Mercedes G-class can't handle the Canning Stock Route

Submitted: Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:28
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I think their marketing plan just backfired..

Outback cripples Mercedes-Benz's toughest off-roaders

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Reply By: GoneTroppo Member (FNQ) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:40

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:40
You'd think they would have just called the nice roadside assitance people.

After all you're entitled to do that with your MB Warranty!!!!

AnswerID: 461862

Reply By: Member - Michael O (NSW) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:45

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:45
I did have a bit of a giggle listening to VKS recently when a stranded motorist was asking if the Mungerannie Roadhouse could supply two 21" off road tyres for a Mercedes......
AnswerID: 461863

Follow Up By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 13:40

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 13:40
I did hear that that bloke was $4000 lighter when he headed out east of Birdsville post that saga and still had no spare....... might have been better off in a Morris Minor with cross-plies.
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Reply By: BrownyGU - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:45

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:45
Could be seen as a positive I reckon!

Browny
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Reply By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:51

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:51
Begs the question, what tyre pressures and what speed.

Mate's just back and he said they passed a number of vehicles with busted suspension and the main reason had been tyre pressures, speed and too long a period between breaks to allow for the suspensions to cool down.

At least MB were testing their vehicles under real conditions.

Dunc
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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 19:23

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 19:23
Duncan
We seen these massive run ups, before most dunes.
Also seen dip marks, where those 55 psi people, would nose dive and bounce all the way up the dunes.
We ended up calling then the "55 lb club" been here, and also the "Jumbo Jet run ups."
Absolutely rediculous.
We were 4.7 tonne over 6 wheels (camper included), and run 15'psi or less tyre pressure, and breezed over the dunes. Only buggered up 3 times, and that was due to my being sack.
The Mrs even drove o er the biggest dunes fron Nth side on 40 + days and had no dramas

Cheers
Bucky
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Reply By: olcoolone - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:51

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:51
Even the best can have failures.

I wouldn't call a shocker failure the be all and end all of the Merc's, obviously the shocker manufacture under speced the shockers and their capability.

Merc will go back to the drawing board and fit better rated shocks and then they will have a winner.

An I detecting a bit of the "tall poppy syndrome" here?
AnswerID: 461868

Follow Up By: OREJAP - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:10

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:10
Yes I agreed. How many people have travelled the Canning with "standard equiped vehicles"? I suggest other "Standard" vehicles could possibly fail too.

There is always those that ASS U ME w/out knowing the true facts!!!
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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 19:12

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 19:12
OREJAP
Yes I agree.
Ask Pat Callinhan, he was held up at Well 35 with stuffed shockers, in one of 3 vehicles, when we went thru in 2009.
I offered him, or should I politely say his Mrs, our spare OME's but they didn't fit the Pathfinder, in his convoy of 3 vehicles.

Der me, I didn't even recognise them, I only seen a group of really nice people, in a bit of trouble. They really are delightfull !

Cheers
Bucky
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Follow Up By: Member - Ian S (WA) - Monday, Aug 08, 2011 at 20:49

Monday, Aug 08, 2011 at 20:49
went through 2 weeks ago with a standard Jackaroo, a standard 80 series landcruiser and standard 2006 prado, no probs and none of the drama of these merc guys
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Reply By: Member - John (Vic) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:54

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 09:54
Shocker failure??
Looking at the photos it seems those shocks disintegrated??
The vehicles seem to lack clearance and are fitted with what appears to be road tyres also??

Not very well thought out or set up expedition, no spare shockers carried.

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Follow Up By: olcoolone - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 13:47

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 13:47
I would say the shocker broke the shaft in half and got caught under the vehicle.

Didn't know clearance could cause shockers to fail!

So you can't drive the Canning with road tyres?
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 19:27

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 19:27
Didn't imply that clearance had anything to do with shocker failure!!

My comments are simply a reflection of the so called "outback expertise" of the participants.
The vehicles are heavily loaded and not set up as well as they could have been for such a trip, the fact that they had no spare shocks which most experienced outback travelers carry is a further reflection of their lack of planning in my view.

All makes and models of vehicles can and do suffer shocker issues on that trip and its prudent to be prepared.

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Follow Up By: olcoolone - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 08:47

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 08:47
I don't carry spare shockers and I know a few other remote travellers on this forum who don't as well!

If I'm going to go somewhere where it's going to wreck my 4x4 I don't really want to go but I haven't found a place like that yet

I think it was good of them not to take modified vehicles and try and do it with standard off the floor models.

At least it shows up any weaknesses and if standard shockers were the one thing to let them down they have done very well.

The Canning is a track and should be able to be tackled in a near standard of the shelf 4x4 if taken easy.

This one thing that we don't know... maybe they wanted to test the Merc by travelling at a higher speed and tyre pressures up as a form of torture test.
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Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:31

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:31
Wow, these things cost about $150k each dont they? Who in their right mind would
do a CSR test with 6 of them & not carry spare shocks?. No doubt speed & tyre pressure were issues as well. Perhaps the spare shocks died too...couldnt admit to
that would be my rough guess, but perhaps I'm a bit pessimistic...:))))........oldbaz.
AnswerID: 461875

Reply By: member - mazcan - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:34

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:34
hi all
i think the main problem is they took the CRS for granted and appear to have been poorly advised of the horregations that are on it and with that number of vehicles in a trial convoy without any spares is very very poor team management more so than OEM failure no matter what brand vehicle it is you just dont go out there without spares
if some of you critics stopped to think every other vehicle thats ever been driven on the CRS has had simular failures over the years of varying nature including (LC /nissan/range rover/ pajero /etc ) lets be fair about that aspect
you guys just like slagging off and anything if fair game when it comes down to other products that your not driving
i think i would be pretty close to the mark making that comment---- lol
cheers barry
AnswerID: 461876

Follow Up By: Axle - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:57

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:57
You got that in a nut shell Barry!!!,...Trouble is mate the truth hurts. ,.so you won't get much response,..LOL.



Cheers Axle.
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Follow Up By: Crackles - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:59

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:59
"We put in place a group of very experienced Outback operators who have the expertise and logistical knowledge to cover off any eventuality. "
Agree there Baz. While shocker failure could happen to most any vehicle clearly the so called experts weren't quite as experienced as they thought. Spare shocks were definately packed on my 2 Canning trips despite running top of the line Koni's.
I just wonder if air drops for spares is part of Mercs ongoing "Total care package" ;-))

Cheers Craig.........
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Follow Up By: olcoolone - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 08:48

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 08:48
And Craig did you have to use your spare shockers?
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Follow Up By: Crackles - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 09:42

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 09:42
"Craig did you have to use your spare shockers?"
No but I have loant/given my spares shocks to others on 2 occations. From my experience travelling with groups outback, shocks are one of the most likely items to fail after tyres, loose bolts & fridges.
Cheers Craig............
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Follow Up By: member - mazcan - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 11:55

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 11:55
hi crackles
and most women shake two bits as well
cheers barry
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Follow Up By: Crackles - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 12:32

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 12:32
Yes Baz the woman can fall apart too but even though I carry 3 spares girls as well I still have trouble getting any to work out there ;-)
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Reply By: Bazooka - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:47

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 10:47
Shocking stuff. Put a damper on the advertising no doubt. But apart from making a few G-Wagen buyers feel good about their pruchase I'm not sure what they hoped to achieve.
AnswerID: 461878

Reply By: Member - Vince M (NSW) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 11:42

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 11:42
in 1979 on the canning I snapped a top fwd drivers shock mount on my 1972 3 speed FJ 45 Ute & all I did was take it off & kept going. Had I flown a shock out that would have cost more than Ute as it was the best part of it was the new KYB gas shocks.
They were the days, Tyre pressure was down but with 750x16 8plys they did not bag much & you could not go too low as it use to chop the valves off when the tyre walked around the rim but the good part was you could un-clip the cab tire it on the back & get burnt to a crisp & that was healthy, Don't no why I have to get these sun spots taken off regularly now
AnswerID: 461884

Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 14:55

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 14:55
Thats good news - sounds like they've sorted the electric issues that used to put them into limp mode in the middle of the desert.
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Reply By: Steve M1 (NSW) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:02

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:02
a customer I spoke to said he'd been along there with a group of 9 vehicles and the only vehicle not to have problems was a Land Rover Defender with standard shocks and springs.
AnswerID: 461897

Follow Up By: GoneTroppo Member (FNQ) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:06

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:06
Did he say what the other vehicles were?



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Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:15

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:15
Doesn't mean a lot.
I was up Cape York in 2008, and though I saw vehicles with other problems, the only one I came across with busted shock was a Landrover Defender.
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Follow Up By: andoland - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:19

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:19
I went along the Canning in June in a group of nine vehicles (150 series Prado, 200 series cruiser, 80 series cruiser, Discovery 3, Triton and 4 Patrols) and none had any problems.

No-one on our trip carried any spare shocks. If a shock fails it is not going to stop your trip. I'm curious as to why they bothered to stop the whole trip to replace the shocks as they could have happly continued along without them. Yes the ride would have been a bit more wallowy but if you slow down there is no major problem.

We came across a Patrol at Well 33 with a tray-on camper that had collapsed the rear srping supports - they just continued on takiing it easy and made the remaining 600km, albeit somewhat more bumpy than it otherwise would have been.
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Follow Up By: Steve M1 (NSW) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:42

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 15:42
I know he had a GQ Patrol and his mate a GU but don't know about the rest or if any of them were standard.

Defender oe springs are good - shocks less so.
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Reply By: blue one - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 16:49

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 16:49
Very embarrassing for the Merc brand.

I would have expected more from them prior to releasing the model.


Cheers
AnswerID: 461905

Follow Up By: Fab72 - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:16

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:16
OMG...it was a validation test trip people. Give them a break. The whole idea of these trips is to drive un modified vehicles in places where most people wouldn't take them to purposly see what will break.

Yes they could have continued without the shockers but that would place unrealistic strain on other components, and potenitally mask the real results.

Every manufacturer does this sort of thing plus extreme cold climate testing, alpine conditions, dust, water crossings, extreme heat etc.

I went up the Oodnadatta track with a group of WK Holden Statesmans on low profile rubber. "Why would you, "you ask. Well because sooner or later, someone will do exactly that.

Extreme testing ensures reliability.

Kudos to Mercedes for taking the initiative.

Fab.
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Follow Up By: Fab72 - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:39

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:39
Sorry blue one... that wasn't directted at you. I was meant to post it on the main page, not as a response.

A thousand apologies.

Fab.
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Reply By: ob - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:31

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 18:31
It's called testing guys, many years ago we supplied some vehicles for the ADF special forces. They took a couple out and just kept pushing and overloading in stages until they found the vehicles limits so they would know how far to push before failure. I guess Mr Mercedes has found the limits of the standard suspension.

ob
AnswerID: 461915

Reply By: Wilko (Parkes NSW) - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 20:34

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 20:34
It is called testing, and every manufacturer does it to take them to its breaking point.

I dont believe MB didn't take spares with them. That is the silly part, The fact that a dampener failed on the CSR isn't a shock and (usually with planning ) isn't a prob.

The shock(excuse the pun) isnt that a dampener failed, its that a huge company like MB doesnt carry spares when your average Joe punter would have a couple at least.

Cheers Wilko
AnswerID: 461921

Reply By: Road Warrior - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 21:55

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 21:55
Apparently the only one that didn't pop a shockie (which is a predictable and IMO insignificant "mechanical failure" to have on a trek such as the CSR) was the sole military-spec version that was tagging along...the same vehicle the ADF is getting.
AnswerID: 461929

Reply By: GrumpyOldFart - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 22:04

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 22:04
The bit that I had a laugh at was

failed air conditioning a must in the 30+ degree heat!!!!

Mate it's the middle of winter here in the Great Central Desert, I've still got my lumberjack jacket, beanie and gloves on!! Heaters and blankets are still selling well in our shop. They should come back here in summer it will be a little warmer, Try 45+ in the shade.

Blackstone Store about 95km west of Surveyor Generals Corner.

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Reply By: roger ramjet - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 22:11

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 22:11
my 2 cents...

If I pay 150K !!!(?) for a 4WD I would expect it to go absolutely anywhere straight off the showroom floor. Testing to limits or not, for these bucks that's a big fail IMHO.
I can buy a old Hilux that has more brawn than this show pony. (actually I think I own one...lol!)
I'd like to know why the ADF thing they're such a good thing.
AnswerID: 461934

Follow Up By: equinox - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 22:47

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 22:47
Roger get a Tojo if you want a showroom floor offroad vehicle for $70k or less :))

I saw this in Meeka last week, wouldn't mind one of those!!

Image Could Not Be Found

Cheers
Alan


Looking for adventure.
In whatever comes our way.
"Outback Yonder"


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Follow Up By: roger ramjet - Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 23:02

Friday, Aug 05, 2011 at 23:02
Hiya,

Why would I want to spend 70k on a car? Ive got an unbreakable hilux, must be worth 5k at least! LOL !

I believe thats a 14Tonne Bushmaster and not a Merc part in it. You can only afford the fuel if you invade an oil rich country like..um...Iraq.
My ol' diesel mech mate would love it - Caterpillar motor !
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Reply By: Evakool - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 10:22

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 10:22
Here is a bit more information from Car Point.

Big shock for Mercedes-Benz


It looks like they had 4 spares, but it wasn't enough.
AnswerID: 461954

Follow Up By: rocco2010 - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 11:09

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 11:09
Gidday


This quote from the reporter's diary rmight give a few clues to the reason for the problems:

"What this all means is that we're stopping very little to 'sightsee' at the historical well sites that Canning and his crew placed at great personal expense on the original cattle route at about 20-30km intervals.

Instead, we're enjoying an exhilarating drive, with everything from 10km/h creekbed crawls, to wild 80km/h thrill rides along the rare two lane, heavily corrugated sections of the route."


Cheers

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Reply By: Member - Ric M (WA) - Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 18:39

Saturday, Aug 06, 2011 at 18:39
This is the section that gave them the straw to break the Camels Back there is about 30 km of really bed corrugation each side of Well 33
just have to look at my antenna on the left to see how bad they can be.

AnswerID: 461984

Follow Up By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Thursday, Aug 18, 2011 at 14:00

Thursday, Aug 18, 2011 at 14:00
Hello Ric,
I'm very interested in the camera you used to take that video!

It appears to put the lattitude and longitude onto the video image, is that correct?

Where did you get the camera from?

Thanks,
Geoff
Geoff,
Landcruiser HDJ78,
Grey hair is hereditary, you get it from children. Baldness is caused by watching the Wallabies.

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Follow Up By: Member - Ric M (WA) - Thursday, Aug 18, 2011 at 14:39

Thursday, Aug 18, 2011 at 14:39
Hi Geoff
The camera is a DOD GS600 and costs under $300 on Ebay ( take care there are some copies around)

It is primarily a data logger and you are correct it records its position on the film using GPS technology. and also records your speed.
It records to a mini sd card , I use 2 x 32 gb cards in rotation, when the card is full it then over writes previous data 32gb stores around 7 hours of video in 1 minute blocks , can be extended out to 15 minute blocks but this looses some vision while it saves the previous.

When played back using the inbuilt software it also shows your position on Google Maps and includes a graph accelerator and decelerator , it is really designed to record any incident you may have while driving and it automatically locks the video taken if you have a crash, would be great for proving that you were in the right in a prang, could also prove the opposite.

I just leave it running in the car and let it over write but I got it specifically to record the CSR trip so now I have around 90 hours of the whole CSR and I will be putting clips from it into a slide show presentation with mainly stills taken during the trip but some excerpts of interesting video , camels crossing the track etc.

I would highly recommend it to you.
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