Hello,
New to the forum, been interested in Unimogs for a while, and for as long as I can remember I have wanted to own a military cargo truck of some kind.
I thought about buying a US 2.5 ton or a 5 ton truck - but to me those are just boring, and too big as well. I looked into buying a Unimog 1300L, but I think that truck is also just too big for me as well and too expensive, even thought it seems to have much more creature comforts than the 404 offers. So, that brings it down to a 404, a 404S to be exact. And yes I thought about a 416 - I just don't fancy how they look.
My question is: what are ya'll's thoughts, that you could present to a newbie, about the practicality of owning a 404?
New to the forum, been interested in Unimogs for a while, and for as long as I can remember I have wanted to own a military cargo truck of some kind.
I thought about buying a US 2.5 ton or a 5 ton truck - but to me those are just boring, and too big as well. I looked into buying a Unimog 1300L, but I think that truck is also just too big for me as well and too expensive, even thought it seems to have much more creature comforts than the 404 offers. So, that brings it down to a 404, a 404S to be exact. And yes I thought about a 416 - I just don't fancy how they look.
My question is: what are ya'll's thoughts, that you could present to a newbie, about the practicality of owning a 404?
- I have read that out of fear of transmission failure, most owners stop every hour of highway driving to keep the various brass bearings in the transmission from getting too hot; I also have read that if you completely take apart your transmission and clean out all of the cooling channels thoroughly, that this 'transmission failure' gremlin won't be a problem?
- The safe top speed is 50mph? Correct?
- The engine bay is very hard to work in due to the small hood, but the engine is still rather simple to perform maintenance on?
- Portal axles on the highway - resulting in foaming oil - is this a true concern?
- Do you LOVE your 404? Or just like it?
I want this 404 mainly to use like you would use a pickup. Throw stuff in the bed. Haul around stuff. But at the same time, it'd be awesome to take in on some trails, and drive it around town.
I own a 2002 Jeep TJ, so I am used to not being able to have a conversation while driving down the highway, terrible gas mileage, and a low top speed with my 33" tires and measly 3.73 gears. With that being said, a 404 doesn't seem like it would be too foreign for me. I just am not sure if it's TOO slow on the highway and just not meant for the open road?
Thank you!