Technical Can a Ducato 4x4 camper from 1991 be a good buy?

[groentas]

I'm looking for a 4x4 camper which is capable of crossing Iceland.
Now I've found a Ducato with an interior layout which I like.
But I've no experience with these cars, in fact not with any Fiat at all.
Are they reliable? I don't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Can I fit bigger tires, like 225 75 16? I would make a lift of 1-2 inches to.
Is the 4x4 in low and or high gear ratio?
The camper is 2.5 TD. Will that be enough to cope with uphills here in Norway?
It has air suspention on the rear axle. Is that a very big adwantage?
The camper construction is named Eura. Anyone knowing anything about it?

http://goo.gl/1CBYj

 

[saw]

Is it 4x4? 2.5td no problem I had 2.5 na bit slow on hills.how many will travel with you?

 

[groentas]

Both the announcement and painting on the car says 4x4.
There's other similars with 4x4 to on Mobile, so it isn't that rare.
What I like with this is the sofa making two separate beds at the low level
and the big side windows, especially nice for rear passengers when driving.

At the moment my only plan is to go to Iceland with my sister.
I feel sure my 5 y.o. daughter will like to go with me, and later on hopefully my wife to.

 

[saw]

I ask because I never seen one,mine had no turbo so can't comment on that,also if it is 4x4 I'd get it checked out (diffs and transfer boxes).fuel economy could be an issue also, it will catch the wind.it will be heavy with water on board. Instead of coach built I would look at van type (less weight) have you had a motorhome/camper before? I spent 18 months going to dealers looking at lots of differnt designs/layouts. Whereabouts are you dude? Also mine had dinghy on the side but I never tried sailing in it

 

[groentas]

The weigth will be higher than a van-type camper, but the van-types I think will be to small for living.
I don't think we'll visit Sahara, so the weight of the water shouldn't be a big issue.
A bigger concern is how well it will perform on bad roads. I suppose the air suspention will b a benefit there.
We've had a VW Transporter with pop-up-roof. One night in it was more than enough for my wife.

I think I'll try to arrange a holliday with a crew-change.
That means that we take the car to some place and somebody else take it back home or vica-versa.
To Iceland that would be a big benefit, since the ferry from Denmark takes 48 hours.
In adition we'll have to take the ferry from Oslo to Denmark, which takes a day or a night.
For that purpose it's an adwantage with many seats and beds so a bigger family can be the other crew.

I think my ideal camper would be a Bucher Duro.
But the ready-to-go are far to expensive, and I don't think I'll ever get the time to build one.

 

[moodrater]

I think youd be asking for trouble buying that. Even vehicles with a large enthusiast following like the vw syncros can be difficult to source parts for. A van conversion can be spacious such as a xlwb sprinter or iveco daily but I think you may need to realise that your wifes idea of a holiday is probably hotels and spas not grinding down dirt roads in a 20 year old 4x4 full of rattling crockery, grill pans etc etc.

 

[4x4 MURVi]

Our 4x4 has been expensive to fix and repair. Gearbox rebuild was probably good money after bad, but it is a good van, and I justify it the question of what I replace it with? It has hot water and gas heating 4x4 capabilities, and does 30-35mpg!

 

[dazautoking790]

Could anyone point me in the right direction I have a 1991 fiat ducato 4x4 2.5 td. Someone has mest about with the wiring for the ignition and indicator storks

 

[blaven]

I have a 2.8JTD 2003 van conversion,-13 years old. I took it to Iceland via the Faroes in 2015. Some of the roads there are very, very poor. We got shaken up very badly even driving slowly, and bits fell off the van onto the road,-and I consider my van to be well maintained and looked after!
I would strongly advise you not to buy this 'specialist' vehicle. Old Fiats are not a good way to spend money, especially as you do not seem to have much mechanical knowledge.
If you got to Iceland and the van broke down, repairing it, even if you could find and ship in the parts would be astronomically expensive, and shipping it back on the back of a truck would also be not cheap!
Look for a Mercedes based van instead if you have to buy an old one.

 

[Cosworth101]

blaven. Surely this guy has bought or not bought his Ducato as the question is dated from 12/04/2012

 

[varesecrazy]

blaven. Surely this guy has bought or not bought his Ducato as the question is dated from 12/04/2012

and they are Norwegian.., so parts / labour prices may be comparable..

 

[blaven]

Whooops! Yeah, I didn't notice the date.
It'd be interesting to know if he went ahead and bought it, no?
Reading all posts here it is noticeable though that there is a dearth of parts available for older vans, let alone the rarer 4X4. I'm not looking forward to the day when, inevitably, something major goes wrong with mine!

 

[rolandbrindley]

If you fit tyres wider than 185/14 you will not be able to mount your spare wheel on the tray under the bonnet above the air cleaner, it will have to go inside somewhere or up on the roof rack.

 

[ben]

Thread cleaned. Let's not get nasty.

 

[cosminman]

I have a 1995 Ducato based motorhome. The engine is strong as an ox, if it has been properly maintained I think it still has lot of life in it.