New Fuso!

[justduck]

Well, at least new to me. After leaving the house at 4 AM to catch a flight to LA, waiting an hour for the guy to pick me up, a 50 mile ride through bumper to bumper traffic I finally got to the dealer. Due to draconian Calif tax laws the only way to avoid paying sales tax is to take delivery in another state, so.... a hired driver takes me and the truck 200 miles in the wrong direction (for me) to Ehrenberg Arizona.

We meet up with an on call (24 hrs a day, 7 days a week!) notary public who is ensconced at a corner table at the Flying J truck stop cafe. It was like a really weird drug deal. You slip him $30 and he signs some papers notarizing the title transfer in Arizona. By now it's 5 PM, so I do the only logical thing and point the Fuso for home, which is a little over 1000 miles away.

It had all the requirements for a great road trip. Something new to drive, good music, some new roads, and really bad coffee and tough pancakes at 3 AM. What more could you ask for? A message from the gods? I got it, while rolling thru Bakersfield at 4 AM my ipod, set on random, blasted out a duet with Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens singing "Streets of Bakersfield". I finally rolled up to the house at 2:30 PM.

So here are a couple of pics of the Fuso's first trip down my driveway. Oh yea, it's an '07 with 45k miles. I know that you guys have seen plenty of pics of stock Fusos, but hey, L'm EXCITED!

Earl

 

[Michael Slade]

Oh the possibilities...

Keep us posted!

 

[haven]

Nice score! Your description reads like a scene out of the "Breaking Bad" TV series.

Glad to hear you got home ok. Did you check your fuel mileage on the trip?

Chip Haven

 

[ThomD]

Nice color. Congratulations. We of course demand an on going commentary as you kit it out.

 

[PKDreamers]

nice truck , we cant wait to see more pic of it

 

[justduck]

Thanks, guys.

Chip, I got 14.3 MPG. That was cruising at top speed which was an indicated 73 MPH. I was pleasantly surprised that it never dropped under 65 over the mountain passes. The leg that the hired driver drove, towing his Jeep Cherokee, was 14.2, but he was driving at 55. Not wanting a very expensive ticket for a towing violation, I would guess.

The driver said that one of his employees just got a ticket for not moving out of the right lane for a CHP on the shoulder with his lights flashing. $700 - ouch.

I'll post when the build starts. The first thing is to deal with is the dreaded Stockton Wheel. Can anybody recommend an alternative?

Earl

 

[kerry]

Nice. How did it ride with just the flatbed?

 

[Bajaroad]

Congratulations/mpg

Very nice. I like the color.

That's good fuel economy. With my camper I averaged about 12.7 mpg at 60mph and 13.5 with the open sub-frame. I think the mpg takes a big hit from the mud tires. I'd like to find/make a roof fairing to see how much that can help.

I noticed after I installed the 35 inch tires the speedo read correctly but the odometer needed adjustment (4%). I think the speedo (at least mine) reads high with the stock wheels - maybe so the intended commercial drivers drive a little slower.

 

[justduck]

How did it ride with just the flatbed?

For the most part, pretty well. Better than I expected. It's a really nice driver, tracks straight hands off and seems really tight. Parts of I5 are like a minefield in the right lane, a couple of times it felt like all six wheels were off the ground, but you can't blame the truck for that.

The only flaw I can find is wind noise from the upper front of the driver's door. I can't feel any wind, all rubber is tight and no gap on the outside, so maybe it's a weird wind current on the outside. I'll mess with it, it can't be too hard to fix.

Earl

 

[VicHanson]

Congratulations, Earl! I know how you feel, I just got to pick up my 'new' Isuzu NPR last week after buying it in December. Tomorrow I need to go to a truck dealer and see if I can sell the box/liftgate. I am in the process of tearing the truck camper apart now, lots of hidden wood rot. :-(

What are your plans for it?
Vic

 

[DzlToy]

Cool colour on the truck, different for sure.

stay away from Trail Ready, Stockton and Stazworks and anything made by Daniel from USA6x6 (which is thankfully dead and gone, though he will probably pop his head up somewhere before too long)

I would not hesitate to use MRT (Marsh Racing) Walker Evans, Allied or Raceline.

 

[justduck]

What are your plans for it?
Vic

The basic plan is to remove the flatbed and build a steel frame - 1" square tube on a 2x3 frame, .065 FRP exterior with 2" of spray in foam, plywood interior walls. Make at low as poss, maybe recessed walking area in the floor. Pages and pages of sketches, notes, dozens of sights bookmarked, build threads read and reread. Not ready to start cutting metal, but getting closer, but still agonizing over the method of mounting the box.

Earl