EarthCruiser Overland Vehicles

[cnick]

Took a quick trip down to Zion National Park last weekend, only to find out that the entire state of Utah was on Spring break. Since we generally boondock, the fact that the campgrounds are already full and booked into July was not a big concern. We found a mesa just outside of the town of Hurricane and proceeded to drive out when we discovered that there was another camper on the mesa...it was an EarthCruiser....what are the chances? We got an opportunity to chat briefly with "cnick" and his wife the following morning. They have Earthcruiser FX #2 and are clearly enjoying their EC, as are their two small, errr huge dogs. The more I see of these FX's the more I like them.

Nice to meet you guys as well! It was great to see another Fuso FG4x4 out in the wild.

 

[Vincent @EC Engineering]

EarthCruiser Engineering

Greetings:

I am the product development engineer at EarthCruiser USA. I have worked on the development of the FX since nearly its inception, as well as further development on the EXP. Additionally, general improvement and development of accessories for the EarthCruiser overland vehicle as well as the FUSO FG in general are among my responsibilities.

I will be posting regularly, and be available to answer product development questions.

cheers,
Vincent

 

[Vincent @EC Engineering]

EarthCruiser Engineering - CV Boot Guards

Spy shot...

 

[Czechsix]

Glad to see you post here, Vincent.

So...about that 2 speed xfer for the Duonic trucks........

Greetings:

I am the product development engineer at EarthCruiser USA. I have worked on the development of the FX since nearly its inception, as well as further development on the EXP. Additionally, general improvement and development of accessories for the EarthCruiser overland vehicle as well as the FUSO FG in general are among my responsibilities.

I will be posting regularly, and be available to answer product development questions.

cheers,
Vincent

 

[Aussie Iron]

Spy shot...

Looks to me like front inner hub protection on front axle that we have as standard over here.

Dan.

 

[Vincent @EC Engineering]

EarthCruiser Engineering - CV Boot Guards

Here it is, without further delay in introduction:

EarthCruiser CV Boot Guards

The constant velocity joints on the outer part of the front axle are sealed from the elements by a rubber boot. Although a tear in this boot would not immediately lead to CV joint failure, the boot serves as a critical first line of defense for the joint components. Therefore, protecting this boot is important, especially off-road, where even a stick or brush could damage the boot. EarthCruiser CV Boot Guards offer a comparable level of protection to the factory CV boot guards offered in Australia.

Offered in EC Bronze (shown above) or Black (shown below).

Complete kit:

A proper piece of hardware for heading off the beaten path, these parts are easily fitted to any FUSO FG.

cheers,
Vincent

 

[DzlToy]

http://www.rcvperformance.com/category.aspx

Hard boot for open knuckle applications, i.e. Dana, AAM, etc., no external boot to tear or leak, no need for CV guard

Closed knuckle applications, i.e. Toyota, Suzuki, etc., no exterior boot from the factory to tear or leak, no need for CV guard.

Great product idea on the guards, but the boots are still vulnerable from the sides and top. Having changed a car CV with that type of boot, I can assure you that RCV has a far superior design. While I don't presume they have something off the shelft for an FG, it is certainly not outside their capabilities. It will be the last axle and CV that you will ever buy.

 

[Vincent @EC Engineering]

EarthCruiser Engineering - CV Boot Guards

The boot on the outside of the FUSO FG front axle is protection for the swivel ball. Inside the swivel ball there is a constant velocity joint. The swivel ball is packed with grease, as is the constant velocity joint within. This design is similar to an FZJ80.

The CV Boot Guards provide reasonable protection for this rubber boot, similar to the guards which are offered on the FG in Australia.

Damage to this boot would not immediately lead to failure of the constant velocity joint. Rather, the swivel ball would be exposed to the elements. Damage to the swivel ball, either through contact with objects or corrosion from the elements may lead to ingress of water/debris into the swivel ball, or the grease inside the swivel ball escaping.

The following PDF shows a break down of the front axle.
View attachment FG Axle.pdf

RCV is definitely good-to-go; I've long admired their wares.

cheers,
Vincent

 

[corrupt]

Nice guards and probably 1/10 the price of the rcv option....which isn't a option anyway, since they don't have anything for the FG.

 

[Vincent @EC Engineering]

EarthCruiser Engineering

Spy shot...

 

[SkiFreak]

Spy shot...

What are those guards for???

 

[david506th]

Are those the forward shock mounts?

 

[DzlToy]

I can say, with the utmost degree of certainty, that nothing on a $220,000 vehicle, and certainly not a newly "engineered" product should use hose repair clamps, for any reason.

 

[Czechsix]

I can say, with the utmost degree of certainty, that nothing on a $220,000 vehicle, and certainly not a newly "engineered" product should use hose repair clamps, for any reason.

 

[Heidi]

High quality stainless hose clamps are common and numerous even on million $ yachts. We could not have stayed afloat without them. Every refit we wished we had stock in a hose clamp company.