FG84 Camper Build

Maninga

Adventurer
Hi All,

Long time lurker here, figured it was my time to give back some. Caution though, this is a long post and has a bit of back story.

I'm currently in the planning stages of a new build based on an FG84 single cab. My wife and I had been wanting to move into something a bit more comfortable than a tent for quite a while, our main design criteria being a comfortable bed, inside toilet and just getting that sense of space and comfort when stuck inside. We expect to be living most of the time outside though, so easy access to external kitchen, drinks fridge and the like are important. We wanted the camper to be able to handle both hot and cold weather, it is intended this will see cold & snow, so good insulation were important to us. Our intention is to stay in Melbourne for the next couple of years until my wife gets Australian citizenship, then take it through South America for a couple of years. Thus being able to containerise it would be ideal.

After looking at a LOT of options, I was almost at the point of buying one of the first shipments of Four Wheel Campers flat tray designs to Australia when an XPCamper came up for sale about 30 minutes drive from where I live. I'd been lusting over one for about a year, and made a number of enquiries to the US about them, but the shipping and costs just didn't make it worthwhile. There were some hydraulics issues with it (chain of events that started with a broken drill piece for lift puck installation, or so I hear), but it was a condition of sale these be fixed. Camper I bought
DSC_8099.jpg


DSC_8102.jpg


Over the course of 9 months, parts were ordered from Marc at XPCamper, some fibreglass fixes were done to the camper and general maintenance while I went in search for a suitable truck. I did a lot of digging and research on vehicles (I call this my OCD project), looked at GMC 2500's, Ford F250's, Ford F350's (didn't like any of them really), Nissan Patrols, Hiluxes, Landcruiser 70's (all too small in both dimensions and capacity) before deciding to move up the scale a little bit.

Moved onto Canters next. Hadn't ever driven one before, nor spent much time around them, but this forum really helped form some ideas. Found we REALLY didn't like the ride in the SWB, the dual cab would have been nice but with the camper on it, we'd have been over a self imposed height restriction of 3m, primarily to get under some low bridges around here. Found though that the dimensions would work perfectly on a single cab, with space for 2 spares and a quad bike under the cabover section. Sounded like the way to go. Started hunting down one in good condition.

Came across some good dual cabs, asked multiple truck dealers about single cab Canters, talked about wheels & suspension with Alan, went and saw Owens (SkiFreak) truck before finally deciding to buy one from John (whatcharterboat) in a private sale (he'd been doing it up as a side project). Wife and I flew up to see it, meet John and confirm it was what we wanted/expected. It was, asked John to arrange a couple of options from the ATW parts catalogue and flew home happy.

Unfortunately, the XP wasn't doing so well. Right at the same time as we were going up to see John, hydraulics failed again. The new parts hadn't worked out, previous owner wasn't happy about it and couldn't in good conscience sell it to me. I got my money back on it, will be keeping in touch with previous owner though. It's a real shame it didn't work out, I loved the sense of space inside, how everything just works and fitted 95% of what we wanted and some we didn't know we wanted. Still remains my preferred option, but can't have everything you want and we can't afford a new one. It would have meant I could be up and running by May.

Was meant to pick up the truck a couple of weeks ago as it's ready, but was too sick to drive it back (4 years and counting, several doctors and 10's of thousands spent trying to figure it out, still haven't gotten anywhere, it comes on for a few weeks/months then will switch off). Will be trying again at Easter. Picture of the truck before and after.
photo4.jpg

photo.jpg


So back to square 1, but having committed to a truck. Immediate though, Westyss replica. After much discussion, planning, learning Autocad and help from Owen, here's where my plans are at.

Camper Closed
CamperClosedFrontLeft.jpg


CamperClosedRearRight.jpg



On the truck
Camper closed up. I'll have to see what sort of lift the parabolics give over the CAD image Owen sent me, but we're currently sitting at 2.54m based on the front axle, 2.63m at the rear without allowing for weight to adjust the springs. Unknown what we'll end up at. But should be able to drive under the bridges locally, and I'm hoping drive straight into a container.
CamperOnTruckClosed.jpg

Camper opened up adds about 550mm in height.
CamperOnTruckOpen.jpg


Camper Open
CamperOpenFrontLeft.jpg


Layout
I've got 2 options, both of which we're still considering. On both, straight in front of the doors is the fridge (sized it around a Vitrofrigo DW210), to the right is 2 bench seats, shoe storage in base of the first seat, then queen size bed with under bed storage for clothing (will be lift up hinge).
On the left from the door, I've got two options, both of which we're still considering. The galley kitchen with cooktop, sized for a Webasto X100, and sink. The major difference is how we have the bathroom.
Option 1 is a dedicated shower/toilet section, drain into the void created by chassis step.
CamperLayoutOption1.jpg


Option 2 has a pantry first up, toilet/shower closet. If you have a shower in this one, curtain extends into the walkway. The entire floor section in this design is raised up about 40mm with a slotted floor, shower basin extends all through the kitchen but hidden with a removable floor. I measured my torso up to get an idea of window layouts/workability within a few designs, I call him Mr Roboto, makes it more interesting to see the layout from his eyes. Smaller version is Mrs Roboto.
CamperLayoutOption2.jpg


Both layouts have a large 1.5*2.0*0.7m externally accessed storage area for misc stuff we either add or take away with us. Some space will be taken up by the 100l grey water tanks and 220l fresh water tanks. On the roof, there's space for 6 150W Voltech flexible solar panels, which I want to feed into a 450AH lithium battery pack. 2 spares sit on the rear, frame welded to the subframe and bolted through the panels likely to a second support bracket to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Overall, expect to come in around 6.8m. Camper dimensions come in around 4.4*2.15 external, 4.25*2.0m internal with an internal open/closed height of 1.55/2.1m retrospectively.

I'm currently talking with a few panel manufacturers about getting the shell built for me, or providing the panels. Hoping to get the basics (subframe, shell, roof lifting mechanism) done in the next 3 months, the rest progressively over the next year. Lets see how we go with that.

A massive thanks to both John and Owen for all their help and support sofar, I wouldn't have been anywhere near where I am today without you.

Joe
 

SkiFreak

Crazy Person
A massive thanks to both John and Owen for all their help and support sofar, I wouldn't have been anywhere near where I am today without you.
As you already know, you're welcome. Helping each other out is what it's all about.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Hi All,

Long time lurker here, figured it was my time to give back some. Caution though, this is a long post and has a bit of back story.

I'm currently in the planning stages of a new build based on an FG84 single cab. My wife and I had been wanting to move into something a bit more comfortable than a tent for quite a while, our main design criteria being a comfortable bed, inside toilet and just getting that sense of space and comfort when stuck inside. We expect to be living most of the time outside though, so easy access to external kitchen, drinks fridge and the like are important. We wanted the camper to be able to handle both hot and cold weather, it is intended this will see cold & snow, so good insulation were important to us. Our intention is to stay in Melbourne for the next couple of years until my wife gets Australian citizenship, then take it through South America for a couple of years. Thus being able to containerise it would be ideal.

After looking at a LOT of options, I was almost at the point of buying one of the first shipments of Four Wheel Campers flat tray designs to Australia when an XPCamper came up for sale about 30 minutes drive from where I live. I'd been lusting over one for about a year, and made a number of enquiries to the US about them, but the shipping and costs just didn't make it worthwhile. There were some hydraulics issues with it (chain of events that started with a broken drill piece for lift puck installation, or so I hear), but it was a condition of sale these be fixed. Camper I bought
DSC_8099.jpg


DSC_8102.jpg


Over the course of 9 months, parts were ordered from Marc at XPCamper, some fibreglass fixes were done to the camper and general maintenance while I went in search for a suitable truck. I did a lot of digging and research on vehicles (I call this my OCD project), looked at GMC 2500's, Ford F250's, Ford F350's (didn't like any of them really), Nissan Patrols, Hiluxes, Landcruiser 70's (all too small in both dimensions and capacity) before deciding to move up the scale a little bit.

Moved onto Canters next. Hadn't ever driven one before, nor spent much time around them, but this forum really helped form some ideas. Found we REALLY didn't like the ride in the SWB, the dual cab would have been nice but with the camper on it, we'd have been over a self imposed height restriction of 3m, primarily to get under some low bridges around here. Found though that the dimensions would work perfectly on a single cab, with space for 2 spares and a quad bike under the cabover section. Sounded like the way to go. Started hunting down one in good condition.

Came across some good dual cabs, asked multiple truck dealers about single cab Canters, talked about wheels & suspension with Alan, went and saw Owens (SkiFreak) truck before finally deciding to buy one from John (whatcharterboat) in a private sale (he'd been doing it up as a side project). Wife and I flew up to see it, meet John and confirm it was what we wanted/expected. It was, asked John to arrange a couple of options from the ATW parts catalogue and flew home happy.

Unfortunately, the XP wasn't doing so well. Right at the same time as we were going up to see John, hydraulics failed again. The new parts hadn't worked out, previous owner wasn't happy about it and couldn't in good conscience sell it to me. I got my money back on it, will be keeping in touch with previous owner though. It's a real shame it didn't work out, I loved the sense of space inside, how everything just works and fitted 95% of what we wanted and some we didn't know we wanted. Still remains my preferred option, but can't have everything you want and we can't afford a new one. It would have meant I could be up and running by May.

Was meant to pick up the truck a couple of weeks ago as it's ready, but was too sick to drive it back (4 years and counting, several doctors and 10's of thousands spent trying to figure it out, still haven't gotten anywhere, it comes on for a few weeks/months then will switch off). Will be trying again at Easter. Picture of the truck before and after.
photo4.jpg

photo.jpg


So back to square 1, but having committed to a truck. Immediate though, Westyss replica. After much discussion, planning, learning Autocad and help from Owen, here's where my plans are at.

Camper Closed
CamperClosedFrontLeft.jpg


CamperClosedRearRight.jpg



On the truck
Camper closed up. I'll have to see what sort of lift the parabolics give over the CAD image Owen sent me, but we're currently sitting at 2.54m based on the front axle, 2.63m at the rear without allowing for weight to adjust the springs. Unknown what we'll end up at. But should be able to drive under the bridges locally, and I'm hoping drive straight into a container.
CamperOnTruckClosed.jpg

Camper opened up adds about 550mm in height.
CamperOnTruckOpen.jpg


Camper Open
CamperOpenFrontLeft.jpg


Layout
I've got 2 options, both of which we're still considering. On both, straight in front of the doors is the fridge (sized it around a Vitrofrigo DW210), to the right is 2 bench seats, shoe storage in base of the first seat, then queen size bed with under bed storage for clothing (will be lift up hinge).
On the left from the door, I've got two options, both of which we're still considering. The galley kitchen with cooktop, sized for a Webasto X100, and sink. The major difference is how we have the bathroom.
Option 1 is a dedicated shower/toilet section, drain into the void created by chassis step.
CamperLayoutOption1.jpg


Option 2 has a pantry first up, toilet/shower closet. If you have a shower in this one, curtain extends into the walkway. The entire floor section in this design is raised up about 40mm with a slotted floor, shower basin extends all through the kitchen but hidden with a removable floor. I measured my torso up to get an idea of window layouts/workability within a few designs, I call him Mr Roboto, makes it more interesting to see the layout from his eyes. Smaller version is Mrs Roboto.
CamperLayoutOption2.jpg


Both layouts have a large 1.5*2.0*0.7m externally accessed storage area for misc stuff we either add or take away with us. Some space will be taken up by the 100l grey water tanks and 220l fresh water tanks. On the roof, there's space for 6 150W Voltech flexible solar panels, which I want to feed into a 450AH lithium battery pack. 2 spares sit on the rear, frame welded to the subframe and bolted through the panels likely to a second support bracket to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Overall, expect to come in around 6.8m. Camper dimensions come in around 4.4*2.15 external, 4.25*2.0m internal with an internal open/closed height of 1.55/2.1m retrospectively.

I'm currently talking with a few panel manufacturers about getting the shell built for me, or providing the panels. Hoping to get the basics (subframe, shell, roof lifting mechanism) done in the next 3 months, the rest progressively over the next year. Lets see how we go with that.

A massive thanks to both John and Owen for all their help and support sofar, I wouldn't have been anywhere near where I am today without you.

Joe

Very nice, can't wait to see more. Have you looked at where your CG might be? My rear end is very heavy - that's what these trucks are built for, but off road the handling really suffers. Front end unloads going up hills, and going down hills on loose stuff the rear end wants to pass the front.
 

dlh62c

Explorer
Keep us up to date on the build.

AutoCAD and Goggle Sketchup are great tools, but it doesn't hurt to tape out the area on a floor. It'll give you some spacial awareness as you move about the living space that CAD programs can't provide. Think of the build as a complete system and not as a collection of discreet tasks.


I'd move the dinette up against the wall opposite the entry door so I could access the bed platform without having to move, tilt or climb over the dining table. Then move the kitchen section just to the right of the entry door, sliding the entry door to the left as needed. Kind of like the lay-out the Greene's had in their build.
 
Last edited:

Maninga

Adventurer
AutoCAD and Goggle Sketchup are great tools, but it doesn't hurt to tape out the area on a floor. It'll give you some spacial awareness as you move about the living space that CAD programs can't provide. Think of the build as a complete system and not as a collection of discreet tasks.

Yeah, they're great tools but not something we've relied upon. To get an idea of what the space feels like we've got a tent that's the same size as the internal living space. Laid that out with the bed in same spot (though just on the floor), seats and left the space for kitchen/bathroom alone. Were able to move around ok.


I'd move the dinette up against the wall opposite the entry door so I could access the bed platform without having to move, tilt or climb over the dining table. Then move the kitchen section just to the right of the entry door, sliding the entry door to the left as needed. Kind of like the lay-out the Greene's had in their build.

We tried a variation on that, first seat against the front wall, second opposite the entry door, kitchen just next to the door and fridge on the other side. Wife didn't like it, I wasn't a big fan either. But did get an idea from it though, I'll have the kitchen table as a slide out coming from under the storage area below the bed.

We'll be putting in a fold up section too so another cushion can be added, forming a U shape couch so we can watch a movie together.
 

Maninga

Adventurer
Very nice, can't wait to see more. Have you looked at where your CG might be? My rear end is very heavy - that's what these trucks are built for, but off road the handling really suffers. Front end unloads going up hills, and going down hills on loose stuff the rear end wants to pass the front.

Thanks, we'll be keeping this updated as the build moves along. Haven't calculated CG yet. Will likely move some of the water space down onto the subframe further, but to get a better idea of where really need to see the truck in person and spend some time with it.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Thanks, we'll be keeping this updated as the build moves along. Haven't calculated CG yet. Will likely move some of the water space down onto the subframe further, but to get a better idea of where really need to see the truck in person and spend some time with it.

Looking forward to seeing how this all comes together! If I were building a new rig I would make every effort to keep all the fluids and batteries inside the wheelbase.
 

Maninga

Adventurer
Last week ended up quite well. Have had multiple talks and emails with Styromax in Qld, after sending through the CAD drawings they came back with a more than reasonable quote for them to stick a shell together. Sofar feel comfortable with their build process. They'll be building the subframe for me also, spring mounted onto the truck with extra tabs for mounting tanks and such on. We're still nutting out the details and I'll be spending a while with them in a couple of weeks, but it's getting a lot closer.

Living just outside Melbourne CBD, parking is an issue. I'm really going to need to pay attention to everything that goes into the truck weight wise, want to register it as a car, getting it downgraded to 4449 GVM. The closest truck parking is on a main road a few miles from here, having it as a car means we can park it out front of our house. Otherwise, I imagine we'd be getting a number of parking tickets as the inspectors are more than happy to fine people around here.

In the meantime, I've been looking at windows. We like our airflow and views, so something that opens up completely to 90 degrees would be great. Have looked over the sliding variety, not a big fan of them as don't think it's much fun to have 1/2 a window to see out of. I like the idea of the dometic seitz windows, and would otherwise go for them, but the protrude out from the inner wall of the sliding section to fit comfortably. The custom guys I've spoken to don't make a fold out window that looks good. Anyone know of a window manufacturer that has windows that hinge out but are basically flush mounted?

The design has only been mildly tweaked. Much prefer the single toilet/bathroom idea, added a wardrobe closet for my wifes dresses, internal water tanks come in at 120L each for fresh and grey water. We'll have additional water mounted under the chassis, but if we're in cold weather they'll be empty so as not to freeze up. Have added a small angled pantry area and a cupboard above the fridge, they'll have some food and appliances in them. May make the seating a bit deeper too, will use part of one to hold the batteries which come in just a little longer than the seat width but make the change on both to keep it consistent.

We're starting to feel more and more comfortable with the project now, still a bit of work remaining but starting to see the light.

Joe
 

Maninga

Adventurer
Had a couple of fairly long talks with the wife over the different configurations and what each gives us. They're all compromises in some fashion. So I went back to CAD and started playing a little bit more. The basic question, if we extended the wheelbase to 3.8m, what could that 400mm give us? The answer it seems is, quite a lot.

My initial thoughts when designing the camper were for the be at the front, kitchen/bathroom in the middle, seating at the back. I came into some issues with the doorway though, it was just too tight against the rear tyre for my comfort level. With the additional length, that was no longer a problem. This is what it comes out looking like
ExtendedWheelbaseTruck.jpg


ExtendedFloorplan.jpg


Bed at the front, kitchen, bathroom, pantry, and one side has extended seating. Have enough room for the U shape seat, which makes wife happy. Have also made the doorway a little higher, but have it covered up by the sliding roof, clearance through the centre looked a little low. Don't know, we like this version the most, now have to see if it's worth the extra cost to us to do it this way.

Joe
 

mog

Kodiak Buckaroo
The basic question, if we extended the wheelbase to 3.8m, what could that 400mm give us? The answer it seems is, quite a lot.

Doug Hackney extended his "BEV" (now Robinson Fuso) Fuso FG.
Photos can be seen here:
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/photos/BEV_buildup/image016.htm
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/photos/BEV_buildup/image017.htm
http://www.hackneys.com/mitsu/photos/BEV_buildup/image018.htm
pugslyyy is the current owner/operator, so I'm sure he can give you insight on Fuso extended wheelbase data.
 

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
The frame extension performs admirably. If I were going to do a frame extension I would consider reinforcing the rest of the frame while I was at it.
 

gait

Explorer
have you considered a bed lift? Gives back a heap of space with minimal changeover. allows a "T" from the door which minimises/makes easier having to pass, etc,

just another way of making 4m feel like 5.5m.
 

Maninga

Adventurer
Just getting started again in this project. Our momentum got interrupted for a few months, wife's father fell ill and passed away, meaning a 6 week trip to the US to see him while in hospital , say our final goodbyes and have the funeral. We did manage to have some fun while over there though, Overland Expo was great to see a number of rigs from Portal, and had a 2 week long road trip through 9 states and 5 national parks.

It's taken a few weeks to get back to the same point as we were beforehand. But just met up with the guys building the body today, got a number of small details about the build cleared up, final CAD drawings passed over and assuming their revised quotes come in ok they should start work on the subframe and their own body design work. I came away really impressed with the Styromax operation and their attitudes, looking forward to seeing how the build progresses.

They figure about 2 months to get the shell built in between other pieces of work. Their next steps are to take my drawings, rework them in solidworks to cater for the minutest detail and lots of too & fro to make sure everything's in its place. They say it's been discussed at great length already with their guys and are comfortable with the job.

Fun times ahead
 

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