An Amusing Unimog quote...

Ran across this the other day thought it was pretty amusing...

“Unimog is the cockroach of all purpose vehicles. When the last H1 Hummer has turned to dust, when the final Land Rover has rotted into topsoil, there will still be Unimogs roaming the planet. You can’t kill them, they go anywhere and you can fix ‘em with a hammer and a screwdriver. Sure, parts can be hard to find, but you can always make your own. Sure, most ‘mogs won’t hit 60 miles per hour downhill with a strong tail wind, but who cares? It’s about getting from point A to point B when nothing else can.”

Obviously they never had to buy a Mercedes captive part like an axle seal for $140 (I have) ...but still a funny read! Oh, and my Mog's front axle being lubricated with water for years and years before finally coming unglued, right after I purchased it..., is a testament to duribility too.

Very, very cool! And true, for that matter.

The truck was still able to grind the front axle around with NO roller bearings left on the pinion. The roller bearing was pulled out of the bottom of the differential so it passed through the R&P. Ouch...and it was still driving! ...though making a noise.

Boy, I don't know. Unimogs are good, and Land Rovers are not. I have no experience with AM General but Chevy trucks seem to last.

The Unimogs I have owned are lighter and less durable than US trucks of the same year range. Especially the body metal, but I am also considering the heft and simplicity of the mechanicals.

I appreciate Unimogs and believe they work very well off roading into fairly extreme conditions, but disagree with the assessment they last longer.

Rick

We're all welcome to our opinions. I sold my M715 listed as a 5 quarter ton because 3/4, 1, and 1-1/4 ton chassis are crap compared to the Unimog chassis or running gear. All bodies can rust off but there's not really any kind of comparison to say 1 ton Chevy running gear and 406 running gear.

September 14, 2011.

Just based on having driven a bunch of military vehicles from the Korean War on.... I'd say the S404.114 Unimogs in their cabs are about as heavy as a US M37 and most M35A2's, given that they are a 1-1/2 to 2-1/4 ton truck. The S404's are like Model A's, easy to fix and nearly indestructible, the 406/408's are improved 404's, and the U1300L's will eat most other military trucks up as regards power and durability, but almost no Unimog will do anything as regards speed. Once my M35A2 had the Air-O-Matic added it became easier to handle at low speeds compared to the Unimog S404.114, but then a Unimog will go where a deuce usually won't....
I did like the comparison to cockroaches though, for those of you that haven't driven a Unimog, try it, you probably won't go back to underbuilt again.... NOW that mine has the proper size electric fuel pump fitted to it, it's running like a champ again....
The Unimog S404.114 in 1963 cost the equivalent of about 1 to 3 average new US houses to buy, today the cab and chassis is about $125,000 new.....

Only thing I know about Mogs is one got stuck at the 2010 FL Rally and it took three deuces, working in tandem, to pull it out.

I don't know about a mogs durablity .. but calling a truck that has to have its cab and engine removed to do a clutch job easy to work on ...?That sure sounds far fetched to me.. The deuce was made to be worked on with basic hand tools ...I would say the deuce and mog are pretty heads up in stock form as far as durablity and performance.. Each has it's trade offs....As for me i have had my fill of deuces for now i think i will try it all over again with a mog..

Unimogs are real fun...special the old short 406 with the big engine. a buddy has one....i've repaired the front axle. Its a "relatively" filigree construction, just barely strong enough.
Thats true for the hole vehicle.
The newer Mogs are ugly as ****....

If you turn up the engine for just a few horses, you will get transmission problems.

In Germany we say a Unimog can do anything, but nothing right.

Nothing for me. To damageable, to expensive.

Just love my american iron

Okay, that one surprises me. "...just barely strong enough," considering the tremendous amounts of heavy attachments available and being a high speed tractor in Europe. After going through my front axle I was more impressed with the design and built in strength these units have. The Mog's axle shafts are larger than a deuce shaft AND they drive into the portal box so there's a ton less stress on them. They could've been sized smaller but weren't. Frame, suspension, gearing, BRAKES (18" rotor with 6 calipers on 2 axles), power steering. They can be quirky but ultimately get from A to B.

September 15th, 2011.

I will admit that the 404.114 is a nasty little beast to get at the engine and transmission for major work, but remember among the Unimog's it is equivalent to the Model A Ford's, the earlier Unimog's were harder to get to some items to repair. When you compare a Unimog and a Deuce, you have to remember the deuce has open end axles, no lockers and a more limited range of axle movement then a Unimog.
IF you do get a Unimog stuck, and it does not have it's own winch, it is gonna be heck to get out, as a Unimog WILL go where no deuce has ever gone before. For its age and size, the S404.114's have done very well and only rarely fail, usually in rock crawling in conditions not even the designers could have anticipated. Used to be there was a rule in vehicle operation called "Common Sense",E.G. I break it, I've gotta fix it-AND the sarge's gonna make my life heck for 6 months afterwards.....I guess our pockets today are deeper then our common sense. PLUS a stock Unimog will go where a stock HMMWV won't go either.... ANd you don't have to repack a Unimog's axles after deep water operation if the vents are working correctly!
Again, if my pockets were deep enough, I'd have a U1300L with ultra high speed axles, but my S404.114 has made road trips loaded without pounding me as hard as a deuce does (I know-I've owned and used both), but I will say if you get a flat, getting the flat tire back in the frame IS world's easier on the deuce due to the winch incorporated into the bracket....
And for our European friends, get a deuce mired to the axles or over and see how big a hole you're gonna dig getting that truck out... A deuce has several weak points in it's design, non locking open end axles being high on my list, you just have to treat it like the Army did to find out what's gonna fail first. The M35A2 was an improvement over the M35,M211 and 135, and over particularly the CCKW which it was the modern replacement for. our trucks were rarely known for their fine machine work, cheap to build, cheap to repair and cheap enough to be disposable in combat.

Unimogs are awesome pieces of machinery. Leave it to the Krauts to design something like that for the ages.

Like I've said before, if wars were won by technological superiority alone, YOU'D BE SPEAKING GERMAN NOW.

my landrover TUM110 has outlasted 3 mog axles,1 merc petrol engine,and countless miles of MIG wire and sheet steel used to patch up the scabby cabs-i love mogs-had a few-and will always like them,but for the money my landrover will pull it self to any job ahead of a mog , and the spares dont cost stupid money,it was only around 8-9 years ago mogs and spares were sensible money here in england , now it,s an insult to intelligence what second hand trucks/parts go for.

having said that there are NO landrover parts being used on my current project in the M880 section.....yet.

p.j.
Relatives get your medical case yet?
Jerry

59apache said:

Unimogs are real fun...special the old short 406 with the big engine. a buddy has one....i've repaired the front axle. Its a "relatively" filigree construction, just barely strong enough.
Thats true for the hole vehicle.
The newer Mogs are ugly as ****....

If you turn up the engine for just a few horses, you will get transmission problems.

In Germany we say a Unimog can do anything, but nothing right.

Nothing for me. To damageable, to expensive.

Just love my american iron

Click to expand...

In the early eighties I had a bare bones and totally stock 1962 404. It was amazing off road and would pretty much go anywhere you pointed it. After owning it for several years and several repairs, I decided it fell into the ' Tank, Airplane, Boat and Motor home ' category...it's best when somebody else owns it. Way too expensive for me. I traded it for two Mighty Mites and we were both happy.

American stuff has nothing on a Unimog. They are the most reliable trucks ever designed.

October 25th, 2011.

I do miss my deuce and a half, which is stored in Texas, BUT when you think that an S404.114 can carry almost the same payload, get into and out of places a deuce never could. One guy up above here said his landrover could get there faster then a Unimog, I will only add I PULL the Land Rovers and Hummers out when they get stuck, and that is with only 80 HP! It doesn't take brute power in a FWD, only weight, torque and locking differentials. I'll take my Unimog up slopes that will fill most other FWD driver's diapers....
It would be nice to have a U1300L with ultra high speed axles, but what I paid for my truck, I couldn't find an equivalent capacity truck for the same money.... And other then hating elthanol laden gas, the 404's ARE much underrated by most people who've never driven one.

p.j.
you dawg. your buddy in florida called my store today and asked what the military medical chest was and why it was sent to him. wanted to know if a machine gun or cannon was coming next. I mentioned the initials PJ to him. he laughed and said that explained it all.

How much treasure is he storing for all his buddies in the empire?
Jerry

".. just barely strong enough. Thats true for the hole (sic) vehicle..." " really surprises me too. Typical American 'lack of maintenance then throw it away' is what kills most Unimogs.

Also, "If you turn up the engine for just a few horses, you will get transmission problems." is one of those statements that hints at a fact but basically isn't true. Fact is, Unimog transmissions handle tremendous torque, and that even applies to the smallest tranny, the 404 tranny (designed in late 40's and originally powered by 25 hp). What kills a 404 Unimog tranny is driving it's tractor transmission at highway speeds and cooking it. No need to turn up an engine to make that happen.

That same shortcoming does not apply to a 406 tranny, or any other than a 404 (404 trans has some bushings instead of roller/ball bearings). Unimog 406 transmissions can be set up to pull 600,000 pound train loads. Yeah, 5 zeros.

Rock crawlers have powered a 404 tranny with a built Chevy small block and not broken it (huge increase in torque over original 134 CI engine). They will occasionally break a portal, when diff locked, and bouncing the whole vehicle on one corner. That's abuse, and they expect it.

..off my mog soapbox.. Notice that I'm not attacking Deuces because I know little about them, but some people love to attack Unimogs. I don't understand that.

Bob

October 31st, 2011.

Tennmogger:

Your thoughts about cooking the tranny have merit, but I will say that properly topped up my S404.114 went about 750 miles in 3 days last year on the Interstates in 103-104*F heat. The trick was to make sure she was topped up, and I held between 45-49 MPH almost all day except for fuel. I did vary the speed downwards, and I did not push her on hills. You should have seen the car drivers, and, more particularly, the truck drivers trying to figure out just what that thing in the right lane was! I did have to drive her with the cab doors off, as with the heat of the engine and the heat from the radiator tank, the cab was a little bit warm.
Most of these fellow up above are truely suffering from Unimog envy, but I saw and NPS 406 do things no other truck could do, and I figured I'd get one one way or the other. The 404 really does hate Ethanol in it's gas, and unfortunately neither Mercedes nor the Turks seem inclined to come up with a fix for a nearly 50 year old truck. But, excepting rust and indiotic abuse, the 404's will likely be like the original Ford Model T, probably more of them will be running at their hundredth brithdays if there is anything combustible to burn in the engines...
The U1300L's are impressive also, and I will say unlike the Land Rovers and Hummers, very few of their engines (404,406,408,1300Ls)are ever going to end up as boat anchors, as they are basically very strong and reliable little engines for their time and dates of constructions. I do believe that the 404's can also pull very heavy rail loads, especially if they have the auxillary 4X2 gear add on box for low range. There are videos out there of 404's fitted with air brakes, hy rail units and european couplers switching plants, and they are at least as powerful as the MDT switcher on EBAY from the U.S.Army (10 ton,, chain driven, Plymouth-NO, not the car builder). Whoever gets the MDT can get his own section on here for Military Locomotives!
I will probably drive the Unimog to my next posting if it's in the continental US, it's a slow run, but you do get to see the scenery from on high and very slow....