Light Japanese Trucks used as Tow Vehicles here

Robert I was referring to what most use for a caravan or FW here in Australia, I know that some are using semis but not many.
Frank.

Slownsy wrote:
The main problem here in Australia is that the F Trucks etcetera has to be converted here at a cost of $40000 on top of transportation and duty, makes them $150000+ and can only go by manufacturers ratings, so 250 only about 1000kg my F350 1560kg payload where the small trucks like Iveco Canter etcetera are 2-3000kg payload and half the price.
Frank.

Frank or vastly more payload depending on Japanese truck and type. 4x4 MDT'can get about10,000lb payload

RoyJ wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:
That Fuso is only a 3 Litre Diesel, these are 5.2 Diesels
Fuso can go to 480hp, 2300lb ft of torque

I don't doubt they can make that on a dyno, but unlikely to hold up at those power levels.

Even the Euro tractors with twin/compound turbos need 15L+ to make those torque numbers reliably. I'd leave it stock, we buy Japanese for reliability afterall.

Japanese very from 13 to 15 litres. top horsepower is 520hp

The main problem here in Australia is that the F Trucks etcetera has to be converted here at a cost of $40000 on top of transportation and duty, makes them $150000+ and can only go by manufacturers ratings, so 250 only about 1000kg my F350 1560kg payload where the small trucks like Iveco Canter etcetera are 2-3000kg payload and half the price.
Frank.

JIMNLIN wrote:
LOL.... then the bass boat crowd with 300 hp...21' bass boats running 90 mph to catch a 6 lb bass.
Seriously tho LTL size trucking industry in the USA uses the newer gen one ton DRW trucks pulling at 35k-38k GCW and carrying 6500-7000 in the bed payloads.

Moving up to a 450/4500 diesels cab/chassis can give the hauler a 8000-8500 lb on a custom haulers bed payload and 45k+ GCW.

Or a 550/5500 diesels cab/chassis for 50k plus GCW and over 10k on the bed payloads.

No need for a Japans trucks here in the USA to pull a RV trailer or a commercial trailer.
We see very few Japans trucks around here but the few in operation are mostly fleet trucks.

We have to admit the hotshot industry is a small slice of the HD pickup market. But yes, used that way they're very good at what they do.

I think where the Japanese cabovers excel are expedition builds. If you get a 4x4, you can build a camper shell, and still have decent offroad performance.

With a 1 ton pickup, unless you get a single cab, it gets too long. With Class 4 - 5, good luck without a serious lift and 40+ inch military tires.

RobertRyan wrote:
That Fuso is only a 3 Litre Diesel, these are 5.2 Diesels
Fuso can go to 480hp, 2300lb ft of torque

I don't doubt they can make that on a dyno, but unlikely to hold up at those power levels.

Even the Euro tractors with twin/compound turbos need 15L+ to make those torque numbers reliably. I'd leave it stock, we buy Japanese for reliability afterall.

rjstractor wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:

RoyJ wrote:
The Fuso, a lowly 161 hp. But, it's meant for efficiency in commercial use, not high performance recreation.

Recreation demands "fun factor". Look at boats - an offshore sports fisher can run 1500 hp, all to catch 3 tunas. A commercial trawler with a 25,000 lbs salmon hold may run a 90hp Perkins.

That Fuso is only a 3 Litre Diesel, these are 5.2 Diesels
Fuso can go to 480hp, 2300lb ft of torque

The one I drove was a 3.9 liter, 140 hp IIRC. (this was about 15 years ago) It could not maintain 60 mph on a 6% grade empty. The 5.2L Isuzus have much more power, but still only half what a new HD diesel pickup has. They might haul 5K and tow 9K on the flat at 60 mph, but on a grade it's 35 mph, right lane, flashers on. I see it all the time with the landscape company trucks. Many of them run a crewcab with a 12' landscape body towing a large tandem axle enclosed trailer so they are probably at about the aforementioned weights. And they are miserably slow on the hills.

what you talking about was pretty underpowered, again it is a light Truck. You can have a 10,000lb payload same 8000lb/ 9000lb Caravan 4x4 Truck. Depends on the truck you use. I doubt anyone here would use a Japanese Tractor truck, but you even get them cheaply enough 2nd hand.

RobertRyan wrote:

RoyJ wrote:
The Fuso, a lowly 161 hp. But, it's meant for efficiency in commercial use, not high performance recreation.

Recreation demands "fun factor". Look at boats - an offshore sports fisher can run 1500 hp, all to catch 3 tunas. A commercial trawler with a 25,000 lbs salmon hold may run a 90hp Perkins.

That Fuso is only a 3 Litre Diesel, these are 5.2 Diesels
Fuso can go to 480hp, 2300lb ft of torque

The one I drove was a 3.9 liter, 140 hp IIRC. (this was about 15 years ago) It could not maintain 60 mph on a 6% grade empty. The 5.2L Isuzus have much more power, but still only half what a new HD diesel pickup has. They might haul 5K and tow 9K on the flat at 60 mph, but on a grade it's 35 mph, right lane, flashers on. I see it all the time with the landscape company trucks. Many of them run a crewcab with a 12' landscape body towing a large tandem axle enclosed trailer so they are probably at about the aforementioned weights. And they are miserably slow on the hills.

RoyJ wrote:
The Fuso, a lowly 161 hp. But, it's meant for efficiency in commercial use, not high performance recreation.

Recreation demands "fun factor". Look at boats - an offshore sports fisher can run 1500 hp, all to catch 3 tunas. A commercial trawler with a 25,000 lbs salmon hold may run a 90hp Perkins.

LOL.... then the bass boat crowd with 300 hp...21' bass boats running 90 mph to catch a 6 lb bass.
Seriously tho LTL size trucking industry in the USA uses the newer gen one ton DRW trucks pulling at 35k-38k GCW and carrying 6500-7000 in the bed payloads.

Moving up to a 450/4500 diesels cab/chassis can give the hauler a 8000-8500 lb on a custom haulers bed payload and 45k+ GCW.

Or a 550/5500 diesels cab/chassis for 50k plus GCW and over 10k on the bed payloads.

No need for a Japans trucks here in the USA to pull a RV trailer or a commercial trailer.
We see very few Japans trucks around here but the few in operation are mostly fleet trucks.

rjstractor wrote:

RoyJ wrote:
we love pickups so much they developed their own sub-categories of "light" and "heavy". Throw in marketing, enter the Ford, not light, not even heavy, but "super" duty!

In the real trucking world, yes, they're all light. However, North American market demands 400+ hp trucks that can yank an 18,000 lbs trailer up a grade at 70 mph. So in the power sense an F350 really is "heavy duty" by any standard. i.e. more power than some Class 8s.

I'd personally love a light COE truck, with 4x4. But realize I'm in the 1% enthusiast group, and OEMs won't cater to us.

I like the way they drive too. I see one running around my area that's all built up as a fifth wheel puller. I'd like to ask him what he's done to the motor, if anything. When I was still doing landscaping I test drove a really nice little Fuso 4x4 dump truck. Problem was it was so underpowered it could barely get out of it's own way empty. Towing or hauling a heavy load would have been miserably slow.

A lot of large Japanese Trucks are large 5tg wheel pullers here.