A very different take on a Class C

[RobertRyan]

Notice it is a Cabover Japanese MDT not available in the US, neither is the toad Pickup Truck. Body is different. Pickup Truck has a 4.5litre V8 Diesel.

[RobertRyan]

RE_Todd wrote:
It's an American style 5th wheel though, the door is on the wrong side for Australia, until it was mounted backwards on the cab and chassis.

RobertRyan wrote:

Notice it is a Cabover Japanese MDT not available in the US, neither is the toad Pickup Truck. Body is different. Pickup Truck has a 4.5litre V8 Diesel.

American 5th Wheelers are not the flavour of the month in Australia, so he used the body for a Class C

[RE_Todd]

It's an American style 5th wheel though, the door is on the wrong side for Australia, until it was mounted backwards on the cab and chassis.

RobertRyan wrote:

Notice it is a Cabover Japanese MDT not available in the US, neither is the toad Pickup Truck. Body is different. Pickup Truck has a 4.5litre V8 Diesel.

[RobertRyan]

Sunliner Navian built on the IVECO

[RobertRyan]

j-d wrote:
That unit is nice! I thought maybe the coach body was on a Cab/Chassis, but that view through the windshield says it must be a Cutaway.

Does the Cab still Tilt? I don't think I'd want anything with engine service access worse than what Ford E-Series already is. The Super C's appeal to me partly because the engine's accessible and the whole nose tips up to get at it. Hood, Fenders, Grille and All.

Not tilting , engine access through floor

[j-d]

That unit is nice! I thought maybe the coach body was on a Cab/Chassis, but that view through the windshield says it must be a Cutaway.

Does the Cab still Tilt? I don't think I'd want anything with engine service access worse than what Ford E-Series already is. The Super C's appeal to me partly because the engine's accessible and the whole nose tips up to get at it. Hood, Fenders, Grille and All.

[RobertRyan]

j-d wrote:
I understand what you said about the MDT's like the one under the "Class C" pictured at the top of this thread.

What I was trying to express, was my thought that the "entry level" MDT's we see making deliveries, probably equivalent to F550 but diesel cabovers, would make a nice Class C. More than a Sprinter, less than a Super C.

They already do in Australiaand New Zealand
They are about 31ft long and AVIDA and Sunliner make their versions. They are bigger than the Mercedes Sprinter/ Ducato models. IVECO has one almost as long for Sunliner
Sunliner MonteCarlo

AVIDA Longreach


Sunliner Navian on a 28ft IVECO

[j-d]

I understand what you said about the MDT's like the one under the "Class C" pictured at the top of this thread.

What I was trying to express, was my thought that the "entry level" MDT's we see making deliveries, probably equivalent to F550 but diesel cabovers, would make a nice Class C. More than a Sprinter, less than a Super C.

[RobertRyan]

Could be any of the Japanese manufacturers: Hino, Isuzu; Mitsubishi or UD ( owned by Volvo) They have similar trucks. Japanese HDT's have roughly 560hp limit on the engines. They are built like Tanks

[klutchdust]

RobertRyan wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:

j-d wrote:
I've long thought that the smaller diesel cabover MDT's would make a great chassis for a Class C with some capacity, decent fuel mileage, reliability, and ease of driving.

I've thought though, that it'd be more of a Truck Camper, since my understanding was a "motor-home" had to have the cockpit accessible from the living quarters.

Is that what everybody still thinks? I remember cars called "Hardtop Convertible" where the top didn't fold, come off, or whatever. But no Center Post, no Window Frames. Then GM re-defined it. OK to have a center post and windows, just frame-less door windows.

Anyhow, I would give up a cut-away cab-chassis to keep a more solid small motor-home.

And, Robert, I like the vehicles and RV's you have Down There. The pickup you just pictured bears that out. Function over Form. Here in USA, it's all about Form...

It is not a small diesel. 8.8 litre or a 9.8litre. Par for the course for Japanese MDT's here

The vehicle shown in this photo and with right hand drive has been pulling a test trailer loaded with weights around Southern California for over a year now. It has plates from Michigan on it and a DOT code associated as a manufacturer. Also seen a bob tail type box truck with the same markings. I see it so frequently that my wifey even noticed it. Sometimes there is a passenger on a laptop, maybe monitoring performance. Anyone have any ideas on that. I saw him as far North as I-5 pulling the grapevine out of Bakersfield. They have vinyl covers as to hide the identity of the maker.

[RobertRyan]

RobertRyan wrote:

j-d wrote:
I've long thought that the smaller diesel cabover MDT's would make a great chassis for a Class C with some capacity, decent fuel mileage, reliability, and ease of driving.

I've thought though, that it'd be more of a Truck Camper, since my understanding was a "motor-home" had to have the cockpit accessible from the living quarters.

Is that what everybody still thinks? I remember cars called "Hardtop Convertible" where the top didn't fold, come off, or whatever. But no Center Post, no Window Frames. Then GM re-defined it. OK to have a center post and windows, just frame-less door windows.

Anyhow, I would give up a cut-away cab-chassis to keep a more solid small motor-home.

And, Robert, I like the vehicles and RV's you have Down There. The pickup you just pictured bears that out. Function over Form. Here in USA, it's all about Form...

It is not a small diesel. 8.8 litre or a 9.8litre. Par for the course for Japanese MDT's here

[rexlion]

RobertRyan wrote:

Notice it is a Cabover Japanese MDT not available in the US, neither is the toad Pickup Truck. Body is different. Pickup Truck has a 4.5litre V8 Diesel.

Whoever said you can't take it with you...never saw this rig. 😉

[RobertRyan]

Here is the Toad towing

The Wild West Coast of Tasmania

Northen Queensland

[RobertRyan]

timmac wrote:
Wow I guess I am not the only one out there will custom a built stacker for our toys.


American version


Australian version

Very common here, stackers

[RobertRyan]

pnichols wrote:
According to some of Robert's photos in various threads plenty of customers in Australia are nowadays going for "form" over "function", too.

Australia still has a huge land mass as compared to it's relatively low population ... like the U.S. used to have many decades ago. I prefer the ratio that Australia still has and if I RV'd there I'd take advantage of it by using a near expedition-grade RV to explore all over the place in the interior as much as legally possible. Of course one has to be a remote desert lover to appreciate that kind of RV'ing.

The documentary "From Alice to Ocean" clearly showed (to me) the beauty and allure of the pristine Australian Outback ... what an RV'ing dream place. There are only a few places left in the U.S. where this experience can be somewhat duplicated in an RV. We've been to one place and camped there in our Class C that maybe came close ... a spot in the Oregon Outback.

Australia has Alpine, considerable subTropical/tropical climate and the biggest Mediterranean Climate in the World in Western Australia.