Why a big truck???  It began in Malaysia during a tropical downpour, we had come to realise that we loved our life and wanted to travel for many more years but a roof tent on a Land Rover was not a long term living solution. Our friends had a very nice, very old Iveco but mechanical problems and almost impossible part availability ruled that vehicle out. Almost all other options were too expensive.
We flew to the U.K for a visit and hopped over to Germany in search of a MAN 8.136 but, after looking at it, we decided it was too small to justify the cost of purchase and conversion. Then we saw the Mercedes 911, a vehicle that we had never considered, yet it is found all over the world, with spare parts aplenty, lots of living space and a engine that just keeps going. We fell in love and drove her home to Scotland, sleeping on the bench seat that converted into a bunk bed, cooking with a single ring stove purchased on the way. She was put into storage until our return from Asia.

Seagull IV water filter system -
We decided to upgrade from the Nature Pure system only because the filters last longer making the Seagull system more economical in the long term.
                                     
National Luna Weekender -  
40 litre fridge and 10 litre freezer combo. A freezer facility is very useful for carrying meat/ chicken.

Truma 14 litre water heater -
Gas operated to provide hot water for showers. You could convert the trucks Webasto to give you hot water as well - can’t remember what the conversion kit costs.

Sure flow 24v water pump -
A reliable pump we also used in our Land Rover.

Inverter -
Sterling Power product - Power Q 1,000 Watt. Stopped working after 3 months. We phoned to get advice on problem solving and the technical man basically said there was nothing he could do and promptly put the phone down - bad buy, terrible after sales service.

Solar panels -
2 x 85 watt panels - should be plenty of energy for our needs.

Solar controller -
Stecca 30 amp with LED display panel.

24v to 12v dropper -
Victron energy Orion.

Oscillating fans -
Cheap 12 & 24 volt fans. Two for the cab and one for the bed area.

Stainless steel shower tray -
Made to order by local company - ensured we got the size, depth and quality we wanted.

Thetford porta potty 365 -
We didn’t want to spend a lot on a fancy swivel toilet. This does the job.

Water tank -
Purchased from C.A.K tanks. 189 litre capacity. It leaked the first time we filled it - not our best buy!

Waste water tanks -
A simple 45 litre tank for the shower room and a 10 litre water can for the kitchen.

Internal Lights -
4 x 12 volt lights with LED. Bought from O’Leary’s Caravan shop near Hull.

Kitchen sink and taps -
Smeg sink found at reduced price on the internet.

Gas cooker -
Simple 2 ring gas stove with small grill bought  in local shop.

Awning -
Fiamma F45 ti - purchased from a company advertising on Ebay, essential for shade on sunny days.

Fuel costs can vary widely from country to country so it’s wise to have extra capacity to cover those costly miles. Also handy for places where fuel can be difficult to find - Patagonia during the summer months for one.

We looked at adding an extra fuel tank in Europe but the cost was going to be around £1,000 for a 200 litre tank, including fitting. Too rich for us! We bought a 135 litre tank in Argentina with the brackets, a 24v fuel pump and all the fittings it cost £120. To have someone fit the tank for you should cost no more than 200 pesos ( approx. £30). To be cautious on the gravel roads, we covered the tank with some rubber matting which cost £17. In total £170. Now that’s a bargain!! We did this in Puerto Madryn and all the GPS points for what you need are on our Argentina information page.

Our original front ‘drop arm’ bushes shattered - a very common problem with gravel and bumpy roads. We had new ones made from nylon in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. See Tierra del Fuego page for details and information.

Ripio damage - South America is full of gravel (ripio) roads. Most travellers complain of stone blasting damage to the underbody and side bins, punctures, suspension woes, shattered windscreens and smashed headlights.
Punctures and suspension woes are usually due to too much weight - we have kept Nessie under 7.5 tonne and so far we have had no problems.
We have a lot of stone chip damage to the paintwork and side bins but are not too concerned as we will get her re-sprayed at the end of this trip.
Our offside headlight was broken by a crazy Chilean bus driver, who thought himself a rally driver! We have bars over the front of the headlights but this was clearly not enough - maybe a heavy duty clear plastic cover would have been a better idea.

We spent weeks deciding whether we should keep our tyres or not.
Selling them and the split rims second hand in the UK would only raise £700. Our tyres are special order at more than £300 a tyre - it didn’t seem a good idea to sell almost new tyres for almost no money.
SO - Here we are in South America now. In Los Antiguos we had a flat that turned out to be only a faulty valve. Two weeks later that very same tyre develops a nasty side wall bulge - coincidence? We think the gomeria (tyreman) damaged the side wall putting the tyre back on.
The search begins for a new tyre and we discover that Argentina does not sell our size. We cross into Chile to find that they no longer have them either! It becomes a bit of a concern. We avoid ripio and pray we have no problems - not having a spare is NEVER a good idea.
Luckily we find a garage that has one of our tyres in the back of his shop, it’s old stock and nylon walled but only £100. Pheww.
We are going to replace these tyres with larger ones eventually, we just hope that we get the full value out of these ones first!

6 MONTH REVIEW -
Our main concern is heat - our shutters generate a lot of heat and it is not possible to insulate them. The answer is very simple - paint them white. The result is immediate and very effective - we now have no heat, even on very hot days.
Our fridge freezer is superb - having a freezer has been a great bonus. Dave enjoys the ice-creams and I enjoy the frozen chicken. Our only complaint is the lack of a shelving system - having to unpack every item to get to the one thing you want at the bottom is a real pain.
Our truma water heater has been a mixed blessing. The pilot light cannot stay lit in the Patagonian winds - it’s a problem we had not anticipated.
Body damage due to flying gravel is an ongoing battle.
We have not encountered fuel shortages or demands for a higher price for fuel - ‘foreigner price’.
Thetford toilet - beware at high altitude - it expands with pressure and can blow back when opened. YUK!
Other than that, all is well.

TRUCK MAINTENANCE COSTS -
There was no way of guessing what maintenance would cost so we arrived here ‘blind’ to the facts. An annual running cost would be more accurate but we have decided to do ours 6 monthly -

All oils change (engine, axle, gearbox) - £240
All nipples greased - £20
Fuel tank - £170    
New tyre - £100     
New nylon bushes - £37
Wheel rotation - £8
Puncture check and new valve - £8
Reflective tape and speed sticker - £25

TOTAL COSTS - £608  

Poor Dave was completely distracted when trying to manoeuvre in the grounds of a Mendoza campsite. Thank God the tree stump was not any lower or we would have suffered severe underbody damage! A Chilean friend told us that the Argentine Chaperia (panel beater) is more professional and cheaper than his Chilean counterpart. We had our bumper repaired for 50ps, which is approx. £8.

                  OUCH!!                                      THAT’S BETTER!

Our Nessie news get bigger!
Our inverter saga - Our first inverter stopped working after a short time - cause unknown. We then bought a TBE 500w inverter in Chile - it survived only 3 months and we were now very suspicious about our electrics. Dave checked all our wiring and electrical system and all seemed well, until he looked at our dropper - our 24v -12v dropper only takes the power down to 13.8v and our TBE can only take a maximum of 12v. We had slowly cooked the poor thing!
When we reached Santiago we stopped off to buy a little Black and Decker inverter. Unfortunately we didn’t test our purchase until Santa Cruz where we discovered that it didn’t work - talk about bad luck! But it was not bad luck for us, if it had worked we would have been sleeping on one of the tsunami struck beaches instead of being in a town searching for another inverter. Very good luck for us!
We go to Santiago again in search of a inverter only to find they are almost sold out - the earthquakes have created so many power shortages that inverters are in high demand. Are we fated to never have an inverter?! Luckily we find a 600w inverter but it is only a 12v - not ideal but the best we can do for now.

Our engine comes out - Our crankshaft seals have been leaking, we have been losing power on the hills and the engine sometimes cuts out when idling. We were going to use Kaufmann in Santiago but we found a good local mechanic instead. Since the engine was out we asked our mechanic ‘Juan’ to give Nessie a very thorough check for everything  - ‘ troubleshoot’ we told him. He took us to our word and the next time we saw our engine it was in a million pieces!! A lot of little problems and problems waiting to happen were found.
It is easier to list what was done and why.....

Crankshaft seals were leaking - new seals fitted and a new seal groove was cut into our crankshaft.
Injectors were removed and sent for testing and re calibration.
Pistons were checked (one needed honed) all new rings and collecting rods were put in.
Cylinder head was checked and honed.
Gearbox was checked and had a new gasket fitted.
COMPLETE new gasket set - everything!
Clutch plate was worn so a new one was fitted and the old one relined to be kept as a spare.
Water/diesel separator was installed.
Brakes were checked and adjusted, greased and new swivel gasket seals put in.
Our spring bushes were found to be dry so they were stripped, new bushes and pins were put in and greased.
ALL new oils.
All nipples greased and underbody completely checked.
Two new fan belts and a new steering belt were fitted.

We’re not finished yet!
Nessie’s shower tray does not drain quickly so we took our tray out to fit a larger easy drain system. We also decided to fit a cheap snorkel system to try and escape sucking HUGE quantities of Argentine dust into our air filter/ oil bath.
These trucks have one big flaw - the lower cabin edges tend to let water in through the old weld points. The result is nasty corrosion. Dave has stripped these off from the front of the rear wheels backwards and put chequer-plating on. Eventually we will do this for the all of the cabin base edges.
AND
We’ve started shopping for all new tyres and rims. Thinking our original 20 year old tyres would last more than a couple of years on these roads was wishful thinking! A second tyre has started to show a small bulge now.

The outcome of all this work is that we find ourselves seriously questioning the sanity and conduct of almost every mechanic we have used since buying Nessie.

It is clear that in Germany many things were not done correctly, in Scotland corners were cut and in Argentina blind imbeciles posed as mechanics in the Mercedes garages!

For once I can say we have been very unlucky. Usually we would be stressed and worried about it all, instead we have enjoyed the learning curve and have come away with a better understanding of how things should be done correctly - South American mechanics beware!

Chile is the easiest country to import parts into. If your vehicle is already in the country you will have been issued with a import paper - on this part is a temporary import number (TITV nr). When you need parts sent be sure to have this information on the envelope, this will help your package to pass through customs quickly and normally means that you will face NO import charges on the part.
We have shown the photograph of our envelope sticker.
Please copy this exactly then write your own import number and registration number on.