Imported from the Republic of Yemen as a chassis-cab with only 55,000 km on the clock, now temporarily fitted with the cargo bed of an old DAF military truck. The idea of the current Dutch owners is to convert this tough 4×4 truck into a capable overland RV.
From 1997 to 2013, the Kerax was Renault’s truck and tractor model for heavy on-/off-road jobs in France and far beyond. It had the tilt cab of the contemporary Renault Premium, the midsize on-highway series.
Now that’s a proper heavy-duty frame! As the model designation already points out, the engine’s maximum power output is 270 hp (265, more precisely) and the truck’s GVWR is 19 metric tons (41,888 lbs).
Hiding back there is the truck maker’s dCi 11 turbocharged and intercooled diesel engine, an inline-six with a displacement of 11.1 liter.
Both the front and the rear axle come with an anti-roll bar and parabolic leaf springs. Uncomplicated, nothing fancy.
Peeking through, the synchronized Eaton transmission, type FS 8309 A, with nine forward gears (crawler gear included).
The transfer case was supplied by ZF, type VG 1600. The front axle drive shaft is on the left. It took the owners a lot of effort to make everything completely sand- and dust-free. Quote: wheelbarrows of sand.
As an aside, there’s also a Mack Kerax (aka Mack 8×8), built for the Canadian Army. Clearly fully based on the Renault, yet with eight super singles instead of four.
All in all, this is a great choice and truly excellent starting point for an all-terrain motorhome conversion. It’s all set and ready for exploring the great outdoors.
Great find Johannes. The undercarriage looks nearly new. I remember looking closely at the Mack Kerax, that was part of the outdoor display several years ago, at the CANSEC military hardware show in Ottawa. Nice trucks.
The guys who own it don’t know what the Renault’s job was in Yemen. As mentioned, it arrived in NL “naked” (as a chassis-cab). It does have a PTO, but that doesn’t say anything, pretty much standard equipment on an on-/off-roader. Maybe it was some sort of crane carrier -with our without a small bed- in which case the hours racked up faster than the miles/kilometers. (and thanks for that link!)
Looks brand new. Still impressive for 55,000kms (34,175 miles) of ‘light’ wear.
We see that DAF cab here on Kenworth and Peterbilt medium duty cabovers. Funny that DAF ended up with PACCAR and Renault Trucks ended up with Volvo.
I admit it’s confusing Bob, but you’re referring to the smaller cab of the Renault Midlum (the model name at its introduction), now called the Renault D.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Midlum
That cab is used by Renault, DAF, Volvo, Kenworth and Peterbilt.
Interesting!
The Renault Midlum cab also showed up as a Mack in the US on the Freedom model that replaced the Midliner. Logical since Renault owned all of Mack by that point.
Quite a vehicle – and I agree with Daniel above that it seems to be in remarkably good condition for its age and mileage. Especially since it comes from Yemen, which is a climate and country that I don’t typically associate with well-preserved commercial vehicles.
Are these so rare in Europe that the current owners had to go that far abroad in order to find a good-quality used example?
I’m curious to see what this looks like as an RV when it’s converted.
AWD Renault trucks are an absolute rarity in NL, they must be much more common somewhat further down south in Europe.
New factory AWD chassis in NL are sourced from Volvo, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Iveco and Tatra (DAF does not build AWD chassis for the commercial market).
It will look something like this, I guess. An RV based on a 1989 (former) DAF 4×4 military truck.
We just got back last night from a 3600 miles (5800 km) road trip from our home in California up into the Canadian Rockies. Not exactly overlanding, though we probably drove 100 km on dirt roads including at least one that was closer to an ATV trail for a few miles. I saw several of this style of camper; a few based on larger US platforms, a few with European license plates and recognizable by me in the brief time they were in sight, perhaps Iveco or even just Isuzu or Mitsubishi-Fuso. I honestly don’t get the point of these rigs for North American travel. Even our non-extended 148” wheelbase and high roof Ford Transit seems oversized for many routes or for campsite access where AWD or 4WD are needed. If one’s travel is limited to Saharan treks, perhaps they make sense but not so much for a round-the-world vehicle in this 1/4th of the world. I’ve seen quite a few here in California but only once off-pavement.
I see this type of motor home fairly often on the West Coast. There’s one that’s been parked on a turnout on Hwy 101 overlooking the ocean near Port Orford for a while now. Typically they are based on Japanese COE 4×4 trucks, but over the years I’ve seen some from Europe too.
I tend to agree with dman that they’re a bit overkill for 99.5% of what one is likely to encounter unless heading for the Darian Straight or such. But the image is of course a big part of it.
This would be the perfect truck for someone that wanted to build an off-grid home on twenty acres in rural Alaska. No road. No problem. Just put it in granny gear and lookout.