'4x4 Fulltiming.com'

 

 

Here we have the chassis specification for the standard format Mercedes Benz 814DA with a 4.25 metre wheel base. The unit we purchased was infact a 3.70 metre wheel base which we then streched to 4.50 metres. This length is more than most of the larger 10-12 ton overland vehicles who have extremly good ground clearance. Ours is a compromise to achieve the best of living space, ground clearance and departure angle. We believe for our purpose it will be ok, the departure angle is approximatly 15 degrees but with a rear bumper that will lift up for crosssing water we don't expect many problems. Mind you they said that about the Titanic when it left the Harland and Wolff ship yard in Belfast.

 

The drawings below are taken from the Mercedes body builders web site. Here you can find detailed information on most of thier modern truck chassis www.mbbi.co.uk  

 

                                                     The weight of the chassis is:

 

 

  Net rear axel                                1,135 Kg  

 

 It is worth remembering when considering your choice of chassis that the 814DA has a permisable payload of only 380 Kg on the front axel (4245 Kg overall). We have had to ensure that the design and weight distribution of the finished vehicle is such that the heavy components like the generator and batteries are located behind the rear axel, therefore acting as a counter balance. With carefull planning it is possible to achieve not only a legal weight distribution but perhaps and more importantly, one that is within the designed working parameters of the chassis. More information on weight distribution and design can be found on later pages.

 

I understand that it has been possible to specify a 3,000 Kg front axel as an option when ordering a new vehicle from Mercedes, however we have never came across one for sale or in service. The Atego which uses the same basic chassis has a heavier front axel as standard but is not available as a 4x4 with a weight of 7,500 Kg gross.