24 Year Road trip in a Mercedes

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Originally Posted By: expat
What is that on the Hood?

Rusty louvers?

Patches of something?


I'm not sure...maybe an anti-skid material for something he had lashed onto the hood at some point??
 
In some of the early pictures it looks like grip tape. it looks like he likes to sit on the hood, maybe he didn't want to slip off.

I see WD-40 in the back storage area...I guess that is all you really need.

I find it interesting that he had no aux lighting on the vehicle in any of the pics.
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen


I find it interesting that he had no aux lighting on the vehicle in any of the pics.


Me too. Same with what looks like limited self-extraction capabilities. I'd have a winch for sure, especially given what looks like exceptionally rugged and remote terrain, alone.

That said, he did it, and I have never even considered something to this scale. Impressive feat.

I'd love to read the maintenance history.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg
Originally Posted By: expat
What is that on the Hood?

Rusty louvers?

Patches of something?


I'm not sure...maybe an anti-skid material for something he had lashed onto the hood at some point??


Skid tape so you can walk up on the hood. Its quite thick so you won't dent it.

Those diesel G wagons are sloooow, I have driven a number of them. But I can't think of a better vehicle to see the world in.

It either has a NA 617 or a NA 603 diesel, so at 5200M it was probably making 20hp!

They are 50mph to 60 MPH trucks at around sea level, not designed for 1st world interstates, you can get them up a bit more but they are not happy about it. But I bet on dirt roads in Africa it would run 45 forever without complaining to much.
 
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That is hard core for sure, even if about 3/4 of the trip was on roads of one type or another. I would like to see the maintenance & repair log too. Of course, the big question is: What motor oil did they run in Otto?
 
WOW! What a zest for life! After completing a trip like this, what do you do?


Thanks for posting- I want to show this to my wife.
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
WOW! What a zest for life! After completing a trip like this, what do you do?


Thanks for posting- I want to show this to my wife.


Maybe you can convince her to do a similar trip? LoL...

Sure would be interesting.
 
Originally Posted By: Throckmorton
I'm amazed that he can find parts for a G-wagen in those remote places.

I think he was willing to wait a while too, why rush when you don't have a strict timeline to follow. If you average it out, they didn't drive too far daily.
I hope they took lots of pictures and notes, I'm sure the stories would make a great book.
 
Originally Posted By: Throckmorton
I'm amazed that he can find parts for a G-wagen in those remote places.


Easy to find, no one does parts support like Mercedes and their are a lot of cars with those drive train components roaming the third world.

Something like a Ford or GM truck in the third world...that would be an issue!

Their is a reason typically for overland trips Land Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers, or G wagons are used. Global parts support.

For one expedition Mercedes actually flew out parts to a remote Russian village.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
WOW! What a zest for life! After completing a trip like this, what do you do?


Thanks for posting- I want to show this to my wife.


Maybe you can convince her to do a similar trip? LoL...

Sure would be interesting.


You know andrew, I think we'd really like to do something similar to that (I know she would be interested)- but not on such a grand scale. Maybe someday when money permits, we shall?
 
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