MERC MOUNTAINEERS
AGERMAN TEAM HAS SET A NEW ALTITUDE WORLD record for trucks – crawling up a steep, rocky mountain in Chile in a Mercedes-Benz Unimog….to almost seven kilometres above sea level!
The Unimog U5023 4x4 scrambled and clawed its way close to the 6893-metre summit of the Ojos del Salado in Chile – the world’s highest active volcano.
The team, led by German professional adventurer Matthias Jeschke, mixed a serious purpose with its record attempt – taking two Unimogs to 6100m on the peak and installing four emergency radio units at high-altitude shelters en route.
The communications system, which links with three base camps further down the mountain, will improve safety for scientific researchers and mountain climbers alike.
One of the Extrem Events Unimogs then pressed on – making it to 6694m, less than 200m below the summit of the volcano, which rises out of the Atacama Desert. It is one of the driest places on earth and is part of the notorious Pacific Ring of Fire.
The mountain-climbing Unimog not only set a truck world record, but a new altitude benchmark for any wheeled vehicle – eclipsing Jeschke’s own previous record, set using a Mercedes-Benz Zetros in a 2014 expedition on the same mountain.
The 11-tonne Zetros got to 6675m above sea level – then also the highest altitude a diesel engine had been operated at.
The latest expedition was supported by Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks, which provided two extreme offroad versions of the latest-generation Unimog, which has a 170Kw/230 horsepower four-cylinder engine, producing 900Nm/663 lb ft of peak torque, plus a transmission with crawler gears that allow speeds down to 2.5km/h.
The standard Unimog has half a metre of ground clearance, torsional flexibility of up to 600mm with axle articulation of up to 30 degrees, made possible by torque tube technology and coil springs. It also has portal axles, a low centre of gravity and radical approach and departure angles (44 degrees and 51 degrees respectively) – plus the ability to climb a 45-degree slope and stay upright on a 38-degree side slope.
All-wheel drive is backed-up by diff locks and Merc’s Tyrecontrol Plus central tyre inflation system.
Both expedition trucks were equipped with special tyres, strong winches and special bodies with variable centre of gravity balancing, developed by specialists at the Unimog Museum, Unimog bodybuilder AS Söder and engineers from the Unimog development team.
Jeschke says that the Unimogs “mastered the extremely steep and rocky passages thanks to a combination of the best reliable technology, a balanced centre of gravity and amazing tyre technology to bring the materials and equipment to these enormous heights.
“At no point in time around the world have motorised