Without hesitating I wanted to join.
This blog is my diary which I share with you, dear reader.
My writing may not always be super correct what concerns gender questions and I sometimes give a shit about political correctness...nevertheless I want respect and tolerance to underline every statement.
Also, my English is quite simple...forgive me if I don't reach the humor and finesse of the German
counterpart.
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Many roads lead eastward.
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January 13, 2018 | First visit of our truck
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Today Lorenz and I could visit the truck, he had found through his contacts in his social and Professional network. He knew the vehicle already since Hansjörg, the owner, had become a friend over dreaming about Caracorum Highway.
Hansjörg, a garagist living in the Bern region, has driven the ex Bundeswehr-lorry built in 1990 to Mongolia and Murmansk. He has equipped the shelter with all one needs to travel over a long period on a simple basis.
It's a wonderful sunny saturday afternoon in January - Hansjörg put the truck into the sun for us.
I'm exited and can't help smiling of joy and amazement.
The imagination of driving this monster over rough dirt roads in Kasachstan is overwhelming.
The truck is an IVECO 110-17, which stands for a total Weight of 11 Tons and around 170 horsepower. As it stands here it weighs around 8 tons.
In the shelter there is a shower-toilet-combination on your right hand side when you enter it by the stern door.
On the left side there is a kitchensink-like situation.
At the front end of the shelter there is a table for four people which can be transformed into a big bed as it exists in most of the camping cars.
The shelter is equipped with a heater, a very generously dimensioned generator provides enough power to feed a welder.
Lorenz and I agree: this truck should be ours - and with a handshake we seal the purchase of our motorhome.
April 8,2018 | Takeover of the vehicle
It is a sunny Saturday in April, Lorenz and I are driven by a fire brigade colleague who has to move the vintage car to the garage of Hansjörg.
Now we take a close look at the truck and let Hansjörg explain as much as possible. He perfectly knows every detail of the truck and has many good tips for us.
The trailer, also off-road, is primarily a garage for the motorcycle included in the purchase price, a BMW F650 GS. Next to it is a small washing machine, a welder and many spare parts, complete tools and many consumables and wear materials are available.
The tilted cab gives a view of the engine, a Deutz inline 6-cylinder with just over 6 liters.
When all current questions have been answered, the vehicle documents and keys exchanged and mutual pleasure announced, we proudly climb our "Muni" and chug to Lorenz, where his family is already waiting for us.
September 27, 2018 | Driving Test for lorries passed
After 20 lessons with Ph. Warpelin from the Fahrschule Schwab in Basel, I passed the exam today at the first attempt.
Driving with the fully automatic and with every conceivable comfort equipped Mercedes truck was pure joy! The size of the vehicle did not bother me and I was able to move around safely. So the exam date was not connected with fear, but it was a pleasure to show my skills, because I knew what I could. Only one mistake happened when I touched the edge stone when turning into a relatively narrow street with the right rear tire ... and when backing up a ramp I had to correct, which the expert acknowledged with a "right!".
I thank Philipp Warpelin for the professional and very precise teaching. The driving lessons with him were a great enrichment and I learned well and efficiently what matters. I can highly recommend him!
Now that I've learned the basics of truck driving with a comparatively easy-to-use vehicle, the next step is training on our mechanical "Muni" and practicing with Lorenz, who works as a firefighter and has a rich experiences a truck chauffeur for overpasses to Eastern Europe.
September 29, 2018 | Practising changing a wheel
Last Saturday, under the expert guidance of Pascal, a truck mechanic, we practiced changing wheels, inspected the engine and clarified details ... and then I was able to experience my first instruction session on this fully mechanical vehicle.
Changing gears is quite tricky and in general the differences to fully automatic driving school vehicle are massive ... it is a very different driving!
And it's great fun!
We also assembled the horns that Lorenz had purchased.
I forgot to take a picture of the mounted horns. I will deliver that later.
This horn is operated by compressed air and the release works via a train. For this I will make a device in my workshop.
Such horns are allowed if they are mounted more than 2 meters above the street level and no louder than 112dB.
Oktober 13, 2018 | Building Bunk Beds
The two beds, which we had planned transversely to the direction of travel, were very easy to install. Since our "Muni" stands right next to a hardware store, it was very easy to procure and tailor suitable and inexpensive material.
After a short tour in the store we decided on formwork panels, such as those used to form shells during concrete construction.
The suspension of the beds is made of wooden strips which are screwed with relatively many screws onto the wall cladding made of very hard fiber composite panels, which are only 6 mm thick. Since the load mainly occurs in the vertical, these suspensions will easily hold. A little tricky was the solution at the window on the port side (left in the direction of travel). There we underlined the support strip and supported it at one corner.
The pillows are from the old bench-bed combination...on the bunks fit normal 200 x 90cm mattresses.
We wanted to change the wonderful interior design as little as possible. Therefore, the only drastic measure is the cutting of the two seat crate lids. One half is now under the beds, the other is still free and can be opened. The access to the part of the seat box under the bed is easy.
On the front wall, under the lower bed, there is a hatch to which we have access, if we lift the rear board which is just inlaid slightly and pull it forward. In this hatch lies the control of the heating.
It's quite comfortable on the bunk beds.
A small table, which Lorenz will build, can later be fixed to the lower bed, so that we can eat and be indoors in bad or cold weather. So there is the possibility that we can lie and sit at the same time, which wouldn't have been possible with the original combination.
Here is a picture of the horns we have mounted on the starboard side of the cabin roof:
... and two more from the side and from the front ... just because it's so nice ...;)
Oktober 28, 2018 | Actuator Device for the Horns
In order for the horns to function reliably and without causing any damage by the train, we need a device.
I made it on lathe and milling machine.
Starting with a round brass with 40mm diameter into which I turned a through hole with 32mm diameter.
Soldering holes, soldering inserts, slitting, adjusting a bearing, determining the stop, sandblasting, installing spring ... at the end there is a neat part in front of me:
Now I hope that it passes the installation test and fits in the dimensions ...;)
Oktober 31st, 2018 | First Big Ride including a Minor Repair
My first big ride on our truck took place on the last day of October - some are celebrating some sort of a ghost party then.
In order to transport two of my big ships to the modeling fair «Faszination Modellbau» in Friedrichshafen so that they can be exhibited at the booth of "my" model making club, the «Schiffsmodell.net», I needed a correspondingly large vehicle - which was closer than to drive with the "Muni"!
So I'll test-sleep this weekend and can save the cost of accommodation. The fair kindly provides a parking lot for motorhomes (they just do not know that I'm coming with a monster ... but they'll notice that soon enough ...;))
So on Tuesday after work I picked up the truck near Bern at Lorenz's and drove it to Basel where I could park it at the «Holzpark» in the harbor. The «Holzpark» is a area in the harbor of Basel which is used by people of the alternative scene - it is very close to my apartment and as a member of one of the clubs working there I have used the opportunity.
The next morning, I first prepared the ships and the rest of the material, fetched the truck in the harbor, loaded it with the help of a friendly passer-by and drove off contentedly but sweaty.
After a few minutes n the highway I stopped at a service area to wash my hands and get something to drink. Then I wanted to go on. After a short turn of the starter all lights went out and there was absolutely no power left.
«Uh-oh! What have I done wrong now?», was my first thought.
The troubleshooting began - and here, after some clearly structured considerations, the great advantage of an old, mechanical vehicle came to the fore: errors can usually be localized by logical thinking, a little measuring and trying out. And they are also very often to repair with simple means.
In my case it was a breaker on the battery, which did not conduct electricity even when shorted. I removed the breaker, fixed the cable with the old terminal to the battery ... and the motor purred immediately after turning the key familiarly and reliable.
So the journey could start now, with some delay.
The chugging on the highway with 80km/h is very comfortable and quite stress-free - you automatically take your time and take everything a bit more relaxed.
The loading on the ferry from Konstanz to Meersburg was very exciting. Contrary to my expectations, this went smoothly.
Since I work today and tomorrow Friday morning, I had to go back to Basel after unpacking and setting up the models ... even at night, the IVECO drives very pleasantly and reliable.
Today I laid mattresses in the bunks and packed a few sheets for the two nights.
Also the repeated covering of the way Basel-Friedrichshafen-Basel as well as the journey to Bern a few days afterwards ran smoothly.
Thus I practiced more than 900 km on the "Muni" within one week and can now move it around without any trouble.
Something special was the refueling! The eyes of the service when I told him my column number and he realizes an amount of 500 .-- francs for just over 280 liters of diesel on the checkout ... priceless!
We like the white basic color of our truck very well - but the "Muni", as it stands on his parking, looks a bit clinical.
We want to place world maps on the two sides (or only on one). Then we can draw on our route (maybe it would be quite interesting to draw the planned route as well, Lorenz).
Lorenz has found two of these maps already laminated in second hand store
