Adventures of "Sally Ross" Fuso Camper by Phoenix Pop Up Campers PHXFG
- Thread starter Butch1979
- Start date
Butch1979
Family Adventurer
Thanks! We are enjoying getting used to it. This summer is going to be awesome. I'm working now on dreaming up a method to mount our bike rack (currently a hitch mount) so we can takeoff for Moab ASAP.
Butch
david506th
Adventurer
A pass thru for priority for the same reasons SkiFreak noted. If a quad cab was available I wouldn't do a pass thru for sure
Butch1979
Family Adventurer
Pass thru thing is really on my mind. Very tough call at the moment.
Advantage: access to the back while driving and ability to put the toddler in the back vs up front with us as an alternative.
I'm confident in the craftsmanship Phoenix will put into the pass thru work, but agree that it might open us up for other issues as noted. I'll keep you guys posted on what we decide. Thanks for the feedback.
Butch
Advantage: access to the back while driving and ability to put the toddler in the back vs up front with us as an alternative.
I'm confident in the craftsmanship Phoenix will put into the pass thru work, but agree that it might open us up for other issues as noted. I'll keep you guys posted on what we decide. Thanks for the feedback.
Butch
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Alastair D(Aus)
aging but active
Butch,
Personally I think you have shot down your idea re pass thru. To access the back whilst driving would be very dangerous and put the person doing so at risk and also distract the driver. What could be so important that you can't stop and access through a door? Would you put a toddler in the back without an adult there too? I don't think so. To have a seat for any person in the back means that the construction of that seat has to be quite different to be safe. It has to be able to be safe in a crash and have seat belts anchors etc. In our country a seat in the cabin has to be inspected and passed by an engineer. Surely the same for you.
I have met a few people who have made pass thrus/crawl thrus and few have said they thought it was worth the effort. Seems like an good idea but in reality not so.
cheers
Personally I think you have shot down your idea re pass thru. To access the back whilst driving would be very dangerous and put the person doing so at risk and also distract the driver. What could be so important that you can't stop and access through a door? Would you put a toddler in the back without an adult there too? I don't think so. To have a seat for any person in the back means that the construction of that seat has to be quite different to be safe. It has to be able to be safe in a crash and have seat belts anchors etc. In our country a seat in the cabin has to be inspected and passed by an engineer. Surely the same for you.
I have met a few people who have made pass thrus/crawl thrus and few have said they thought it was worth the effort. Seems like an good idea but in reality not so.
cheers
Happy with our pass through
Hello Butch:
Congratulations on your truck. We've had an EarthCruiser for nearly two years and we're very happy with the Fuso FG platform and (dare I admit it here?) the 6 speed Duonic transmission as well as our pass through. For us the main advantage of the pass through is the cab of the truck becomes part of the living space / house. The passenger seat has the best views & is one of the most comfortable interior places to enjoy a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise, etc. When one of us is there and the other is in the house it's easy to carry on a conversation, pass that cup back for a refill, etc. I have crawled from the cab to the house or from the house to the cab, but that isn't a major benefit for us. Basically it's the 25% increase in our living space that we can't imagine giving up.
We do travel with a dog and he spends 95% of his travelling time in the pass through where he enjoys the views through the windshield and riding in close proximity to the rest of his "pack."
Others here are much more knowledgeable than I am about the pitfalls of constructing your own pass through - personally I wasn't interested in doing that so I was happy the EC folks had already done it for me. Ours doesn't leak, we don't notice the extra noise if there is any, and we don't feel extra heat from the engine via the pass through. If your interested in a pass through I wouldn't be discouraged - for us it has been extremely beneficial. However, I would seek a professional installation from someone who had worked out the bugs, etc.
We're south of you in New Mexico. Hopefully our wandering paths will cross - maybe we should get together for a west-east run of Medano Pass? We did that last year and enjoyed it a lot.
Howard Snell
Hello Butch:
Congratulations on your truck. We've had an EarthCruiser for nearly two years and we're very happy with the Fuso FG platform and (dare I admit it here?) the 6 speed Duonic transmission as well as our pass through. For us the main advantage of the pass through is the cab of the truck becomes part of the living space / house. The passenger seat has the best views & is one of the most comfortable interior places to enjoy a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise, etc. When one of us is there and the other is in the house it's easy to carry on a conversation, pass that cup back for a refill, etc. I have crawled from the cab to the house or from the house to the cab, but that isn't a major benefit for us. Basically it's the 25% increase in our living space that we can't imagine giving up.
We do travel with a dog and he spends 95% of his travelling time in the pass through where he enjoys the views through the windshield and riding in close proximity to the rest of his "pack."
Others here are much more knowledgeable than I am about the pitfalls of constructing your own pass through - personally I wasn't interested in doing that so I was happy the EC folks had already done it for me. Ours doesn't leak, we don't notice the extra noise if there is any, and we don't feel extra heat from the engine via the pass through. If your interested in a pass through I wouldn't be discouraged - for us it has been extremely beneficial. However, I would seek a professional installation from someone who had worked out the bugs, etc.
We're south of you in New Mexico. Hopefully our wandering paths will cross - maybe we should get together for a west-east run of Medano Pass? We did that last year and enjoyed it a lot.
Howard Snell
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Butch1979
Family Adventurer
@Howard
Thanks for a different perspective on the pass thru situation. If we did it, the original builder would do the work for sure... I'm just the driver
That Medano Pass trip seems cool, I'll do some research and see what we can pull off. It would be cool to travel with another Fuso. How did the sand treat you? I'm still evaluating what these trucks are capable of and need to brush up on recovery methods for these larger vehicles.
Cheers
Butch
Thanks for a different perspective on the pass thru situation. If we did it, the original builder would do the work for sure... I'm just the driver
That Medano Pass trip seems cool, I'll do some research and see what we can pull off. It would be cool to travel with another Fuso. How did the sand treat you? I'm still evaluating what these trucks are capable of and need to brush up on recovery methods for these larger vehicles.
Cheers
Butch
Sand was easy - but there'd been some rain recently so it was pretty firm. We didn't drop the pressure in the tires and had no problems. Since that trip we've gained more experience with the FG and sand. When loaded we're between 12,000 and 13,000 pounds and we ususally drop the tires to 30 - 35 lbs and she does very well in sand. There are a couple of narrow spots among trees at the bottom on the west side, one rocky climb out of a creek crossing about 1/3 of the way up, and some ledges at the top - otherwise you'd think you were on a maintained Forest Servce road.
There are several service bulletins / recalls you'll want to get done on your FG. Transmission flush, winter DEF system, etc. The most significant for us was a power remapping of the transmission. After the remap she always starts in first and has much better low speed 4x4 trundling ability - not as good as a two speed trasfercase in low gear, but much, much better than the regular map. Sufficient for us to have gone everywhere we've wanted. There is a real decrease in fuel efficiency with the more "powerful" configuration, but the increased trundling ability is worth it for us. However, if one was doing gravel roads, level or slightly climbing two-track, and significant amounts of highway travel you might want to stick with the regular transmission mapping & enjoy better fuel efficiency.
Howard
Butch1979
Family Adventurer
Golden Gate State Park
Spent some time in Golden CO last weekend climbing and checking out the Ullr Blue Grass Festival. Good times, camper did great in the snow and kept us nice and warm.
Truck is getting a front hitch put on it this week for a bike rack, so we won't likely get it back until next week.
Enjoy the weekend guys!
Butch
Spent some time in Golden CO last weekend climbing and checking out the Ullr Blue Grass Festival. Good times, camper did great in the snow and kept us nice and warm.
Truck is getting a front hitch put on it this week for a bike rack, so we won't likely get it back until next week.
Enjoy the weekend guys!
Butch
A couple of FAT bikes would look good up there.
loonwheeler
Adventurer
A friend of mine just sent me a photo from the Shelf Road area near Canyon City, CO. Weather is great - hope you guys are having a great time.
Butch1979
Family Adventurer
@Loonwheeler
Such a small world! We stayed at Sand Gulch the first night because it was dark when we got to the area. The second night we moved to some of the BLM land in the "dispersed camping" area. More to follow, with tons of pics. It was a great weekend for sure.
Butch
Such a small world! We stayed at Sand Gulch the first night because it was dark when we got to the area. The second night we moved to some of the BLM land in the "dispersed camping" area. More to follow, with tons of pics. It was a great weekend for sure.
Butch
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