Going back to a Full Size for my Overlanding

[ProjectCleanSlate]

Looking good. I run 5000lb bags in my truck with the cradles too. Supposed to keep 5lbs in them so they work as the bump stops. Never had a problem yet. I actually had them off camber today with 60lbs in them backing a loaded dump trailer down into a jobsite. Stayed in the cradles perfectly

 

[MidOH]

Historically, I always camped from my pickup back before we called it Overlanding. I've also done a lot of trailer/RV camping, and still have an RV. In the search for simplicity, I got more into Jeeps the last few years, and managed to over-complicate those too. I went from throwing a tent out of my WJ, to towing an expedition trailer with the WJ, to towing the expedition trailer with a WK2 Trailhawk 5.7 I picked up specifically, and only for that task. Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the little trailer and the Trailhawk is an awesome rig that does an exceptional job with the trailer. However, I have a unique life situation where I live in one city (Vegas) where I have garages/shop, but work in another (Palo Alto, CA) where I just have a room in an apartment and no garage (or even driveway).

For me, Overlanding is an escape from the Bay Area on weeks/weekends when I can't go home to Vegas. So my Overland gear is based in the Bay, not in Vegas where my garages are. As such, I found myself paying ridiculous fees for a storage unit for the trailer (it just went up to nearly 450/mo) that's ~30min away from my apartment without traffic. I also have the Trailhawk solely for this purpose, which is a little silly when my good 'ole truck was just sitting in the garage in Vegas doing nothing.

So, I'm in the process of selling the trailer, and will sell the Trailhawk after the trailer is gone. Replacing that combo, will be my pickup and a Fourwheel Camper Hawk. I picked up the Hawk last month, and so far have only been able to do one short shake-down trip in an RV park (which is obviously not the intended purpose, but I had some friends going and couldn't wait anymore to try it out):

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My truck is already pretty well equipped for this job, having a 60 gallon replacement fuel tank (replaces stock tank under the truck), air bags (I used to tow as much as 17k lbs 5th wheels with it), and a little lift with 35"s. Still, there a few drawbacks going this route. Perhaps surprisingly, or perhaps obvious to most, I actually have a lot less storage with this setup. 99.99% of my Overlanding I'm solo, so in the Trailhawk I could fold the rear seats and utilize the front seat too and have a TON of storage. In fact, I found I brought way, way, WAY too much stuff on most trips. With the truck I obviously still have the back seats and front passenger seat I can use, but it's not nearly the same amount of space as a "big" SUV. Also, I had the trailer itself. If I was so inclined I could fold the bed over and have another huge storage area. Now, to be honest I had tried to stop doing this in recent trips because a) it was annoying taking things in/out of the trailer to "make my bed" on trips where we move every day b) it lead to me just bringing too much BS. Obviously I have the camper now, but in these pop-ups storage is much more limited than you might think.

I have it pretty well figured out already, still I knew I'd miss the expanded metal box on the front of my trailer, where I stashed things like firewood, extra fuel (which shouldn't be needed now, but it's nice to carry it for others) etc. I was looking into an Aluminess rear bumper with swing outs for both a spare holder and some storage boxes. Unfortunately, while they still have them on their website, they actually stopped making them to focus on van-life stuff. :( So I got to looking for other options, and came across RIGd and ordered their "UltraSwing MegaFit" which will take care of a spare for me as well as adding a little table, and some Rotopax mounts. Like I said, I shouldn't need to bring extra fuel, so I'll use the Rotopax for water. The idea is to make a nice hand-wash station so I don't have to climb into the FWC every time I just want to wash my hands after nature calls, or I'm cooking outside, or whatever... basically picture this setup:

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But instead of fuel, it'll be a water Rotopax mounted upside down with one of these on it:

View attachment 217942

I also found Mule Expedition Outfitters and got their FWC mount for an Aluminess shovel/axe:

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So, that'll take care of *most* of my dirty/outdoors stuff, other than my chainsaw and my Powertank. I'm going to have to get everything on the truck to figure out the chainsaw mount, but I hope to adapt something like one of these:
View attachment 217945 View attachment 217946

Onto either the FWC directly, or the RIGd tire carrier. Since I've gone to an electric saw, I won't have to worry about fuel for it. As for the Powertank, I already have a nice bag for it, so it might just be something that gets chucked in the back seat. I'm going to pare-down and tighten-up my toolkit, and hopefully reduce it to 1-2 tool rolls instead of the 2-3 bags plus the big plastic kit I'm using now and those along w/ my recovery kit should fit on the rear floorboards.

As for the truck itself, it's been meticulously maintained over the years (I bought it new in Oct '10) with all Amsoil and over-the-top frequency. I have a lift-pump with increased filtration and I replaced the dreaded CP4.2 around 100k miles (130k miles now) as preventative maintenance and replaced lots of other wear items at the same time (water pump, both t-stats, radiator was replaced the year before, every hose/belt, etc. etc. etc.). To take the truck to the next level though, I am setup with WFO to drop the truck off Feb 7th for a Solid Axle Swap (SAS). WFO has an extremely nice setup for trucks like my 2011 that utilizes radius arms and coil overs, instead of going leaf-spring in the front. It will utilize a '05+ Super Duty front Dana 60, which will be entirely rebuilt by WFO to include a free-spin kit, an ARB locker, and either 4.56s. The rear will also get rebuilt to match the gear ratio, but also just as a precautionary measure at 130k miles, with lots of heavy towing. I'm undecided yet on the rear traction device. Being the AAM 11.5" there are several options out there, from open, limited slip and both Truetrac Posi or Detroit Lockers to just doing an ARB in the rear as well.

I'm definitely open to advice and input on the rear locker option. Part of me wants the Detroit for proven reliability and simplicity. However, I've heard Detroits create a loose, wild ride in snow since they lock up under power at all times. I know I want more than just a limited slip, but I'm not sure the Truetrac is "enough" for me. So, it'll probably be an ARB unless there are compelling reasons not to go that route.

As for wheels/tires, I'll be going "down" to a 17" wheel. I have 18"s now, and in theory could have run 17"s but it gets really tight on the '11+ GM front brakes. The Ford front brakes I'll use with the Ford axle are slightly smaller (but not enough smaller to be a worry, plus we'll run top-notch pads/rotors) and are a better fit with 17"s so I'll take advantage of that opportunity for more sidewall. I have to buy new wheels anyway, since I'm going to 8x170mm (from my 8x180mm) lug pattern with the free-spin kit on the Ford axle and re-drilling my rear axle flanges (plenty of meat for that, WFO has done it plenty). As for tires, I'm "just" going 37x12.5-17" from my current 35x12.5-18". I know it might seem like a lot of cost and effort just to get a 2" bigger tire (only creating 1" more clearance at the rear pumpkin, and actually losing clearance up front as compared to the IFS) but it's obviously about more than just clearance. To be clear: I'm not building a rock-crawler here. I just want to improve the capability of my rig and I've always dreamed of SAS'in it.

As a final mod, I'm going to figure out a front winch solution. Of course, there a zillion front bumper options for my truck, but TBH I don't love any of them. I'd much prefer a sleek, hidden winch mount setup - but none are made for my truck. There's a lot going on in the front of my truck with the giant cooling stack including the intercooler, but I've seen some folks DIY it so I'm sure we can get something figured out.

Well, that's about it for now, as you probably can tell, I'm pretty excited...

-T

I hike sections of the AT for a week. My pack weight is 35#. Just learn to deal with less.

It takes a while to get used to traveling ultralight. Your rig can go 80mph in a hurricane. RV's can't.

Glad you went with MT's after all. I nuked an AT rear tire this week and traveled on just 5 tires for quite some time.

AT's are just too weak and unreliable. No way I'll go back to them on a truck with just 4 wheels.

 

[tjZ06]

I hike sections of the AT for a week. My pack weight is 35#. Just learn to deal with less.

It takes a while to get used to traveling ultralight. Your rig can go 80mph in a hurricane. RV's can't.

Glad you went with MT's after all. I nuked an AT rear tire this week and traveled on just 5 tires for quite some time.

AT's are just too weak and unreliable. No way I'll go back to them on a truck with just 4 wheels.

Yeah, and being a 65psi tire is also better for the weight/load of this rig.

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

A few updates, these are actually from late last week. First, a bracket made to mount a twin ARB air compressor setup under hood near the brake master:



And some pics of how she sits:











-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Picking it up tomorrow. Here are some flex pics with the sway bars still connected and all (I'm not trying to build a rock crawler with it):







-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Finally picked it up yesterday... so far so GREAT. The quality of WFO's work is outstanding, as is their customer service. I was mistaken, the ARB actually got tucked up behind the bedside on the passenger side (hidden, and protected by the inner wheel housing) and I have a quick-connect up in that wheel well.







-TJ

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

Looks great

 

[tjZ06]

Little update...

So we did some measuring, here's a measurement at the rear fender *BEFORE* any changes:


It's probably 45-5/16" but it wasn't that accurate of a measurement so let's just call it 45.25" to make it easy.

Here's after:


We'll call it 46.5". So the rear only went up 1.25"... but remember I went from 35" tires to 37" tires (same brand/model tire) so I'd say 1" of that was from the tires. In other words, negligible rear lift.

Here's the front:


Let's call that 48.5" so the front is a full 2" higher than the back. Obviously this wasn't ideal. Further, the Deaver "mini pack" we put in only replaces part of the stock leaf pack but we removed the over-loads so they don't get in the way of articulation (since I run air bags they're not really needed) and we had to retain the 1.5" lift block I had in the truck previously. All-in all I'd say the spring pack ended up with about the same height as the stock spring pack, maybe .25" higher and then it has the 1.5" block. So, I ordered up some Deaver full spring packs that area 4" lift. In theory these should sit ~2.25-2.5" taller than it does now, which would bring the tail slightly higher than the front which is ideal (like .25-.5" higher).

Of course, changing the rear about 2" I'm going to have to revisit both the rear driveshaft and the shocks. I think the DS will be fine if I leave the shocks as-is, since the total droop of the rear axle relative to the chassis will be limited by the shocks, and therefore the same. But, I might need to run a longer-yet shock (these are already longer than my previous set) to maximize droop (and ensure I have some down-travel) at which point I'm prob going to have to get a DS made.

I'm a little frustrated I'm having to figure this stuff out now, but it's all part of the game.

And just for funsies, here's mine sitting next to my buddy's '15 on a 6" IFS lift and well-worn 35"s:


-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Update to the update: despite showing "in stock" at the Duramaxstore when I ordered them, the springs are 6-8 weeks out. I'm cancelling the spring order, and just going to order a 3" block kit to replace my 1.5" kit as a temporary fix and lower the front .5" and see how it sits and works. Then I can make a call on re-ordering springs (as I'd like to not have blocks long-term).

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

More fun with numbers... finally got the truck onto perfectly flat/level concrete and re-did the measurements.

Front:


Rear:


I'm going to call the front 49" even, and the rear 47-5/8". This is with the Deaver "mini pack" and a 1.5" block in the rear. You might recall I ordered a Deaver 4" lift complete spring pack, which showed "in stock" at the Dmaxstore. Well, it is actually 6-8 weeks backordered. I canceled that, and just ordered up a 3" lift block and new U-bolts to replace my 1.5" block. To be clear, I'm not thrilled about ending up with a block in the equation still. But I want to at least get things settled out and at a height I like before I figure out what springs I need and wait the ~2 months for them.

By my math, the 1.5" additional should bring the rear to 49-1/8", aka 1/8" higher than the front which would be perrrrrrrrrfect IMHO.

Next, we tried to figure out how much down-travel I'll have with the rear going up 1.5", but keeping the same shock (it's the limiting factor for down-travel in the rear, the front has actual limit straps). We also needed to figure out at what point the air bags separate from the cradles. So we started jacking up one rear corner of the chassis, letting the axle droop, and this is about where it was when we got the sliiiiiightest bit of separation between the bag and the cradle:


We'll call it 49-1/2. With the new blocks the rear will sit at 49-1/8, which means it'd only have 3/8" of down-travel before separating from the cups, which isn't ideal IMHO. Obviously the cups are specifically there to allow the bags to separate, but I think it'd create a lot of clicking and clunking with them separating that soon. Luckily there's a nice simple solution, Air Lift makes 2" spacers for these bags. That'll put it at 2-3/8" down-travel before they separate, which should only really happen under extreme articulation (or if I jump it, lol - hopefully that never happens).

Next, I wanted to address the fact that I really have no rear bump-stop limiting up-travel, basically the bags are the only thing, but they were not the internally bump-stopped style. So I ordered a set WITH the internal bump stops to swap in. Now, this is going to be trail and error. With the 2" spacer the bags will be a bit compressed at ride height, which means they'll have less up-travel until they start to get into the bump. This could be a goo thing since it's a progressive bump (pic below) or, it could create a jarring ride and limit articulation too much. At full-full articulation right now the tire will just get into the front edge of the bed side, so I do want to limit up travel, but I want to limit the least amount possible. Basically, I need to get them in, and take it out and flex it and see how early the bumps limit things, and also see if it feels like it's getting into the bumps constantly going down the trail.



I'm hitting Joshua Tree 7-10 APR, so a lot to do before then, and I sure hope it works out like I'm planning.

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

4-day trip around Joshua Tree, down to the East of the Salton Sea, then up to the Lake Isabella area:















Overall things went well, and worked well. MPG is definitely down significantly, more like 14.5-15 MPG freeway at a ~75 MPH cruise (down from 17ish) and 12ish on 2wd sections of trail, 10ish in 4LO. Still, range is a non-issue with the 60 gallon tank. The biggest "problem" I had was side-to-side chucking on a particularly bad part of the Red Canyon Jeep Trail. It seems it was the "perfect storm" of a softer, sandy surface that still had enough dirt/rock to not be soft enough to conform as I drove through, but not be too solid to avoid developing staggered "whoops." I say "whoops" in quotes because generally I encounter whoops as even "lines" across a surface (that left and right tires hit in unison). These were staggered such that you hit left-right-left-right-left-right... which obviously wanted to toss the truck side-to-side. This is one area where the stock IFS setup as superior, as the solid/solid arrangement let the truck lean back and forth. As a SxS owner I hate to say it, but I'm pretty confident it is SxSs that create this type of chatter. Either way, it sucked.

I found dropping all the air out of my bags helped (they're internally bump-stopped, so they limited the motion possible) but then I did get my back left tire slightly into the leading edge of the wheel opening in the bedside (it pulled it down a tiny big after it curls back towards the frame, only noticeable if you get down to eye-level). You can just make it out here:



Modifying the wheel openings in the bedsides will probably be involved/expensive, so I'd rather just be able to run with the right amount of air in the bags. As such, I ordered bigger Hellwig sway bars for both front and back (I know these can reduce articulation, but I'm confident the rig and the axle/wheel/tire package are heavy enough to still reach max articulation even with the bigger bars) and I'm working on sourcing adjustable rear shocks (so I can crank the damping way up in these situations).

The entire rest of the trip the rig was comfy and composed... so I also intend to avoid sandy areas with high OHV use when possible.

The big 2wd Transit did get stuck in a particularly soft sandy wash, and I was the only vehicle able to recover him - sometimes bigger IS better. No pics of the stuck (my buddies prob have some, I'll try to collect them) but this is the rig:


Also we came across an older couple in a GX470 with a flat on the dirt out in Joshua Tree. They were all by themselves, and didn't really seem to have any idea what to do. They had emptied a can of fix-a-flat into it, but it had done nothing. Their tires were street-oriented and well worn, and the flat was due to a decent cut from a rock. We obviously stopped to help, and I got a jack under the rig and the wheel off the ground and we put a few plugs in it, just to see if it'd hold. We had no intent of having them run on it, we planned to put their full size spare on, but we figured it'd be good to plug it just in case they ended up needing it. Unfortunately they didn't have their wheel-lock-key anywhere in the rig, so we couldn't pull the offending wheel off. We probably could have found a way to get the thing off, but not without damaging the wheel, wheel stud etc. So the plan was formed that we'd run a few plugs in it and see if the combo of plugs and fix-a-flat would hold air, and have them follow us out of the dirt trails back to pavement and cell reception (they had AAA). We ended up stopping every half to one mile to air them back up, but I'd run ahead a bit and be able to stop, jump out, get my compressor fired-up and be ready to air them up before they even pulled up, so it was pretty quick work. We got them to safety, and went on to our camp that night via pavement.

-TJ

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

Look into the torsion type sway bars for smoothing out those sections. Thuren and Carli may have something that you could retrofit. You are running a super duty front axle? I have found the limits of a stock style sway bar and snapped the end links. Scares the crap out of you. I have ended up not running the sway bar period on my last truck. Doing the torsion style now. No big off camber trips yet to see what it does.

 

[tjZ06]

Look into the torsion type sway bars for smoothing out those sections. Thuren and Carli may have something that you could retrofit. You are running a super duty front axle? I have found the limits of a stock style sway bar and snapped the end links. Scares the crap out of you. I have ended up not running the sway bar period on my last truck. Doing the torsion style now. No big off camber trips yet to see what it does.

I have torsion style on my WJ (AntiRocks) but haven't considered them yet for the Silverado because as compared to the WJ the flex isn't *that* crazy. Though, I suppose you're right I might find I bind the new bigger bars and break end-links. I guess time will tell. Oh, and yes, front axle is a SD60.

-TJ

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

I just know on the bigger solid axle trucks front sway bars are very limiting. I’ve never owned an IFS truck so I don’t know how they ride /drive off-road but I loved my 2500 on 37’s with no sway bar on the front. very little body roll on off ramps even. Towed heavy with it as well. So torsion is the next thing on my suspension list for the new 2500.

 

[tjZ06]

I just know on the bigger solid axle trucks front sway bars are very limiting. I’ve never owned an IFS truck so I don’t know how they ride /drive off-road but I loved my 2500 on 37’s with no sway bar on the front. very little body roll on off ramps even. Towed heavy with it as well. So torsion is the next thing on my suspension list for the new 2500.

I think the difference for me vs. your experience is having ~1200lbs at the bed-floor level or higher. I actually have *no* rear bar stock, so the Hellwig rear bar will be a great first step. WFO also said the adjustable rear shocks might show up in the next week or two. After those two, I'll evaluate upgrading the front bar (it's 6-8 weeks backordered so I can cancel it before it ships most likely).

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Aaaaaaaaaaaand just looked up under the truck, no way this setup I bought will work. The sway bar "arm" goes forward outside of the shock, and the end link goes straight up from there. The stock fuel tank leaves a little room there, but my 60gal tank uses up that space. Looks like we'll be building something custom after all. Probably use one of these kits: Products > Antirock Sway Bars > Universal Antirock Kits

-TJ

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

With you camp setup you are higher center of gravity for sure. I run with around 2000lbs of tools in the bed. Working off washboard fire roads the softer Carli Suspension made it way better. I boiled the fluid in the Bilstiens 5100’s running the Same roads. And Towing my 16’ dump trailer I definitely need the airbags.

 

[tjZ06]

Did a quick trip this Sat/Sun (I technically camped Fri night too, but that was at an RV park). I ran part of the New Idria Adventure Route from Overland Trail Guides and ended up camping Saturday night at Medeiros Primitive Campground on the ONeill Forebay (next to the San Luis Reservoir) when it turned out that the Tumey Hills area is closed April 15 - October 15 (which OTG *did* put in the details on that waypoint of their GPX, I just failed to check that closely ahead of time). The Medeiros Campground is definitely more popular and right off a major freeway so not what I'd normally shoot for, but as it was I rolled into it at like 9:30 PM so "any port in a storm" right? It's actually a nice spot that allowed me to get right near the water. The bugs in the AM were a little heavy (as you'll always have in the spring on a water source) but honestly not as bad as I thought it would be.

Medeiros:




Views along the trail:
















Also did some full on Broverland camp cooking with my Oris Skottle. I added their wind guard, which was a total game changer. Sat night was pretty breezy, and I don't think I would have been able to cook without the guard based on previous experience.

Sat night I made a creamy lemon sauce pasta with chicken, mushrooms and asparagus:








And I made a bit of a "Denver Scramble" for b'fast the next day (truth-be-told more like brunch by the time I got moving Sun AM... I sat out around the fire pretty darn late Sat night since I didn't even park at camp 'til nearly 10pm):






-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Haven't changed much lately, just been out using it a bunch. Did part of the Mendo BDT with a group here, and a few other trips. Took it 2 weeks ago to a little park in the Santa Cruz Mountains with my bike. First time I put the rack on and got that all dialed-in (6" extension was just right to give the bike clearance, and it lets the 1up rack fold up when not in use). Then I got Covid and was down for 2 weeks... just getting back to 100% now. Going out this coming weekend for a 4-day trip in the Tahoe National Forest, excited!

I still need to get the new rear shocks on it, fab up the rear sway bar etc... but BDT type forest roads it's great (it's only bad in silty washes with SxS-stagger-bumps) so I haven't gotten to it.






I also finally found a winch bumper I like and am getting that ordered soon. This is their '07.5-10 version but the '11-14 is very similar (the two generations look nearly identical in terms of cab and bed, but the bumpers, frame, entire front and rear suspensions, and most importantly here cooling stack are different in '11-14) and I'll be able to run a 12k Warn in it. I wanted a 16k, but without going with a "fat lip" bumper it's just not feasible.



-TJ

 

[John and Mandi]

Cool build out. I wanted to add, if Aluminess didn't already, you should drill a hole at the base of the shovel shaft. They are known to fill up with water and blow out the shaft. We had that happen to one, Aluminess sent us a new one, and we drilled a weep hole and haven't had an issue in 7 years.