Building a overland camper on a Fuso FG

D

driveabout

Observer
The angle of the picture overstates the overhang in the back. It is about 24 inches from the end of the bed.

As to the house batteries I have a set of 4 deep cycle 6 volt batteries. Fully charged (by solar) they give enough power to air condition through the night. ( I have yet to test it out). During the day time with contemporaneous charging at about 4 amps per hr I should not run out of power.

On a recent trip out into the desert, in mid day I ran the 4 fans in the camper. Even in the mid day sun they were sufficient. The camper is sufficiently insulated.

All lights are LED and the fans sip energy. At least so far I have not had an issue with running short of power.

Thanks for the comments on the navigation systems. I like to have redundancy in critical functions. Looks like going with the montana as well as an android system makes sense

I am quite amazed how easy it is to drive this truck. With the camera's assisting with visibility it is easier than my Toyota forerunner to drive and park. It parks in a regular car parking spot. It is a stick shift, however the torque is so great that you do not have to frequently shift gears.

it has a stock 34 gallon diesel tank. Need to put a bigger one. Any one has any thoughts about a place around los angeles, who can mount a larger replacement tank. I will have to fit the tank in the existing spot and utilize the space efficiently. Probably a rectangular tank measuring about 65 gallons.

Also any thoughts on armor plating the differentials and the undercarriage?
driveabout

driveabout
 
Ford Prefect

Ford Prefect

Expedition Leader
Thoughts on armor plating the differentials and the undercarriage...

The thing to me is how often are you actually going to need it? Granted the Diffs may need it once in a while, but I do not suspect you plan to go rock crawling with this, do you? Everything on that truck is so high that I doubt you will likely need anything. If you seriously think you are going to go running into stuff, then it may be good, but that is a LOT of weight and it will necessarily decrease your clearance in those areas (for obvious reasons).

Well whatever you choose, it should be fairly easy for someone to build some plates that will do the trick for you. Just research some Jeep wrangler style protection, find what you like the looks of, and bring the photos to a competent welder/fabricator and ask what it would take to make something like the photo for your truck.
 
B

biggoolies

Adventurer
The small 120 volt window air conditioners run about 50 amps in 12 volt per hour through an inverter. As the specs are 560 watts 5.2 amps in 120 volt. Someone correct me if I am wrong. So you would be using 300 amps in a 6 hour period. Unless you are using a mini split A/C or one of those 12 volt truck A/Cs. You could not replenish your batteries at night with solar. The next day, you would have to hope for sunshine. :) Do you have something more elaborate like the split ac or 12 volt truck ac?
driveabout said:
The angle of the picture overstates the overhang in the back. It is about 24 inches from the end of the bed.

As to the house batteries I have a set of 4 deep cycle 6 volt batteries. Fully charged (by solar) they give enough power to air condition through the night. ( I have yet to test it out). During the day time with contemporaneous charging at about 4 amps per hr I should not run out of power.

On a recent trip out into the desert, in mid day I ran the 4 fans in the camper. Even in the mid day sun they were sufficient. The camper is sufficiently insulated.

All lights are LED and the fans sip energy. At least so far I have not had an issue with running short of power.

Thanks for the comments on the navigation systems. I like to have redundancy in critical functions. Looks like going with the montana as well as an android system makes sense

I am quite amazed how easy it is to drive this truck. With the camera's assisting with visibility it is easier than my Toyota forerunner to drive and park. It parks in a regular car parking spot. It is a stick shift, however the torque is so great that you do not have to frequently shift gears.

it has a stock 34 gallon diesel tank. Need to put a bigger one. Any one has any thoughts about a place around los angeles, who can mount a larger replacement tank. I will have to fit the tank in the existing spot and utilize the space efficiently. Probably a rectangular tank measuring about 65 gallons.

Also any thoughts on armor plating the differentials and the undercarriage?
driveabout

driveabout
Click to expand...
 
D

dlh62c

Explorer
driveabout said:
During the day time with contemporaneous charging at about 4 amps per hr I should not run out of power.
Click to expand...

That isn't much. I'm assuming that's just for one solar panel, or its a typo error.

In the real world you might get about 80% of the rated output of the solar panel due to air pollution, sun angle, shadows and heat. Figure on 5 hours of full sun when calculating panel output. If you need the A/C during the night, you'll most likely be looking for a shady spot to park during the day. Don't forget to factor in refrigerator power needs, most rv type refrigerators will run for 16 hours in a 24 hour period.

Wish you could tell us more about your system, things such as battery size, inverter/charger make and model and solar panel size and number.

A great device to have is a battery monitor with cumulative amp hours like the Trimetric 2025. Connected to the battery bank via a shunt, it'll tell you how many amp hours you've removed from the batteries and their state of charge.
 
Last edited:
F

fluffyprinceton

Adventurer
it has a stock 34 gallon diesel tank. Need to put a bigger one. Any one has any thoughts about a place around los angeles, who can mount a larger replacement tank. I will have to fit the tank in the existing spot and utilize the space efficiently. Probably a rectangular tank measuring about 65 gallons.
Click to expand...

This is a great site to educate yourself about tanks - figuring out what will fit, price,etc.Moe http://www.alumitank.com/quotecalculator.php
 
D

driveabout

Observer
F/U on specs:

Batteries: 12 volt circuit from four 6 volt auxiliary house batteries
Shore power at 120 volt: Converted to 12 volts using a 30 amp IOTA electronic power converter

Microwave and air conditioner work off 110/120 volt systems. All other equipment work off the 112 volt system

Solar power : I have two panels. It is the Power FLEx (TM) Mobile unit by Global Solar: The specs for each panel are:
Nominal Power (P max): 100W
Voltage (Vmp) : 17.8 V
Nominal current (Imp): 5.6 amp

4 Fan-tastic Vent Ceiling fans which work of 12 volt

5. DC to AC power inverter: by AIMS Power: 5000W inverter.




dlh62c said:
That isn't much. I'm assuming that's just for one solar panel, or its a typo error.

In the real world you might get about 80% of the rated output of the solar panel due to air pollution, sun angle, shadows and heat. Figure on 5 hours of full sun when calculating panel output. If you need the A/C during the night, you'll most likely be looking for a shady spot to park during the day. Don't forget to factor in refrigerator power needs, most rv type refrigerators will run for 16 hours in a 24 hour period.

Wish you could tell us more about your system, things such as battery size, inverter/charger make and model and solar panel size and number.

A great device to have is a battery monitor with cumulative amp hours like the Trimetric 2025. Connected to the battery bank via a shunt, it'll tell you how many amp hours you've removed from the batteries and their state of charge.
Click to expand...
 
D

driveabout

Observer
In addition the HVAC is a Truck HVAC System by Dometic made for Volvo trucks.
Split system
115 V, 60 Hz

The information at their web site: (http://dometic.com/enus/Americas/US...d-AC-systems-to-be-installed-on-Volvo-Trucks/) IT states: 10,000 BTU/hr air conditioning system. It is designed to run for more than 10 hours at a 100-percent duty cycle on battery power, and will recharge the batteries fully in under six hours when driving.

Dometic uses 7-8 batteries. I have 4 house batteries, with additional two truck batteries which are looped in when the engine is running and it is disconnected when the engine is off.

Sorry, folks, my understanding of the systems is quite limited. If the info above does not make sense, I will try to look up and correct it.

driveabout
 
B

biggoolies

Adventurer
Ahh, No expense spared good for you. It should be a great system. Hopefully these mini split systems will become more available for the RV market in the next several years. Well done.

driveabout said:
In addition the HVAC is a Truck HVAC System by Dometic made for Volvo trucks.
Split system
115 V, 60 Hz

The information at their web site: (http://dometic.com/enus/Americas/US...d-AC-systems-to-be-installed-on-Volvo-Trucks/) IT states: 10,000 BTU/hr air conditioning system. It is designed to run for more than 10 hours at a 100-percent duty cycle on battery power, and will recharge the batteries fully in under six hours when driving.

Dometic uses 7-8 batteries. I have 4 house batteries, with additional two truck batteries which are looped in when the engine is running and it is disconnected when the engine is off.

Sorry, folks, my understanding of the systems is quite limited. If the info above does not make sense, I will try to look up and correct it.

driveabout
Click to expand...
 
D

driveabout

Observer
lifting

It took a little time to get used to the lifting mechanism for the roof. Once you get the technique right and you have released all the restraining latches it is not too difficult. There is strut but still takes a fair amount of manual power. Not too bad though. Good thing is there are less systems to go wrong.
 
R

Robert907

Observer
Could you post a couple of pics of the air conditioner-both inside the truck and the external condenser. That is a great solution but their website has no pics.

Thanks.
 
yabanja

yabanja

Explorer
Wow! Excellent build! If you find yourself in Utah drop me a line as I'd love to see it in person! Allan
 
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