Broken frame

[Octamog]

Doug,

Sorry to hear about your frame problems, but glad that it didn't turn out much worse...

Here is a link I've been saving... http://www.pgadams.com/index.html (I knew I was saving it for some reason...)

Check them out... they might be able to help when it comes time for a permanent fix.

Mark

 

[boblynch]

hello all

great to read all the info on the frame experiences. our current unimog 404 camper has the 4 point system on it, and we'll have the advantage to design our mounting system off of it for our new fuso camper.

our intial plan is to keep a 14 foot flatbed on the truck (we'll be using it for dual purpose), while being able to remove/add the camper as you would a slidein truck camper. as soon as we take delivery of our new 08 (we hope very soon) we plan to remount the 14 foot flatbed on a 4 point mounting system. this will raise the bed alittle but we're not to concerned about that at the moment. our current plan is also to use a 14 custom alaskian camper to complete our rig. we have also been looking at a aluminum framed camp trailer by (wolf pack puma) to put on the flatbed.

its a toyhauler trailer with an outside deck area up front, with the camper part removed this makes for a nice straight vertical front end with a slight angle back right about the height of the fuso cab. according to my rough drawings. and looks pretty good on paper.

its an inexpensive way to go (around 14k) but how robust in the long term is the question. with the flatbed mounted as planned, there should miminual twist on the camper thru the flatbed, making the joilting of rough roads to be the factor.

we've had trouble free problems concerning mounting on our 404 camper which is an older build, but have found it extremely expensive to build such a camper now although we're still looking at all options.

alaskian camper still seems the most promising so far.

cheers lehel and laura

This sounds like a great project. I would encourage you to start a separate build thread. Now that Doug's troubles are behind him this thread will see less traffic. I for one would like to follow your progress (and of course post pics).

Bob

 

[alan]

Mark,

Interesting company! I love that 36' press, awesome!

 

[dhackney]

Doug,

Sorry to hear about your frame problems, but glad that it didn't turn out much worse...

Here is a link I've been saving... http://www.pgadams.com/index.html (I knew I was saving it for some reason...)

Check them out... they might be able to help when it comes time for a permanent fix.

Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the link!

Wow, I'd pay admission just to watch the big press cycle a few times.

http://www.pgadams.com/facility.html

I've asked them for a quote. I'll post up what I learn.

This could be a great resource for anyone needing to sleeve, reinforce, replace, extend, etc., a frame.

Doug

 

[alan]

Finally got to take some pic's of my chassis, as you can see there is corrosion between rails and also a crack in the rh rail, I am removing all rivets to dismantle the chassis and see what I need to do to repair it and bolt back together, I have tried various ways to remove rivets, but find drilling them out is the best.

 

[kerry]

Great pictures. Looks like there's been a fair amount of bending on that frame over the years. What kind of body did it have on it?

 

[dhackney]

I don't know if you'll want to repair or replace that frame.

A new frame from Fuso for our generation truck is $8,000.00 and they want up to two months to source it. That's the entire frame. They don't sell just the rear section.

PG Adams ballpark quoted ~$2,000.00, all in, including all cross members, shipping the Fuso frame to them from CA so they could drill the holes in the same spots and shipping the new frame back to CA.

That quote was for a constant web height frame section from the bottom of the step-down to the rear. That quote was based on our frame length, including our extension.

When we did our frame extension our fabricator used a grinder to take off the rivet heads and then drove them out with a drift. I think there are photos illustrating the process in our buildup albums here: http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/index-buildup-photos.htm

 

[alan]

Hi Doug,
You can't buy chassis rails in Australia, only cross members, if you could I'd buy a new chassis.
$2000us for chassis to be made is cheap! maybe I should send them my chassis, I tried grinding the heads off, then using a drift on the rivets, still found drilling them then the drift worked better for me.

The original tray was u bolted to the chassis with wood between.

 

[93Canter]

Rivets

The difference might be that Doug's frame had not done much work (I presume it was new) so the rivets popped out easy, where as Allan's frame has done way too much work, so the rivets are stuck solid.

The state of that frame is depressing.

There seem to be plenty of the 2wd model at the wreckers, so you might be able to get what you need from a wrecker.

The bit that puzzles me is what is involved in getting the correct rivets (I presume they are some sort of high tensile material) and how hard is it to rivet it back together?

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi Doug,
You can't buy chassis rails in Australia, only cross members, if you could I'd buy a new chassis.
$2000us for chassis to be made is cheap! maybe I should send them my chassis, I tried grinding the heads off, then using a drift on the rivets, still found drilling them then the drift worked better for me.

Hi Alan, We looked at replacing a frame for a guy a few years back. We were able to buy a new chassis but it was about $8k. Not worth it. I'm pretty sure an FG chassis is just a FE with a piece taken out and the step put back in but I would confirm this. There is tons of those at the wreckers. The FE have better rear spring hangers than the FG too.

Rivets are a pain no matter what you do. Whether you punch them out or get covered in hot filings from drilling it's the same pain. Rotorbroach is good but slow. Be careful. I prefer drilling but the other guys punch.

Huck rivets are good replacements but as a one off this would be expensive. Don't suppose you've already got a hydraulic Huck gun, Alan? Otherwise you'll be using bolts. Good luck. It looks like a bit of a challenge but as you are probably finding out, they are quite easy to work on compared to a 4x4 car or cruiser.

 

[alan]

Hi John,
I'll have search the wreckers and check the chassis's out, a new chassis from adams in the US would be nice.

The rivets are a pain, but life was'nt meant to be easy, I would just use nuts and bolts to reassemble it.

I'm off to Taiwan tomorrow so if I find anything for Fuso's I let you all know.

 

[whatcharterboat]

a new chassis from adams in the US would be nice.

Hey, we can get the same thing done in Brisvegas, so I'm sure there would be someone down there in your neck of the woods that can do it too. Let me know if you can't and I'll email you the contacts up here. Better if you don't have to pay frieght so look around local.

I looked at it a while ago for a full coil conversion on an FG using a whole custom rear chassis. Just dreamin' but I not buying another 4x4 till I've got my own FG and the coil thing would be cool.