New fuso build (maybe) lol. Questions

Fan-Nascar

New member
Hi everyone. I picked up a 2002 fg649 earlier this year in Los Angeles, Ca loaded my Yukon on the back and stopped at the dealer for a inspection to see if it was safe enough to make the 400 mile trip home over the grades. Made it home without issues and been using it to haul stuff for home improvements but now its time to get to work on converting it to and rv or let it go. So i have plans of converting it with a 7’x14’ delivery body and cutting that down for a hi-lo style top and building out the inside of that as a toy hauler style rv with ramp door back for a 50” trail type utv. Ok so for the questions on loading it seems like its really easy to overload the front axle weight see pick with retaining wall bricks. This was just under max weight and i really had to shift the load back to be good on the front axle weights. This seems to throw a wrench in my plan of duel fuel tanks up front with at least 100 gallons or more, and mounting 100gallons of water tanks mid wheelbase between the frame. What are your experiences with getting weight loading right and carrying a lot of fuel and water? Going to be running everything off the diesel, cooking,heating, hot water and hopefully utv even so i dont think i can scrimp there. The other pick is me playing with fitment of some mrap 20” beadlock rims and 40” tires. Lol. Plenty of room. Lots of clearance lock to full lock, just a trim of steps to clear full stuff/jounce. Except for drivers side would have to loose air conditioning evaporator. That looks like it would hit even with the 37” tires a lot of you are running? Would be worried about the braking performance for sure as there about 40lbs more than the Atw 19.5 setup, although i can save some of that with aluminum centers. I’ll probably end up going with the shorter continentals although they are just slightly under capacity, ill may try this size briefly since i have them if i can figure out the condenser issue. Wish the shorter tires were just a tad wider like these. Lol Thanks in advanceE3CD712C-71A5-41C6-BE44-47AC52D30D49.jpegA1A046D4-633F-47BF-9E44-3212FC48B3E0.jpegC2246868-3CA2-41EF-B0F7-CF3A1FD5442D.jpeg2E860B2A-A91D-42D9-8170-9577C67A33BE.jpeg
 

Plumb Bob

Member
I wish I had paid more attention to the weight of the camper I built. While the GWV and the weight bias is fine for the truck spec, every pound uses up some HP. My camper is a bit over 3,000 dry. I suspect water, LP gear, people, etc will add another 1000lbs.
Remember the tire diameter and axle ratio relationship. I think Rickson wheel has a calculator for that.
 

Fan-Nascar

New member
I wish I had paid more attention to the weight of the camper I built. While the GWV and the weight bias is fine for the truck spec, every pound uses up some HP. My camper is a bit over 3,000 dry. I suspect water, LP gear, people, etc will add another 1000lbs.
Remember the tire diameter and axle ratio relationship. I think Rickson wheel has a calculator for that.
Thanks Bob. Where did you mount your water tanks at? Yeah i found one a while back at crawlpedia.com. And in hi overdrive ill be spinning a sweet 2219 rpm at 65. Way better than redline im doing now. Lol. Might be a little low if i run into any 55mph roads at 1878 though. Not sure exactly what the powerband lies in but coming over the grades i seemed to remember it pulling better one gear higher as opposed to closer to redline a gear lower. But wont find that sweet spot on all the grades. I expect to be going up grades slow to slower no matter what tire size i have. Lol
 

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