“JUMBO reunion” in the Ugab

A client was kind enough to lend us the ACTION MOBIL ATACAMA 6300 to carry out this test drive. It is a rare sign of trust for which the Management wishes to express a big thank you.

The objective of this test drive was to gather technical data and to find out how the vehicle behaves off-road under difficult conditions. Before setting off, technical devices for chassis optimization were installed at our plant.

To the very limits of load

The results of the trip were convincing, but since the vehicle had been borrowed from a customer, we did not dare to go to the very limits of load. However, that’s what the couple who owns the vehicle did after our trip. Having taken part as a rallye pilot in the East African Safari in Kenia, the owner had sufficient experience with off-road terrain to embark on the “UGAB” adventure. A dry riverbed with very narrow passages and extreme ground formations that require a high degree of axle articulation. Thanks to the ACTION MOBIL three-point mounting, the spring travel was not restricted.

Commentary by the owner: Critical – scratches on the body inevitable – sheer adrenaline!

An ACTION MOBIL leaving the beaten track comes up to its reputation!

Travelling through landscape formations like the ones in the photo, especially in a truck with accommodation cabin, causes tremendous strain on chassis and body. The subframe between chassis and cabin is an essential construction element and is substantially responsible that such passages can be mastered without damage to the cabin structure. Action Mobil has been testing and researching for years and is right to claim that they can offer tried and tested solutions. This test trip is the best proof.

Whoever wants to travel the UGAB needs courage and driving expertise to overcome such narrow trails full of extreme soil displacements. All the greater is the achievement to master these passages in a truck with cabin.

Close encounter with elephants

Should elephants cross your way, it may become a bit of a tight squeeze. For the very experienced only! It may also go wrong.  Turning around or being rescued almost impossible.

Rubbing shoulders with elephants is an exciting experience. It is best to keep calm, especially when mother elephants are on their way with their calves. In open areas like in the photo above it is advisable to stay put, to turn off the engine and keep quiet inside the vehicle. Thus, the situation is quickly clarified: elephants always have the right of way!
An encounter on such narrow trails as in the photo on the right may turn out unpleasant.

Adventure turning to pleasure! ACTION MOBIL has proved it again during this test trip.

It was the right decision to invest in an off-road motorhome mounted on a truck chassis - that’s what most customers say.
The advantages are evident: for longer journeys through territories with poor infrastructure or maybe even for a world tour one cannot do without a certain degree of convenience and hygiene.

However, this means more weight due to furnishings, equipment and foodstuffs. Almost all common motorhomes you meet on the roads struggle with weight problems and most of them are hopelessly overloaded. Dangers and risks arising therefrom should not come as a surprise in off-road terrain.

Mounting accommodation cabins on truck chasses

Thirty years ago, ACTION MOBIL was the first company in Austria to start mounting accommodation cabins on truck chasses. The men in charge at the MAN works in Munich were shaking their heads and said ‘no person will buy a hard and uncomfortable truck for leisure time use’! The gentlemen were right about “hard” and “uncomfortable”, but it was exactly what we wanted for off-road use. The chasses with all-wheel drive were first used by the Army and the Fire Brigade and were therefore designed accordingly robust and with sufficient payload reserves. This has changed over the last few years.

Test drives with ACTION MOBIL

A lot of today’s driving comfort needs to be adapted to the requirements of the terrain and theory is not enough in most cases. Again and again, test trips are necessary. Additional shock absorbers on the front axle, vibration damping in the area of the auxiliary frame and different intermediate frame constructions have been tried out in test drives and have optimised the off-road behaviour substantially. Expert counselling is the basis of the individually adapted, final result: an ACTION MOBIL, which makes adventure a pleasure!

An Action Mobil with truck chassis will hardly ever be overloaded.

However, this is not as easy as it seems because one cannot buy an off-road motorhome “off the peg”. It is a complex single model, usually designed and equipped according to the individual customer’s wishes. An essential part of the planning process is the configuration of chassis, tyres and the adjustment of the auxiliary frame between chassis and accommodation cabin.

Driving comfort in an all wheel motor home

The chassis and the driver cabins are increasingly designed for use in road traffic and on building sites. Driving comfort is gaining more and more importance. Nowadays many a truck cabin is equipped with more convenience than a passenger car and accordingly the driving behaviour aims at driving pleasure. Driving a truck has become a pleasure experience and more and more women who decide to take the driving test for trucks appreciate that.

We as vehicle manufacturers are therefore confronted with completely new challenges.

The founders of ACTION MOBIL as well as the present managers are enthusiastic globetrotters and can look back on more than 45 years of practical experience in off-road terrain and in constructing all-wheel motorhomes.

The tested ACTION MOBIL shown in the photo is equipped with additional shock absorbers on the front axle. Vibration dampers in the auxiliary frame and a modified driver cabin suspension. The interior design of the accommodation cabin is luxurious. Apart from some scratches on its body, the ACTION MOBIL has reached its destination safely.

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