How much do I have to modify a Fuso FG?

[Mock Tender]

Hello one and all. This is my first posting and I have the $64,000 ($80,511.25 AUS) question. How much does it really take to make the Fuso a viable vehicle for roughing it- not expedition to the ends of the earth roughing it: but, slow poking gnarly mountain passes, middle of the wheel river/creek crossings and 100 miles of washboard roads?

The reason I ask is we have decided to give up the sailing life and want to explore North America and possibly some Central America as well. Since it will always be just my wife and I, I have no interest in seeing just how much trouble I can get myself in to. The places we are looking to get into could be handled by an F-350 set-up for off-road right from the showroom. Except we want more room than a pop-up camper allows. We will be in the vehicle for 8+ months at a time. We have no home base, so bringing what we want and need is important. So we are looking at mounting a fiberglass trailer on a Fuso FG.

The problem I see, is that mostly what I read about on this forum is a some pretty dedicated people, with shops or homes with good work areas, either spending great sums of money or building from scratch a go anywhere Fuso and taking way more time to construct than I have an interest in spending.

So what is bare minimum to make a Fuso a reliable, go a lot of places unit in a reasonable time frame?

Mark

 

[westyss]

First welcome to the forum, secondly, a stock FG will do what you sound like you want to do, really it boils down to what YOU want, go all out or slap a trailer on it and go, your choice.

The one thing that I would recommend would be to do a suspension upgrade.

 

[GR8ADV]

Rule #1. Find one already done.
.
Truck: The FUSO itself is pretty darn good. I suggest new shocks (springs are fine), a SRW conversion, soundproofing the cab, and some sort of suspension seats all for around 10k. This will meet all of your needs for as long as you want.
.
Cabin: Lots of options on this part. Here is the vehicle I recently acquired (see rule #1 above) I have since added the SRW's and a pass through. The cabin is fiberglass, with excellent insulation and was made by Unicell. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/120808-4x4-Camper-for-sale-PRICE-REDUCED
.
GL and Enjoy the process.

 

[pugslyyy]

I agree, $60k will buy you a good fuso expedition vehicle second hand.

 

[westyss]

Rule #1. Find one already done.
.
Truck: The FUSO itself is pretty darn good. I suggest new shocks (springs are fine), a SRW conversion, soundproofing the cab, and some sort of suspension seats all for around 10k. This will meet all of your needs for as long as you want.
.
Cabin: Lots of options on this part. Here is the vehicle I recently acquired (see rule #1 above) I have since added the SRW's and a pass through. The cabin is fiberglass, with excellent insulation and was made by Unicell. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/120808-4x4-Camper-for-sale-PRICE-REDUCED
.
GL and Enjoy the process.

Sorry, I cant agree with the springs being fine, having only 1.5" of travel even for paved roads is not enough, for sure shocks, but I include that in a suspension upgrade.
No real need for SRW, I have stock soundproofing and is not on my radar, and if you do a suspension upgrade suspension seats would not be necessary, I get the impression that the OP wants to only do the minimum to get going, SRW, seats, lights, roof rack, performance chip, larger fuel tanks etc are not really things I would classify as necessary to get going as Mr Hunter has done along with many after him.

 

[Maninga]

Stock it would do what you're asking for, just wouldn't be very comfortable. Theres only made 3 changes to my truck over stock, a suspension upgrade, super singles and a bullbar. Anything else to the truck would come down to personal comfort levels and making adjustments as the need arises.

For mounting the camper, a spring mounted subframe is desirable,the chassis twists a bit and you don't want it's movement twisting an destroying the camper.

Already built campers do come up from time to time,they may already have this work done so you could buy a complete package ready to travel.

 

[dlh62c]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure your going to find someone to mount a fiberglass trailer body on a Fuso chassis for you. Such an effort is typically DIY.

Have you looked at Host Campers?
http://www.hostcampers.com/subs/Expedition/outback_explorer.html

 

[yabanja]

3rd opinion on suspension

A suspension upgrade is not an option, but a requirement.

 

[SkiFreak]

A suspension upgrade is not an option, but a requirement.

+1
Unless you would like to do your own spinal readjustments...

 

[LeishaShannon]

Since sticking the camper on the back I don't feel that the ride is too bad, tyre pressure plays a big part. We're now looking at parabolic's which should improve articulation/ride but our main reason is to save weight (4490Kg GVM)
I occasionally suffer from cervical osteophytes so perhaps I'm just used to having a buggered spine ;-)

 

[GR8ADV]

Sorry, I cant agree with the springs being fine, having only 1.5" of travel even for paved roads is not enough, for sure shocks, but I include that in a suspension upgrade.
No real need for SRW, I have stock soundproofing and is not on my radar, and if you do a suspension upgrade suspension seats would not be necessary, I get the impression that the OP wants to only do the minimum to get going, SRW, seats, lights, roof rack, performance chip, larger fuel tanks etc are not really things I would classify as necessary to get going as Mr Hunter has done along with many after him.

Hmmmm although I have not measured, my stops are about 3 inches away. Not stock?

 

[gait]

I did the first 50,000 or so km on standard springs partly with suspension seats. The next 50,000 or so km with parabolics.

I changed the springs after a few broken leaves and it was easier/cheaper in a foreign land to freight from Aus.

I can now change the volume on the radio while moving with less risk of braking a finger and some chance of not ending up deaf.

But fundamentally the springs are too short and corrugations are difficult - just less so with the upgrade.

 

[Gatsma]

Gait- Would you say that the parabolic springs smooth the ride on "normal", or even "good" roads? I guess the real question is, do they "feel" softer-riding, even though their capacity is equal or more than the stock springs? Still not sure I worded this right, but hopefully you'll get the gist of it!

 

[GR8ADV]

I did the first 50,000 or so km on standard springs partly with suspension seats. The next 50,000 or so km with parabolics.

I changed the springs after a few broken leaves and it was easier/cheaper in a foreign land to freight from Aus.

I can now change the volume on the radio while moving with less risk of braking a finger and some chance of not ending up deaf.

But fundamentally the springs are too short and corrugations are difficult - just less so with the upgrade.

I know that I have upgraded shocks. I believe the springs are stock. I am more than happy with the ride. I dynamatted the cabin and it is conversational now. I do have a high pitch whine at certain speeds I am trying to track down as it seems to hit the resonant frequency of the cab.

 

[pugslyyy]

If you must build your own, I would dynamat from the start and replace the seats at the same time.

Wait until you complete the build to evaluate suspension so you will know what your final weights are.