Where Has Your 80 Taken You?: 80 Series Camping/Overland/Adventure Thread
- Thread starter atomicshawn
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Its a G-wagon, mean bits of kit
But its a UTE... We were never blessed with those here in the States, hence my curiosity as to how it got here and whats the story behind it?
G wagons are quite common, it just takes a deep pocket to own one and even deeper pocket to wheel one. But yeah never seen a UTE, maybe it's custom?
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Did a great trip with the lady over the last couple weeks. Started by heading SE from Puget Sound to Walla Walla to check out the Palouse, drink wine and explore. With the pass on I-90 over cascades closed due to an avalanche it turned a 4 hour trip into an 8 hour journey. This region of the state is very sparsely populated and with way less trees than Western WA, some good overlanding options seem to exist. I'm excited to come back in the summer.
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From there we passed through Tollgate where they like the rest of the region had just gotten dumped on with snow. Tripcheck read roughly 80 inches of snow at the pass. In many places it was 10 feet+ on the side of the road. The snowmobiles were out in force. After we passed the Blue Mountains we were headed to Joseph check out the Wallowas.
It was the missus' first time sleeping in the LC. That first night at Wallowa Lake it got down to 5 degrees. The inside of the windows froze from our breath. Was a bit of a pain scraping them in the morning on the inside, but we were warm enough. Sweet camp spot right on the lake too.
It was the missus' first time sleeping in the LC. That first night at Wallowa Lake it got down to 5 degrees. The inside of the windows froze from our breath. Was a bit of a pain scraping them in the morning on the inside, but we were warm enough. Sweet camp spot right on the lake too.
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The recent snow meant that we couldn't cross the Wallowa Range and drop down into Hells Canyon. Next time. Then we headed west through John Day Fossil Beds and the Painted Hills. Very beautiful country out there. Then we headed to Bend to get our mountain town fix and drink beer. Excellent trip, just wished the sun had set later than 4PM. Definitely going to return to NE Oregon and SE WA in the summer. The Wallowa Range in particular was quite stunning.
Lots of them for sale for cheap. MB cheap. $20k-$30k.
My apologies for holding out on you guys.
Here's the 30sec explanation:
- custom: built in the netherlands
- extended frame: success after the first attempt failed the torque test
- created from 2 g wagens
- unimog wheels
- shipped to the US this past fall
Unfortunately thats the most I know...if he posts a build thread I'll link to it.
The truck is an animal.
That's not terribly bad but there is no aftermarket support and if you ever break a vacuum hose then be prepared to kiss your wallet goodbye. A new one is over 150k now, crazy.
Back on topic, those are some beautifully places, one day!
In what respect do you say there is no aftermarket support? I think there is plenty, but our ideas about it may be different.
Before the TLC I was actually looking into those wagons. Having first hand experience in the absurd amount of money needed to maintain one of their products, I said no way am I getting one of those.
I still admire them and so does my wife.
Before the TLC I was actually looking into those wagons. Having first hand experience in the absurd amount of money needed to maintain one of their products, I said no way am I getting one of those.
I still admire them and so does my wife.
@Qball Yeah, it was nice to be out in the desert for this rainforest dweller. Also Eastern WA is one of the more remarkable places I've visited. During the ice ages, the rivers were dammed and Lake Missoula was created. It had basically half the volume of water as Lake Michigan. When the dam burst it drained in 48 hours, pretty much erasing all vegetation and topsoil from the land and depositing it in Oregon. It's one of the reasons the Willamette Valley is so lush and creates a sick landscape in Eastern WA. More nerdy geological reading can be found here: Grand Coulee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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We love SE WA and NE OR--the
went to school in Walla Walla (she's all about the geology) and we camped in that area several times this past summer.I'm hoping to get a group together in the Spring for NE OR while things are still green and it's not 110 degrees out.
We love SE WA and NE OR--the
I'm hoping to get a group together in the Spring for NE OR while things are still green and it's not 110 degrees out.
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I could be game for that!
Some of MB's older cars are really solid and not horrible to maintain but time have changed. Plus they are so low in production numbers trying to any parts is going to be a pain and expensive. Hate to say it but I would rather have the Range Rover over the wagon if I ever gonna even remotely think about it. Thankfully we have the 80 so those nightmares are just a thing of fiction.
Me three! Once the snow melts off I know a way to drive from Walla Walla to the Nevada border all on dirt/gravel roads if anyone would be interested in that. Might take 3 days, taking our time.
Thats sounds super fun
OBDR! I'd love to make a stop in Steens and Alvord Desert. That area looks amazing.
Check this out.
$479 for a supercharger pulley on a MB.
Anyway, you can add a lift kit on those G-wagons too, engine tuning is available, engine swap choices are plentiful with tranny too. Interior - seats, dashboard, buttons, knobs etc, everywhere.
3x locked, solid axles, SWB, short overhang.
The bad (besides poor reliability) there is not much suspension travel/flex, very very little.
$479 for a supercharger pulley on a MB.
Anyway, you can add a lift kit on those G-wagons too, engine tuning is available, engine swap choices are plentiful with tranny too. Interior - seats, dashboard, buttons, knobs etc, everywhere.
3x locked, solid axles, SWB, short overhang.
The bad (besides poor reliability) there is not much suspension travel/flex, very very little.
