Greetings... Just joined this forum in hopes of being a productive member, and to learn as much as possible about Overlanding/Expeditioning.
Just purchased a 2003 Ford Expedition with 137k miles on it from the original owner. New brakes, tires (Goodyear DuraTracs 265/17), ball joints, spar plugs, battery, etc... He really took care of it...
We bought this to have as a more capable family vehicle for Idaho winters (mild snowy conditions), as opposed to our last two minivans (Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna). My wife commutes a lot each day, and there were a couple times last year when her commuter car (Mitsu sedan) got a bit stuck.... so.... NO MORE OF THAT!
The first weekend we had it we decided to do some campsite exploration, research for next year... So we drove to Garden Valley/Crouch area to explore around there and eat lunch at Two Rivers Restaurant. It did really well.
The second weekend we took it to Idaho City for campsite exploration and to eat at Trudy's. On the way down we went down Robie Creek Rd, and found people four wheeling across the river by the boat ramps... So, we engaged 4wd, took off down that road into some thick mud, then did a fabulous creek crossing... Everyone was excited... even the dog.... The hook had been set....
The third weekend we went to Succor Creek campsite to look for Thundereggs but came up empty... So we checked out some of the jeep trails and found that our running boards didn't have the clearance we expected, but the Expedition itself was very capable. We decided to continue on to Leslie Gulch, then to Owyhee Reservoir. It was at that dead end that I decided we needed some GPS help (I thought the dirt road leading to Owyhee Reservoir went to the boat ramp, which connected to the paved road, but it actually went to a secondary boat ramp on the other side of the lake). It was at this point I realized we need some recovery options in case we get stuck... So I picked up a small shovel at D&B for $10, and a 20' x 2" Smittybilt recovery strap at 4WheelParts for $17
Last weekend (fourth weekend) we took off on a much bigger adventure to Featherville/Pine area. I had just downloaded the Gaia app on the iPad, and had the iPad mounted to the dash, confident I could hotspot to my iPhone and piggyback on its internal GPS chip (an assisted GPS I know, but better than nothing)... I probably should have tried this in the garage before leaving, because it didn't work. So, we had to use the Gaia app on my iPhone during the trip. This was better than nothing, and worked ok most of the time until we got way back in the middle of nowhere. I didn't really Google Map the trip at all, instead relying on the mapping from the Gaia app and road signs, which was a mistake (I obviously need to learn the software a bit better). This mistake ended up taking us down a washboard dirt road for about 30 miles until we reach Pine, and met up with the paved road I thought we would be on (we took that road home later). The mistake was ok though because of the amazing scenery on the west side of Anderson Ranch Reservoir, and all the backwoods driving... It actually made me realize a couple more things: Really need a GPS receiver, need to have a way to air the tires down for dirt roads, then back up for the drive home...
So this week I ordered a few things: Bad Elf GPS Pro+ receiver ($214), Traction Boards (X-Bull on Amazon for $89), Smittybilt air compressor (SB2780 $67), Trailhead Deflators set for 22lbs ($56), and a 2" strut lift courtesy of a half off sale at Truxxx ($147), a Smittybilt Inclinometer app (for fun, 99 cents) and a Gaia premium membership for $29.99.
Now I'm waiting on things to arrive so I can test them out before the next outing, and am forming plans to build a roof rack from scratch and use the stock Ford Expedition roof tracks...
I'm attaching a few before pictures of the vehicle from the for sale ad... I don't currently have any filthy pictures of it, but I can assure you it is filthy LOL....
Just purchased a 2003 Ford Expedition with 137k miles on it from the original owner. New brakes, tires (Goodyear DuraTracs 265/17), ball joints, spar plugs, battery, etc... He really took care of it...
We bought this to have as a more capable family vehicle for Idaho winters (mild snowy conditions), as opposed to our last two minivans (Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna). My wife commutes a lot each day, and there were a couple times last year when her commuter car (Mitsu sedan) got a bit stuck.... so.... NO MORE OF THAT!
The first weekend we had it we decided to do some campsite exploration, research for next year... So we drove to Garden Valley/Crouch area to explore around there and eat lunch at Two Rivers Restaurant. It did really well.
The second weekend we took it to Idaho City for campsite exploration and to eat at Trudy's. On the way down we went down Robie Creek Rd, and found people four wheeling across the river by the boat ramps... So, we engaged 4wd, took off down that road into some thick mud, then did a fabulous creek crossing... Everyone was excited... even the dog.... The hook had been set....
The third weekend we went to Succor Creek campsite to look for Thundereggs but came up empty... So we checked out some of the jeep trails and found that our running boards didn't have the clearance we expected, but the Expedition itself was very capable. We decided to continue on to Leslie Gulch, then to Owyhee Reservoir. It was at that dead end that I decided we needed some GPS help (I thought the dirt road leading to Owyhee Reservoir went to the boat ramp, which connected to the paved road, but it actually went to a secondary boat ramp on the other side of the lake). It was at this point I realized we need some recovery options in case we get stuck... So I picked up a small shovel at D&B for $10, and a 20' x 2" Smittybilt recovery strap at 4WheelParts for $17
Last weekend (fourth weekend) we took off on a much bigger adventure to Featherville/Pine area. I had just downloaded the Gaia app on the iPad, and had the iPad mounted to the dash, confident I could hotspot to my iPhone and piggyback on its internal GPS chip (an assisted GPS I know, but better than nothing)... I probably should have tried this in the garage before leaving, because it didn't work. So, we had to use the Gaia app on my iPhone during the trip. This was better than nothing, and worked ok most of the time until we got way back in the middle of nowhere. I didn't really Google Map the trip at all, instead relying on the mapping from the Gaia app and road signs, which was a mistake (I obviously need to learn the software a bit better). This mistake ended up taking us down a washboard dirt road for about 30 miles until we reach Pine, and met up with the paved road I thought we would be on (we took that road home later). The mistake was ok though because of the amazing scenery on the west side of Anderson Ranch Reservoir, and all the backwoods driving... It actually made me realize a couple more things: Really need a GPS receiver, need to have a way to air the tires down for dirt roads, then back up for the drive home...
So this week I ordered a few things: Bad Elf GPS Pro+ receiver ($214), Traction Boards (X-Bull on Amazon for $89), Smittybilt air compressor (SB2780 $67), Trailhead Deflators set for 22lbs ($56), and a 2" strut lift courtesy of a half off sale at Truxxx ($147), a Smittybilt Inclinometer app (for fun, 99 cents) and a Gaia premium membership for $29.99.
Now I'm waiting on things to arrive so I can test them out before the next outing, and am forming plans to build a roof rack from scratch and use the stock Ford Expedition roof tracks...
I'm attaching a few before pictures of the vehicle from the for sale ad... I don't currently have any filthy pictures of it, but I can assure you it is filthy LOL....
