DURAMAX Fuso FG!! - the new option?!

BruceAndKrista

Active member
Ok, I’m not so great with words, but I can stick moving pictures together. You’ve probably seen this truck before, I mean, the previous build tour by Down2MOB overland has over 800K views, but this is new, this is different, this is what’s coming. Tony has STUFFED a Duramax into his 2012 Fuso!!

ICONIC 2.0! His Fuso gets EPIC drivetrain update !!!
 

Czechsix

Watching you from a ridge
I'd rather have a Cummins in it, but anything is an upgrade over that POS Mitsu/MB/Fiasco abortion of a drivetrain.

It's still gonna ride like crap though. :ROFLMAO:
 

BruceAndKrista

Active member
I'd rather have a Cummins in it, but anything is an upgrade over that POS Mitsu/MB/Fiasco abortion of a drivetrain.

It's still gonna ride like crap though. :ROFLMAO:
I’ve wondered how the little Cummins 2.8 would fit. Was all the rage a few years back but I haven’t heard much of it lately.
 

Czechsix

Watching you from a ridge
Yeah, those 2.8's disappeared pretty rapidly, didn't they? I think they made sense in the smaller rigs, but those FUSO trucks will run about 7 tons fully loaded. There's no replacement for displacement.
 

DzlToy

Explorer
The 2.8 Cummins is Chinese garbage. They are quite expensive to buy, install and integrate with COTS driveline components, on the order of 25 - 30k, if done right, based on my research.

The Duramax V8 is a rather large engine, about 32" - 33" cubed. That said, a 6.0L LS-based V8 fits into USDM NPR trucks just fine.

A 7 tonne truck needs something like a Duramax or a 5.9 Cummins in it... this 215 HP / 450 pound feet of torque is nonsense (Isuzu 4HK). You cannot merge with traffic safely with that power.
 

gator70

Active member
Any major transplant is a reliability problem, at some point unexpectedly. My cabover rig comes from the factory with a 6.0 Vortec v8. All stock.
 

DzlToy

Explorer
^^ No, it isn't. You bolting a 6.2 liter LS3 into a Fuso, a Mustang or a Honda Civic and Isuzu bolting that engine into an NPR are quite similar in nature. With the after market support that is available for LS-family engines, GM/Duramax and Dodge/Cummins diesel engines, I would contend that third party and after market builders often create higher quality, more reliable and less cumbersome final products than do the OEMs.

The engine, transmission, transfer case, axles, dash, headlights and so on, need certain 'things' to run, either mechanically, electrically, or both. Provide this data using a home-made bracket, harness or adapter or one purchased from a dealer and the engine doesn't "know" any different, nor does it 'care' that it started life in a Silverado 2500 and is now under the cab of a Fuso FG. Sure, people hack things together for this reason or that, but a properly done swap should be perfectly drivable and reliable. It only takes a trip to the service department of a new car dealer, save Lexus, and a chat with a mechanic there to discover how complicated, trashy and unreliable modern vehicles are.

The Duramax swap into the FG is brilliant and if Isuzu had any sense, as Duramax is a joint-venture between themselves and GM, they would have offered the 6.6L diesel V8, an Allison 6 speed transmission and the 263 XHD transfer case (from the SIlverado 3500) after having resolved the pump rub issue, in a USDM Isuzu NPS. THAT would be quite cool.
 
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mog

Kodiak Buckaroo
Any major transplant is a reliability problem, at some point unexpectedly. My cabover rig comes from the factory with a 6.0 Vortec v8. All stock.
All stock?
gator70
quotes from build thread

"we use f550 axles"
"4:88 gears and 37 inch tall tires"
"fabricate the correct steering geometry using ford knuckles"
"so we go with the dual transfer case adaptor"
"mate the reduction box portion of a NP203 transfer case to the stout NP205"
"dana axle comes from a 2015 F450 - Gear ratio is matched to the rear Isuzu - Lockers on both diffs"
 

Decanter

Adventurer
I'm super interested in how this turns out. Please keep updating this build. I wonder if a 6.7 or 5.9 Cummins would fit as easily? Why did you choose the Duramax in particular?
 

DzlToy

Explorer
The 6.6L V8 isn't that much larger than the aforementioned 6.0L V8 gas engine. While this isn't the engine that came out of the FG, I believe it is the engine referenced by gator70 and the portion of the truck to which I believe he was referring when he used the words, 'All Stock', not the axles and other bits. The 2012 Fuso FG most likely came with the horrible, Daimler-developed 4P10 and an equally-horrible dual clutch transmission (DCT), without a transfer case, at least in some markets.

By comparison, a 6.7 Cummins is a quite large and heavy engine when put up against GM's Duramax V8. There is something on the order of 250 pounds of weight difference and about 6" of overall length difference. A 6.7, Allison 1000 and NV273 transfer case all coupled together weigh about 1700 pounds and measures about 7 feet long. The Duramax is roughly a 32" cube. So, I presume it was chosen over the Cummins for weight and packaging reasons.

The Super 60 mentioned in the video at the top of this page is rated at 6500 or 7500 pounds depending on what it was taken from, so the weight isn't that big of a concern, but less is always more in that department.

Ian Johnson stuffed a 5.9 Cummins into an NPR for the "Crawler Hauler" build and it's obvious from the video linked below, how large that engine is. If modifying the cab floor, oil pan and front axle are on the table, pushing the engine forward will eliminate this overhang. This would be a massive amount of work, IMO.

The videos can be seen here:

This truck is now owned, or at least was at one time owned, by Chris Coffee, who goes by javajoe on this board.
 
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DzlToy

Explorer
Decanter, this isn't the best angle, but it's the only picture I have saved. You can kindof see the back of the 5.9 Cummins protruding out from under the NPR cab.
 

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gator70

Active member
All stock?
gator70
quotes from build thread

"we use f550 axles"
"4:88 gears and 37 inch tall tires"
"fabricate the correct steering geometry using ford knuckles"
"so we go with the dual transfer case adaptor"
"mate the reduction box portion of a NP203 transfer case to the stout NP205"
"dana axle comes from a 2015 F450 - Gear ratio is matched to the rear Isuzu - Lockers on both diffs"


Quote above : Read down my thread further. I never did that! ( for reliability reasons)

1735677198296.png
 
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