2017 F250 6.7L Diesel XLT Crew Cab "Billy Jean"

[TrippinStfflr]

Gonna start slowly building my SuperDuperDuty. Gonna need advice from Ya'll

Background:
Full time RVer looking to get a little further out than can be easily achieved while pulling a 28ft trailer.
New to overlanding but have a bit of camping experience.
Budget minded but an appreciation for quality
Strong mechanical skills (I feel like I'm applying for a job)

Wants:
To not have to transition between my daily driver/towing and being able to get offroad with relative ease. i.e removing or installing a lot of gear or racks. Since we full time RV, a lot of my gear stays in the truck anyway.

Secure dry bed storage-Probably a Diamond Back hard cover with some smaller racks to allow the covers to still open when empty. Maybe a roof rack too. I need to be able to haul heavy items at times.

Adequate Armor-Bumpers and sliders. I have factory skid plates but I honestly dont know how good they are.

Recovery-An appropriately sized winch and associated recovery gear for my heavy a$$ truck.

Shoes- I need a good balance between towing and off road. I'll probably stick with the stock tires till they wear out.

Sleeping Arrangement-Ground tent for 4.

Cooking/Cleaning-Got plenty of gear for that

Power generation-I have a 3400w champion dual fuel genny but would like to have solar as an option. Would like this system to be easily integrated into my trailer as well.

To meet with like minded, younger (at heart) people and enjoy the outdoors while we travel this beautiful country of ours.

Oh...heres my truck, Billy Jean. Ruger is the handsome fella waiting to bite anyone who doesnt rub his belly.

 

[Raul B]

Good looking rig.......

Sent from my SM-G930T using OB Talk mobile app

 

[x10Flux]

Great looking truck. I have an 08 6.4 crew cab short bed. I will be keeping an eye on your build. I will start my build thread soon. Full size rigs seem to be a minority. I am waiting till I return from Overland expo west before doing too many mods.

 

[Clint1911]

Great looking truck I have a ‘14 F350 That I’m building for my long trips out west and Canada. So far I have bumpers and some performance mods. Looking for a lift but I also haul 20k+ loads so I’m waiting to do the lift. The only winch That I have found that I really like is the Warn 16.5 thermo. It’s rated at 16,500 lbs. the heaviest I could find but glad to see more big trucks getting in

 

[Daryl 32]

Welcome to the group!

There are a lot of ways you can go with your build.

TJM USA has some great stuff for the F250/F350 - suspension kits front (accepts a Warn 16.500 winch and all others) and rear bumpers. They were working on sliders I believe. There are a lot of companies making parts for the newer Super Duty's though. TJM also has a new line of pro lockers.

We have been working on our E99 F-250 Crew Cab short bed for a few years now, it is a multi use DD for me. It is slowly turning from less work/hauling and more camping as the years go by. I haul home project stuff, race car stuff to RV'ing stuff as well as drive around town. We have an older 26 ft trailer that weighs in about 5,500 lbs or so fully loaded for a week long trip.

I rebuilt the rear end as it had 240,000 mile on it and added a Detroit locker during the rebuild best thing we have done by far for off-road as our truck is 2wd. To keep things from blowing out of the back while driving down the free way and added security we put a shell on our truck. It now also serves as our bed room when truck camping, no more tents blowing around all night when in the desert.

I just put new tires on the truck and went with 285/70-17 Cooper Discovery AT2s - so far really like them. They are super quite have great traction everywhere we have gone so far and they have great reviews for long mileage achieved.

I built a custom roof rack to met my needs/wants that mounts two awnings. A TJM 2.5meter on the passenger side and an AluCab 270 shadow on the drivers side the we have the full wall kit for. Again our set up is slowly changing to be able to go out with just the truck to more remote areas camp and explore with family and friends.

A few pictures for you - you know they say a picture is worth a thousand words:

 

[Daryl 32]

An added thought would be to remove the stock Ford side bars and get a set of cheap "I do not care if I bend these" side bars. Because if you do start going out back you may - will bend them one day. If you do decide to go much off road before you get a new off road style bumper removing that front air dam will save you trouble also.

We do not baby our truck, but I am thinking of buffing & polishing the truck and having a clear wrap put on it so we do not scratch through the paint and have it start to rust.

Again if you read through the forum one of the best tips that keeps coming up is first decide what you intend to do/how far out you want to go and mod to that end. You can save a lot of money on things you may end up never really needing.

Also there are some really good Full Size truck build threads I would suggest you review.

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Thanks for the advice. The first mod will be a Diamond Back HD hard cover. I'm just waiting on being in one place long enough to have it shipped or finding a dealer thats near where we currently are. I need to be able to protect the grear I carry everyday. I'm still looking into how I might be able to secure items on top of the cover without them sliding around. I may build a custom rack system that allows the covers to open (at least the back one).

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Great looking truck. I have an 08 6.4 crew cab short bed. I will be keeping an eye on your build. I will start my build thread soon. Full size rigs seem to be a minority. I am waiting till I return from Overland expo west before doing too many mods.

Yeah I'm gonna miss Overland West but I'm gonna try to hit East. Its in Asheville, NC I believe. I should be in Tennesse around that time. I hope I can make it.

 

[Tex68w]

Congrats on the new truck!!! Your plans seem easily doable, lots of options out there for these 17+ Super Duties, the only thing holding any of us back is the pocket book as the mods for the HD trucks are always pricey. I am still looking for someone to make a set of rock sliders for these trucks, as far as I know none exist at the moment. There are only a handful of bumpers that will handle a full-size winch like the Warn 16.5, you'll have to settle for a mid-size frame winch 12,000 lbs with most. You can fit 35's in stock configuration with ease so should you decide to upgrade to a better tire that's where I'd be looking. Im excited to see another 17+ F250/350 build on here, I'll be following along.

 

[x10Flux]

Concerning Rock Sliders I found (but have not purchased) Sleekster Rock Sliders. they are riveted to the pinch weld not mounted to the frame. Go to their site and read their full description. http://www.randyellisdesign.com/FordSuperdutyRockSlidersBodyArmor Part Number:ROCK2405 If anyone takes a look please comment on them. I am seriously considering them.

 

[Tex68w]

In no way would I ever put anything on that mounts to the body, you are just asking for body damage should you ever use it. That cannot be considered a true "rock rail" or "rock slider" if it doesn't bolt or weld to the frame, a nerf-bar or step maybe.

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Congrats on the new truck!!! Your plans seem easily doable, lots of options out there for these 17+ Super Duties, the only thing holding any of us back is the pocket book as the mods for the HD trucks are always pricey. I am still looking for someone to make a set of rock sliders for these trucks, as far as I know none exist at the moment. There are only a handful of bumpers that will handle a full-size winch like the Warn 16.5, you'll have to settle for a mid-size frame winch 12,000 lbs with most. You can fit 35's in stock configuration with ease so should you decide to upgrade to a better tire that's where I'd be looking. Im excited to see another 17+ F250/350 build on here, I'll be following along.

I think I remember seeing your truck on FTE. I love your rims.

 

[x10Flux]

In no way would I ever put anything on that mounts to the body, you are just asking for body damage should you ever use it. That cannot be considered a true "rock rail" or "rock slider" if it doesn't bolt or weld to the frame, a nerf-bar or step maybe.

I had a Jeep JK Rubicon with factory rock sliders that were mounted right up against the pinch weld. With the high clearance of the Jeep I never came down on them hard, but as for getting hung up on rocks they did take the full weight of the jeep. The F250 is a heavy truck I am not sure anything mounted to the frame would hold with out a brace to the pinch weld anyway. The other option would be to fabricate my own, that would indeed attach to the frame. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Daryl 32]

The Super Dutys have a lot of mounting points up on the inner vertical surface of the body for mounting steps, so a properly designed "slider" mounted to the body would be ok for trails. Saving the bottom of the doors.

But they would not hold up to pivoting an 8,000 pound rig on, so I guess it depends on what you want them for? Personally I am going to design and build some that mount to the body just as some insurance. We do not plan on "Rock Crawling" with our rig.

I have to say that with the price of new SDs and how nice your rigs are - would you really do a side bashing rock trail?

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Welcome to the group!

There are a lot of ways you can go with your build.

TJM USA has some great stuff for the F250/F350 - suspension kits front (accepts a Warn 16.500 winch and all others) and rear bumpers. They were working on sliders I believe. There are a lot of companies making parts for the newer Super Duty's though. TJM also has a new line of pro lockers.

We have been working on our E99 F-250 Crew Cab short bed for a few years now, it is a multi use DD for me. It is slowly turning from less work/hauling and more camping as the years go by. I haul home project stuff, race car stuff to RV'ing stuff as well as drive around town. We have an older 26 ft trailer that weighs in about 5,500 lbs or so fully loaded for a week long trip.

I rebuilt the rear end as it had 240,000 mile on it and added a Detroit locker during the rebuild best thing we have done by far for off-road as our truck is 2wd. To keep things from blowing out of the back while driving down the free way and added security we put a shell on our truck. It now also serves as our bed room when truck camping, no more tents blowing around all night when in the desert.

I just put new tires on the truck and went with 285/70-17 Cooper Discovery AT2s - so far really like them. They are super quite have great traction everywhere we have gone so far and they have great reviews for long mileage achieved.

I built a custom roof rack to met my needs/wants that mounts two awnings. A TJM 2.5meter on the passenger side and an AluCab 270 shadow on the drivers side the we have the full wall kit for. Again our set up is slowly changing to be able to go out with just the truck to more remote areas camp and explore with family and friends.


I contacted TJM. Their web site didnt have the '17 listed. They're sending me a quote for a front bumper and suspension kit. They dont have sliders yet. If its similar to the '16s bumper, I might be interested. Nice and simple. Not a bad price either.

We'll see...

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Not sure what happend there^^^ Guess I inserted my text withing the quotes.

I have to say that with the price of new SDs and how nice your rigs are - would you really do a side bashing rock trail?

Not gonna see me doing it any time soon. I'd still like to have the added protection.

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Added two 6v interstate batteries to my trailer. Not really part of my truck but its part of my overall setup.
Went from 80Ahr to 225Ahr. Should be able to stay off grid for 2 days without a generator. Maybe I'll get some portable solar panels soon too.

 

[Daryl 32]

We have two Trojan 6v batteries in out trailer and a small 45 ahr solar panel and we can go days with them. We run out of water before we run out of elec. but we do not use AC, Microwave or elec coffee pot.

 

[TrippinStfflr]

We have two Trojan 6v batteries in out trailer and a small 45 ahr solar panel and we can go days with them. We run out of water before we run out of elec. but we do not use AC, Microwave or elec coffee pot.

Sweet. I was thinking we needed something closer to 100w. Good to hear I could potentially go smaller.
We need to work on reducing our consumption. We're to used to endless shore power from RV parks.
I dont have an inverter so running anything 110v isnt an option without the genny.

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[TrippinStfflr]

Just got my Diamond Back bed cover today. Thinkin about putting a rack on the front panel only, so I can still open it. It'll only have the gear I pull off the truck as soon as I get to camp.
Been looking at bed slides too but I dont think I really need one. What I do need is some storage ideas. Since most of my containers will be under the cover, I'll probably go with some Plano boxes.
What do you guys think?