2007 Fuso w/Custom Camper -*SOLD*

dtruzinski

Explorer
I bought FusoFG’s 2004 FG with a custom built 13.5’ x7’ camper. The Fuso had 66k miles and he was the original owner/builder; it never saw duty as anything other than an expo rig. FusoFG and his wife could easily write a best selling travel adventure guidebook based on their travels. This was the second Fuso camper they built, so they had nearly 20 years of Fuso expo’ing experience. FusoFg and his wife were also sailors. Not the weekend sailors, rather they were full timers “raising a family” type of sailors. They engineered the rig much like a sailboat with redundant systems and a minimalist approach. Most of the hardware and electrical components were from marine supply houses like Defender in Florida.

Now to the design elements…the camper is steel framed, three-point mounted (with front pivot), and it has a plywood floor and roof. There is NO propane needed, as it is appointed with diesel appliances including a D5 Espar hydronic heater, a Wallas cooktop, and an Isotemp 6g hot water heater. The refrigerator is a 12v Isotherm 41L. The toilet is a Thetford C4 cassette. It came with two 10 gallon fresh water tanks and two 33 gallon diesel tanks.

I drove this from just North of Atlanta to Livingston, MT and upon arrival decided to start the upgrading of the ride quality. The cab has an air ride seat for the passenger and a Fuso factory suspension seat for the driver. While those certainly helped, bridges and concrete freeways were white-knuckle moments. I replaced the factory duals with Earthcruiser aluminum super singles. What a difference that made. In fact, I would highly recommend anyone who is looking to improve their Fuso ride quality look into this option first (there is a separate thread that details that upgrade)! I also installed ATW’s suspension kit. Again, I have a separate thread on the forum that details my first impressions. I live on a dirt road that has heavy washboard effect. The difference driving on the new suspension is simply incredible. It doesn’t wander, you are not jarred to death and the contents of your camper are not destroyed by vibration. I will do some flex testing this summer and post pics and update in this thread.

We camped in it a few times to see what we liked and disliked. Two of the trips were up in the Beartooth Mountain range above 8,000’. We quickly learned that elevation and the older diesel appliances did not always work in our favor. The Espar heater failed to start one night when the outside temps dropped to the low teens and six inches of snow fell. Fortunately, it was an insulated camper, so we just got cold, nothing life threatening. We went to make coffee and the stovetop wouldn’t light. I don’t mind being cold, but I refuse to go without coffee, so I pulled out my Jetboil stove and we had some Starbucks VIAs. Since everything was 10 years old, I budgeted to replace/refurbish the systems.

We have replaced the old Wallas stove with the new Wallas 85Dt with high altitude compensation switch. Wallas has made some significant improvements in 10 years and this stove works exceptionally well. It comes to heat fast, has better heat transfer to the secondary burner and the altitude compensation work great. Installation was very straight forward: connect electrical, fuel, add in high altitude switch and viola a working stove (cut out for this stove was slightly larger than the older stove). I will be replacing the Formica counter top later in the season.

Here's a pic with the super singles from E/C in the snow...they worked incredibly well.
SnowCampingFuso.jpg
 
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dtruzinski

Explorer
The Electrical Update

I have made a lot of changes to the DC power and charging systems. First, I replaced the 10 year old Optima’s. I didn’t want a failure on a trip, so I ordered three more yellow top Optimas. I have read about their recent quality issues and will report any finding here. The shore power charging system was overdesigned. There were cables and combiners that were not necessary and did not improve the charging system. It had two Yaninda C150N combiners, so I eliminated one. There were extra cables running from the charger to the battery switches that were unnecessary. I now have a spare combiner and some spare cables. The Xantrex battery charger keeps the starting and house batteries fully conditioned as it has settings for sealed and AGM batteries. However, I decided to add a 520w solar system (2 260w with Morningstar 45w MPPT controller) from Northern Arizona Wind & Sun (***** Highly recommend this shop *****). It arrived three weeks ago and it was installed last week…these panels are huge, but I will never need shore power (famous last words). I bought the kit and it was complete and easy to install. Not including time to figure out how and where everything would go, it took 3 hours to install this system. Subsequent to the installation, I added a remote monitor for the Morningstar controller.


Lifting Solar Panel.jpg520wSolarPanels.jpg45wMPPTController.jpgFusoChargingSystem.jpg
 
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dtruzinski

Explorer
You are correct, I don't have an inverter. And you are also correct that is a Stromberg Carlson (AM-200) Lend-A-Hand White Assist Handle with Foam Grip from Amazon.com $35.54. It works great at that height and angle. Generally use it when loading/unloading supplies, as it provides a little extra help with the steps.
 

dlh62c

Explorer
Thanx for responding.

Regarding the Wallas 85Dt cook top, how did you plumb for the exhaust?

I see there's a heater blower lid option for the cook top. Do you think it would heat the camper living space?
 

dtruzinski

Explorer
Since I was replacing an existing stove, it utilized the original exhaust plumbing. It appears to be a stainless port that would be found on a typical boat installation with woven heat shield over the exhaust pipe.

I did not buy the blower lid, but I can tell you it would easily heat the camper with this device. I have the Espar D5 and two radiators and fans to heat the camper. This setup does not create any hot surfaces inside the camper and works well to heat the camper when the vehicle is running. I can also fire up the D5 to pre-heat the engine. I think this is the best solution for cold climates.

dave
 

dlh62c

Explorer
Since I was replacing an existing stove, it utilized the original exhaust plumbing. It appears to be a stainless port that would be found on a typical boat installation with woven heat shield over the exhaust pipe.

I take it then, the exhaust exits though a wall and not though the floor?

I did not buy the blower lid, but I can tell you it would easily heat the camper with this device.

I'll do some research, but for the blower lid to heat the cabin, there would have to be a thermostat to cycle the blower lid on and off. Could it be built into the stove's controls?

In post #1, you stated your using a Isotemp 6 gallon hot water heater.

Do you feel its size is sufficient to meet your needs?

Do you utilize the 120 VAC internal heating element?

If so, do you know how often the heating element cycles to maintain the temperature of hot water in the tank?

Sorry for all the questions!
 
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dtruzinski

Explorer
I would check with Scan Marine in Seattle to get the insight on the blower lid. I don't know how it is designed to work

Yes, the 6G hot water heater is sufficient for two. Since it is plumbed into the cooling and heating system, we always have hot water on arrival and on cold mornings. Essentially, we heat our water while driving and also heat it whenever the Espar heater is running. It's a really sweet system.
 

dtruzinski

Explorer
I just replaced the Espar with a newer version that has high altitude compensation. I also eliminated the dual 10g fresh water tanks, insulated the water storage area, and added a 40G marine grade fresh water tank. Since a 40L refrigerator was a little small for our liking, I added a 75L built in Indel/Isotherm refrigerator.

Our maiden voyage starts tomorrow. We are going to travel in and around Yellowstone and the Tetons. I will take pics and update the forum on our likes/dislikes.
 

dtruzinski

Explorer
Transplanting a camper: from a 2004 FG to a 2007 FG

I am going to have to change the title of this thread, as I have purchased a 2007 FG with 13k original miles and most importantly, no rust. Right now the trucks are at Midwest Welding & Machine in Bozeman MT getting a transplant. The camper will be removed from the 2004 and the Protech aluminum flatbed will be installed on the 2004. The camper will be mounted on the 2007. So far the camper has been successful moved from the 2004 to the 2007 every bolt hole lined up...this is the extra value of building mounts that use the factory holes in the frame. I have to move my house battery box, re-plumb the hydronic system (bought 90' of silicon 3/4" heater hose on ebay) and move my second fuel tank in the next two weeks. I have ordered a second set of wheels from Earthcruiser, as I want to use my 2004 as my pick-up and local exploration vehicle. Speaking of E/C, the 2007 already has new leaf springs from Earthcruiser. Once I get the shocks and tires installed, I will be able to provide some feedback on the E/C vs ATW suspensions.

IMG_4546.jpgIMG_4432 (1).jpgIMG_4555.jpg
 

dtruzinski

Explorer
Looks good!

Will the body swap affect the titles, registration and insurance coverage on both trucks?

Going to learn more tomorrow at DMV, but I suspect I have to change registration and the Title will remain the same. Insurance will also have to flip from Commercial to RV for the 2007 and Rv to Commercial for the 2004...should be an interesting process.
 

dtruzinski

Explorer
Excellent... post more photos! :)

Photos when I get back...am out of the country on biz. My wife went to DMV and did not have the titles in had which confused the clerk. Anyway, we are going to compare the titles...it is possible that they are both just 'trucks' and the insurance separates them into commercial use and RV. Will know more soon.
 

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