CrewMax Overlander

The post from @sdhq_offroad has me intrigued, but otherwise I may take you up on that.

 

I read that you're using a Cascadia 4x4 Flipster license plate holder on your Expedition One bumper. I'm looking to do the same and was just starting to look at all the pieces showing up. I'm trying to figure out how to fit the Flipster with the recessed winch opening. Any advice on how you mounted everything? Did you use the V2?

 

bumper then flipster then fairlead. yes, it's the v2. let me know if you need a picture of anything.

see what?

 

yes, mine is mounted 'upside down'. it flips down. i should have mentioned that earlier. it does not interfere with the winch line in any way. i'll grab a pic in a few.

 

okey dokey. secondary bypasses are back on.

i ordered some new mount (shock and resi) tabs from the kind folks at @TOTAL CHAOS. last friday, @ColoradoTJ helped weld them on. since the camburg kinetik arms so much larger than tubular arms, there were some clearance issues with the original mounts. i cut those off and we welded the new ones on about 5/8" further back than TC's original location. i also cut a little bit more out of the fender well for just a little extra breathing room.

once the upper mounts were in, i now have about 1/2" clearance between shock body and arm on the driver side and about 5/16" on the passenger side. more about that in a bit but it's a whole lot more than what i had originally.

chris and i debated almost ad nauseum about where to put the bypass resis. my plans are solid mid-travel. long travel is not on my radar. i can hear you snickering and trying to contain the i-told-you-so remarks but, it's true. most likely. probably. i swear. anyway, that creates some clearance issues.

my wheels are +25 with 35x12.5 tires and there is an aggressive body mount chop. we tried multiple positions and finally settled on putting the resi mounts on the forward facing side of the hoop. we were pretty confident in the clearance but no, tires rubbed at full lock. no biggie. made it home and decided to look at it later.

i spent saturday morning futzing around with the resis. there are now mounted on the opposite of the hoop, down low and pushed in as far as possible. everything clears.

back to the clearance issue. i'm still scratching my head a little on that one and there's only a couple of things i can think of. one is that after welding in the shock hoops, the angle is slightly different between driver and passenger sides. the other is the heims on the driver and passenger side have a slightly different caster angle. the last one is a combination of the first two. i haven't gotten in there to count threads on the heim bolts yet but might. i think i'm also going to run for an alignment since the truck is due for that anyway.

i have not yet done any tuning to the bypasses, front or rear, nor have i changed anything on the coil overs. the front end is only slightly stiffer and handles amazingly well. i do have new valve stacks for the coil overs and will be taking care of those in the next couple of weeks. i've got a couple of roads picked for tuning runs but the weather needs to clear up a bit before i can get up there. hoping that will be soon. in the meantime, i'm aiming for every pothole and jumping every curb...

 

Teaser

 

what did you do with the washer fluid?

 

Currently working on that. We will be relocating/replacing it.

 

looking forward to seeing the rest of it. seems to be an easy spot for mounting the secondary. unfortunately, it won't work for me since my compressor is mounted in that location.

 

Sweet build! I Will be in Denver in a few weeks, hope to see you around!

 

Crazy journey. Solid build. Have you gotten around to regearing yet? Bad boy looks heavy.

 

Where did you order your taillights bro?

 

Sick!!

 

Sean, you still here??? This build thread needs updating!

 

This is interesting but I am in the process of adding my onboard air and my Up/Down Air system and everything is right there where you guys put the battery. Bummer.

What was the other thing revealed at T2S that I missed? I was there and did not hear of anything being announced... but was busy with the dogs

 

miss this guy. Hope all is well brother.

 

Yep me to. Never met the man, bit seems like a very solid guy. I hpe all is well with and his family.
Thanks for posting that @TheBeast

 

Thanks you sir. Been worried about him
Seemed to have alot of tough stuff going on. I had been meaning to pm you or @Coloradatj and see if he was ok

 

i'm still breathing. crazy town is only somewhat of a valid description of how things have been. appreciate the concern. i'll try to crawl out from under my rock and check in more often.

quite a few updates on the truck...

 

can't remember where i left things but i don't think i've put in any details on the dual battery setup. i'm going to preface this by saying it was not easy. it was probably the most difficult and time consuming project next to the big 4 wire upgrade.

anyway, i used the xfaktr unicorn dual battery tray. well, maybe it's not an unicorn anymore but it works and it's well machined. space is tight. like really really tight. so it starts...



yes, those are 2 odyssey pc1500 batteries. here's the bottom of the tray.



the batteries stand vertical with the posts facing the fuse box. the bottom and top of the tray match the contours of the batteries. once the batteries are in, you really can't get in there to do anything.



since everything is so tight, there were fitment issues. regular terminals don't fit which bummed me out because i really liked the machined ones from @sdhq_offroad that i have. hunting around a bit, i came across these machined flat terminals. however, the lip on the back of the top tray was touching the terminal. no bueno. angle grinder to the rescue.



after that it was just a matter of mounting, wiring and trying not to zap myself since everything had to get connected on the way in. i failed on the last point and there's a nice scorch mark on the ratchet as a reminder.



once that was done, it was time to put in the switch and a volt meter. since i no longer have stock headlights, there was really no need for the level switch. out it came.



a wee bit of trimming with the dremel and the switch went in perfectly.



now, time for the volt meter.



the dual battery kit came from off grid engineering. all the necessary pieces and they are great guys to deal with. made the whole thing almost painless.

i also finished the panel in the bed of the truck. on current pictures though. on the panel, is a renogy solar controller and a blue sea switch panel with a usb socket, a 12v socket and another volt meter. blue sea stuff came from the guys at off grid as well. the blue sea panel, and the fridge, are wired to the fuse block attached to the secondary battery. running the cable for those two things to the front of the truck was a process.

i have 2 100w solar panels that i never got to mounting over the summer. i've been working on my welding and my current thought is to build a mounting tray for two batteries. i have room behind the fridge and will bolt that to the deck just like the fridge. panels will go on the rack and i'll have a short wiring run, less than 6', to get from the solar controller to the batteries. wiring for fridge and blue sea panel will then go to the solar battery bank leaving the second battery up front for jump start duties only.

main reason i'm waiting on all that is because i want to go fiberglass fenders all the way around...

i can't report too much on the suspension setup is running. i was only able to put the truck into the dirt twice this summer. when it was in the dirt though, no sway bar up front and secondary bypasses are pretty kick ass.

 

one of 2 trips where the truck actually saw dirt this summer...

 

That's sweet!! Thank you for sharing.

 

re-gear has not happened yet. i had pennies saved and then they blew away. saving again. debating 5.29s and 37s...

 

Any updates?

 

sorry to disappoint but, no. still in a bit of a rough patch these days so, the truck sits. it's been driven maybe 200 miles in the past few months. there are a number of things that need to be fixed. alignment, bypass hoses need shortened on the secondaries and the switchpro needs replacement.

 

Amazing build thread!! Thank you!

 

not truck related but... new promo materials for the studio are finally here.



went for letterpress business cards this time around and so happy i did. this is my third portfolio book from lost luggage and i just love them.