Crossing Thailand to Malaysia in 2018 and 2019 another breakage occurred at UNICAT technical design. We had realized that each time we drove over bumps later in Malaysia a sawtooth-like noise occurred for some seconds. First inspection showed that the middle cardan shaft was damaged losing grease.

Careful inspection at MAN later detected that one of 2 cross members bearing the UNICAT booth was bent and almost broken. Obviously the front bearing of the UNICAT booth was touching cardan shaft in case of bumps or unevenesses.

MAN Kuala Lumpur sent us to Ah Shang Motors, the biggest Truck Body Repair Company in Malaysia. They redesigned and reproduced the UNICAT Cross Member according to original drawings. Reparation took time and was was costly but carefully done and to our delight.

Aside from solar panels we use Diesel as the only energy source like many worldwide travellers: MAN 10.224 truck, two Eberspächer Heating Systems D5 (all made 1996) and a Webasto Diesel Cooker X100 (2009). During preparations for Silk Road we contacted the above manufacturers asking for statements about functioning of their items at altitudes above 1.800 m.

MAN replied on the spot saying that operating an 10.224 at those altitudes is no problem, not even at 6.000 m in Himalaya. Power losses may occur, however. Eberspächer and Webasto guaranteed function below 1.800 m but nothing more. In addition Webasto’s X100 comes with an Altitude-Button guaranteeing for 2.500 m max.

For higher altitudes Webasto recommended to adjust the potentiometers of pump and fan on the way according to CO2 measurement (the actual model enables to activate this manually by software). For altitudes above 2.000 m Eberspächer claimed installation of a by-pass with an altitude-adjusted Diesel pump guaranteeing for 4.000 m. The production of this pump, however, had been stopped last year, news for Eberspächer. Consequently it was advised to replace the current heater by a modern Hydronic M10 with automatic altitude adjustment. At our cost and we refreined from doing that.

The company informations were incorrect, howerver, except for MAN. Our MAN had no problems at all up to almost 6.000 m in Himalya, no power losses and no smoke emission occurred – just in contrast to its human drivers.

Surprisingly, cooker and heating, both, worked perfectly, too, at altitudes above 3.500 m even without operating buttons or by-passes. No smoke, no power losses but producing smut inside the systems. So after use of those systems we had to burn that smut away at lower altitudes which might become a problem in Tibet. But not for us, our truck is perfectly insulated and did not require any cabin heating at all during the trip.

UNICAT Heating and Warm Water Compartment in Detail with 2 Ebeberspächer D5 Top Left and Isotemp Boiler

What does this tell us? Two out of three manufacturers do not know their own product performance never testing any of it, or they are worried about liability and do not tell the truth, faulty informations and instructions being forwarded. Unprofessional, annoying and far from a glorious chapter of high class workmanship except MAN: Volkswagen corporate but highly professional…

After return from Scotland in 2014 MAN maintenance was due. For more information on the trip see: www.truck-the-world.com

Surprise: Almost total frame breakage at the right cabin bearing and and bent left frame.

Analysis showed that breakage had been caused by extreme frame torsion. Longitudinal roll travel is high under extreme conditions. UNICAT design allows insertion of extreme frame torsion into the frame structure as spring-damping unit. Standard frame structure, however, is unable to disperse forces over the total length of the frame resulting in local overload including bending and breaking.

Simple bearing plates, lack of longitudinal enforcement of the frame structure, and of stiffening girders between right and left cabin bearings lead to breakage under extreme conditions together with fatigue. A typical design and fatigue fault.

Again, the frame was repaired in Düsseldorf. Both frames, right and left, were cut out, welded and reenforced inside and outside.

Swallow tailed steel plates induce torsion over extended frame length. In addition dampers were renewed.

All measures taken were designed and mounted by the owner, manufacturing was made by professional companies. The maker UNICAT was not involved.

For more information about works, companies and cost, please contact the site.

In Greece in 2009, the combined waste water/fecal tank was almost lost due to improper UNICAT design including underdesign of bolts, for more information on the trip see: www.truck-the-world.com

The tank was removed and sanified including sensors. A new construction was designed fixing the tank directly to the frame using 4 lashes welded to the tank, counterparts screwed to frame.

It was found that on narrow roads and tracks, sand ladders were sticking out too far and hit several times. The holding construction was bent.

A new construction was designed placing ladders laterally as tank protection underneath coffers as seen on Rally Dakar trucks. Ladders are fixed with belts, a simple light weight construction coming with simple handling.

A new coffer was designed to close the space between right side tanks and rear wheel as underride protection.

Originally, the truck came with 380V in 5 phases since it was intended to install welding equipment. This was never done and the generator was rather removed saving weight but keeping the original cables, plugs and fuses.

Only in 2012 the 380V-network was completely removed. Phase separation was made and additional fuses were installed for the converter and for both 220V phases.

Also, after finding 50 litres of fresh water in the cabin flooding the battery compartment shown above, it was found that the original flexible, metal-coated pipes were simply padded with tape to walls or bottom. Tape aging led to pipes hanging around or wandering over the ground. Such, friction destroyed metal coating piece by piece under off-road conditions. Broken filaments simply bored the pipes they ought to protect.

All pipes were replaced by simple food safe plastic pipes. This was quite time comsuming since UNICAT design does not provide cable nor pipe channels or easy access.

Also the light weight roof rack was removed completely together with spare tire, tire crane, front and side beams and search light saving another 150 kg.

All measures taken were designed and mounted by the owner, manufacturing was made by professional companies. The maker UNICAT was not involved.

For more information about works, companies and cost contact the owner.

On our way home from West Africa on Trans-Sahara Highway N1 from Agadez to Tamanrasset severe problems occurred with the chassis when driving into an unseen sand trap at moderate speed.

For more information on the trip see: www.truck-the-world.com

The truck was suddenly stopped by the upper rim of the trap. Nothing happened to passengers except shock: The driver cabin jumped forward for 10 cm with both cabin front joints shearing off. The frame showed breakage close to the right front spring hanger, the rear hanger of that laminated spring had sheared almost off the frame.

Neither current nor welding equipment were available in the desert and provisional repair was repeated several times on the way North through Sahara desert using bolts, belts and car jacks together with patience and time.

Slow speeds and pot-hole avoidance as far as possible in deserts led back to civilization. On the way, provisional welding was done in Tamarasset, Hassi Belguebour and Hassi Messaoud, none of them sustainable.

The bashed truck made 2000 km on Sahara tracks at walking speed. 7 extended stops kept the truck going, half of them in Sahara without any human or technical support. Arriving at Hassi Messaoud, the German Automobile Club ADAC refused back haul because of excessive truck height talking about 3 cm. This refusal resulted in plus 2500 km on African and European roads at low speed. Consequently, after return to Bonn the truck broke down entirely and was hauled by MAN for repair.

Overall analysis showed that front axle load was excessive by UNICAT design leading to inadequate spring travel, quite unuseful for expedition trucks operating in heavy terrain at high speeds. In addition, measures taken earlier had been unsufficient.

Final frame repair was made by a professional company in Germany. Cabin was separated from the frame, frame aligned on a 1000-ton bank, welded and reinforced. Sprayed leaf springs together with other measures resulted in front axle load within limits and 7 cm spring travel. No technical problem has occurred since in that part of the vehicle.

All measures taken were designed and mounted by the owner, manufacturing was made by professional companies. The maker UNICAT was not involved.

For more information about works, companies and cost contact the owner.

First tests in Southern Europe showed that front axle wheight was excessive resulting in limited spring travel. In 1998 the original driver cabin roof rack was removed, a light version was installed. Spare wheel was replaced by spare tire. Battery capacity was reduced to 400 Ah.

Grey side coverings were removed as well as wheel crane and Panda Diesel generator.

Also, high mounted sand ladders were removed from the rear hatch and placed on the right side for easier handling and as underride protection.

Redesign increased spring travel saving about half a ton.

All measures taken were designed and mounted by the owner, manufacturing was made by professional companies. The maker UNICAT was not involved.

For more information about works, companies and cost contact the owner.

 

The Chassis

The expedition truck was designed by the owner and built by UNICAT according to their patented all-over technical design of booth, bridge and chassis in 1996/97 on short wheel-base MAN L27 4-wheel-drive 10 ton chassis registered as 7,49 t.

Three differential locks and reasonable ground clearance on single Michelin XZL tires empower driving through deserts and across mountains worldwide. Diesel engine comes with 220 HP and ZF-16 gearbox plus reduction gearing and four Diesel tanks with 860 l in total. A long driver cab and air conditioning provide comfort. Cab mounting, axles, springs plus stabs reinforced, same for engine cooling.

500 l fresh water supplies, 70 l waste water and Dometic vacuum toilet with 40 l fecal tank plus 170 l fridge and 30 l deep freeze. Cooking with Webasto Diesel cooker, water heating system Eberspächer Diesel, booth battery capacity 400 Ah/12V, chassis battery capacity 150Ah/24V, solar cells max 200 W. A 1000 W 12V-220V converter was provided.

UNICAT is a producer of luxury off-road vehicles. UNICAT design enables movement between both, booth and chassis, under off-road conditions. UNICAT mounts the booth on a special UNICAT bridge connected to the truck chassis at four points in total. Front and rear of the bridge end in 2 cross members connected to roll bearings on the chassis enabling longitudinal roll beween cabin and chassis.

Two additional bearings retain the chassis right and left and prevent the cabin from extreme roll using frame distortion as a spring-damper-system. No additional damping provided.

As shown on the photos below, Diesel tanks and coffers were not mounted to the frame but fixed to the bottom of the cabin resulting in higher capacity and extreme frame torsion because of cabin roll with full tanks turning out to be a problem under severe off-raod conditions later.

First tests showed, however, that UNICAT bridge, frame and cabin design was neither lightwheight nor suitable to offroad conditions but caused a lot of problems wolrdwide.

The Booth

…in tripartite design provides reasonable comfort for 2 long distance travellers: Classic seating compartment in front, kitchen, multi use entrance/bath/shower plus toilet and cupboard in the middle, high mounted double bed in the rear. Excessive storage in the cabin and in chassis mounted coffers holding spare tire, Diesel generator, tools and spare parts.

5 windows plus 2 roof hatches and white colours guarantee for lightness in the booth.

Up to date the truck has seen about 60 countries travelling 200.000 km worldwide, average fuel consuption was 19l/100km.

…find more information here