Going back to a Full Size for my Overlanding

[tjZ06]

Gold Butte National Monument Christmas week...



These were just my quick phone-snaps, I have 200+ pics on my cam I need to process. We did the Lime Kiln trail one-way, found connectors onto the Gold Butte Backcountry Byway.

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

So, we failed to get vid of the technical section on Lime Kiln (I handed my buddy my cam, he wasn't familiar w/ the controls) but this was it (as always, pics don't really do it justice):



The truck walked right through it, no issues:



Another interesting spot, but none of these required lockers or anything, and really I was only in 4WD for the 4L gearing:



-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Super last-minute trip last weekend starting at Jawbone Canyon for a quick stop Thurs night, into Death Valley at Panamint Springs on Fri and making stops at places like Furnace Creek, Artist's Drive, Badwater (lowest point in North America, -282ft below sea level), and a few other sites before spending the night near an old mine/cabin at Warm Springs Camp. Sat stopped by the Geologist's Cabin, Stella's Cabin, and the infamous Barker Ranch (where the Manson Family was finally caught and arrested) before leaving DV and heading down to the Trona Pinnacles for the night. All-in-all an epic trip, there was no real bloom on yet but the whole area was far greener than I'm accustomed to. And there was even a pretty technical section between Geologist's and Barker that I got to get-rad on with the D'max and Four Wheel Camper!



-TJ

 

[JimBill]

Super last-minute trip last weekend starting at Jawbone Canyon for a quick stop Thurs night, into Death Valley at Panamint Springs on Fri and making stops at places like Furnace Creek, Artist's Drive, Badwater (lowest point in North America, -282ft below sea level), and a few other sites before spending the night near an old mine/cabin at Warm Springs Camp. Sat stopped by the Geologist's Cabin, Stella's Cabin, and the infamous Barker Ranch (where the Manson Family was finally caught and arrested) before leaving DV and heading down to the Trona Pinnacles for the night. All-in-all an epic trip, there was no real bloom on yet but the whole area was far greener than I'm accustomed to. And there was even a pretty technical section between Geologist's and Barker that I got to get-rad on with the D'max and Four Wheel Camper!

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-TJ

Nice trip! That technical section was Mengel Pass. Took my stock Tahoe through there in 2018. Good Stuff, glad you enjoyed!

 

[tjZ06]

Nice trip! That technical section was Mengel Pass. Took my stock Tahoe through there in 2018. Good Stuff, glad you enjoyed!

Awesome, and thanks for the info! It definitely wasn't a challenge for the rig, we also took a totally stock (other than sliders) Tacoma TRD Off Road (not Pro) through and a 3rd Gen 4Runner that's basically stock height on +1" A/Ts but is locked front/rear (I think he just locked up the rear). Not a super hard section by any means, but it's still a bit more fun than the usual fireroad and is fun to take the big tank through!

-TJ

 

[JimBill]

Nice trip! That technical section was Mengel Pass. Took my stock Tahoe through there in 2018. Good Stuff, glad you enjoyed!

Awesome, and thanks for the info! It definitely wasn't a challenge for the rig, we also took a totally stock (other than sliders) Tacoma TRD Off Road (not Pro) through and a 3rd Gen 4Runner that's basically stock height on +1" A/Ts but is locked front/rear (I think he just locked up the rear). Not a super hard section by any means, but it's still a bit more fun than the usual fireroad and is fun to take the big tank through!

-TJ

We did the technical heading downward. I did bash my engine skid up right at the end, it left witness on the oil pan so as close to mechanical carnage as possible without taking me out. I made it through with excellent spotting, not on my skill. Second trip to DV I had the WJ, it was a lot more fun. Although I smacked the oil pan with the track bar by going way to fast in Saline Valley. Hmmm, sensing a theme.

 

[tjZ06]

We did the technical heading downward. I did bash my engine skid up right at the end, it left witness on the oil pan so as close to mechanical carnage as possible without taking me out. I made it through with excellent spotting, not on my skill. Second trip to DV I had the WJ, it was a lot more fun. Although I smacked the oil pan with the track bar by going way to fast in Saline Valley. Hmmm, sensing a theme.

I just looked it up on onX and they rate it a 6... not that I give that much weight. But I suppose it was a bit tougher than I'm giving it credit for. A Jeep group had just come down while we were at the bottom waiting and they used spotting and I def heard some skid/slider contact. They looked a bit surprised when they got to the bottom and saw my rig, and then I jumped in to head up first of my group. ;) I should note, I didn't end up locked up. I kicked the compressor on, then hit the rear locker button and the compressor just ran and ran. So I have an air-leak somewhere I need to chase down. I hope it's just a simple line issue, not in the locker itself. My axle vents run under-hood and I don't hear air escaping from the rear axle vent when I run the compressor and activate the locker so I'm hopefully it's just a line. I locked the front for a moment when I realized the rear wasn't going to lock, but quickly unlocked it so I could maneuver freely. I did miss-calculate my width in one spot and climb a rock with my right front I wasn't planning to, then sort of bounce off it. It cleared the rest of the truck, but could have been rocker (or Amp step) damage pretty easily. I do think I want real sliders for this pig, but I don't really want the weight, and the functionality of the amps with the latches for the FWC is great...

-TJ

EDIT: writing this got me questioning the leak, and I went back out and ran the compressor and activated the rear locker with the truck off (on the trail I was doing it w/ the truck running, wind blowing, etc.). Unfortunately I def hear the vent dumping air and even smell the unmistakable smell of gear oil. So the problem is inside. :(

 

[tjZ06]

Some updates on this old thing... we found the rear ARB leak issue:


Parts have been ordered, and that should be handled, along with a laundry list of little odds and ends soon. While it's in for all of that the bumper, winch and lights are finally going on. I don't remember if I even posted about them before, but if I did I guess this is a refresher. The bumper is a Chassis Unlimited Winch Bumper:




In that will be a Warn VR Evo 12S. I would have preferred something more like a 16k given the weight of this rig, but the 12k is the most this bumper will fit. I didn't want the big fat-lip/underbite look of most other bumpers, so I made this compromise. I'll be sure to carry plenty of (synthetic line compatible) snatch blocks, soft shackles and other recovery gear to help the winch fight the weight.

As you can see, the bumper is setup for 3 sets of cube lights. To fill those holes, I ordered 3 pairs of KC 3" C-Series LEDs. Two pairs are clear, one spot and one flood and one pair is amber. I think I'm going to do the ambers in the center location next to the winch, and the clears in the outer positions (probably with the spot in the more inward location, and the floods in the outer location, canted outward just a bit). I have plenty of slots left in the S-Pod, so it'll be used to run them.

It'll be finished off with a Factor 55 Ultrahook in Grey.

Unrelated, @orange01z28 stumbled across a vid and a rad pic from our Moab last year, which got me missing the truck!




-TJ

PS- may or may not end up throwing a Kelderman rear air suspension kit on it...

 

[tjZ06]

PS- may or may not end up throwing a Kelderman rear air suspension kit on it...

So, this is happening.

Perhaps a little explanation on "why" is in order. Ever since the SAS, my rear suspension config has been a bit of a mess. When we did the SAS we did a Deaver "mini-pack" in the rear. The mini-pack replaces some of the factory leaves but not the entire pack. It ended up not providing enough lift, so I removed the 1" block that had been in since the 4" IFS lift and went to a 3" block. It got it sitting about perfect with the camper off, but the camper (which is only 1100lbs dry, it does hold 26gal of water and a good bit of kit, but I still can't imagine it is more than 1500lbs fully loaded) it sagged enough to need ~60psi in the bags to level out. In a past life I towed ~17k lbs 5th wheels with ~3500lbs of tongue weight and only needed 60-80lbs in the bags, so clearly the Deaver mini-pack setup is just too soft for my rig. On top of that, I think the axle isn't perfectly square with the stack-up of tolerances between the stock leaves, the Deaver leaves, the lift block etc. Only the driver's side tire catches the bed side at the front of the wheel opening, the passenger side does not. Finally, I think the driver's side spring pack is beginning to breakdown, I've found I need to run 80psi+ in the driver's side bag with 60psi in the passenger for it to sit level, that was *not* the case initially.

All of this had me ready to order some custom leaf springs. But even that wasn't especially clear. It's hard to say just how much "lift" I actually have between the block, the Deaver setup (which is said to be 1.75" of lift, but I don't think it manifested as any lift on my truck), manipulating ride with the bags etc. I would also need to decide how much extra load to specify in the order. Would I do +1500lbs for the camper... but then have a rough ride and stink-bug look without it? Would I do stock and compensate for the camper with the bags as I had been doing (which has the advantage of allowing me to park nose-low at camp then let the air out of the bags to level out while making the step up into the camper easier)? All-in-all I wasn't really sure what to do for springs.

Two other things, I definitely wanted a better, adjustable shock to dial-in damping for the terrain, camper or no camper, etc. and I wanted to add a sway bar (my truck didn't have a rear sway stock). There are bolt-on aftermarket solutions of the style where the sway bar is on the axle, but the "arms" and end links go forward and would interfere with my aftermarket fuel tank and skid on the driver's side. I wasn't willing to give up the fuel tank, as range is one of my favorite things about this rig. I was looking into fabbing something more like my WJ where the sway bar is chassis-mounted behind the axle, with the arms going forward and the end links connecting down to the axle.

So, with alllllllllllllllllllllll of this the Kelderman just made sense, the cost isn't that different than custom leaves and sway bar fab, and there are just so many benefits:

• The 4-link setup will allow dialing in axle position perfectly
• Going to 100% air with auto-leveling solves all the questions about spring rates and/or lift amount - it takes care of itself (after setting the initial ride height at level without the camper)
• With the manual over-ride of the auto-leveling I can still park nose-low and drop the tail, or use the bags to level left to right at camp
• With as much travel as the Kelderman system has I can actually use it to help with loading/unloading the camper
• The Kelderman kit adds a sway bar, in exactly the manner I had thought of

Some pics of the Kelderman kit (mine will be powder coated a textured black):











-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Long overdue update...

Kelderman is basically all buttoned up. Waiting on longer coil overs for the front to get the front ride height just right and not lose any travel. The front actually clears (we cycled front and rear, including lock to lock with a forklift) believe it or not. The rear is actually not as bad as it looks, but will take cutting. The Kelderman sway limits articulation somewhat, but I'm fine with that since this isn't a rock crawler. Still a ton of little things to do, but I should be taking it on a trip again at the end of March.












-TJ

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

That looks really good. I’m a bif fan of Chassis Unlimited bumpers. I run that too. The 12k winch is super tight fit inside. I had to move my controls to underhood. Wi would like to know how the kelderman rides over time.

 

[dp454so]

Long overdue update...

Kelderman is basically all buttoned up. Waiting on longer coil overs for the front to get the front ride height just right and not lose any travel. The front actually clears (we cycled front and rear, including lock to lock with a forklift) believe it or not. The rear is actually not as bad as it looks, but will take cutting. The Kelderman sway limits articulation somewhat, but I'm fine with that since this isn't a rock crawler. Still a ton of little things to do, but I should be taking it on a trip again at the end of March.

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-TJ

Sweet Jesus that is an awesome rig.

 

[tjZ06]

That looks really good. I’m a bif fan of Chassis Unlimited bumpers. I run that too. The 12k winch is super tight fit inside. I had to move my controls to underhood. Wi would like to know how the kelderman rides over time.

It's definitely a tight fit, but it's the only bumper for these trucks I like... I mean really it's the only one I found I didn't haaate and it just turns out I actually like it. I'll probably end up doing their rear bumper eventually too. Hopefully the Kelderman ride won't change over time, since there aren't metal springs to fatigue over time. Of course, eventually the shocks will wear out but assuming I keep the shocks rebuilt on a reasonable schedule though, and eventually replace bushings/joints as needed it should stay consistent over time/miles.

Sweet Jesus that is an awesome rig.

Thanks... it's getting there!

-TJ

 

[dp454so]

It's definitely a tight fit, but it's the only bumper for these trucks I like... I mean really it's the only one I found I didn't haaate and it just turns out I actually like it. I'll probably end up doing their rear bumper eventually too. Hopefully the Kelderman ride won't change over time, since there aren't metal springs to fatigue over time. Of course, eventually the shocks will wear out but assuming I keep the shocks rebuilt on a reasonable schedule though, and eventually replace bushings/joints as needed it should stay consistent over time/miles.



Thanks... it's getting there!

-TJ

Sure thing. Not a pre runner but What kind of travel numbers will you be looking at ?

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

Yeah, they are the only winch bumper I liked as well. I have the octane version on my Ram. I really want to do the dual swing rear bumper as well. Only issue is I work out of the bed everyday. So I would want to take the swings off when not needed.

 

[dp454so]

Yeah, they are the only winch bumper I liked as well. I have the octane version on my Ram. I really want to do the dual swing rear bumper as well. Only issue is I work out of the bed everyday. So I would want to take the swings off when not needed.

Isn’t this the truth. One major complaint I have is how poor the selection of bumpers is for GM 1500/2500 trucks. I look at companies like CBI that makes beautiful bumpers for Toyotas and really wish we had some options like that for our bigger trucks. (End rant, but let me know if I’m missing a magical company out there that’s making them)

 

[tjZ06]

Sure thing. Not a pre runner but What kind of travel numbers will you be looking at ?

Not really sure, we'll cycle it the best we can fully hooked up to try to get real-world numbers (not some theoretical number it can't actually achieve configured how I'll use it) that said, it's not a "long travel" setup by any means. The front coil over is being changed to a 12" travel, FWIW, but the motion ratio isn't 1:1. For the rear I can prob find a travel estimate in Kelderman doco... we didn't really change the rear from how they set it up.

Yeah, they are the only winch bumper I liked as well. I have the octane version on my Ram. I really want to do the dual swing rear bumper as well. Only issue is I work out of the bed everyday. So I would want to take the swings off when not needed.

I would like to do their rear swing rear bumper too, but with the FWC it's basically a no-go. I'd have to pull the swings off every time I want to take the camper on/off. Of course, I don't really envision taking the camper on/off that, and really haven't taken it off much since I've owned it.

That said, I'm perfectly happy with my RIG'd setup, in fact I LOVE it.

Isn’t this the truth. One major complaint I have is how poor the selection of bumpers is for GM 1500/2500 trucks. I look at companies like CBI that makes beautiful bumpers for Toyotas and really wish we had some options like that for our bigger trucks. (End rant, but let me know if I’m missing a magical company out there that’s making them)

Chevy, especially of my era, seem to be the LEAST supported.

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

Progress continues. Ride height-ish:


Dumped:


Bed trimming is done now, but wasn't done as-of those pics.

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

-TJ

 

[tjZ06]

-TJ