1991 tow truck conversion

[jhrodd]

I thought I might start a new thread about my tow truck project. Got the wrecker body off and sold so I only have $3000 into the truck plus I still have the tunnel box and light bar that I can sell. The frame is not as nice as I had hoped, see if you can tell what is missing from this picture:



The other cross member is pretty rusty and swelled where it joins the top flange :



The step down and upper frame don't look bad though :



I wonder if I can replace the frame aft of the step-down with a section of FE frame, that would be easier to find than an FG frame. Cant't find any specs on the early Fuso frames but it looks like on the later ones the FE rear frame doesn't taper. Why does the FG taper anyway? Or I could have just a new rear section made. Interesting that this truck has never had rear shock absorbers although the PO saved the upper shock mounts.

 

[d67u57]

looks like the start of a nice project.

you going for soldered/bolted on or hydraulic?

 

[SkiFreak]

If you replace the section of the chassis behind the step I would think that it should be with sections of similar specifications.
If you were to use heavier sections then this would transfer more of the stresses encountered during articulation into the step area, which would not be ideal.

Alternately, you could build an entirely new chassis, like the kick ******** one Alan has built.

 

[jhrodd]

Alternately, you could build an entirely new chassis, like the kick ******** one Alan has built.

I could???

 

[kerry]

I would think you could swap in a lot of different frames. FE would probably work. I was also thinking any other box truck frame like Isuzu or GM. Whatever is available locally.

 

[jhrodd]

Well, looking at the 2004 body builders guide it appears that the FE and FG frames have about nothing in common. Different height, different width, different wheelbase. I guess I could have new rear sections made without the taper or just fab up a couple of cross members and use what I've got. It lasted this long.

 

[alan]

this all looks familiar! the easiest way would be to find a FE chassis and use the back section, these are usually delivery trucks and never taken off road so most are in pretty good condition, good luck with the build if i can help just let me know:smiley_drive:

 

[whatcharterboat]

Well, looking at the 2004 body builders guide it appears that the FE and FG frames have about nothing in common. Different height, different width, different wheelbase. I guess I could have new rear sections made without the taper or just fab up a couple of cross members and use what I've got. It lasted this long.

Maybe look back at FE chassis older than '04......I always thought the FG was the same as the FE I used to have which was '97....could be wrong. That was a while ago. Either way, a later FE should still work .....just double check that the section at the cut where you intend insert the FE into the "s" is the same size.

The rear crossmember would be very easy to fabricate....or pay a sheetmetal shop to fold one up and you could bolt it all together. Shock tubes might be a little trickier but still not hard for someone with reasonable metal fab skills.

What a great project. Good luck with it.

BTW Jeffery, How's the scooters going? Bought another Sym today. A little 125. Perfect Noosa transportation.

 

[jhrodd]

We're on hold here waiting for better scooter weather, should start warming by the end of Feb. The 2004 body builders guide shows the FE frame height as 226mm and the FG as 190 except for the taper. Mine measures 184mm but that may be due to corrosion. The crossmember between the rear spring hangers was torched off along with some of the bracket, what's left is pretty ugly :



I could make a crossmember to go on the very end of the frame and another ahead of the rear spring hangers.After all the wrecker bed held it all together for 317,000 miles and it drove very nicely. I wouldn't drive it around the block the way it sits now. Is this a shock tube? If so I have them:



Although, now that I look at these pieces they've clearly been butchered up and I see there should be a tube ( shock tube !!) that runs between the frame rails. This must have been a failed attempt to mount the shocks. Either they still interfered with the bed or the shocks just didn't fit that way.

 

[kerry]

We're on hold here waiting for better scooter weather, should start warming by the end of Feb. The 2004 body builders guide shows the FE frame height as 226mm and the FG as 190 except for the taper. Mine measures 184mm but that may be due to corrosion. The crossmember between the rear spring hangers was torched off along with some of the bracket, what's left is pretty ugly :

View attachment 143031

I could make a crossmember to go on the very end of the frame and another ahead of the rear spring hangers.After all the wrecker bed held it all together for 317,000 miles and it drove very nicely. I wouldn't drive it around the block the way it sits now. Is this a shock tube? If so I have them:

View attachment 143034

Although, now that I look at these pieces they've clearly been butchered up and I see there should be a tube ( shock tube !!) that runs between the frame rails. This must have been a failed attempt to mount the shocks. Either they still interfered with the bed or the shocks just didn't fit that way.

Boy, you're right. That is ugly. The shock mounting tube on mine goes across between the frame sections. Maybe it was welded to that piece you picture. I'd probably call Busbees to see if you can get that part. I doubt it would be cost effective for Busbees to ship you an FG frame from the step down back, but it may be worth some inquiries as a bolt on identical replacement could save you some headaches.

 

[jhrodd]

I called Busbee's and they said that the same year FE frame does match in the rear section. I don't know about them though ?? they said they would sell me a rear section for $1500 but it would cost $2.50/ mile to ship it, which is ridiculous.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi Jeffery,

Regarding the location of the cross members.......they must be adjacent to the suspension hangers otherwise the hangers try to tear through the web of the chassis. The original chassis was longer as you know and there was another crossmember on the bit they cut off ....but that last one doesn't do much......the two across the hanger locations are the important ones.

Do you notice how the edges of crossmember attachment plates are rolled where it attaches to the web? This is good to do if you can but as long as the edges aren't sharp so as to cause a stress point.....well that's the theory. How critical it needs to be in reality I'm not sure .

 

[kerry]

I called Busbee's and they said that the same year FE frame does match in the rear section. I don't know about them though ?? they said they would sell me a rear section for $1500 but it would cost $2.50/ mile to ship it, which is ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure Uship would be far less than that.

 

[blackduck]

I called Busbee's and they said that the same year FE frame does match in the rear section. I don't know about them though ?? they said they would sell me a rear section for $1500 but it would cost $2.50/ mile to ship it, which is ridiculous.

It always amazes me how people believe freight should cost penuts and those that carry that freight (truck drivers) should work for nothing
here in OZ long distance heavy road transport can be 180 feet long, weigh in excess of 130 tonnes and are " 70 wheelers" not 18
now your telling me that the driver of such a beast should be paid his share of $2.50 a mile while he's bearing down on you on the freeway

BTW most frreight is calculated on cubic capacity, your chassis takes up alot of room on a truck
of course the less you pay the more junk gets stacked on top of it
Just a thought

 

[jhrodd]

Well, at $2.50/ mile it would cost $7500 to haul a couple of hundred lbs. across the Country to me. The back end of that chassis isn't very big, you could put a hundred of them on a 53' trailer. I picked up this Fuso project on my way home from selling my Freightliner Cascadia in Wisconsin and retiring from trucking. I had six stops on my way to Wisconsin including loading a CT scanner out of a Hospital in Bozeman, MT that weighed about 8000 lbs and took three hours to load. The whole trip paid a lot less than $7500. I only brought it up because the guy from Busbee's seemed to lack credibility, you could ship that rear frame easily for 3 or 4 hundred bucks. I had a 7000 lb 25' boat shipped to me from Alabama a couple of years ago for $1.00 mile ($2800 ) We have e-track on our trailer walls with decking bars and plywood and often double deck the whole trailer which takes a lot of labor and we don't make 2.50/mile for a whole load.