Diving in Head First!
- Thread starter yabanja
- Start date
Expedition_Station_CO
New member
Great stuff!!! Excited for what the thaw will bring next year.
yabanja
Explorer
Here are some Photos from our final trip to the San Rafael Swell this fall: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/21818-FG-s-in-Action/page39
yabanja
Explorer
Back in action!
We spent the winter in India, then I did a complete remodel on a rental house which I have just completed. Now that the chores are done I can get back to FIDO! We have big plans for the Summer with a three month long trip! It will begin with Overland expo and then making our way up through the Tetons, Glacier, and on up to the Canadian Rockies before heading over to the west coast for a tour of Vancouver, Washington, and Oregon coasts. We are departing in 8 days and of course I am just now addressing the long list of things to get done before departure!
The first item that required attention was a spare tire mount. The tire is currently held in place by a 20k pound ratcheting tie down. While I am sure it is adequate, I would prefer to have some redundancy and a way to get the tire up off the ground other than Bench Pressing it.(something I have thankfully only had to do twice thus far.)
I decided I wanted to get a winch system like they use on pickup trucks. After doing some research I found that the bulk of them use a cable system. Nissans use a chain winch system which was my preference so I ordered one up! (eBay is great!) I know that these units are designed for a lighter tire, but I will have a bar securing the tire once it is in place, so it will really only have stress on it on the rare occasions that I am lifting the tire. I think it will do just fine! After receiving the hoist I disassembled and cleaned it. After some fresh grease and reassembly it works great!
We plan on bringing some bicycles along on this trip, and the rear overhang on the truck is already farther than I would like. I decided to mount a bike rack on the front. I picked up a used Yakima hitch mounted rack and a receiver hitch that I can modify to fit. It will end up sitting behind the front bumper and poking out through the hole in the bumper. I will end up cutting the ends off the hitch and welding new brackets onto it to bolt to the existing holes in the frame for the bumper mounts. Should be fairly straightforward.
Since I got the camper up and running, I hadn't tested the water system yet. Since this will be a longer trip, and I was tired of tripping over 5 gallon water containers in the aisle, I decided to get it up and running. The original camper was equipped with a 30 gallon freshwater tank, and after I pulled it out I found it to be in excellent condition. The original plastic nipples and valves on the tank were turning to dust so I installed some new ones and put it all back together. The system works great, and the pump provides a surprising amount of pressure to the sink and shower units. Last night I put bleach in the system and let it sit overnight to sanitize everything, and today I am flushing it all out. Next I will test the original LP water heater. (fingers crossed)
Here is the rest of the things I hope to get done prior to departure:
(greatly pared down from the really big list of things I would like to do someday)
new windows which will be arriving Friday.
I had the roof lift pump motor stick in the on position last year after fording some deep water so I have decided to put a main camper disconnect switch next to the lift motor switch.
get a matching spare tire and mount it.
fine meshed window screen from a tent repair shop to install on all the windows(I understand the no-see-ums can be pretty bad in Canada)
fabricate some stairs to the camper
repair bed slats
would like to plumb an outside shower(low priority)
Also want to build an outside kitchen tied into the propane system
Build storage bins behind both rear tires for extra diesel/water/ firewood/etc....
That should keep me busy!!
We spent the winter in India, then I did a complete remodel on a rental house which I have just completed. Now that the chores are done I can get back to FIDO! We have big plans for the Summer with a three month long trip! It will begin with Overland expo and then making our way up through the Tetons, Glacier, and on up to the Canadian Rockies before heading over to the west coast for a tour of Vancouver, Washington, and Oregon coasts. We are departing in 8 days and of course I am just now addressing the long list of things to get done before departure!
The first item that required attention was a spare tire mount. The tire is currently held in place by a 20k pound ratcheting tie down. While I am sure it is adequate, I would prefer to have some redundancy and a way to get the tire up off the ground other than Bench Pressing it.(something I have thankfully only had to do twice thus far.)
I decided I wanted to get a winch system like they use on pickup trucks. After doing some research I found that the bulk of them use a cable system. Nissans use a chain winch system which was my preference so I ordered one up! (eBay is great!) I know that these units are designed for a lighter tire, but I will have a bar securing the tire once it is in place, so it will really only have stress on it on the rare occasions that I am lifting the tire. I think it will do just fine! After receiving the hoist I disassembled and cleaned it. After some fresh grease and reassembly it works great!
We plan on bringing some bicycles along on this trip, and the rear overhang on the truck is already farther than I would like. I decided to mount a bike rack on the front. I picked up a used Yakima hitch mounted rack and a receiver hitch that I can modify to fit. It will end up sitting behind the front bumper and poking out through the hole in the bumper. I will end up cutting the ends off the hitch and welding new brackets onto it to bolt to the existing holes in the frame for the bumper mounts. Should be fairly straightforward.
Since I got the camper up and running, I hadn't tested the water system yet. Since this will be a longer trip, and I was tired of tripping over 5 gallon water containers in the aisle, I decided to get it up and running. The original camper was equipped with a 30 gallon freshwater tank, and after I pulled it out I found it to be in excellent condition. The original plastic nipples and valves on the tank were turning to dust so I installed some new ones and put it all back together. The system works great, and the pump provides a surprising amount of pressure to the sink and shower units. Last night I put bleach in the system and let it sit overnight to sanitize everything, and today I am flushing it all out. Next I will test the original LP water heater. (fingers crossed)
Here is the rest of the things I hope to get done prior to departure:
(greatly pared down from the really big list of things I would like to do someday)
new windows which will be arriving Friday.
I had the roof lift pump motor stick in the on position last year after fording some deep water so I have decided to put a main camper disconnect switch next to the lift motor switch.
get a matching spare tire and mount it.
fine meshed window screen from a tent repair shop to install on all the windows(I understand the no-see-ums can be pretty bad in Canada)
fabricate some stairs to the camper
repair bed slats
would like to plumb an outside shower(low priority)
Also want to build an outside kitchen tied into the propane system
Build storage bins behind both rear tires for extra diesel/water/ firewood/etc....
That should keep me busy!!
david506th
Adventurer
Awesome! If you need a extra pair of hands let me know.
SkiFreak
Crazy Person
Why didn't you just use an OEM Fuso tyre winch?
yabanja
Explorer
I didn't have one!
westyss
Explorer
Keep in mind Owen that it appears that here in North America we are not given a shred of tire changing gear at all! I have some straps where a jack or irons might be stored but there is no evidence of it ever being there, I speculate and have heard that it is due to legal issues and supposes that if there was a jack etc that Mitsu expects an individual to change out his own tire and then Mitsu can be held liable if something bad happens. Its pretty stupid but we live in a society where suing someone else for your own stupidity is the expected norm. So you are saying that with your truck came a spare tire with a jack and tire irons etc?
You also call it a winch, does it actually winch the tire into a position under the truck??Or where?
edit: Also, we have very few of these trucks in a wreckers yard especially in Canada as there werent very many sold in the past, seems a rare beast here.