/220v transformator

new Bosch batteries 2x120ah

triple zone climate control system (left window. right window. hatch door on the roof) 

LIVING UNIT

Unit's dimensions (internal):

Lenght: ~4. m (13ft 1in)

Width: 2. 0m (7ft 6in)

Internal height: 1. 3m (6ft 3in)

Construction:

strong wooden frame

'sandwich' panels. 48mm (1. in) thick walls. thicker on the floor & roof

good heat insulation (air conditioning is NOT essential. tested during over 40C – 104F outside)

decent noise insulation (tested during the nights spent in the middle of big cities)

decent wind insulation (tested during EXTREMALLY strong wind in southern Patagonia)

great weight balance (right/left and up/down. all of the heavy loads are between the axles & as low as it was possible. vehicle is lightweight and very stable)

Dometic Seitz windows with blinds & mosquito nets

door with 2 locks and handrail

ladder to get into the unit

no leaks & unstickings

Water:

Fresh water tank: ~220L (2x110 – 120L)

Grey water & waste tanks: ~120L (80+40L). You won't get Your hands dirty while emptying it

12v electric pump with filtration system

very efficient yacht water handpump to tank the water from the river/lake

hose and adapters

Kitchen:

LPG gas tank: 35L (last loooong) + plug&play instalation to use standard 11L gas bottles (in the trunk)

gas oven with grill function

gas stove

12v compressor fridge with freezer

sink

12v hood

lots of storage room (cabinets)

SECOND KITCHEN OUTSIDE (see 'trunk' section)

Bathroom:

overall dimensions 140cm x 80cm

big shower (80cm x 80cm)

ceramic toilet with electric flush

sink

roof window with hood

Bedroom:

main bed dimensions (bedroom in the back): 140cm x 200m. adjustable head

closet for books

closet for clothes

LED night lighting for reading

additional bed dimensions (in the 'living room'): 160cm x 130cm

closet for clothes with small hanger

closets for stuff in 'living room'

Heating system:

Truma Combi D6 diesel heating

same source of fuel as the engine's (main fuel tanks)

heats air within the living unit & hot water (hot water for the shower for two people in about 15 minutes; faster in hot climate)

ventilation function

quiet & very efficient (max. use 0. L/h)

Electrics:

photovoltaic cells 400W (2x200W units) on the roof

very fast & reliable WAECO charger (to charge the unit's battery from the 'wall')

smart. not overcomplicated control panel

additional 12v generator in the engine bay. charges the living unit's battery during driving

new gel battery 200ah

all-LED interior lighting. warm hue

30m cable with adapters

another 5m. smaller profile cable

Outside:

Thule Orminster awning on right side with LED lighting

additional mounting in the back wall for second awning (2. m x 3. m size. provided)

second kitchen under the awning on the right side (gas stove & water acces)

electric socket (220v. 12v. antenna)

Trunk:

large surface for luggage

plug&play gas instalation to use standard 11L gas bottles (in the closet which is used to store tools at the moment)

second kitchen under the awning on the right side (gas stove & water acces)

few shelves

acces from both sides & from the inside (partly)

LED lighting

2 waterproof storages outside the trunk

Additional equipment (goes with the vehicle):

2KW electric generator (brand new. used once) with function of charging car batteries

1000W transformator

some basic tools (keys. drilling machine. grinder. spade. axe)

some paints (spray)

some car cosmetics

some basic camping equipment (4 folding chairs. 2 folding tables. 2 folding stools. sunbead. pots. glasses. plates. cutlery)

small barbecue & carbon

The truck is accident-free. lightweight. not overcomplicated. very well balanced & drives smoothly. It's not the fastest vehicle in the world . but changing the tires for 14. R20 should help achieving higher speeds. Changing the differential's ratio is also possible. then the Mog will drive over 90km/h (56mph). After our trips we can say that the vehicle is 100% reliable. because during that over 50'000km NOTHING HAS EVER BROKEN. We've been driving the Mog in the dry deserts and ocean's shores. through wilderness and middle of crowded cities. on the beaches and the altitudes exceeding 5000 metres above sea level. on and off road - it never failed. even once.

Our Mog is perfect for a couple. very good for a couple with one child (we're the best proof. living within it for over a year) and acceptable for a couple with 2 children (although rather small children. due to the size of additional bed in the 'living room'). It has been designed by one of the most experienced off-road travelers in Poland (and generally speaking – in this part of the world. traveling for 20 years by many different vehicles and organizing off-road trips – currently in Siberia). Vehicle provides independence in the wild. with solid amount of watts on the roof and very energy-saving devices installed. it can last really loooong outside civilisation. With a source of water (fresh water tanks lasted 3-4 days with our use). You can camp on wild 'forever'. Vehicle is not overcomplicated. there are no modifications within the engine. suspension etc. Concerning the living unit – only good materials used. only reliable. trusted equipment (Truma. Dometic. Waeco) installed.

The truck is not too big and not too heavy. so the original off-road abilities of Unimog are preserved. allowing You to deal with rough terrain (tested in South American jungles. rough forest & meddow surfaces in Eastern Europe. rocky Andes and harsh Patagonian roads). Compact dimensions with great (as for the truck off course) turning radius makes it surprisingly good in the cities (tested in old European small. sleepy towns. in big ones like Rome or Athens. as well as in crowded. multimillion South American agglomerations as Buenos Aires or Lima).

It's not a perfect vehicle – such simply doesn't exist. But it served us very well. being extremally reliable and cheap to run truck. It's not anonymous. has been featured in few magazines & off-road websites. You can also read some of our stories written during last months of traveling (here: https://www. facebook. com/Je%C5%BAdzimy-sobie-1346397482106983/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel . no need to have facebook account although texts only in polish so You have to use 'translate' function).

Ok. so what about the cons? Here is the COMPLETE list (I think it's better to write too much in this section than leave something unsaid. even though in my opinion none of these flaws is an important one):

Scratches (rather minor than major) all over the truck. mainly in the rear part. Vehicle has never been repainted nor polished. They've been made in the forests and bushes. totally normal thing. on cleaned vehicle  many of them are not visible.

Tires. Small size and worn out after over 50'000km. need to be replaced by new ones soon. We suggest replacing them by bigger ones. 14. R20 – vehicle will be faster (about 10%). better on the mud and quaggy surfaces. more stable on tilts. should be also more comfortable and will look cool 

The fridge doesn't work. We tried to fix it in Lima. Peru; I've described whole procedure in our blog but I can't curse in english as well as in polish. so I can't translate the whole story here correctly. Nevertheless. despite we spent a lot of time in Lima waiting for our fridge to be repaired (by oficial Dometic reseller). we were happy to get our non-working fridge back. The diagnosis was that the compressor is broken. Peruvian guy (whom I've almost killed) repaired the compressor but then realised that some small. electronic plate which controls the fridge doesn't work either. And that one he couldn't fix (although saying that he searched 'whole Peru' to find the spare parts). We've been informed that there are three solutions: 1. Buy the compressor/plate set (easiest but most expensive) 2. Buy new plate (doable in US. at least that's what we've been told) 3. Repair the current plate (fridge works. but after an hour some part on the plate overheats and fridge stops working – I'm terrible in electronics so I've got no idea if it's doable or not. but at least I think that I remember which part on the plate was it ).

Small fracture outside on the right wall – I've fixed it with silicon. duct tape and a sticker. It doesn't leak at all. tested for over 6 months. including HEAVY tropical rains. It's non visible too. It has been made during the shipping from Europe to South America. probably during (un)loading the vehicle. How? I would also like to know. because we've been offroading through the narrow forrests. scratched the truck many. many times. smashed the brunches. broke small trees and we've never ever damaged the wall or window.

Bented mudguard – at least I've done it personally . Damaged during the 2-day-long. difficult crawl under heavy reain through the jungle in the mountains of central Ecuador. Narrow rock shelves. cliffs. abysses. mosquitos. streams of water. mud. fallen trees blocking the road which we had to cut. branches entering through the windows. - I was astounded that nothing more suffered. One of the hardest part of our trip. very technically demanding route far from civilisation.

Lock in left (driver's) door. Doesn't work. During our first day in Colombia someone wanted to break into our Mog. damaging the lock (probably by a screwdriver) from the outside making it impossible to open/close with the key. Fortunatelly You can close the door. but only from the inside. You can also open it – from the inside too. I even didn't bother looking for the lock to Unimog in Colombia – it was the last country on our route so considering our chances to find proper lock in here we've just ignored it and been using our 4-year old son as a remote control to open/close the left door since then.

12/24/220v transformator in the cab. Has been working and just stopped. I suspect that it's just the button turning it on/off. not the device itself. But as I said previously. I'm really. really bad at electronics – I consider succesful every electric repair during which I avoid killing myself.

Blind in big window in the 'living room'. It works. but get stuck from time to time and needs help to roll up/down. Since last week although it work's better; I think it was the dirt and dust (after driving through the Atacama and peruvian deserts) and the mechanism started to clean itself during driving in less dusty conditions.

Missing the ending part (on the roof) of the chimney from the kitchen's hood. I had to tear it off during offroading in the forest. probably some brunch; I didn't notice it. To prevent water from entering through the open pipe I've sticked it with duct tape. so nothing leaks. I imagine fixing it should be easy-peasy if You find a proper part (poor choice here in South America).

Lock in the door to the living unit. I've almost forgot it since it's damaged for a long time. The door has two locks. one works flawlessly. second one doesn't at all. BUT. You can pretend it's working. pushing it's button so the door looks like closed with two locks (I know it sounds a little bit complicated . but when You will see it on Your own eyes whole situation should be clear). I didn't check if this lock can be fixed or need to be replaced.

Spare wheel rim (the one on the roof) is not in the best condition. Two of its six holes are worn out and a little bit bigger than others. We've been using it for few hundread kilometres and it was fine. nothing has unscrewed. but it should stay on spare wheel and be used in emergency only.

Broken boards under the main bed in bedroom. Three (or four) of them has broken while my wife was playing with our son on the bed during driving on what turned out to be not the best asphalt in the world. Fixed by duct tape. Replacing broken boards with the new ones should be easy (boards are 70cm long).

Squeaking brakes. Last time when we changed the spare wheel. brake pads were in good condition (there are 8 of them. 2 on each wheel) so the brakes are squaking not because the pads are worn out. Maybe it's just because this particular combination of brake discs and pads is going to squak? I don't know. nevertheless brakes squeaks when they are hot. so in Andes there were a lot of squeaking  To calm You down – they work properly. Just noisy.

Squeaking alternator belt. Yep. from time to time our Mog changes into a noisy beast  Belt from the second alternator (the one that charges battery in the unit. not the main one which charge vehicle's batteries) is squeaking from time to time when it's cold (on hot engine stays quiet all the time). It signals then that the alternator should be adjusted (tighten). It happens (I mean the need of tightening the alternator) every 7'000km or something like that. Untwisting it and screwing again with more nuts should fix the problem for good.

Improvements suggested:

Bigger wheels. Easiest way to improve a little bit the speed of the truck. They will also make the Mog better on muddy surfaces or on the sandy beaches. Truck should be more comfortable (softer). they should last longer (theoretically) and the influence on the fuel consumption should be little or none at all.

Additional locks (vehicle's doors and door to the living unit) with padlocks. I've seen such solution in few vehicles that we've met in South America. We had just two situations that someone wanted to break into our truck. but additional locks should definitelly improve security.

Bigger awning. This one will be more complicated. but not impossible. Current awning is ok. the putting up system is smart. but it's a little bit too small. The best would be the one which covers side AND the back of the vehicle at the same time (3/4 of the wheel). Right now we're using the awning on the side and the canvas on the back. but it's not the perfect solution.

Additional mosquito nets in the windows. The ones which are originally mounted in Dometic Seitz windows are ok for European mosquitos. but mosquitos in South American jungles are much smaller. much bloodthirsty and much more annoying. In our opinion. adding another mosquito net from the inner side of the windows is possible. when needed they could be mounted by velcro tape.

Ladder or some steps which will help getting into the trunk. Because of the size of the truck. lower edge of the trunk is quite high. At the moment we use normal. old. wooden stool. Sometimes it's not the most stable solution.

Lights inside the cab. over the heads of driver and passenger. There are lights. but we've added them for the last moment before we've left Europe. we bought them in IKEA and they died after just few days. But. there is an electrical instalation. so I guess it's just the matter of installing new. better ones. This source of light would be really useful.

Stronger. anti-theft door between the cab and the living unit. Right now. they are not anti-theft at all. We use sponge covered by black cloth to cover them. so at first glance vehicle looks like there is no pass between cab and the living unit. but we understand that's not perfect solution. We suggest constructing some anti-theft door. wooden. aluminium. something like that.

Better locks on fuel tanks. At the moment it's just a stopgap. The lids should be drilled and the padlocks with unusual shape should be used to prevent thieves stealing the fuel (what happened to us twice) – at least that's my idea. but I think I've already mentioned that I'm not the best constructor in the world (but I have an ideas ).

Fairing on the external stove. Even small wind make using it hard. Stronger wind makes it impossible to use the stove. Some kind of wind protection highly recommended – it's better to cook outside while it's over 40C 

Additional front halogen lights. Current one is on the roof and works good. but it's too high. And lighting from that height makes the holes and inequalities on the road's surface invisible (light falls from above and holes in the road doesn't throw any shadow). Yes. during night offroad. or even driving on bad asphalt road it would be good to have another source of strong light. but placed lower.

Paperworks:

Lots of papers goes with the vehicle. First of all – all of the army's papers. which are about 500 pages of documents. invoices. diaries. documenting every repair from the very begining. all of the maintenance process as well as vehicle's duty and each one of the driven kilometres.

Technical opinion regarding the registration of living unit. which makes from our truck an RV (registered in Poland as 'Special truck – camping car').

Polish registration (we don't have such thing as 'title'). vehicle's card (I guess You don't have such thing in US). invoice from Bundeswehr (which proves that I'm the legal owner of the truck. can be considered as a 'title')

Tons of documents from South America documenting legal border crossings. insurances etc.

Documents proving that the vehicle has been LEGALLY AND PERMANENTLY IMPORTED to United States. what allows You to register it under Your name

At the moment our truck is on the ro-ro vessel. going from Cartagena. Colombia through Manzanillo International Terminal. Panama to Baltimore. Maryland. Arrival is scheduled on tomorrow - Friday. 23rd of June. We were assured by Motor Vehicle Administration of Maryland's Department of Transportation that the vehicle CAN be legally registered. I'm already on US territory (Baltimore) and I'm going to pick up the vehicle as soon as it will be possible. Vehicle can be inspected in Baltimore AFTER 23rd of June. In case of any delays I will contact all of the people interested.

We've got no idea what more we could write here  We tried to describe the vehicle in honest and comprehensive manner. Of course. we can provide more photos & information. the best way to contact would be by e-mail ( mj. frankiewicz@wp. pl ). Untill the end of auction I will be in Baltimore. MD.

Good luck in bidding.

Maciej Frankiewicz


First 59 of the following photos has been made on 18th of May. 2017 in Colombia. to present the vehicle. which has not been cleaned to that photos. taken just straight as it is. Next pics are a loose collection of moments of our travel (more can be find here. just as the stories - sneaking into 2017 Dakar Rally finish base-camp. driving through the deserts. exploring ruins & wildlife and much more (although only in polish): https://www. facebook. com/Je%C5%BAdzimy-sobie-1346397482106983/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel ).

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