JTdiRtyD ever changing build, trip reports, and BS thread

[JTdiRtyD]

Evening update:

Opened and inspected the rest of the tent. The forklift dented the interior roof panel as well but it didn't break through. Other than that everything looks great, so I'll move forward with patching it myself. Sent the CAD file off to get a new panel cut out of .063 aluminum.

I also finished up the rear electrical. Used some .125 alum sheet I had laying around and cut a panel to fit the shape of the inner bed side and used rivnuts to secure it. Auxbeam and accessory outlets installed in the access panel I built into the enclosure. Exterior lights (once I get some), bed interior lights in both white and amber, accessory outlets and air compressor (SB120 connector) will all be controlled from the Auxbeam. Need to tidy up the wiring a little better, too spaghetti looking for my likes.

Auxbeam mount is 3dprinted from TPU. Not sure how long the TPU will maintain shape but this a temporary solution. My original plan was to have the Renogy battery monitor in here as well, hence the big wasted space above the Auxbeam, but after moving the house battery into the cab I decided it was easier to put the monitor in the cab as well vs wiring up an extension and plug for it, so now I have this big blank space glaring at me when I open the panel. I think I might re-print the mount in ASA and add an SB50 connection point. What for? No idea, but it'll be available if I ever need one. Or better yet, maybe a solar panel or trickle charger hookup. That would probably make more sense.

I also realized my Wolfbox camera hotswapping idea isn't going to work as I have it because I didn't pay attention to the connection types, they are both female ends! So I have an male/female extension cable on the way that I can use to make it work. Right idea, wrong execution!

Sponsored

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Patching tent underway...

Cut out the damage and used some .040 alum I had around the garage to cover the hole. I also 3d printed a filler piece out of TPU to replace the honeycomb that was cut out. Some epoxy to keep it in place and some butyl tape over top. Then had a panel cut out of .063 alum that was the size of the entire roof. Cleaned everything up, applied construction adhesive (store bought, didn't feel like waiting a week for them to send some), and now letting it cure for a few days. Will run some silicone around the edge and should be sealed up and ready to go. Hopefully have the tent installed this weekend.

Also measured the tent height. I was hoping to flat mount it to the rack, but they use a hinge that wraps underneath and needs about 1/4" of clearance, so I'm looking at about 11.75 inches height total, which leaves me VERY close to not fitting in the garage. Dammit. Might be building my own half rack sooner than I thought.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Back from our first big road trip! Just shy of 3200 miles. MN > OK > CO > WY > SD > MN.

Trip report first, then I post about the truck and things on my mind regarding setup.


We started our trip by heading south out of MN for an event called Overland of America in Jay, OK. This past year I've met a lot of the well known overlanding influencers based around the midwest, and I met one of the organizers of the event Kris last November. Kris is an awesome guy with a rough and humbling history that he has worked hard to overcome, and this events proceeds go towards helping others overcome their demons and addictions.

The event is unique in the sense it's not your typical expo, it's an "experience" as they call it. You have vendors with products, but they aren't necessarily there to sell you product, they are their to hang out as a community. There was a lazy river, pool party with giveaways, belly flop contest, downhill barbie jeep race, trail rides, Silencer Co had a shooting range setup... it was pretty awesome. Unfortunately I didn't get much for photos at the event, but we did do out best to promote our podcast and take some video with various vendors that we will post to our podcast Youtube and socials.

I met some of my favorite youtubers, Caleb Baker with Baker Overland and Shawn with The Story Til Now. Great guys, Caleb gave me some advice about getting content while still enjoying yourself and the moment.

However, we DID win the barbie jeep race! The Deliberately Lost Outdoors "sponsored" barbie jeep piloted by my buddies "in-process of adopting" 15yr old son took first! So that was cool.

After Overland of America we headed to Colorado Springs. My fiancé has always wanted to do the Manitou Incline, so the plan was the next day to get our butts kicked on the incline. We got to camp late that night after a long day of driving across Nebraska dodging severe storms.

For those not familiar, the incline is an old water pipe route turned tourist attraction. It's 2744 steps that climb climb 2000 ft. in elevation in under one mile.

It started out ok and a gradual and was thinking to myself "this isn't that bad", but about half ways through it got steep. I mean real steep. Some of the steps you needed to use your hands to pull yourself up on because they were so steep. I'd rate it as my second hardest climb, with Mt Tiefort in Fort Irwin being the hardest.

At the start;

Midway point;

At the top!

We spent two nights above Colorado Springs on Rampart Range Road. Nice area with great views of Pikes Peak, but really bad washboard road busy with traffic. The road has quite a few dispersed camping options and almost all of them were taken.

Next we headed west. Plan was to take some scenic mountains roads SW from Woodland Park on our way to Salida, CO where we planned to take showers and do some laundry, however Google Maps had other plans and instead changed to the fastest route which brought us through Buena Vista. To make the best of this we decided to take a slight detour up to Fairplay, CO where the tv adult comedy South Park was created around. In Fairplay there is an reconstructed 1800s mining town called South Park City that you can tour. Some of the buildings are original to the site, and some have been relocated from around the area, but all are very well preserved with period correct furnishings and a wealth of knowledge to read through. Well worth the $12 or whatever it was to visit.

Of course the boys from South Park accompanied us.

After showers and laundry in Salida we continued west to Rainbow Lake Road in the Gunnison National Forest. This is a 13 mile each way out-n-back easy road that ends at roughly 10,000ft with plenty of dispersed camping options along the way. The road starts out travelling through some Colorado state land and the first couple miles are pretty rocky and bumpy, but it smooths out a bit once you cross in to the national forest. Lots of free range cattle greeting you along the way. We found a great spot to camp for the next couple nights.

While it was a pretty well maintained road, it was air down worthy, especially with my springs;

While we were setting up camp the fiancé stated she thought she heard thunder. A few minutes later I heard it. I'm no stranger to the mountains and knew what this meant, so I sprang into action and told her to stop what she was doing and get into the truck. For anyone not familiar with high elevation and thunder, lightening storms can and will appear out of nowhere, and they come in fast. Since you're at higher elevation, your much closer to the source, and ground and tree strikes are common and deadly. Within 10 minutes we were surrounded by dark clouds, thunder and lightening. Our camp stove, food and table were still outside, and I hadn't had the chance to stake down our freestanding awning, so I was really hoping the wind didn't pick up.

It did.

I could see the awning start blowing around and the trailer rocking. While we were seeing lightening, nothing had been "close", so I took the chance to run outside and collapse and secure the awning. My fiancé ran out to address the stove and table. About half ways through getting the awning collapsed it start blowing harder and with rain, which almost immediately turned into freezing rain and sleet, making the awning heavy and difficult to manage.

CRACK!! Lightening flashed really close and was immediately followed by a sharp crack of thunder. I told Caitlyn to leave the table and get back into the truck. The awning was collapsed enough that I could strap it to the trailer so it wouldn't go anywhere and I ran back to the truck. Another 20 minutes and the storm passed, we waited another 20 minutes or so before we went back outside. We finished setting up camp, cooked dinner, and enjoyed the rest of the evening under clear skies and bright stars.

In hind sight (and honestly at in the moment as well) getting out of the truck to address the awning was a dumb decision, and I knew it and I know better. The next morning Caitlyn found a news article about two hunters that were found dead on a trail about an hour south of us. I immediately said I bet it was lightening. It was. Lightening at high elevation is no joke and very dangerous.

We spent the next day relaxing at camp, played some games (in which I won all of them), and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful weather and sunshine.

After Rainbow Lake Road we headed north to Crested Butte and planned to take Kebler Pass west from there. I had planned to fill up with diesel in Crested Butte, this proved to be difficult. It's a decent sized town, actually pretty large considering, but they appear to only have two rickety gas stations with 4 pumps each, and very small and tight access. After finally getting into the diesel pump, I was blocked in by inconsiderate folk who insisted on parking right up to the build. Was not a happy camper.

Kebler Pass is a well maintained gravel road that heads west from Crested Butte. Great scenery, plenty of dispersed campsites, but VERY busy. I was so focused on dodging oncoming traffic that I did not think to stop for photos.

From Kebler Pass we headed north. We planned to spend a night in the Flat Top Wilderness off of Coffee Pot Road. I had heard a lot about the Flat Tops, so I wanted to get a glimpse, even if small, of what it had to offer.

When we reached the beginning of Coffee Pot it was smooth as could be treated dirt, so I didn't bother to air down, boy that was a mistake. It quickly turned into a narrow, steep, rocky and rough shelf road with tight switchbacks. We came across a couple vehicles on the way up, luckily in wide spots. Caitlyn was holding her composure, but I could tell she didn't care for it.

We reached the "top" where it smoothed and leveled out and entered the national forest. It was again fairly busy, but it was also mid hunting season so almost all of the dispersed sites were full of hunting camps. After a little searching we found a nice secluded site with a great view to spend the night. We set up camp and started dinner.

Dinner was something new for us that we found at Overland of America, Essential Provisions Field Fuel - Bison Stew. A simple place the bag in boiling water until the contents are hot and serve. Boy was it good! So good that we ordered more the next day.

We had a guest looking for some free food, but it was too good for us to share.

The starts were bright that night, so I tried to get some phone night shots, but I didn't have my tripod so nothing came out great.

The following morning we woke up to some visitors! A big flock of sheep! This made Caitlyn happy.

Then started our journey back home. We would leave from the Flat Tops and head to a hotel in Kremmling, CO for a hot shower and comfortable bed, and then head towards the Black Hills, SD. We slowly mae our way through the crowd of visitors and headed back the way we came in. Theres only one way in and out of the Flat Tops in this particular area, so that meant down the tight switchbacks.

Before we headed back down the mountain we decided to check out the Deep Creek Overlook. Well worth the stop for some beautiful views.

I wasn't looking forward to heading down Coffee Pot Road fully expecting to meet oncoming traffic which would mean getting uncomfortably close to the edge, but luckily we didn't meet any oncoming traffic.

From Coffee Pot to Kremmling was all dirt roads following the Colorado River. Another day I didn't think to take photos because I was so caught up in the views. You'll just have to go drive along the Colorado River yourself if you want to see them!

After a night in a hotel we headed into Wyoming. Leaves were changing color, so we stopped to snap some photos.

We came across some signs for Oregon Trail historical sites, so we decided to stop and check them out. First was the Register Cliff where travelers would carve their names into the limestone. A lot of names, most of which dated 1920s and earlier.

We also checked out some Oregon Trail wagon ruts that were carved into the rock.

After another long day of driving we found a dispersed camp site in the Black Hills. Just an easy overnight spot before we head home in the morning.

The next morning we headed home. 11 hour drive through South Dakota and Minnesota. I loath the drive across SD on I90. Flat, straight, boring, and flying traffic with 80mph speed limits.

When we got home our animals were excited to see us. We got home around 8pm, unloaded any gear that needed it, and went to bed. Overall a great trip!


MN to OK - 16mpg average
OK to CO - 14.5mpg average
Entirety of CO - 20.2mpg average
CO to MN - 16mpg average

Gotta love the diesel!

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Ok, now for updates on the trucks setup:

Suspension:
Overall I'm happy with it. I was concerned the AEV HD springs would be too stiff on long rides, but it was smooth and comfortable. It was not, however, comfortable on the trails. Airing down is a must, even if it seems relatively smooth otherwise.

I did notice on the highways any dips or wallows in the road resulted in a little more of that floaty bouncy feeling that I'd like, but that may have been because of the trailer exaggerating the feeling.

Rebel Rack and Enclosure:
This worked out great. I had no water intrusion, but I did have a bit of dust getting through the tailgate, partly because the tailgate seals started coming off, and partly because I need to address some areas better. I do want to find a better latch for the electrical panel access though. The current latch is a key turn only, which got annoying having to dig out my keys each time I wanted to open it, so a lockable handle would be preferred.

Bed slide:
This was not so great. It worked as intended to strap everything to the slide and be able to pull it all out at once, but the Vevor slides, even though they are 500lb capacity, did not like the weight. Additionally, my brackets that the slides mount to bow too easily, as well as the decking. This caused the middle of the deck to drag on the tailgate when you pull everything out, and with the weight it was quite difficult to do. I'm not sure what I want to do about this, either try better brackets and a stronger/reinforced deck, or just scrap it and shell out the money for a Decked Cargo Slide or Bed Slide. I just don't like the idea of those options being so high off the bed floor, especially with a half height rack, I want to retain as much internal height as I can.

House Battery and Rear Seat Platform:
These two things I really wasn't concerned about. Plenty of battery power with the 100ah Lithium being charged with a 20a DC-DC charger. We even used this to recharge my buddies portable bank a couple times. DC-DC chargers are just too nice being able to quickly recharge the batteries.



While at Overland of America I came across a truck where his house battery system was all installed in the bed on the drivers side, in a cubby that was accessible through his topper side opening panels. On the passenger side he had the same thing, but for frequently used items for quick access. He then had a decked drawers and cargo slide system in the bed. I really liked this setup, so I think I'm going to do something very similar, minus the decked drawers because I don't like those.


This leads me to how I'm going to address not fitting in the garage with the RTT... well I'm going back to the drawing board on the rack and enclosure. I have a trip to Utah coming up in a couple weeks so I'll leave this current setup for now, but once I return home I'm going to start designing an welded steel framed or extruded aluminum rack and enclosure that will be low enough that the tent roof is flush with the cab of the truck. The enclosure will have side opening access so I can build in the battery and storage systems I previously mentioned. I had designed and built a very similar enclosure for my Tacoma using steel welded framing, so I already have an idea of how I want to do this one. I haven't decided if the aluminum provides any necessary benefit over a steel welded frame other than it wont rust. Steel is far cheaper than extruded aluminum, but alum offers a lot of modularity and makes it easy to add to it. Weight wise they are probably going to be around the same. We will see which route I decide to go.

Stay tuned for the next project!

 

[Freems]

Ok, now for updates on the trucks setup:

Suspension:
Overall I'm happy with it. I was concerned the AEV HD springs would be too stiff on long rides, but it was smooth and comfortable. It was not, however, comfortable on the trails. Airing down is a must, even if it seems relatively smooth otherwise.

I did notice on the highways any dips or wallows in the road resulted in a little more of that floaty bouncy feeling that I'd like, but that may have been because of the trailer exaggerating the feeling.

Rebel Rack and Enclosure:
This worked out great. I had no water intrusion, but I did have a bit of dust getting through the tailgate, partly because the tailgate seals started coming off, and partly because I need to address some areas better. I do want to find a better latch for the electrical panel access though. The current latch is a key turn only, which got annoying having to dig out my keys each time I wanted to open it, so a lockable handle would be preferred.

Bed slide:
This was not so great. It worked as intended to strap everything to the slide and be able to pull it all out at once, but the Vevor slides, even though they are 500lb capacity, did not like the weight. Additionally, my brackets that the slides mount to bow too easily, as well as the decking. This caused the middle of the deck to drag on the tailgate when you pull everything out, and with the weight it was quite difficult to do. I'm not sure what I want to do about this, either try better brackets and a stronger/reinforced deck, or just scrap it and shell out the money for a Decked Cargo Slide or Bed Slide. I just don't like the idea of those options being so high off the bed floor, especially with a half height rack, I want to retain as much internal height as I can.

House Battery and Rear Seat Platform:
These two things I really wasn't concerned about. Plenty of battery power with the 100ah Lithium being charged with a 20a DC-DC charger. We even used this to recharge my buddies portable bank a couple times. DC-DC chargers are just too nice being able to quickly recharge the batteries.



While at Overland of America I came across a truck where his house battery system was all installed in the bed on the drivers side, in a cubby that was accessible through his topper side opening panels. On the passenger side he had the same thing, but for frequently used items for quick access. He then had a decked drawers and cargo slide system in the bed. I really liked this setup, so I think I'm going to do something very similar, minus the decked drawers because I don't like those.


This leads me to how I'm going to address not fitting in the garage with the RTT... well I'm going back to the drawing board on the rack and enclosure. I have a trip to Utah coming up in a couple weeks so I'll leave this current setup for now, but once I return home I'm going to start designing an welded steel framed or extruded aluminum rack and enclosure that will be low enough that the tent roof is flush with the cab of the truck. The enclosure will have side opening access so I can build in the battery and storage systems I previously mentioned. I had designed and built a very similar enclosure for my Tacoma using steel welded framing, so I already have an idea of how I want to do this one. I haven't decided if the aluminum provides any necessary benefit over a steel welded frame other than it wont rust. Steel is far cheaper than extruded aluminum, but alum offers a lot of modularity and makes it easy to add to it. Weight wise they are probably going to be around the same. We will see which route I decide to go.

Stay tuned for the next project!

Do you airbags in your coil springs?

 

[RudeJeepin]

How about adding a couple bogey wheels under your bed slide. Atleast 1 at the tailgate end of the bed. It will help support the bottom of your slide.
Maybe a piece of angle iron and each end of the slide would stiffen it up enough.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Do you airbags in your coil springs?

Nope, no bags

 

[JTdiRtyD]

How about adding a couple bogey wheels under your bed slide. Atleast 1 at the tailgate end of the bed. It will help support the bottom of your slide.
Maybe a piece of angle iron and each end of the slide would listen it up enough.

Theres no room unless I could find some small rollers. Only about an inch of clearance under the platform, and about 1/2 with the tailgate.

 

[Freems]

Nope, no bags

It really has helped mine, carrying loads.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

It really has helped mine, carrying loads.

With the HD springs I dont need them, but I have thought I could swap to the standard springs and then use bags when/if I need to. Standard springs would lower the truck about an inch which would help getting me closer to fitting in the garage. My concern is how they will perform when off road with the weight, even with bags. I need to do a little more research and talk to AEV about it.

 

[Freems]

Theres no room unless I could find some small rollers. Only about an inch of clearance under the platform, and about 1/2 with the tailgate.

Maybe hang the slider on 1” tubing each side with brackets with a nylon roller carrying the load? You could go low enough right before it scrapes the bottom of the bed.

 

[Freems]

With the HD springs I dont need them, but I have thought I could swap to the standard springs and then use bags when/if I need to. Standard springs would lower the truck about an inch which would help getting me closer to fitting in the garage. My concern is how they will perform when off road with the weight, even with bags. I need to do a little more research and talk to AEV about it.

Buy a four to one air hose and lower your tire pressure to get in and out of the garage? Use your garage compressor in the mornings to fill while letting it warm up. (Usually much faster)

 

[Freems]

With the HD springs I dont need them, but I have thought I could swap to the standard springs and then use bags when/if I need to. Standard springs would lower the truck about an inch which would help getting me closer to fitting in the garage. My concern is how they will perform when off road with the weight, even with bags. I need to do a little more research and talk to AEV about it.

With my bags and stock springs the bags at 5psi…can’t tell their there. At 30psi and stock it feels stiff, off road or road. Pulling my jet boat at 30 psi it’s zero drama at 70 and it’s about 3800lbs coolers and tank full.

 

[Freems]

With my bags and stock springs the bags at 5psi…can’t tell their there. At 30psi and stock it feels stiff, off road or road. Pulling my jet boat at 30 psi it’s zero drama at 70 and it’s about 3800lbs coolers and tank full.

Here was a bagged moment and a WDH. (Emergency towed him back from Elk hunting out in the bush about 40 miles his died.)

 

[JTdiRtyD]

I might look into the AccuAir rear only air suspension kit. Works with a 2-4in lift, auto levels for the load, and I can drop the rear to get in the garage AND drop the rear at camp so the Mrs can actually reach things over the tailgate

Sponsored