New Here Looking to Learn About Urals

Hello - New to the Forum.
Have been in and around Mil vehicles all of my life and am a veteran.
I really enjoy reading your threads.

I'm considering buying a Ural. Can anyone offer advice as to the downside of owning a Russian vehicle in the USA. I get that they are slow. I talked to one fellow in the UK who said when things break he's been finding more common replacements for them. I'd like to hear your thoughts, good and bad. I'm a helicopter pilot and at one time tried to import and use commercially some of their helicopters because they are built to take a pounding. So I have some understanding of the manufacturing ideals. Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers,
Will

Well if theyre anything like the other sovjet vehicles Ive read about (no reason to suspect theyre not), then all replacement parts will be bog-standard. Anything thats model or type specific will be made at least two times as strong as required, so it wont need replacing any time soon. I'm by no means an expert though! What are you looking at?

No useful information from me, sorry. Yet, welcome to the site!! Good luck with the Russian truck. I have looked at quite a few of their videos on utube and they appear to be pretty capable. Keep us informed, ok?
God bless,
Tony

From Oct. 06 through about July of 07 our shop sold Ural Motorcycles. We sold 1 civilian model and one that was decked out military style, both had sidecars, sidecar rack w/spare tire. As far as getting them in a timely manner, our order took aproximatly 3 months lead time, mind you the importer was located just out of Seattle Washington. and our shop in Redlands Ca. (San Bernardino area) of Southern Californa In our opinion way too long, but we were given the excuse of extenuating circumstances, ok but having several sources and distributors in the southern half of the state, we were able to compare notes about tennative delivery dates, and trade around product from dealer to dealer based on pending sales. That co-opperation was verry convienient, as whoever could sell was provided with a unit, then at delivery time our unit was then kept or put in the other dealeds enventory, a good game for all. As for quality of the Ural Motorcycle units, well it was basically a BMW copy of a 30's-40's bike and technology, fair enough, that was in itself not a bad thing, and was the glamor of the Bike. It had drive on the rear wheel as usual, and drive on the sidecar wheel so it was something of a brute in the rough offroad areana. The fit and finish was nothing spectacular, but was just above sufficiant, though long-wearing. The parts were all over-built, brutish and fairly low-tech, again that was the charm of the Ural product. There were, other than the 200 mile first dealer check, zero issues to come up with integrity or repair. All the clients that purchased were more than happy with these bikes, and I suppose, have had no situations other than mabe the normal tire replacements and filters. As for offroad trucks of the Ural name, If they are anything like I imagine, they are crude, well-built and have that certain Soviet-block charm. I would guess however that parts are not difficult to get but rather scarce in an (off the shelf) scenario. That would lead me to believe that a close relationship with a source for parts be paramount. The likelyhood of breakage, in my opinion, should be small or non-existant. Dealing with Russian exporters is a bit risky and certain precautions taken, such as a third party payment processer to secure your funds until the unit or parts are delivered.

I have 1 and love it. Its a hardy thing. Ugly MV and well try to pry it from my cold dead hands

An ural bike with sidecart has been on the wishlist for quite a long time now here, never heared anything but good stories about them (I like crude ).

On the replacement parts, guessing for both bikes and trucks, I think most if not all replacement parts are standard. Metric system ofcourse, but standard. On my tatra I've been able to get new parts from local truck and car dealers with ease. Bring the old part (gaskets, rubbers, plugs, relays, etc) and they have a new part that fits it. It's a bit different for structural parts ofcourse, but they are very unlikely to fail, and if they do, easy to repair.

Thanks all for the details. I'm actually looking at a Ural Truck. I'm sorry I should have been more clear. But thanks for the bike info.
Cheers,
Will

Hi

I take it you mean older classic Urals from around the 1970's? If so they normally come in two basic forms; the petrol engined 375d (Zil V8 engine) or the diesel 4320 (Kamaz/Yamz V8 engines), I've seen both types up close here in the U.K. They're an equivalent size to your 5 tonners. A fella I know owns a 375d and also runs this site www.russianmilitarytrucks.com You can find plenty of info here on the Urals and almost all other Russian/eastern block trucks (I post on there as 'Abrs')

Regards John.

Back in the 1990s when the first surplus Ural-375 hit the civilian market in USSR they were called "death to private entrepreneur". The fuel consumption of the gasoline powered ones was so atrocious, it made it impossible to justify running a Ural-375. The gassers were made from 1961 to 1981, they are slightly better offload. You should really look into a Ural-4320 powered by V8 diesel (Kamaz-740.10). These are older trucks, they were manufactured from 1981 to 1986 so you should be able to find an importable one (more than 25 years old). The later models were powered by YaMZ-238 (v and YaMZ-236 (V6). IIRC these are too new to import into the US, but a 375 repowered with a YaMZ should be an option. Urals with 238 are quite a beast, they often used for log hauling in Russia. This engine was used in Ural's bigger brother called KrAZ. For driving around without pulling a heavy load YaMZ 236 (V6) if perfectly fine.

One thing to keep in mind about Urals - the "air over hydraulic" brakes are problematic. I was told that conversion to air brakes from Zil-131 greatly improves the reliability. The original Ural brakes are not bad by design, in the unlikely event that they are in good working order they do the job. Unfortunately the quality of manufacture is poor at best, so failures are common.

Kamaz engine is poor copy of Mercedes-Benz 400-series engine (OM.401, OM.402 etc), and not so good. YaMZ engines are OK.

Finlandia said:

Kamaz engine is poor copy of Mercedes-Benz 400-series engine (OM.401, OM.402 etc), and not so good. YaMZ engines are OK.

Click to expand...

Kamaz-740 is not as reliable as YaMZ, however the YaMZ is an older motor. Normally aspirated YaMZ-236 is heavier than Kamaz-740 (995 kg vs. 743 kg) and it's less powerful (180 hp vs 210 hp). One thing to keep in mind is that Kamaz makes more power at higher RPMs and it's more thirsty than YaMZ-236. The YaMZ-236 is more "tractor-like" motor, it pulls stronger at lower RPM. The YaMZ is also easier to work on and somewhat queter. All that being said, you need to modify the suspension for YaMZ and the truck becomes more nose-heavy.

The YaMZ-238 is a great motor, it pulls really well for what it is, but it's very heavy and thirsty. Unless you plan on using Ural for pulling huge timbers out of the woods, forget about YaMZ-238.

The OP is in the US, which means that the latest Ural he can get his hands on would be a 1985 model (1986 next year). I'd say that Kamaz-740 is more than adequate motor for the kind of use that most military vehicles see in the US, that is - occasional use. Get a good source for quality seals and gaskets, check for oil leaks regularly and address them right away, and you'll be fine with Kamaz-740 engine.

The only YaMZ powered Urals importable into the US would be old ones (Ural-375) that that had the original gas V8 engines replaced with diesel. Some only had engines replaced, but not the transfer cases and axles. I'll take a Ural-4320 with Kamaz-740 over a Ural-375 with YaMZ-236 and original running gear any day.