FG buildup

[dhackney]

...that shop looks major serious/professional...those frame extensions look like excellent quality. For future reference, if I do something similar, could you give the name of the guy/shop that's doing the work? Thanks.

The shop you're seeing is actually just the assembly/display area. The metal fabrication happens in another area.

Our fabricator is:
Metal Tech Innovations
Riverside, CA
Mark Johnson
Mobile (951) 965-0055
Fax (951) 776-0324

 

[dhackney]

I have an idea for you...


I think the look of the bikes "hanging" on each side of your camper would look really cool.

Awesome idea. I'll see if we can integrate that concept in the design.

We definately want the bikes inside the garage for security reasons.

The only downside to this I can see is that the longitudal orientation of the bikes would block access to anything stored in the garage inboard of the bikes.

thanks!

 

[dhackney]

What are you doing for stairs? i have an idea for a slick stairway that I want to market to "us" "expedition class vehicle" folks...ALL 5 OF US!

All we've got for stairs right now are the standard scissors type. I'm open to new ideas if you're willing to share!

 

[haven]

stairs

Austrian expedition camper manufacturer Action Mobile has a cool design for stairs. The body of the stairs pivots underneath the top step so you can extend the stairs parallel to the side of the truck in tight spaces. The stairs slide under the truck body when not in use.

You can find lots of photos of Action Mobil vehicles in the "News" section of their German language website at http://www.actionmobil.com

Chip Haven

 

[dhackney]

Fabrication has begun

What could be more fun than collecting components for the rig?

Putting it together!

Updated buildup photos in Album Two at:
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/index-buildup-photos.htm

 

[dhackney]

Of course I will!

I've just been loaded up with work from a client, so it might be towards mid next week before I can send you some images.

In the mean time, could you PM me with these dimensions:

Frame rail width and hight (outside to outside, wall thickness).
height from top of rail to threshold of camper door.
Height from top of rail to ground (of course this dim constantly changes, so a ballpark number is just fine)

I'll try to measure these out this week and get them to you. Thanks!

 

[BajaTaco]

What could be more fun than collecting components for the rig?


Putting it together!


Updated buildup photos in Album Two at:
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/index-buildup-photos.htm

Cool! I think that was a good idea to do the length comparison with the GMC in the parking lot. That really gave me a perspective on the length (and it's not as long as it had seemed by itself).

Lots of goodies you have piling up there... :box:

 

[dhackney]

We did the first test fit of the 3 point pivot frame and the camper today.

More updated photos at http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/index-buildup-photos.htm in Album Three.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Cool! I think that was a good idea to do the length comparison with the GMC in the parking lot. That really gave me a perspective on the length (and it's not as long as it had seemed by itself).

Lots of goodies you have piling up there... :box:

Agreed. The Fuso is not nearly as big as I thought.

 

[dhackney]

Agreed. The Fuso is not nearly as big as I thought.

These are our current best estimates on dimensions. We should end up pretty close to these measurements.

We will be about 18-24" longer than I'd hoped and have more rear overhang that I'd have preferred. We did pretty good on centering the mass on the chassis, so the handling will probably be OK, but there will be a lot of length swinging around aft of the rear axle when making turns in small villages.

 

[dhackney]

pivot frame might not be stought enough.

This is a tack welded version of the pivot frame we used to test the fit.

In terms of material, it's actually bigger stock than used in previous 3 point pivot frames on the FG chassis (check examples here).

I'd use removeable aluminum propane tanks as opposed to built in tanks.

The permanent propane tanks use a remote fill panel with multiple international fill valves. We also have a portable tank housed in the stock camper location hooked to a manual selection valve. We wanted maximum flexibility for fills.

I'd also make the batteries instantly accessable and not use "fancy" batteries.

There is a trap door in the bottom of the garage for access to the two between frame rails house batteries. The second two house batteries mount in a tray just forward of the start batteries and are accessable from the side similar to the start batteries. The house batteries are Lifeline AGM marine batteries. They were the maximum Amp hours per cubic centimeter that I could find and were sized to maximize the area between the frame rails.

You might want to set up air bags between the truck frame and the pivot frame so that you can "control" the movement of the camper with respect to the frame. "Liven-up" the frame on dirt roads (low speed) and "deaden" the frame on the freeway (high speed).

Very interesting idea. We are using air bags on the suspension so we'll already have the compressor, controls, etc. Might be able to use small suspension air bags for this purpose. We'll have to see how it rides once we get it on the road. The pivot frame itself isn't all that long and provides quite a bit of torsional strength even in its current test/tacked form.

These are just my opinions, and you know what opinions are like .

All opinions, feedback, constructive critism, etc. is very, very welcomed!

 

[dhackney]

3-point mounting for their boxes to keep the camper from twisting and breaking up on the ultra flexy Mog frames...Rather that trying to provide their customers with more articulation.

I share that opinion. This shot of an FG from the RUF site shows why we chose a 3 point pivot frame for the project.

Don & Kim Green have an FG with a rigidly mounted, custom built camper box. I think their custom box is quite a bit stronger than anything I could buy off the shelf. I don't have enough faith in any factory built camper box to subject it to the tortional stresses reflected in the RUF shot.

By the time we build a platform robust enough to support the camper and the upper storage boxes we're not adding much weight to make the rear end of it pivot. IMHO it's worth the weight to keep from twisting the camper apart.

This a shot of the side of a rigidly mounted 4x4 camper. It isn't the worst of the wrinkles and bends caused by chassis flex on this unit, but this is the best I could do with the available lighting.

Your Fuso is smaller and lighter that Casa Azul (F700 4x4) and I don't carry motorcycles or a big generator. ...WE ARE MAXED OUT. ... Have you figured a thumbnail weight?

The weight spreadsheet is on the web site. I built it before we started. Grim reading... I was incredulous when I learned the weight of the RUF FG and we ended up building something that will be at least that heavy.

BTW, if we were staying around here we would probably be on a similar Ford chassis. We needed global parts and service so we were limited to the FG for what we could buy here.

But you must have a TON of stuff. I just did one quick search but every result on F700 GVWR came back with 22k lbs. That's 8k more than the FG. If you are maxed out and you don't have all the excess crap that we are starting out with, what are you carrying that weighs so much? :Wow1:

If our experience with this 4x4 is anything like our travel by boat and bike we'll start out with a lot excess stuff and shed it as we go along. You'll probably be able to find us by following the trail of ejected hardware.

 

[Grim Reaper]

My guess is that Unicat and the other european "Uber-truck" companies make the the 3-point mounting for their boxes to keep the camper from twisting and breaking up on the ultra flexy Mog frames...Rather that trying to provide their customers with more articulation.

I think you might be adding unnecessary cost, weight and complication with doing your 3 point mounting. It would be easy to test the flex of the truck, then look at isolating JUST the camper (not the cargo boxes) with uyrathane buggy bumpers. You could potentially save A LOT of weight!

It is by design that Mog frames flex. By building in a certain amount of flex its less likely to have high stress points that will cause a catastrophic frame failure.

When you consider the width of the body as compared to the width of the frame you will see the frames on large trucks are pretty narrow. It is very easy for the cargo box to put a lot of stress on the frame since it has more leverage. The manufacture recognized that it was easier to allow the frame to flex then to make it so rigid as not to flex for the benefit of a flat cargo floor and force the the suspension to do all the travel. Also to make the suspension travel more you have to raise the vehicle higher off the frame or arch the frame higher over the axle. That means the load deck has to go up so the COG goes up as well.

The amount of weight you would have to add to make it rigid enough for a 4 point mount is probably near what it takes to make the bed on a three point mount with a pivot on one end. The bed or box has to have a frame already to deal with the fact that its wider then the frame it sits on so you are at a wash on the bed weight for either argument. I would actually argue that the Three point on a box may be able to be built lighter especially for a box like a camper. The reason being is to make it rigid you box may well have to be stronger to combat racking from the twist a 4 point mount could put on it even on a very rigid frame.

To handle the large weight you need to have a heavy spring. Well you are going to need a lot more locating hardware or longer springs to deal with that weight and still have the wheel travel if it all comes from the suspension.

Another thing to consider is to locate a long travel suspension you get into problems where as the axles change planes in relation to the frame they will tend to turn and change direction of travel to the centerline of the vehicle. It will steer the vehicle sideways. Now when the frame flexes the wheels still point the same direction so it doesn't steer sideways as it articulates.



When it comes down to it wheel travel is wheel travel and if it comes from the spring or by design in frame twist doesn't matter if the end result is the wheels stay on the ground.

No offense to your 700 but it was built for a total different target market. You have adapted it to your needs but that was not its original design.
The 700 is a road truck that somebody put a drive axle under the front. Its initial design was for graded road.


A Mog is a farm tractor that happens to be able to go 65mph. The manufacture knew from the onset of design that the vehicle would be on uneven terrain and have all wheel drive. Thats why even its cab is on 3 point point mounts.

 

[dhackney]

Making progress...

updated buildup photos in album four and five at http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/index-buildup-photos.htm

 

[Scott Brady]

Looks great Doug. Where did you source the LP tanks? I like the size and the gauge availability.