Thursday 16th May 2013

Leyland Daf T244 Camper: You Know You Want To

Need to go anywhere, and then sleep there? This looks like just the ticket

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We didn’t think it’d be possible to find a rival to the Unimog-based camper we featured in this slot last year, but somewhat incredibly, one’s just attracted our attention, once again in the PH Classifieds.

Perfect for a cuppa halfway up Kilimanjaro

It’s based on an old Leyland Daf T244 army truck. Need we say more? OK, so we probably do. In the late 80s, these things were rolled out to replace the previous Bedford MJ and MK (although the latter ended up staying in service), and they became stalwarts of the British Army, carrying any and everything over rough ground with aplomb. All sorts of derivatives were produced, for tasks as diverse as carrying troops, refuelling in the field, and even laying out mobile trackway with the aid of an extraordinary over-the-top apparatus.

We’re not sure what this one did in its past life, but it’s now been re-classified as a camper, and given what looks to be a particularly sympathetic renovation and conversion by the current owner. Resplendent in a rather natty silver paint job, it can boast sleeping quarters for two, a kitchenette, bathroom facilities and even a TV and DVD player. And with four-wheel drive, massive ground clearance and even a lopped-off rear end to prevent grounding out, it should be tough enough to head anywhere you fancy. Just the thing for the occasional weekend away on Eastern Steppe, then.

Roof-mounted pylon a nice extra touch

Mind you, bearing in mind the T244’s performance, it’s probably best to schedule a tad longer than that. As you might expect, the 5.9-litre Cummins 6BT turbodiesel engine is set up for pulling power rather than outright go, and while it should cruise around happily at 55mph on the flat, it might be a bit less willing to slog up hills. A quick scout through owners’ forums suggests that a few tweaks can lift its standard power output of anywhere between 110hp and 147hp, depending on the fuel filter it’s equipped with, to around 160hp, which might help matters.

That said, nobody's ever in the market for one of these things for performance, are they? Rather, its ability to get you to where you’re going – wherever that may be – and to provide you with comfortable accommodation when you get there is the big draw. As campers go, this has to be one of the coolest out there.

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LEYLAND DAF T244 CAMPER
Why you should: Beats the hell out of the usual van-based white goods
Why you shouldn't: £28,000 is a lot of money to spend on something that can only just do 55
Yours for: £28,000

See the original ad here.

[TinyCappo]

Zombie survival camper van!

Can you drive this on a normal car license?

[CliveM]

If there are any owners of these sorts of campers on PH, I'd be interested to know where they actually go?

[Krikkit]

Nice. Not quite as awesome as that Unimog camper, although it looks like a much more liveable thing than the last 'mog, having a separate bedroom and all that.

If I won the lottery I'd be off in this around the world for a year or two.

[Tonto]

Hope it has a tow bar, for the fuel bowser.

[Triumph Man]

Benbay001, weren't you, or are you, looking for something like this?

[TheHeretic]

Love it!

[Chainguy]

Love that. Appeals to the 10 year old in me. However, I know from first hand experience that those things DRINK diesel like no tomorrow, and thats when lightly loaded with just lads in the back, not a whole house.

Fun. But you'd soon get bored with it.

[Prawnboy]

PERFECT FOR THE IMPENDING APOCOLYPSE!!!

[MonteV]

I'm tempted. Go fishing. Canoeing, or bring the boat along. Install a solar panel driven air cooler for the camper would be nice. I would change the engine for this though:

The Cummins ISB baseline engine: a 325 bhp @ 2900 rpm (vs 160 bhp) and 610lb ft of torque (vs 400lb ft) 5.9 L, 24-valve, in-line, six-cylinder design utilizing solid lifters, direct injection and a variable geometry Holset HX40 turbo. Comes with forged connecting rods from the factory. Weight of the engine is identical to the one in the DAF truck. Mounting points the same afaik. Displacement is 359 cu.in. with a compression ratio of 15.1:1. The electronics are from Cummins. Manufactured between 1998 and 2007.

With porting, changed fuel flow requirements to 200 cu. mm/stroke, a Holset HY55 turbo and an air-to-air intercooler, Banks engineering got 735hp and 1300lb ft out if it with a HY55 turbo, for a truck high speed record at Bonneville, and 600 bhp and 1000 lb.ft. of torque with a HY40 turbo for stree use. For the street they used a HY40 turbo instead. The blown inline six liter diesel sounded menacing with the blow off valve going off in the video: http://www.bankspower.com/magazines/show/535-diese...

I'd leave it original though. Used ISB engines available for approx 2000 USD on Ebay.

Edited by MonteV on Thursday 16th May 11:41

[Twoshoe]

Prawnboy said:

PERFECT FOR THE IMPENDING APOCOLYPSE!!!

Or Glastonbury.

[chickensoup]

how much

[yellowstreak]

Like the Bedford before them they are are awesome offroad, some say better than the new Mann SV that the army has replaced them with.

[fjord]

Mods in deleting opinion PH shocker.

[Riggers]

Krikkit said:

Nice. Not quite as awesome as that Unimog camper, although it looks like a much more liveable thing than the last 'mog, having a separate bedroom and all that.

If I won the lottery I'd be off in this around the world for a year or two.

I may be biased, but I quite agree .

Alex, you save up for this, I'll save up for the Mog, and we can have a race. Meet you in Mongolia!

[MonteV]

Oh, and I like this: The cab roof is strengthened to bear the weight of two men and has provision for a roof hatch and machine gun installation over the observers platform inside the cab.

[Garlick]

fjord said:

Mods in deleting opinion PH shocker.

Mods in completely acceptable deletion of awful gif that makes the place look untidy. We don't like them much over here, but feel free to type whatever you like.

[fjord]

Garlick said:

Mods in completely acceptable deletion of awful gif that makes the place look untidy. We don't like them much over here, but feel free to type whatever you like.

nope.gif

[MonteV]

This DAF truck is great for camping in the wilderness - check this video out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWW4laAYKV8.

And what looks similar to the truck in the ad, before the silver paint job: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyBUSzTjds8&fea...

BTW, I replace that roof hatch with an openable plastic bubble top, and put an hydraulic actuator on that middle seat. This would go in before the machine gun.

Edited by MonteV on Thursday 16th May 12:12

Edited by MonteV on Thursday 16th May 12:15

Edited by MonteV on Thursday 16th May 12:21

[infradig]

Just a coat of paint ,a chimney and a dog on a bit of string away from the wrong forum entirely.

[Scrof]

Riggers said:

I may be biased, but I quite agree .

Alex, you save up for this, I'll save up for the Mog, and we can have a race. Meet you in Mongolia!

Oh it's so on.