The Forgotten Continent Expedition

[DiploStrat]

There is a body of thought that, when fixing a cracked frame, the repair sections should be "diamond" shaped. Something like this: <==>

Believe this is to spread out the area that has been made brittle by welding.

¡Buena suerte chico! Lo vas a necesitar. Y una oración a nuestra señora de los soldadores.

 

[dhackney]

There is a body of thought that, when fixing a cracked frame, the repair sections should be "diamond" shaped. Something like this: <==>

Believe this is to spread out the area that has been made brittle by welding.

¡Buena suerte chico! Lo vas a necesitar. Y una oración a nuestra señora de los soldadores.

Fred,

Thanks for the good thoughts, support, prayers, etc. They are felt and effective.

As to the shape, I have seen that mentioned on various welding site posts about frame extensions, chops and repairs.

I'm not a welder, so I have no idea.

In the Fuso documentation on frame reinforcement, they call for a minimum of a 45 degree angle at the ends to distribute the difference in strength where the reinforcement ends and the original frame resumes.

Doug

 

[DiploStrat]

Think that is the idea

45 degree slope makes sense.

Patch might be:

/==/ or /==\

Goal is to avoid a brittle, vertical line.

 

[haven]

I think Diplostrat is referring to a reinforcement added over
the location where a frame is cut and welded. It's called a
"fish plate." The actual cut is usually made on an angle rather
than straight up and down. This provides more surface area
for the weld.

Looking at the photos in Doug's "fuso frame saga update," the
location where the frame broke is just in front of the point where
the rear leaf springs attach to the chassis. That point is pretty far
away from the location where the frame was originally cut,
lengthened and reinforced.

It appears from Doug's update that the truck chassis was repaired
well enough in Riobamba (about 250 km east of Guayaquil) to drive
back to the coast, where it was shipped north to USA.

Chip Haven

 

[DiploStrat]

Trust me ...

I know where to find Riobamba and Guayaquil! (Ought to, I lived there for years.)

Ironcally, the original lengthening is probably stronger than the frame itself. I suspect that the spring mount was the stress point as that is where road shock is concentrated. My point is that if they weld the reinforcing patch on the new patch vertically, it may not be as strong as an angled patch and may create a new stress point. However, given that I can barely do my day job, I certainly won't take on frame repair, and will defer to others with more knowledge.

Bottom line is this, Fuso is clearly not a big enough truck in the frame or tires for the weight, especially as all of the trip to date has been on good roads. Sadly, this kind of knowledge cannot be gained it the U.S. and tends to be a bit expensive.

 

[dhackney]

OK, we need to clear up some misunderstandings and state some things here.

1) As of today, 27 February 2009, the truck is still across the street from me in a shop here in Riobamba, Ecuador. We hope the repairs will be completed today or tomorrow.
2) We hope to have the Fuso on a ship within a few weeks back to the states.
3) Once we return to the states we will move forward with our original (pre-frame break) plan to disassemble the rig down to the bare frame. At that point we will make a decision on the best route to move forward.
4) Fuso engineering is aware of the situation, but I have had no (zero) personal communication with them so I do not know what their level of interest or involvement will be.
5) I agree with Fred's observation that we put too much weight on this size truck. As I stated earlier in this thread, if we were going to bring this much stuff, we should have built on a bigger truck. Again, heaven forbid that we bring less stuff... :Wow1:
6) I also agree with the observation that the extended portion(s) of the frame are probably, or most certainly, stronger than the stock frame.
7) Others who build on the FG platform should carefully examine the load points placed on the stock frame and reinforce appropriately. The Fuso body builder's manuals contain detailed instructions for this process. When doing so, it is important to consider if the entire frame should be reinforced rather than leave sections of the stock frame that will be subject to extraordinary stress due to the stiffer, strengthened sections.

 

[dhackney]

There are some additional photos, documentation, etc. regarding our frame break posted here:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24225

 

[dhackney]

especially as all of the trip to date has been on good roads.

Note that the definition of a good road in the developing world is one in which all the bridges are up.

We have spent the majority of this trip in SA on market town roads, and that is what our truck was built for. It is our only home, so we are not going to risk it down some unknown two-track or 4x4 road. We have the dirt bikes for that.

We did not build this rig to "go where no expedition camper has gone before," although I understand and respect that for some people, there is no sense in leaving home unless that is your goal.

Our goal is to explore the world. In this vehicle, that generally restricts us to market town roads where the market trucks and chicken busses run.

In general, the market town roads here are easy going by village to village road standards. And these roads in South America are freeways compared to roads we've ridden in Africa, the Himalayas and elsewhere.

But, having said that, we've definately had the Fuso on some roads that would pucker the cheeks of most people on this forum.

The dirty little secret of circumnavigating the world via sailboat is that you spend a LOT of time motor-sailing, that is, running the motor to augment the sails.

The dirty little secret of full time, living, overlanding is that you spend most of your time on market town or better roads. At the risk of shattering a huge number of people's illustions here, going around the world via overland vehicle is not 40,000 miles of the Rubicon trail. It is mostly primary roads and for those more adventurous, market town roads. This is one reason why you will search all the world's overlanding web sites in vain for actual route data. The fact is, people that are out here full time are almost always on primary roads. What you will find on the web sites are photos and stories about the extremes, but the norm is much more tame.

There's a big difference between a multi-week or even multi-month overland experience and living it full time. It's a completely different experience in all respects, including the roads.

If you want to know exactly where the Fuso has been in SA, all of our GPS tracks are on our travel site here: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/index-GPS.htm

:smiley_drive:

 

[Overland Hadley]

Some days, you just have to hope.

I will be hoping with you. Good luck.

 

[DiploStrat]

Doug Speaketh Sooth!

"The dirty little secret of full time, living, overlanding is that you spend most of your time on market town or better roads. At the risk of shattering a huge number of people's illustions here, going around the world via overland vehicle is not 40,000 miles of the Rubicon trail."

Used to see this lesson learned the hard way all the time. People build up this bad MMMMM rig in Europe with visions of blasting across Africa. 500km past the end of the asphalt in the Sahara the springs are broken, the frame cracked, and the roof rack collapsed. So then they either burn the car so as not to pay customs duties or they:

-- Slow down,
-- Dump half their trash,
-- Get back on the main road, and,
-- Slow down, and,
-- Reach Capetown.

The one bit of wisdom that I (and several others on this forum) might share with others is that:

-- Overlanding is tourism - the goal is to see places and meet people other than mechanics.

-- While overlanding benefits from the technologies of off roading and camping, the final goal is very different.

While I LOVE truck tech, I have reached the age where getting back with the car in one piece and no bullet holes is job one.

Doug and Stephanie will overcome all of this. After all, this is still easier than their motorcycle trip.

 

[haven]

"Overlanding is tourism - the goal is to see places and meet people other than mechanics."

That should read, "and meet people in addition to mechanics" :sombrero:

There are a great many perspectives on what vehicle-dependent adventure travel means. The perspective of someone traveling and living in their vehicle for months at a time is very different that that of the weekend warrior. There's plenty of room for all on ExPo.

 

[dhackney]

The perspective of someone traveling and living in their vehicle for months at a time is very different that that of the weekend warrior. There's plenty of room for all on ExPo.

Chip,

I couldn't agree more.

Based on the emails I get out here from people back in the states dreaming of, planning for or building a vehicle for overlanding, I see several challenges around the differences in perspective.

1) People who build up their experience base and fuel their dreams by short weekend, week and multi-week trips create a very different set of expectations about what full time, living, overlanding is all about versus what the reality of full time, living, overlanding actually is.

2) Because of the delta between what they expect the world to be like out here and what it is, they often delay or never start their expedition due to a set of what are in reality false assumptions about what is required.

3) Because of the same delta, they attempt to build a vehicle that is perfect for the entire world, which is, in the words of one very experienced global overlander I interviewed, "impossible and a waste of time."

4) Because of the same delta, they are convinced they need a vehicle capable of the performance of their weekend or week(s) long trip vehicle, where the entire point is often to overcome the most extreme challenges possible. Conversely, out here what they need is a a vehicle that is as capable as a VW Westphalia, which from my observations is capable of taking you just about everywhere that is interesting on the planet. And if it can't get you there, you can hire a mule or a local vehicle to take you there.

5) Lastly, they tend to be very, very truck and gear focused. If there was only one, single lesson I could share with everyone who is considering or has ever considered exploring the world it would be: "It's not about the truck, it's about the experiences."

Doug

 

[dhackney]

Frame repair is complete.

Shots from yesterday.

Shots from today.

Frame break area.

Crack area, reinforcement of passenger side to hopefully prevent a break on that side.

We are heading for the Amazon basin tomorrow where I hope to have some time completely devoid of Fuso frame issues...

All they have there are anacondas and pirhanas, which right now all seem pretty tame. :yikes:

 

[DiploStrat]

Good Eatin'

Piranha = good eating!

Have a good trip! One day I'll bore you with the details of how much fun it is to have a punctured radiator on that road. Let's just say that I am glad that there are so many springs and waterfalls.

 

[dhackney]

Straight in the Eyes

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6 March 2009
Amazon Basin Rainforest

The trip into the Amazon basin begins by air, but must end on the water because there are no roads.

Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/ecuador/straightintheeyes.pdf

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