Pathfinder III
- 5,200
- First Name
- Kent
- Last Name
- Reynolds
- Member #
-
1632
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- K6KNT
- Service Branch
- Retired Firefighter
Welcome to Overland BoundHello Everyone,
Another newbie here from Sacramento. I've been trolling your forum for a few months now for Ideas on how to set up my truck and decided to join last night. I am new to overlanding but certainly not new to camping as I grew up at the base of the Sierra Foothills in a town called Sutter Creek. Camping was a way of life growing up. As we get older and beach house rentals and cabins are easier to afford, I have strayed away from it for a handful of years. At 43, I now have my first child who is now almost 2. I know, Late start but loving every minute of it. At the very least, I have a new reason to get back into the hills to share some of the experiences I was afforded growing up. As my back gets a little older, the Idea of being elevated in a RTT with a memory foam mattress sounds much more appealing. When we found out we were expecting, it was time to move on from my old 2000 silverado that I had just lifted and changed every bushing and bolt in the suspension for a truck with less miles (it had 185k) as I would be hauling around a newborn. So fast forward and 2 trucks later i found this 2016 GMC that seemed to be a good fit for the family fun vehicle. I have a thing about buying anyone else's projects as I am a bit picky about letting anyone turn a wrench on my vehicles. When I went to check out this truck I quickly noticed it appeared that all of the work had been done by a dealership as all of the bolts on the lift and aftermarket parts had pink sealant and strike marks on them. The side steps and push-bumber have gm part numbers on them. I took it for a ride and it drove like a dream. Its a half tom SLT premium Z71 with almost every option available. It has a 6" pro comp lift, Rancho Struts and shocks, and 35x12.5 Toyo RT's. For the size of it I'm very happy with how it drives and handles. My wife (who loves lifted trucks) drives it more than I do these days. I just picked it up in February and haven't had much time to get it off road due to an impacted work load stemming from Covid. So yes for the time being it's a "Mall Crawler". I've started to acquire the parts to build the DC system to be able to handle a couple days off grid and a nice safety back up in the event of a dead start battery.
I started with replacing the start battery with an X2 power deep cell/start battery. I added another larger 100ah X2 deep cell for the auxiliary battery. To tie them together, I picked up a Redarc 200 amp isolator that'll be switched for jump starting and winching. To charge the aux battery, i bought the Redarc DC-DC charger that will also accept solar for added charging. For an inverter, I wanted to also have the capabilities to plug into shore power in the event I get to a site with power so I ordered the Xantrex xc freedom 2000 watt inverter/charger. Should be on its way. I just need to order the 2/0 batt cable for the inverter and I will be ready to spend a weekend getting the power side all done. Being an industrial electrician my whole adult life led me to decide to build out the power side of the truck before ordering all of the cool Overland gear. I've definitely spent some time scouring your forum for inspiration and cant wait to get back out in the mountains.
Don't hesitate to message your Regional Director @Narbob if you have any questions. For local information about trips and meet-ups contact your NorCal Member Representative; Sac/Foothills @Magic Mike
Check the forum calendar and Meet-Up page for events, and the Trip Planning page for trips being planned by members. These pages can be filtered by region.
Overland Bound Meetups
Overland Trip Planning
Some local meet-ups you might be interested in;
Sierra Foothills Overlanders, El Dorado County CA
US West - Sierra Foothills Overlanders Monthly OLB meet-up/meeting.
Gold Country Monthly Meet-up. Auburn CA
https://www.overlandbound.com/event/gold-country-monthly-meetup/
Elk Grove, CA
US West - Overland Bound Elk Grove, CA Meetup
Quick adult & youthTread Lightly online awareness course.
Tread Lightly | Online Courses
Tread Lightly! Youth Online Course