ffirg's 02 DC Build

Awesome. that’s what I’m looking for. I really don’t like waiting for 12v compressors lol.

So my next decision is if I should get it hydro tested before spending the money on a regulator and hose. I would think that’s the wise thing to do. Or maybe take somewhere that swaps rather than fills tanks and hope they don’t notice its 30 years old...

 

If you take it to get swapped they just swap it and mark it to be re hydro tested. Be like 30-40 bucks for a swap. That said. I would advise trying to find a place the just fills them so you know you're getting a full tank every time.

My nice bottle was expired and i regrettably just swapped it instead of just getting it hydro tested. But the wait was too long.

 

Yeah I called a few places and I think one fills your bottle but it takes 3 days to two weeks. And the other one either swaps them or can fill them but it takes 3-4 weeks because they send them down to the Seattle area to fill.

 

Yeah send them to Denver here. Used to be able to fill it in my small town. I think now i can get it filled in Billings probably. only 30mins away.

 

What size tank do you have any how often are you having to fill it?

I honesty will only use it a few times per year so I’m not too worried about it but I’m curious.

 

I have a 20lb. It usually lasts me over a year. And thats getting a lot of use really. Plus 35s, or my 33s on Igor, so it lasts fairly long. I've only run out once on the trail.

 

Wow. Yeah and I’m sure you use it a lot more than I do haha. That’s good to hear. I gotta come up with a way to mount it in the bed. Maybe I can finally use some of the scrap wood I have left over from replacing the floorboards in my boat lol.

 

cheapest and most secure mount I can think of is a quickfist. They make one thats pretty big and will fit on the bottle.

 

Oh right I always forget about those. They’re great. I wonder if one on the bed rail would be enough to hold it in place. I think the 20lb bottle is tall enough it would work pretty good.

 

Yes i think it would work fine. Pretty sure people do that a lot.

 

**crickets**

I was super close to selling the truck to get an F-150 recently. But I decided I just can’t handle a vehicle payment right now.

I also took a road trip to McCarthy and loved every second of the trip. The truck performed great, I camped at a few spots I would not have taken an F-150.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip.

Night #1 on the banks of the Taszlina River. I was lucky the water was still low because this is usually under water. We camped here the last night as well. Awesome place to camp with lots of drift wood for good fires. Keep in mind these pictures were taken just before midnight.







Day #2

Above the Copper River





The Alyeska Pipeline. I’ve lived here my entire life and this was the first time I’ve seen it.





As close as you can get to McCarthy before taking the foot bridge into town.



Kennecott Mine Mill building. 14 stories of pure awesomeness. It’s amazing it’s still standing. It’s over 100 years old. And we walked through every level.















All that dirt in the background has about a 500’ thick sheet of ice under it. The dirt is 1’ thick. Further up the glacier it is apparently a few thousand feet thick.



Where we camped night 2



Some sweet local rides.







On the way back we stopped to take some pictures of the original railroad bridges. Most are fallen apart but some of them still exist. Or at least parts of them.







This is the only steel bridge they built for the railroad in 1911. It’s now a single lane bridge for vehicles. It has guardrails now so it wasn’t too sketchy, but they weren’t installed until the late 80s-eary 90s so the pucker factor was much higher. I think the valley it spans is 240 feet or so high.



Copper river aka Mars.



The last night we camped at the same spot as the first night. Conveniently in the middle of the trip and a really cool spot.

 

Looks like a great time!

 

It really was. The drive was amazing. Great scenery. I usually take the mountains and glaciers for granted but this trip was just incredible. Highly recommend it if anybody is thinking about going. The 60 miles of dirt on the McCarthy road isn’t nearly as bad as it once was. Most of the railroad spikes have been picked up by now.

 

How cold was it? Just curious. Amazing pics too

 

At night it was getting pretty cold in the upper 30s. But during the day it was in the 60s in the sun.

 

Great build thread... any updates on that OME setup?

 

Thanks man. I still like the OME stuff. I really like the front but the rear leaves something to be desired for me. I always have a lot of weight in the bed and the springs just don't hold much weight even with the AAL. I mean they are way better than stock for weight capacity, but i was hoping for more. I really should get a custom pack from Deaver one of these days but I'm not quite ready. I need to replace my camper shell before I drop any serious cash on other mods.

 

Ah ok, thinking about this exact setup. I do use the truck for loads occasionally but I don’t haul a trailer or don’t have plans to pack it to the hilt so I may be ok with the Dakar and AAL. I may just go ahead and do the relocation plates off the bat. Thoughts? Will the shackles they come with be sufficient? Any suggestion for trim packers up front for taco lean?

 

I think for 95% of people the Dakars w/ AAL is more than sufficient. I just expect too much out of my truck haha.

I have axle relocation plates but I never installed them. They are actually slightly rusted together sitting in my garage right now...And I also went with the trim packer to prevent taco lean but i still have a very noticeable driver side lean. That is another thing that bothers me but it's only cosmetic.

 

Hmm ok. While I install this suspension I should just do the relocation plate and be done with it, and perhaps get the correct trim packer for the front. Any suggestion on where to buy the relo plates from?