Road manners of the Fuso or EC - school me

[Wakeup2river]

Haven’t posted much here but have logged many miles in Jeeps, land cruisers and even an H1

Before taking the time to drive one, Id love to hear your experiences, plus and minus, of road manners ( handling speed noise comfort) on the Fuso even better if it’s a EC. I’m ok doing 65 if it’s a tolerable ride. LOL my 97 TLC broke me in to that speed. What else can you add?

Thanks, wakeup2river

 

[Ted Ellison]

I’ll give you my early experience with our 2019 EC EXP. It’s a 2017 FG last year of the diesel duonic combo for EC. We had EC add extra sound deadening to the cab the tires are the Tokyo MT’s.

The ride is actually quite nice. Much smoother than expected for a 13,000 lb vehicle. I would say it is almost a smooth as a land rover 110 we used to own. The truck seems happiest at speeds less than 65. We tend to cruise at 60. The noise is not bad with the modifications we have on our truck. You may know this already but there is a cooling fan that engages when coolant temps rise and it can be loud at high rpms. Again with our truck we can still enjoy music on the stereo while traveling at highway speeds. Compared to the land rover the ride and noise and overall comfort is much better in the Fuso.

I am most impressed at the maneuverability of this truck for it’s size. We own a Chevy 2500 HD dual cab short box truck and the Fuso is much better in tight quarters. I have no problem pulling into parking lots or maneuvering tight tracks.

The suspension is very good on rough roads. It is able to cruise in comfort at speeds higher than other trucks we have owned. I think EC has hit the sweet spot on the suspension for their trucks. When traveling on the highway I am very careful to follow the recommended speeds for corners. It doesn’t feel comfortable to push around corners at speed with such a large truck.

That being said you can’t expect to travel at high speed down the freeway. The engine is just not powerful enough to pull grades like our pickup. We usually are down to 45-50 mph on the local mountain passes. When we tow one of our boats the speeds are even lower.

I have not tried any technical terrain with the truck yet so I can’t comment on crawling over rocks and ledges.

Overall we are very happy with the truck thus far. We hope to head down to Baja next year and test the truck more.

Ted

 

[Wakeup2river]

I’ll give you my early experience with our 2019 EC EXP. It’s a 2017 FG last year of the diesel duonic combo for EC. We had EC add extra sound deadening to the cab the tires are the Tokyo MT’s.

The ride is actually quite nice. Much smoother than expected for a 13,000 lb vehicle. I would say it is almost a smooth as a land rover 110 we used to own. The truck seems happiest at speeds less than 65. We tend to cruise at 60. The noise is not bad with the modifications we have on our truck. You may know this already but there is a cooling fan that engages when coolant temps rise and it can be loud at high rpms. Again with our truck we can still enjoy music on the stereo while traveling at highway speeds. Compared to the land rover the ride and noise and overall comfort is much better in the Fuso.

I am most impressed at the maneuverability of this truck for it’s size. We own a Chevy 2500 HD dual cab short box truck and the Fuso is much better in tight quarters. I have no problem pulling into parking lots or maneuvering tight tracks.

The suspension is very good on rough roads. It is able to cruise in comfort at speeds higher than other trucks we have owned. I think EC has hit the sweet spot on the suspension for their trucks. When traveling on the highway I am very careful to follow the recommended speeds for corners. It doesn’t feel comfortable to push around corners at speed with such a large truck.

That being said you can’t expect to travel at high speed down the freeway. The engine is just not powerful enough to pull grades like our pickup. We usually are down to 45-50 mph on the local mountain passes. When we tow one of our boats the speeds are even lower.

I have not tried any technical terrain with the truck yet so I can’t comment on crawling over rocks and ledges.

Overall we are very happy with the truck thus far. We hope to head down to Baja next year and test the truck more.

Ted

Thanks that's a great write up.

With a few on the market lately that were newer trucks, I figured highway manners may the real reason folks exit early and opt for other vehicles. I noticed the one for sale on here had intercom headsets on the seat. Glad I still have 2 sets

At the end of the day its about the destination, but for many of us it takes hours and days of driving to get there so it ends up being part of the buying decision.

 

[45lpv]

I'll second the ride comfort and quality. I usually set the cruise control at 63-65 mph. As mentioned in the previous post, it is a comfortable package on city streets with a tight turning radius and surprisingly small footprint. We have a single layer dynamat insulation, but find the noise quite tolerable. The extra fans can cut the conversation by some though. We've run trails from the east coast to west. I still long for a low range, but it does decently well. We did 50+ miles on the sand on Portsmouth Island and the truck also performed very well there.

 

[Wakeup2river]

That beach looks awesome. Thanks for the input

45-50 mph on mountain grades is something to mull over since all my trips will be in the west. I can see long 1 day drives in the Tundra being 2 days now, not to mention being on the highway at a 30 mph difference from the traffic flow. so Phoenix to Ouray becomes a 2 day trip or one marathon day.
I suspect 7-8 hours in the saddle would be about all you want to conquer a day unless you have to.

 

[Rufus]

Wakeup....my Fuso FG 4x4 is a joy to drive on or off-road. It’s got the footprint of a crew cab short bed pickup, and since you’re sitting over the front wheels, the turning radius is crazy tight. And unlike other, larger expedition vehicles, I can park in a regular parking stall at the supermarket or brewery.

Since it’s a cab-over, you’re sitting upright with your feet under you like sitting in a chair. Driving my truck is much more comfortable and much less fatiguing than driving my Chevy pickup. And...your eyeballs are 8’ off the ground which give you a long sight line which is a joy in traffic.

Yes the little 4 banger diesel works hard to push the truck down the road but it’s all about the journey my friend. Folks who are driving like a bat out of hell are missing the point. The nice thing about the diesel, it’s a torquey little beast and I get 14 MPG for a 13,000# truck.

But unfortunately due to emission standards Mitsubishi is no longer selling a diesel and they’re getting out of the 4x4 business. The new 2020 trucks have a 6L gas engine with an Allison transmission. BUT (!) Lance at EarthCruiser is building a killer 4x4 Fuso on the new gas powered chassis. I’m sure it will be quite a machine, but I’ll be quite happy with my little 3L rattling down the trail.

 

[Wakeup2river]

Parking at a brewery has been noted.... Thanks.

 

[Michelle@EarthCruiser]

With the new 2020 V8 EarthCruisers you can comfortably go 70 mph uphill! As well they are quieter for a start but the way we have located some of our components we have made them quieter still. EarthCruisers have their own proprietary suspensions which are tuned to have good on and off road manners (they like 45 mph on corrugations). The Fuso's are essentially a delivery truck. We make them nice to drive. By they way, the photo with headsets I don't believe was in an EarthCruiser.

 

[Rufus]

The younger, in-a-hurry generation may like to go 70 MPH up a hill, but us old and hopefully wiser people prefer slow back roads, or no roads at all. As my hero, Ray Bradbury said: "Half of the fun of travel is the aesthetic of lostness." It's hard to find the aesthetic of lostness on an interstate freeway.

But yes, yes, times change. I'm sure the 2020 Earth Cruisers will maintain the awesomeness of their diesel elders.

 

[Michelle@EarthCruiser]

I'm with you but sometimes people need to get where they're going faster so they have more time to spend at the destination.

 

[Wakeup2river]

It’s not so much about getting there faster.

It’s more about the torment of people dangerously passing you, witnessing near head-ons, tailgating, or getting behind someone even slower than you and not being able to be pass them. The differential of 30-40 MPH of the flow can be dangerous place to be with the nutty drivers out there on rural highways. The crap I’ve seen between Phoenix and southern CO and UT is nutty.