Considering a direction switch from our Mog - which FGs to buy and which to avoid

[kerry]

No syncro on 1st in mine.

 

[jhrodd]

I'm sure everyone would agree that the 1991 FG434 SWB is the best Fuso out there :Wow1:. Floor shift, mechanical injection but still has turbo and intercooling. Mine has 318,000 miles and drives beautifully. It's also lighter with a lower GVW (11,600) which results in lower license and insurance costs and the rated weight is with only 60# of air in the tires.

 

[Maninga]

1) Which years and engines are best?
2) Which trannies? Manual preferred?
3) How many miles is too many on a used truck?
4) We'd planned on buying a new fuso initially, but the combo of USLD and the duonic gave us a cold feet. With the exception of USLD, do the new truck pass muster?
5) Are there many wheel base options in the FG?
6) Our camper is 12' and I am considering building a mold for a composite cab extension to make a doorless crew cab (doorless = entry through the front doors and then pass through middle seat) so that we can carry friends etc in the rig (bench seat in back). What wheel base is best for a 12' camper and a 2-2.5' cab extension?
7) With a little bit of sound deadening effort, how quite can you get your fuso at 65-70mph?

Hi Scott,

What're you growing? We're looking at buying a farm in a few years also.

I have the fg84 with 3460 wheelbase and ATW super singles/parabolics. Have only driven it a couple of times, rest of the time it's been sitting having a body built on it. But when did drive it, seemed to be happiest at 90km/h, would sit for long periods at 105-110 and occasionally saw higher. Didn't like hills at that speed though, Steinbauer chip helps a lot with that. Bit of road noise at speed though, couple of boxes of dynamat help with that. New seats I think are needed, standard ones aren't very comfortable on long trips.

Had initially planned in using a XPCamper on it, with a motorbike or two for alternative transport. That didn't work out, so had a 14' body made for it I'm currently fitting out. THe bikes would be a nice feature to have kept, working on an alternative for it.

Cheers
Joe

 

[S2DM]

The plan is cherimoya and starfruit, along with the avocados already there. Excited to get started on it for sure.

We are still very torn, it reminds so much of how I felt when we started all this, there just isnt really a perfect base vehicle in the states for a larger camper, they all have tradeoffs and you have to choose which work best for you. Our choices right now are too stay the course with our build and put it on a fuso, or rebuild the front as a cabover and get something in the large pickup family.

The camper did start out at XP (Marc is a good friend of ours), we now have it back in our shop in santa cruz, aka fiberglass dust covering the entirety of our shop :0 We have some really good dustless sanders at our shop, but its still some tough work. I'll update all of our pics when I figure out which forum to restart our build thread in (aka when we decide on a base vehicle!).

-S

Hi Scott,

What're you growing? We're looking at buying a farm in a few years also.

I have the fg84 with 3460 wheelbase and ATW super singles/parabolics. Have only driven it a couple of times, rest of the time it's been sitting having a body built on it. But when did drive it, seemed to be happiest at 90km/h, would sit for long periods at 105-110 and occasionally saw higher. Didn't like hills at that speed though, Steinbauer chip helps a lot with that. Bit of road noise at speed though, couple of boxes of dynamat help with that. New seats I think are needed, standard ones aren't very comfortable on long trips.

Had initially planned in using a XPCamper on it, with a motorbike or two for alternative transport. That didn't work out, so had a 14' body made for it I'm currently fitting out. THe bikes would be a nice feature to have kept, working on an alternative for it.

Cheers
Joe

 

[Czechsix]

I agree with Pugsley on all points.

One other thing-check the frame for rust. These are high tensile steel frames which were assembled first and then painted. That means that they will rust very quickly in between frame and any bolt on bracket as there is bare metal there. The primary use for these was for plow trucks and the salt destroys them in short order.

To add to what Pugsley said about speed- depending on camper frontal area these will do 70 mph on flat ground if you don't make them too heavy and you put on larger diameter tires, but the slightest grade will result in 50-55mph and heavy grades will bring you down to 40 mph.

The top speed argument is in favor of the new FG's. I normally run 70-75 here on the freeways, but I've found myself around 80 a few times too.

For most areas, not an issue, but I did want to spec a vehicle that was capable of doing 1k miles on an interstate, and being able to pass sometimes. Steep passes...yep, those'll get me down to 55-60. All this will change once the real load goes on, though. I've got the higher ratio rear end though (hey...maybe I should start calling it the ultra-fast axle, just to miff the moggers? ). As to the off-roadability, every vehicle has its high points and low points. One just needs to adapt their driving style to the idiosyncrasies of the vehicle.

 

[riptilyaflip]

You sound like a hands on guy.
Your options would increase dramatically if you were willing to buy a 2 wheel drive and convert it to 4x4.
I recently purchased an 04 Isuzu FRR; extended cab, inline 6 turbo, 6 spd. auto, cruses comfortably at 75 mph.
I will be converting it to 4x4 and building an aluminum flat bed with a removable camper body for dual purpose use.
I spent the past couple years evaluating all the options, and decided this was the best for me.

 

[45lpv]

What transfer case would you use for such a conversion?

 

[Maninga]

The plan is cherimoya and starfruit, along with the avocados already there. Excited to get started on it for sure.

We are still very torn, it reminds so much of how I felt when we started all this, there just isnt really a perfect base vehicle in the states for a larger camper, they all have tradeoffs and you have to choose which work best for you. Our choices right now are too stay the course with our build and put it on a fuso, or rebuild the front as a cabover and get something in the large pickup family.

The camper did start out at XP (Marc is a good friend of ours), we now have it back in our shop in santa cruz, aka fiberglass dust covering the entirety of our shop :0 We have some really good dustless sanders at our shop, but its still some tough work. I'll update all of our pics when I figure out which forum to restart our build thread in (aka when we decide on a base vehicle!).

-S

I had to look up what a cherimoya was, we call them Custard Apples. Nice fruit, though haven't had one in ages. Our plan is Blueberries, pomegranates and garlic.

I honestly believe the perfect vehicle for travel is a blue phone box re-aligned with a pass thru into a truck cab, brand is Tardis. Everything else we've found is a series of compromises, just a matter of what you're able to live with, especially if you're after just one vehicle to do everything. I think if we were to do it over again, would pick 2 vehicles, first something like this.




Use it for short trips, say up to 4 weeks, nice and easy to get around with, compromised on space but compact.

Second would be something like this.



Good bit bigger, more space to live in, use it for longer trips lasting several months/years. But size becomes its own compromise, and this choice doesn't fit every wishlist/situation.

 

[S2DM]

I had to look up what a cherimoya was, we call them Custard Apples. Nice fruit, though haven't had one in ages. Our plan is Blueberries, pomegranates and garlic.

I honestly believe the perfect vehicle for travel is a blue phone box re-aligned with a pass thru into a truck cab, brand is Tardis. Everything else we've found is a series of compromises, just a matter of what you're able to live with, especially if you're after just one vehicle to do everything. I think if we were to do it over again, would pick 2 vehicles, first something like this.

View attachment 277972
View attachment 277973

Use it for short trips, say up to 4 weeks, nice and easy to get around with, compromised on space but compact.

Second would be something like this.

View attachment 277974

Good bit bigger, more space to live in, use it for longer trips lasting several months/years. But size becomes its own compromise, and this choice doesn't fit every wishlist/situation.

Yup, if we had those chassis options, I'd go with a bliss like the one above. We are leaning a bit more towards an full size pickup (f450-550) because we really need the extended cab (frequent friends traveling with us and I'm 6'7" tall) so even in the new fuso, its a little tight, and no room for more than 2-3 people. I'm jealous of the rest of the worlds vehicle choices

 

[Maninga]

Yup, if we had those chassis options, I'd go with a bliss like the one above. We are leaning a bit more towards an full size pickup (f450-550) because we really need the extended cab (frequent friends traveling with us and I'm 6'7" tall) so even in the new fuso, its a little tight, and no room for more than 2-3 people. I'm jealous of the rest of the worlds vehicle choices

Have you thought about the GMC Kodiak or Freightliner M2?

Alternatively, if you really like some of the old Mercedes/MAN/Steyr (above was the Steyr 12M18), plenty old enough to import.

Edit: This looks REALLY neat for a base conversion



http://suchen.mobile.de/lkw-inserat...uerwehr-losheim-am-see/207039141.html?lang=en

 

[riptilyaflip]

What transfer case would you use for such a conversion?

I'm planning on a divorced "Doubler". It's a 205 mated with a 203, so you get 1:1,2:1 and 4:1 in 4Hi, 4Lo, 2Hi, and 2Lo, with 3 shift levers.