Building a new expedition vehicle

losangelino

New member
I just put a deposit down on a 2006 Fuso FG. I will be buying it next week. It has an aluminum flat bed. I will be building a camper on the back. The plan is to drive it down all the way to Argentina sometime during the later part of next year.

I have a few questions. Any help / comments are appreciated.

1. What are the pros and cons on converting it to a SRV. Most of the driving will be on road though there will be some amount of off road driving. Would you advise a SRV conversion or leave it alone as a Duely. Anyone has experience with the outfits in California.

2. I am planning on adding two diesel tanks with total capacity of 90-100 gallons. Any one in Californium can do the conversion?

3. I was planning on going with all diesel appliances ie. heaters, water heaters and burners. Reviewing some of the information in this forum, it appears in cold weather and in high altitudes it may not work. Any thoughts? I am not psyched on using propane particularly as I will be traveling in S. America and will have to deal with different regulators or suppliers and it may not be available everywhere.

4. Any thoughts about the cutout on the back of the cab. My plan is to do a very large cutout on the back of the cab and connect it to the camper, to incorporate the space as living space. Will the cab handle it or it needs to be reinforced. Any thought about the connector/seal. (ATV in Australia seems to have accomplished this)

sunil
 

Stumpalump

Expedition Leader
My dream rig would start out just like this so take this for what it's worth based on what I have read. They get heavy and overweight a lot faster than you would think so the dual to single really needs to be thought out. I like duals so that would be easy for me. Just keep the weight of every little bit in mind. I would put more of a hatch as aposed to a door to the cab because on my e350 4x4 camper van I don't find myself hoping from the driving position to the rear that often. If I do I usually walk around to climb in the side. Same for both directions. I'd do a small crawl thru and keep the driving area for driving and camping in the rear. For a shell I'd consider a used pull behind camper and engineer mounts to the truck frame to compensate for more flex than you would even think possible. Wish I could really help so good luck!
 

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