Our New Fuso FG Build
- Thread starter deathbywanderlust
- Start date
dtruzinski
Explorer
I am subscribed. I really like the design!
dave
dave
It's a little harder with kayaks than with surfboards, but I faced the same issue in wanting to bring shortboards and longboards on the trip. What we decided to do was to build a safari roof with pockets for the surfboards, and then mount the solar panels on top. Its basically a faux roof that sits 5" above our actual roof, with dividers for 3 longboards and bags. Its makes us 5" taller, but it has myriad benefits. I essentially have the equivalent of 6.5" of foam insulation on the roof, not to mention the reflective mylar coatings of the board bags. It also gives you the full roof square footage x2, one set for solar panels and one set for stuff. In your case, the downside would be the increased height in dealing with kayaks, in case you could see situations where you didnt want to travel with the kayaks. But if thats not a problem, or the kayaks will always be there, the safari roof adds a lot of insulation and heating/cooling protection and a lot of storage. It also adds structure to the roof if you are looking at doing a pop top or the like.
If you go with the half hexagon shaped roof you showed in your earlier drawings, the kayaks could go on either side on the angled portions and then have a flat safari roof spanning the whole roof. So you'd have two angled pockets for kayaks, and what amounted to a mostly flat roof in terms of total height. It would minimize the max height gain and allow full roof solar excepting skylights and vents.
The other thing to maybe consider is doing away with the fixed bathroom walls. Its an intimate space to begin with, but it creates such an open feeling to not have them there. We have ours on a slider which goes into the shower bay, so that you can deploy the shower curtain if the need arises. No aural privacy, but some visual.
Stoked to see this all come together. Hopefully we can meet at expo next year with completed rigs!
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david506th
Adventurer
If all holds true, fiber-tech honeycomb panels.
How do you plan to attach the panel sides to each other, the top and a floor?
david506th
Adventurer
The standard sika adhesive with a exo-skeleton method. Then build the inside to self-support and reinforce the entire thing. If I can get the panels on my CNC I plan to do a splice type joint. That way I will get more surface area for glue and less core exposed.
david506th
Adventurer
Update:
Things change and time goes quicker, so we stepped out on a limb and went a different route that allows for a quicker build time. We have spent more time on fixed and maintenance to the truck than any other so far. The wheel studs themselves took 5 weeks to sort out.
Things change and time goes quicker, so we stepped out on a limb and went a different route that allows for a quicker build time. We have spent more time on fixed and maintenance to the truck than any other so far. The wheel studs themselves took 5 weeks to sort out.
Totally AWESOME!
I like the look!
What's the body size, 8'W x 8'T x 14'L?
How are you handling the rear door?
Can't go wrong with a Morgan cargo body, their very well built. There's a whole industry built around truck cargo body manufacture, use and repair. Don't let anybody tell you those front leading corners and edges are a weak point, their replaceable. The extrusions that hold the panels together add to the body's strength.
Give us some details on the interior fit out when you can.
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david506th
Adventurer
The Morgan offical model number is: GVFD85 but their online specs are deceiving, knowing what I know now I would have gone for the smaller size as they use the size of your panels for determining size it looks like. So now I am left with just a hair above 11" of height more than what was calculated. This is a bummer but considering Unicats and travel all over I am not worried. That will leave my total height around 11'-11" for the vehicle.
Total Width is 7'-6" on 14' body but because of the way we worked out to do the rear wall it will have 5" of extra interior room. Morgan did not ship any doors, just a open back end then sent a extra front wall. The wall will be made using 90 degree angle iron we welded to the inside door supports with the extra wall section glued in.
David
I wouldn't worry too much about it. When mounting a body on the FG chassis, one has to raise the body up to the level of the stepped frame. This adds additional height to the body, something like 3"-4". If your plan is to still carry kayaks on the top, hoisting them up there will prove problematic, but doable.
Know what your rear bumper height and width laws are when fabricating the rear bumper. You might consider adding a receiver hitch and a couple of 'D' rings to the design while your at it.
Did you use oak runners between the truck's frame rails and the support runners on the cargo body?
What type of mounts did you decide to use to mount the body to the truck's frame rails?
david506th
Adventurer
This was taken during our test-fitting
david506th
Adventurer
Also for those that may be interested. We are using Challenger doors for the compartment doors and they are great, sturdy and strong. I recommend them over any of the plastic RV doors. They also sell those but they specialize in the strange types used in Emergency Response vehicles.