Be Prepared

So I wanted to check a couple of things out on the Unimog today.  I put the top up to clean out the inside.  I don't think Ann has ever seen the top up.  A couple of nights ago we went to a class on being prepared in case of emergency.  It was really cool to learn about what to do in a time of emergency.
We live in Provo, Utah along the base of the wasatch mountains.  One of the most glaring emergencies we might have to face in our lifetime is an earthquake.  We live at the base of the wasatch mountains and there is a fault line that runs the length of the wasatch front.
If we were ever in an earthquake the guy teaching the class said the biggest killer would be weather......especially in the middle of the winter here.  If you know anything about Utah then you know that we get a lot of snow in the winter.  It can get really cold here and if we were out of our house warmth would be a big deal.
The Unimog took on a whole new light after having attended this class.  We could survive two weeks without needing anything.  It's got 100 extra gallons of Diesel Fuel that can run the heater in the cabin.  It also has 100 gallons of water.  I think about being without a home for a month in the case of an earthquake and I think we would be doing ok.  In fact we might even like it.
My wife Ann has a new appreciation for the Unimog which takes on a whole new light in case of an emergency.

I wanted to bid on this Unimog U500

Ok so this U500 Unimog was on eBay the other day and it was all I could do not to bid on it.

Here is the validation I used:

1. The starting bid was $60,0000 (Are you kidding these start around $100,000 bone stock)

2. The guy had converted it to run on Vegie Oil or Diesel.  About $6,000 conversion.

3. Do I really need an excuse it does everything you could ever want......plus it will tow 45,000 lbs.  I don't have anything to tow or can even think of anything to tow that weighs that much.

But,  I withstood the temptation and watched some lucky individual pick this beauty up.  Well good for him I hope he has a blast in it and puts it to good use.

If ever the opportunity arises and I'm in a position to purchase one of these (permission from my wife bearing) I would love to own one of these.

UNIMOG U500'S FOR SALE ON THE UNIMOGSHOP.COM

Offroading by Slate Canyon

So Trent and I took the Unimog up by Slate Canyon the other day just to mess around there at the base.  The photos really don't do it justice.  I don't know if it's because you sit so high in the Unimog or if little obstacles just feel scary.  The Unimog is a monster offroad and will go more places than you dare go.

We are still having issues with the batteries for some reason.  We've installed new batteries and cut off switches for both the rear cab and the Unimog itself to no avail.  Can't seem to figure it out.  24 Volt power but it's configured so that as you drive it flips a solenoid to charge the rear cabin batteries and it doesn't help that everything is in German.

I'll keep you posted!

RattleSnack Canyon at Five Mile Pass

A bunch of us went out to five mile pass to a trail called Rattlesnack canyon. We had a blast! It wasn't that difficult of a trail but everything feels difficult in the Mog just because you are so dang high off the ground.


Crawling up this obstacle......



This doesn't look that high but it sure felt high. You have to remember those are 42" tires


and climbing up over the obstacle. This was the only obstacle worth taking pictures of but it was really fun to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Checker Auto Rocks

So lots has gone on with the Unimog. We got it professionally wrapped for our Real Estate company and it looks awesome. I will be posting some pictures to show you how it turned out. We were having problems with the batteries and the Unimog runs on 24 volt power so that means (2) 12 volt batteries for the Unimog and (2) 12 volt batteries for the camper. All four batteries needed to be replaced and were purchased at Checker Auto. So we took them in and guess what? They replaced all four batteries. It runs like a champ now and the battery issue has been put to rest. Thank you Checker Auto!

Dead Batteries

So we've been dealing with this since we bought the Unimog. This has not been easy because it has two batteries for the camper portion of the Unimog and then two batteries for the truck. The system is all 24 volt which nobody seems to work on....so somewhere we are draining the batteries. After doing some investigation we also found out that the camper batteries are not deep cycle which means they are not meant to be run down and charged back up multiple times = Useless batteries at this point.

The solution is a battery cut off switch. I will be installing two of these on the outside of the battery box as a fail safe way to cut the battery power while not in use.

In addition to the battery cut off switches new deep cycle batteries for the camper portion. I will post pictures after the installation.

Shrink Wrap

So it's been awhile and I've decided its time to start posting again. The Unimog is in the shop getting shrinkwrapped. We are wrapping it with logo and graphics for our Real Estate company. I will post a shot of the finished product when its done.