Whiskey's 2013 Intoxicated "build"

Hi everyone. I just confirmed my order for a 2013 DCSB 4x4 6 speed. It's going to be black, even though I was hoping for a white truck. The dealer was going to take about 3 months to deliver a white truck... So, black it is. Delivery will be 22 June. I'm getting a pretty good deal so I'm not too worried about the color.

My overarching goal is to build an "expedition" ready truck. As in a jack of all trades, but master of none. I want to be able to follow rough forest service trails to remote areas and spend a weekend/week camping, fishing, and hunting with the truck as a base. Also, I will be doing all of the work myself to the utmost possible.

Short term goals (3-6 months) include: 2-3" lift and bigger tires. I want a solid foundation to start building upon. I will be purchasing Icon extended travel coilovers, with Icons and an Alcan leaf pack in the rear. I'll put some "meatier" tires on the stock rims and go from there. Also on the short-list are skidplates and seat covers.

Long term goals (6 months-2 years) include: building a bed rack (might have to contract that one out since my welding skills are a little rusty), installing a roof rack, light bars, air compressor, and plate bumpers.

Things I give a shit about: Anything that will improve the functionality of the truck while keeping my overarching goal in mind. Quality of the parts I put on the truck since I hate doing something twice for poor workmanship. Pride in my work.

Things I don't give a shit about: superficial mods that cost me a lot of money and don't do much of anything but improve cosmetic details.

I've been lurking for a few months, reading through build threads and getting lots of ideas on how I want the truck to look, but I'm definitely open to other ideas.

I'm looking forward to talking to everyone and getting more ideas.



I picked up my truck from the dealer one 14 June 2013 with 9 miles on the clock. This is a picture of the truck when I got home:

This is how it looked right after putting the Suspension and tires on it:




and how it looks now:



Mods I have but have not installed:

BAMF Bed Rack w/rotopax and hi-lift mounts (being fabricated)
Tepui RTT
Ultra Guage


Mods I have installed:

Icon mid-travel coilovers
Icon m/t RR rears
OME Dakar leafs for the back
DSM boxed UCAs
30" OKled light bar
set of bedside decals from steelcityairman
ImMrYo rearview mirror bracket
Wheelers Offroad Steel wheels
Treadwright Guard Dogs 285 75R 16

Always drink,
Whiskey Neat

 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I ordered a DCSB 4x4 SR5 SW that should be here in the next few days. I have a lot of the same ideas as you. Basically modding it with practical and useful mods to make it get me in and out of situations I may get in to. Looking forward to start the modding trip.

 

Your plan sounds a lot like mine. I am a great deal of the way through my build but where I am now is to build an inside the topper bed rack so that I can have places for mounting recovery items but not lose as much bed space.

 

Skid plates and sliders!!! Dont forget about them!!!

 

Native, I've definitely looked through your build during my "lurking" and I'm taking some inspiration from you. What part of Colorado do you live in? I grew up in Evergreen.

 

Nice dude. I wish I only had a couple days to wait, but sometimes good things take time. Where are you going to be "adventuring" mostly?

 

Skid plates are on my "short list" for sure. Gotta get the expensive shit out of the way first. And besides, there are no trails in the keys. The closest trails I can get to are 2-3 hours away, and not very rocky. So sliders and plates are low ish priority.

 

I felt the same way you do when I started. I think some of the most practical mods on my truck that I love the most are, the Retro lights, hood struts, bed lights, weathertechs, and wet okaley seat covers. The lift, tires, armor, and everything else came with time. Being a daily driver, I felt that the practical mods helped me not only enjoy my truck more, but prolonged the life of the truck. When I was starting with my mods, I would think about what I would get the most use out of first. I now wheel when can, but at first, never left the pavement, which is why the armor was on the bottom of my list. If you plan on wheeling a lot, then I would say armor before lift and tires. The truck is pretty capable in stock form....just my $.02

 

I live in Fort Collins now and have a cabin in red feather. Where do you live now?
If I had it to do over again I would start with sliders and then lift then whatever floats your boat! Looking forward to seeing what you make happen!

 

That's pretty awesome, I've always loved Ft Collins. Hopefully the fire season doesn't get out of control again this year for you guys. How much do you get to get up to your cabin? That area looks pretty awesome.

I edited my last post about the trails around here, it should have read "not very rocky" instead of "very rocky" that's what I get for using my tablet...

Slimwood, those are all good ideas. I'll definitely be going with the floor mats, seat covers, and hood struts pretty early on. I have enough in the bank to pick up some tires and a good lift kit right now, so I'm going to knock those out pretty quick too. Everything else is pretty small potatoes compared to the $4-5k that's going to cost. Don't get me wrong, plates and sliders are on the list, but there are not many places I would need anything like that here. Other than getting through some deep water and mud, I don't really need a lift and tires either, but leaving the truck stock isn't much fun now is it?

BTW, your build is pretty awesome. How long have you been in the Army?

 

Thanks a lot....been in for 14 years now....

 

I'm pretty worried about the fire season, especially since I have property up there now, but worrying doesn't help, it will do what it will do. We go up every couple weekends during the school year but will probably stay up there during the week and come back to Fort Collins on the weekends now that we have the time off. Pretty excited to wheel, fish and camp on a daily/weekly basis for this summer.

 

Things are definitely not off to a good start with C. Springs getting hammered again. Your summer sounds pretty much idyllic. I'm jealous.

 

I put my long weekend to good use.

Installed a full lift all by myself:





Lessons I learned: it pays to have friends around to help. Unfortunately all of mine were busy for the long 4th of July weekend, so I did it alone. It sucked.

Powertools are awesome, I should have had more. next time I do a big project like this, I'm getting an impact driver. My hands are sore from all the wrenching.

The stock "skid plate" feels as sharp as a samurai sword when heavy things crush your hands into it. All of the blood I donated was due to that damn skid plate. I should have taken it off sooner.

 

Also, over the past few weeks I knocked out a few other little things.

OK LED light bar:


ImMrYo mirror bracket (this thing is awesome):


Bedside decal by SteelCityAirman:


I added some sweet stickers to the bottom of the hood (thanks for the inspiration Spoonman):




I also installed the Salex glovebox and center console organizers, very awesome!


Next up are skid plates, then a bed rack, then a tent. Gotta replenish the savings account first