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Russian Truck in need of love..... Ural 375A

Bert

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Feb 11, 2016
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Hello everybody.

This is a bit of a help request going out to everybody in the hope that the jungle drums will sound far enough that somebody knows somebody who has a friend who can help.

My friend acquired an Ural 375A Russian truck a little while back and has been trying to make something of it. However, he knows absolutely nothing about them, and although he has some manuals and he was in the Navy for a while, he can’t make head or tale of the mechanical workings of the truck and needs some assistance.

I know this is strictly a Toyota Land Cruiser forum but I'm hoping that some of the folk on here may know someone who can help get this beast rolling again, know some other group or person to contact, or may be willing to help directly. The guy who owns the truck did meet an old Ukrainian or some such fellow in a smokey bar somewhere once who used to work on these trucks for the Russian army and was very keen to help, but unfortunately he dropped dead in his pint of beer a few weeks later.

The owner is willing to loan the truck to any interested party who can get her on the road again for any fundraising or charity events as a quid pro quo type affair; basically, he said it could be used for whatever is deemed necessary to help bring her back to life, including pasting adverts on the sides of the truck. You could take her on a road trip from the south of the country north, or a road trip across Europe if you can feed her, all he want's is to get her going again. It's a love thing.

She did run up until a while ago, he actually drove her back to the UK, rescued from a dry riverbed in Spain a couple of years back, but since then she has been languishing in a field where he lives and has settled into sulkiness and refuses to play. She is now in a field in the Hampshire area, not far from Fareham.

So, is there anybody out there at all who can offer 'free' mechanical assistance in return for using the truck on jollies, charity events or promotions, or point him in the right direction (sensible and polite comments only please :laughing:or if not they'd better be really funny), anything at all to get her restored to her former glory and roaring on the road? By the way, she also has an LPG conversion on her......

Anyway, here are some photo's of the Old Gal......

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The business end.........
upload_2017-3-3_14-1-36.png


The back door end into the command cabin. Sorry there aren't any photos of the inside, but I can take some more later if interest in her is generated......
upload_2017-3-3_14-2-30.png


LHS......

upload_2017-3-3_14-3-33.png


RHS.....

upload_2017-3-3_14-4-52.png


Underside.......

upload_2017-3-3_14-19-4.png


LHS under the drivers door, I think the 'caged bottles' are for the on board compressors for raising/lowering the tire pressures from the cab, but I could be wrong.......

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More underside stuff.....

upload_2017-3-3_14-23-21.png


Brackets for the fuel (petrol) tank. The tank is removed at the moment as it needs a slight repair where someone stood on the filler tube which has put a small hole in it. I understand that she was driven back by feeding her via a tube stuck in a gerry can, fueled up at every opportunity.....or so I'm told...

upload_2017-3-3_14-41-59.png


Looking at the brackets, the fuel tank must hold around 300 litres? Just guessing....my 90 litre tank is tiny in comparison....

upload_2017-3-3_14-43-19.png


LHS rear tires. One is feeling a bit down, but I understand they can all be inflated/deflated as necessary via the on board system once the engine is running. Marvelous concept......

upload_2017-3-3_14-45-0.png


Looking up under her rear end :eek: you can see one of the four LPG tanks slung under between the chassis rails.....

upload_2017-3-3_14-45-51.png


From the RHS rear end looking forward.....

upload_2017-3-3_14-46-23.png


RHS tires and leaf spring assembly......

upload_2017-3-3_14-47-5.png


Other LPG tanks, there's another behind this one......

upload_2017-3-3_14-48-22.png


Looking forward to the engine bay.....

upload_2017-3-3_14-49-15.png


Inside the cab.......any translators out there?

upload_2017-3-3_14-49-51.png


Dials, gauges, buttons and lights etc....
upload_2017-3-3_14-50-42.png


No prizes for what this is.....

upload_2017-3-3_14-51-48.png


I love the little Russian Star in the centre, with what may be graffiti from previous drivers....

upload_2017-3-3_14-53-4.png


Drivers side door.....no sh#t Sherlock....

upload_2017-3-3_14-53-40.png


And the business end again......

Sorry there's none of the engine bay, but again I can take some later if interested.

So, can anybody do anything to help this Old Lady from Russia (with love) get mobile again?
If sympathetically restored, she'd end up looking something like the one below,

upload_2017-3-3_15-15-4.png


She's a great truck with tonnes of character, and a true offroader.

Cheers, hope you can help.....

Simon (aka Bert) upload_2017-3-3_14-23-21.png
 
There used to be a chap in the Peterborough / wisbech area who dealt in all types of these old Russian trucks, importing, selling & I believe he had all sorts of spares, try googling Russian trucks in the uk.

I once looked at & had a run out in a very similar type of Zill truck, practically no miles on it & it had the gizmos for inflating tyres on the move etc & would basically run on any old fuel, very basic trucks, designed that way for Russian conscripts who would need to repair them with little or no equipment & tools. you could probably even replace a fuel pump diaphragm with an old plastic bag!.
I would be very surprised that if with some fresh diesel & plenty of oooomph in the batteries to wind the old girl over, if it didn't run.
the springs remind me of railway trucks, and I wouldn't want to drive one too far without earplugs & my dentist to put my fillings back in!!

Andy
 
These run on any fuel you can get hold off if I remember rightly.

Fresh fuel , charge batteries and a sniff of ether and it will go.

We got a a praga v3s going last week.

6x6 on portals

If I am that way I could pop by and point things out but not sure whenough I will be that way.

The cylinders that you say are for pumping the tyres up look more like the master cylinders for the air over hydraulic brake system. if you look it appears there are pots on top of them.

Below is what my mate got last week.
20170226_162821.jpg
 
Love soviet stuff, as said, by design there simple and reliable. On the lpg side maybe?
 
Oh theres been one at the overland show on the last 2 occasions ive been, the owner would be worth chatting to.
 
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Bert, I've been told of a bloke around the Portsdown Hill / Southwick area, that collects and does up old military vehicles (also works on Land Cruisers apparently). I could try and get some contact details for you if it might help.
 
Reminds me of a story that is perhaps not relevant but then maybe it is , of a Russian trawler that broke down and was towed into the UK for repairs . The Ruskies aboard refused to use anything but Lada parts to get them and the boat home .

If there's a Lada club forum maybe a shout there will get you some first hand knowledge ?
 
That r
Reminds me of a story that is perhaps not relevant but then maybe it is , of a Russian trawler that broke down and was towed into the UK for repairs . The Ruskies aboard refused to use anything but Lada parts to get them and the boat home .

If there's a Lada club forum maybe a shout there will get you some first hand knowledge ?
That rings a bell, I heard they were just collecting spares for their cars back home as they weren't available there.
 
There was plenty of that going on Chas but this was a broken down fishing trawler .
 
Love these trucks, but know nothing about them at all.

I might be able to get the Russian translated though, if that's any help.

Plenty of these here, but I don't know what they are or where they're made... they're not the same, that's for sure...

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Where's this truck located may I ask?

For some reason the front view makes my warped brain think of Willie Whitelaw! Must be the eyebrows I suppose.
 
Looks like one of these....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ural-375
I remember seeing an old Russian ex military truck very similar to this in someone's garden not far from us a few years ago. No idea what make it was but it looked in such good nick I assumed the owner showed it although I never spoke to him/her. If I get time this weekend I'll try and locate it, if it's still there, and if it is the same, maybe approach the owner to see if he/she is at all interested.
 
Looks a great truck but if it were mine and I had the funds I think I would be sticking a Diesel engine in it. Perhaps a Cummins or possibly an air cooled Deutz, like this for example.

No doubt there are some conversions out there that work/fit rather than just my musings. I just thought the Deutz had the right sort of sound for a truck like that. :)
 
These run on any fuel you can get hold off if I remember rightly.

Fresh fuel , charge batteries and a sniff of ether and it will go.

We got a a praga v3s going last week.

6x6 on portals

If I am that way I could pop by and point things out but not sure whenough I will be that way.

The cylinders that you say are for pumping the tyres up look more like the master cylinders for the air over hydraulic brake system. if you look it appears there are pots on top of them.

Below is what my mate got last week.
View attachment 123198
Hi Stu, that's a great looking project there. What are your mates plans with it?
It's a great offer to pop in when you are next down this way, regardless of when. The owner spends a bit of time out of the UK due to work, so I'm sure this is going to be a long term project.
The battery was charged when we checked it, but he just couldn't get her to turn over. I suspect a dodgy connection somewhere, but didn't have time to trace it through. For me, my own truck is my priority right now :)
If you think you'll be coming this way, please let me know well in advance so I can see if a meet is possible.

Regards, Simon
 
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