Bombardier Iltis opinion

sidester

sidester

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Ladies & Gentlemen what is your opinion on the Bombardier Iltis.
all terrain, on road, fiability, etc...
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They are a lot of fun, you gotta like wrenching tho. Super simple, tough enough. Superior to any side by side with the right tires.
You thinking of buying or already have one?
 
^^^ he nailed it. VW engine, not much top end on road (we used to do 80 km on Highway 1!!). They are GREAT off-road. We used to get places the 'mericans couldn't with their HMMVW, partly because the ILTIS is much narrower.
 
I owned one for many years. You can still get parts. There are a few things you need to know. Its 24volts. So some spares are good to have. Saying that......I disassembled about 40 of them. Look for rust under the 2 batts.
 
Bombardier took an outdated VW design, built under licence and managed to fleece the Canadian Government for a light duty 1/4 ton 4x4. Not nearly as bad as what Western Star did with the LSVW, but pretty close.
They were pretty much junk when new, being uncomfortable to drive and woefully underpowered/overweight.

The positive is they were VW through and through, and share some commonality with their civilian automotive stuff, so some parts will be cheap & plentiful (relatively speaking).
They were admittedly a tough little car and took a beating well.

Some think they are worth wayyyy more than they are worth - probably due to the milsurp lineage.
 
beltfed said:
Bombardier took an outdated VW design, built under licence and managed to fleece the Canadian Government for a light duty 1/4 ton 4x4. Not nearly as bad as what Western Star did with the LSVW, but pretty close.
They were pretty much junk when new, being uncomfortable to drive and woefully underpowered/overweight.

The positive is they were VW through and through, and share some commonality with their civilian automotive stuff, so some parts will be cheap & plentiful (relatively speaking).
They were admittedly a tough little car and took a beating well.

Some think they are worth wayyyy more than they are worth - probably due to the milsurp lineage.
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Bombardier screwing the government ? They've made a business of that. :) Think you can convert 24 volt systems to 12 without too much difficulty.

Grizz
 
If you want something practical, small, nimble, good on and offroad, and TONS of affordable factory and aftermarket parts get an old Suzuki Samurai. Lots of support for those.
If you want the Iltis because of it's mil-surp heritage/reasons I understand that also.
 
Bear in mind that these vehicles are now more than 30 years old so will require a lot of maintenance. Some spares are getting hard to find and expensive. The military is hard on vehicles and many were driven by young soldiers with little experience. They are noisy and clunky to drive on the road and not very comfortable.

If the following apply then the answer might be yes:

You have good mechanical skills and have the ability and enjoy fixing vehicles

You have secure dry storage

You really want an ex military vehicle rather than something civilian

You are happy with 30 year old technology e.g. carb instead of fuel injection

You do not need any of the mod cons that modern vehicles have
 
Ask lord evil pepper about them I would consider him an authority , they are all low mileage but rust. I let’s but conservatives seeing they are over 30 and designed to be essentially disposible .... not bad
 
they are not comfortable , the heaters suck , the wipers suck, you freeze in the winter , bake in the summer. Be careful with the hood ,they will take a finger off quicker than a 42b. Always have your rain suit with you , Iltis will never keep the rain or wind out. make sure your CAA is paid up.
O in the summertime bring lots of bug spray, you can't put the window up to keep them out.
 
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Best info search for yahoo Iltis forums. Used it a lot over the years, great bunch of guys if you have specific questions/problems. Join up and you can find all the dnd manuals, civi equivalent parts, hacks and more.
 
I trained on 3/4, 1 ton, 5/4, '67 and '74 Jeeps before getting into an Iltis. I keep in touch with many other military surplus vehicle owners.

Pluses (when in service) softer seats, faster, better heater and better tarp than any of the others. Negatives (now) zero parts supply, especially on the critical components like transfer cases, rust-out, Bubba-equivalent indifference to maintenance, no original tires left. Neutrals (now) many smart owner/builders have bonded to find work-arounds with things like the right c.1978 Austrian-division Audi Quattro parts manuals, tech weekends and parts look out services, ID'ing Goodyear Wrangler tires as work arounds.

Would I own one? Never! My '74 Pattern is a runner, is much more rare, and has a huge worldwide parts supply chain with NATO stock numbers and eBay for supplies. Mine needs bodywork, but it is all single skin sheet metal.
 
I worked on them when they came into the service, and I was still fixing the same problems with them when I left the service 20 years later. Parts supply was often a problem for the military who had around 2000 of them......it must be hell on the individuals now to keep them going.

I far prefer the American equipment. There is nothing you can't buy for a Willys Jeep. I wouldn't take an Iltis if you gave it to me for free. The only thing worse than an Iltis is the LSVW. Any owner of that POS is truly a masochist.
 
I thought about buying one once but found the length of the machine to turn me away and price. If you look for a bit you could probably find an m38a1 for around the same price and parts are easy to find. Just an iltis might be more usable as an on road vehicle and more modern
 
The military is hard on vehicles and many were driven by young soldiers with little experience.
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I was one of them. It was fun learning how to drive off road in an Iltis on the governments dime! The best was those scratched up plastic windows that you could not really see out of, and zipped open the wrong way.
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Bombardier screwing the government ? They've made a business of that. :) Think you can convert 24 volt systems to 12 without too much difficulty.

Grizz
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One thing to remember when you convert a 24V system to a 12 V .
The wiring on a 24V circuit is lighter gauge than 12V .
Higher voltage & less amps = lower voltage & higher amps to do the same work
 
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