FG 140 4x4 Transmission Mod for Higher Top Speed?

Buckstopper

Adventurer
Current US FG's are listed with top speed of 86 mph (instead of 68 mph for, say a 2004).

I can't even imagine doin 86 mph in an FG. I am perfectly comfortable at the 70ish top speed in my '05 with taller tires but any head wind or incline and I am grabbing a gear (or worse if it gets steep - 2 gears!). The real issue is that if you have to hit the brakes hard at high speed you are going to have the wobbles and some seriously white nuckles or worse trying to get it back under control. The good news is that it does have a toilet for those situations...

These things are not designed for NASCAR! Slow down and enjoy the view.

Buckstopper
 

alex44

New member
Take a look at Gearvendors dot com.
Their overdrives seem pretty strong, based on the old GKN types of the 70's.
Could be put on the rear output shaft and locked out if you go into 4x4.
The gear splitting would also be useful on long climbs giving you half a gear to keep the engine in its power band.
 

Dirtastic

New member
I can't even imagine doin 86 mph in an FG....Slow down and enjoy the view.

"The view" on a Florida highway is too alarming to gaze at longer than necessary. ;-)

In all seriousness, I have no interest in normal highway driving speeds much above 75 mph while towing. The problem occurs when towing the Airstream and driving 75 mph—while traffic is doing 85 mph! One gets trapped in the right lane and then a stream of traffic wants to merge into you from an on-ramp and you have nowhere to go—then some jack@ss shoves themselves in front of you or tries merging INTO you. The inability to accelerate up to speeds of everyone else —if only temporarily —just to get out of the merging people's way is actually fairly dangerous.
 

jhrodd

Adventurer
The truck speed limit in California and Oregon is 55 mph this includes any vehicle towing and the fines are staggering. Most trucks drive about 60-62 that's the defacto speed limit above which you WILL attract the attention of the CHP. The most difficult thing is passing a slower truck on a 4 lane freeway. It takes a long time and about a hundred cars pile up behind you. My feeling is if they don't like it they should talk to their legislators about equalizing the speed limits. Also you don't have to get out of the way of merging vehicles , you have the right of way and it's their responsibility to merge safely. I have had merging vehicles take exception to that and pull right in front of me and slam on their brakes I always call 911 and report their license plate and I've been asked by the local authorities if I'm willing to come in and make a statement if they can locate the offender . It's never happened but most likely the owner of record gets a cautionary letter and may think twice about pulling a stunt like that again.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
I find that wind resistance is my limiting factor, not gearing. Regardless of the top speed spec, these trucks were never designed to be fast - they are built to happily trundle around town at 35-45 mph all day long.
 

Czechsix

Watching you from a ridge
I find that wind resistance is my limiting factor, not gearing. Regardless of the top speed spec, these trucks were never designed to be fast - they are built to happily trundle around town at 35-45 mph all day long.

True, but it's also nice to be able to traverse large swaths of land at a reasonably high speed, if needed. I topped out at 84mph when I brought my truck back from Arizona, but I decided a lower gear set was a good idea when running at 3/4 GVW or so.

No more sports mode when I get the build back....sniffle.
 

haven

Expedition Leader
I agree with Buckstopper. The older FG is not designed for 70+ mph highway cruising. That's an accident waiting to happen. Slow down and enjoy the view.

I know a common camping scenario in USA is take Friday off, drive 10 hours on the freeway, and then set up in some Forest Service campsite for a day and a half before making the mad dash home. Fuso FG, particularly the older model, is not the best choice for this scenario. An HD diesel pickup with pop-up camper would be a better choice.

Now if you're taking off for a month to trundle around the back roads, the FG would be a great choice.
 

nick disjunkt

Adventurer
I have had merging vehicles take exception to that and pull right in front of me and slam on their brakes

I didn't have this happen to me whilst I drove around America, but I certainly noticed the complete inability to merge sensibly. Part of the problem is that the on-ramps are so short, but there's also a massive lack of consideration for other drivers.
 

Curtis in Texas

Adventurer
I have a Spicer 5832 Brownie Box Overdrive/ underdrive and the way it would be set up on a 4 wheel drive vehicle it has to be mounted between the transmission and the 4WD Transfer Case to work right in all 2 Wheel Drive and 4 WD gears. So the Transfer Case has to be seperate from the transmission. Not sure if the Fuso has a 2 piece case set up or single gearbox/tranfer case unit bolted together.

I originally bought mine to use in my Motorhome as an .74:1 Overdrive, much like the Gear Vendor unit. But with the added ability to shift in a 2:1 underdrive for pulling out of Campsights that have steep entrance roads. Talk about a Rock Crawler Motorhome!!!!!!!

But, I ended up swapping in a Allison 1000 5 speed with the overdrive I needed into the big Class A.

A shame really, because I had it rebuilt when I bought it. Then I started thinking of picking up a NPR and using it on it between the tranny and a transfer case to make the NPR 4WD.

One of these days the right truck will fall into my lap.

Oh and I agree if you have some ODD Gear Combo Question, the Pirate Forum Expedition and Towing Sections are another good information source for out of the box builders. Much like this one!!
I'm there more than here!
 
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