Big Dog barks in Bavaria

Sorry I did not get these pics done before I left but it was kinda hectic getting on the road. I just took these today in my drive as I forgot the camera in the rush to pack.

Any how, the trip totaled almost 2K miles round trip. Left the UK, ferried over on the P&O to Calais, down to Riems and Metz in France. Then up to Saarbrucken and down past Stuttgart to Munich and over to Garmisch. The NATO School is in Oberammergau, just up the hill.

I mounted the xml's and installed them by myself. I have 20ton air operated bottle jack (northern tools, about a hundred WELL SPENT bucks) and have connected an air line to a glad hand that connects to the trailer air supply. I can jack the truck up and change the tires with the air by myself. Daniel at 6x6 forgot to send the beadlocks so I mounted them without. The rubber o ring went on just fine. After a day or two of tightening the bolts that hold it together here and there, they keep air just fine.

Daniel told me that the truck would rocket when I dropped the third axle and the stock bed. He was spot on. He also said that the power would drop a bit with the big tires but would still be better than stock. Again, dead on.

The truck topped out at about 53 mph or so with the stock tires but could climb anything in 5th gear. Now the power is well off but still has loads of torque. THe truck rolls nicely at what reads as 45 to 50 mph on the 46" tires.

Could one of you math wizards tell me how fast the truck was actually going???

I initially set the tire pressure at 50psi but found that to be too low. The truck lolled about and the tires hummed. I pumped them up to 60psi and it stopped rolling about and ran fine. I have not tried any higher pressure.

What tire pressure are you guys that have the xml's (or bigger) running???

Steering: just before I left, i installed the air-o-matic air assist steering. hmmm, what to say. well, its not POWER steering, but the ads and directions clearly state that. THe biggest asset to the system is that it acts like a large steering damper. The truck was SCARY to drive with the big tires and no damper. THe xmls exert a huge force on the steering wheel whenever you bump into the curb or any object. The air assist kick in when well over 65psi in the system whenever it feels 10psi of force on the drag link. When making hard turn it kinda pulses as the pressure goes on and off during the turn. Wierd, not like smooth power steering, but much easier on the arms. Only scary bit is that I dont think the drag link valve cares which direction hte 10psi pressure comes from; steering wheel or tires. When driving slow its great. WHen going fast down the motor way, again its great. When going down a narrow 2 lane country road that any normal vehicle is expected to do about 50 it can be a bit nerve racking as the truck can leap left and right a smidge as your making small corrections to stay in the middle of the lane. Maximus nervosus when the truck is exactly the width of the road lane and oncoming traffic is taking up almost as much as you...
Is it worth it - yes. Just dont expect super smooth power steering.

Fuel: I have two tanks that are plumbed together with valves underneath. I'd like to hook up a switch to use the in tank pump on the spare but this will do for the moment. I filled the truck up to the gills on both tanks and put 150 litres in to boot on the way home. The truck was so empty when I got home it would not start. I had saved a few gallons in the side tank by shutting the valves. I had parked one side up on the curb so when I opened the valves the spare fuel gravity drained to the main. Started right up after that.

Math majors - how big are the fuel tanks and can you take a swag (Scientific Wild Assed Guess) as to what the milage was??

I used the ipod and mickey mouse ears for the drive. Sound was great and I could feel the vibrations if anything was amiss.

Did some minor maintenance at the Garmisch auto hobby shop. Old retired army guy that ran the place loved the truck. He used to work on them back in hte 60's. Gave lots of good free advice. I tightened up lots of little nuts and bolts and greased everything I could find. ONly drama was on the way home I had a small leak a the axle seal on the right rear. Somehow I must of had a brain failure when I left because I must have forgotten (or lost) my 3/8's drive ratchet. I had a 3/4 in wrench but could not tighten up the axle bolts (would not ffit around the wheel nuts). It took a minute to get the courage up but I broke out the air bottle jack, removed the rim and tire, tightend up the axle bolts, reinstalled the rim and set it a back down. Total time out of the drive was 30 minutes. Most of that was himmming and hawwwing about not wanting to remove the tire.

Seats - two left front seat mounts out of posh Mitsubishi montero. gas shock suspended. Rode like a dream. Seats came out of Rover car and fully adjustable. THe seat backs are considerably thicker than stock so you do sit a bit closer to the wheel (an issue for those of us over 6') but, oh well, the cushy ride is a great trade off.

Please sound off with any questions, comments or suggestions.

sounds like a great trip.

Glad to hear you got it on the road, and without any major issues! Always nice when stuff works right the first time.

Great trip!
Could you double check the distance, it looks like 2,000 km at a first glance, not miles.
You used about 140 gallons of fuel give or take.
The loaded diameter of the xml's is about 42 inches, almost identical to my 1100-20 ndcc's. That would give you a top speed of about 61 mph at 2,600 rpm all else being equal.
I run 70-72 psi in my tires. They are not so good on wet pavement and I imagine that the xml's aren't either.
Like your air powered jack, should be standard issue.
Interesting experience with the power steering almost sounds like some kind of mal function, perhaps other users can confirm or argue this behaviour. Maybe the short wheelbase has something to do with it. The steering on my deuce is rock solid on the highway. Only place I could use PS would be off road or backing up a trailer.

Later,
Bjorn

Official gov't travel claim (yep, got uncle sugar to pay for the trip) is 1694 miles. That is direct door to door but I figure I threw in about 2 or 3 hundred extra by my choice of route (easier but not shorter) and touring around.

I did send an email to Arthur at M35Products to describe my installation and experience and he said it was pretty much spot on. The pulsing is normal, he said, because it assists instead of powering. One downside is when you've cranked on the wheel for a tight turn you would normally just let go and let the wheel spin back to center as you straighten out. Not so with airomatic, it stops it from spinning. You just a have to be aware that you have to help turn it back.

Thanks for the maths help. I figured I was doing about 60mph but it was hard to figure with everything in KM.

Heres a question for y'all:

When it starts to rain I get water that blows out of hte air defrost ducts against the INSIDE of the windscreen. The defrost blows hard and cold all the time when rolling down the road. If you switch the heater to defrost the passenger side warms up but the ducts in front of hte steerign wheel stay cold. I caulked the windscreen so its not leaking (much) from the outside. ANy ideas???

Cheers,

Cole, it sounds like the flexible duct leading to the drivers side has fallen off. You have to lay under the dash, and play contortionist to even see it, let alone hook it up probably why it fell off!

I'm still perplexed by the operation of the airomatic power steering. One reson for introducing caster
in the front end suspension is to make the vehicle straighten out after a turn and to make it run straight
when you let go of the steering wheel. If it doesn't, then it's high time for a front end alignment.
What you are describing sounds unsafe to me. Those "features" are enough to look for a different (hydraulic) type pwr steering.
Again can somebody else confirm or argue what you experience. I have the brochure for the Air-o-matic pwr steering somewhere. Don't remember reading about those problems, though.

Bjorn

Cole-

Thanks for the update and the pics. I keep 60 PSI in the XMLs unless we need to air down for additional traction. Your top speed might be more than 61 MPH as tires should be 46", not 42". They are definitely taller than 1100s. With the weight and rolling resistance you lost, I expected you to be closer to 65 or 70. Bjorn, can you refigure with 46"?

Okay, I just went by the spec for that tire. If the diameter is in fact 46 inches,
then the speed would be about 67 mph for 2.600 rpm.

Thanks Bjorn, that looks closer to what I expected.

In an odd way, the peculiarity that I'm experiancing with the airomatic makes sense, especially in the lack of spin back to center. THe whole system acts as a steering damper as well as power assist. When you have it cranked hard over and let go it spins about 1 turn and then buffers to a halt. You can palm it back to center, much like you can almost palm it from lock to lock as long as your moving. It will not make turning the wheels much easier at a dead stop.

At then end of the day, it was an easy install (minor annoyances, sure, but not major surgery) and it does work. Makes driving hte truck much more of a pleasure than without it. Driving the big tires on standard steering was SCARY. I was constantly worried about hitting a curb or rock and having the wheel jerk out of my hands and the truck lurch into oncoming traffic. No such worries at all now.

Cheers,

I don't experiance any pulseing with my system. Steering is not like a hydrolic system, but operates smoothly. After a turn, the wheel will return to center, or at least close to it. The biggest advantage is off road, if you hit rocks or stumps etc. you will still have any fingers you may have forgotten to leave on the outside of the wheel !!!!

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Hmmm, the locals: remember that I live in the land of the Mini and the Land Rover, both icons of the small and cute. Kids LOVE it (because of the grill), men lust for it, women a generally frightened and drivers on the road give me a WIDE berth.

I took about 20 beaters on pheasant shoot (very, very different from pheasant hunting back home in the states!) and they loved it in the back. I put in a pair of humvee troop seat benches. Plenty of room for 16-20 folks plus dogs, guns, birds, rabbits, foxes and a couple of geese! The US Airforce guys at the gate to base just laugh every time I drive up. They use to try and put me in the lorry queue for inspection but now I just drive in like a normal pickup truck.

Cheers from over here, C

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