III. Specifics of my 416 Doka.
| Engine: | Transmission: | Tires: | Axle Ratio: | Hydraulics: | PTO Front/Rear: |
Auxiliary air compressor: |
| OM352 5.7 liter Diesel |
Six speed | 14.5R20 | Standard | No | No/No | Yes |
II. My Introduction to Unimogs.
I'm a reservist with U.S. Naval
Construction Battalion Eighteen based out of Ft. Lewis in Tacoma Washington and in
February of 1997 I had the opportunity to participate in the joint Australian / U.S.
exercise Tandem Thrust in Rockhampton Australia.
While driving back into the Bush on narrow trails, up and down creek beds and through
washouts we had to park our Hummmers several time and jump in the Australian's Unimogs to
get to where we where going.
So when I got back home I went to searching for more information about Unimogs and found a
large community on the web of Unimog enthusiasts and I surfed the web pages and lurked on
the mailing lists until I knew what I wanted.
III. Getting My Unimog
Originally a trailer puller for the German mail service it’s OM352 5.7 liter engine got rebuilt just before being sold to a roofing contractor also in Germany, who soon lost 5th gear and had to rebuild the transmission. When the contractor decided to buy a brand new truck, the Unimog was advertised for sale. Happily Dirk Rautenberg owner of the Unimog Wherehaus was on one of his trips to Germany and ended up offering it to me in response to an e-mail he had waiting in his mailbox. I said I was interested in a double cab 416 in good shape, really I just wanted to go out to his place and look at the Unimogs he had and get a feel for the prices and sort of plan for a future Unimog purchase, then when I looked at this truck I didn’t think I would find a 416 Doka in better shape that I could afford anytime soon. But since I hadn’t planned on buying on my first trip to see Dirk I had a tough couple of weeks while I got my money together and Dirk was getting offers on “my” truck. Finally I was able to put down a respectable amount and ensure I was on my way to being a Unimog owner, I also chose to get 5 new radial 14.5R20 tires put on . Whew now I was tapped out and anxious for my Mog to arrive. It took longer than I thought it would to get the truck from Germany to the states I ordered the truck in September 1999 and finally got to see it for the first time in January 2000
