Burt, The Old Man With friends Daryl and Donna

We also completed out Seat Delete getting rid of the useless backseats in the super cab and gaining a ton of space.
Made of 3/4" Ply and outdoor carpet.

We left height for a stack of 4 maxtrax, the plan if they are muddy and dirty is to just toss them in a trash bag for now, eventually considering a snowboard bag since they are often waterproof and about the same size.

There are also 1/4-20 T-nuts throughout in a 2'' spacing to allow for future mods to be bolted in depending on what is needed for the trip or event.

We also took the time to sound deaden the rear wall of the truck which made a huge difference. Combined with the carpeted boards the cab is noticeably quieter than before.

 

Sliders for Daryl were Primed, painted and installed this weekend.

Picked up some Gloss black tractor paint. It seems like once its cured it will have a nice hard coating that fingers crossed lasts a few years.


While I had everything set up, I made sure to paint up the LCA for Burt. They got sand blasted when I did the sliders and some King rod ends for a custom.


We let it cure overnight, which was not long enough as the paint stuff got some glove prints while moving them in place for welding. But nothing a quick sand and light coat can't fix in a couple weeks.
Then they got welded on. They seem super strong and I was able to lift the truck on one side with about 1/2" deflection. On a 10K pound truck I will take it as a win.

I am very happy with the results even if its been my least favorite fabrication project I have ever done.

They are 110" Long and 8" Wide, sticking out 1.5" past the tires. But will fit equal if a +18 offset wheel and 12.50 tire in the future.


I am happy its all wrapped up. Ready for the Trip to Expo West.

 

Maintenance was also completed this weekend.
We had some Turbo surging in 5th under heavy loads so I swapped out the VGT solenoid and so far it has fixed the issues. The Passes on I70 will prove if its fully fixed or not.
Oil Change
Fuel Filters x2
Air Filter
External Transmission Filter were also all changed out.
Steering box was also tightened which reduced the play to almost nothing.




I wrapped up maintenance this morning with and oil change on Burt, 295,144, Next change at 300K.
I also tested out the Eggo Holder Mod

 

Seat Delete Part 2
A small update on the build of Daryl till I have time to do the trip write up of the last two weeks in Utah.
I wanted a small platform for that made the space above my tools useful, so I got some extrusions and build a small boxthat stores the frontrunner box, straps, and air compressor.

I got fancy with this one and even routed the 3/4 ply to sit flush in the aluminium frame. It takes a ton of time but looks really good when finished. I decided to paint the side panels and my wife carpeted the top panel as a place for the dog to hang out.


It fits everything perfectly, The Ironman Air Compressor has been good but it showing some issues only about 15-20 air ups in. So I have a ARB twin that will take its place and mount under the seat delete.

On the last trip it was so awesome to have storage and keep everything organized. With the sound deadening behind the rear wall it made the truck a good amount quieter.

 

Looks good
I need to get off my can and figure out how to work that stuff for my build

 

3/4" plywood? Uh, how heavy is your dog?

 

If he is like me, I end up overbuilding things because that is all I had.

 

I just wanted an excuse to see a pic of the dog really lol

 

Shes small, its just what we had laying around from the rest of the seat delete and what we had for the 4runners 3rd row delete. Its overkill, but easy to work with and this truck could care less about the extra few pounds.

 

@Speedytech7
Its my Wife's dog, 10 year old Havanese. She loves camping and traveling with us.

 

My Wife did a quick mod to her 4runner while I as at work.
She absolutely hates the chrome badging on her SR5 so we picked up some badge covers for them to black them out.


I think a 3rd Row Delete is coming up next, then probably a toss up between suspension and dual battery next. Now that Daryl is all wrapped up for a while.

 

We picked up a rack from my friends over at Sherpa. Delaney wanted one for her paddleboards and incase we ever wanted to throw the tent up on Donna for a trip. Since they are local to us I ran up and picked it up on monday after work, within an hour of getting home we had it all assembled and on Donna. They really make these racks stupid easy to install.



Suspension is on order as well, we picked up a Ironman Foal Cell Pro kit, as well as the Ironman Lo Pro front Bumper. I am going to pull the VR8s Evo out of Burt and it will go in here. My Warn 9.5 XP-S will go back into burt after a 3 year absences while it was mounted up in my Ranger. This will all be happening in July.

 

Trip Report Time before I get into the latest on Burt.
This was the big trip we have been prepping Daryl for, 12 days down to Arizona and Utah after Overland Expo.
After work on Wednesday 5/14 we took off to meet up with some friends that left earlier in the day to make out way to Overland Expo West in Flagstaff. We pulled in late to camp around 11pm south of Utah and quickly got some sleep, out drive over the passes was pretty easy, I'm still fighting some EGT issues and surging in the truck but as long as I stayed in 4th I had no issues. I think an Intercooler is on the list to drop some temp.

This is an area I have stayed in a few times on my drives south, its just passes halfway leaving around 5 hours to Flagstaff. Making it easy to get to the show and load in Thursday.
We had a pretty solid group for the drive do of friends, customers and Coworkers.

Matt even busted out the Microwave for Lunch.

We Loaded into the show camping in the FWC booth and set up for a few days of hanging out before we headed out into the wild.
After a massive lack of photos at the show, walking around and seeing friends we left Sunday afternoon and shot north to the north eastern edge of the Grand Canyon.



The trucks you will see in the group,
Daryl our 2006 F250 FWC CampOut
Nate in the Dark gray Ram FWC Hawk, Friend
Matt in the Silver Ram FWC Hawk+, My boss
Chris in the White Ram OEV Hudson Bay, a customer of ours/Friend
Tanner in the Silver F150 FWC Project M, CoWorker
Tim in the Gladiator FWC Project M, Friend/Customer
Jon in the Tundra Mits Tray and Canopy, Friend/ComeUp Winch
Vill, in the White Tundra Project M, Friend/ Krave Automotive in Canada.

 

Everyone rolled out of camper fairly early since we had a big day over just over 100 miles of dirt to hit and some cool stops I had planned along the way.
We took off in the lead as I planned the route, and my lack of cabin air filter would suck in the back of the pack. Leaving he Campsite we passed Rob from Revere Overland, as well as saw Walt from TAV, Tactical Application Vehicles testing out on some parts on the Ranger Goat. After Overland Expo is when you see a lot of friends and familiar faced dotted around Arizona and Utah.

Out first stop was White Pocket in Arizona. There is a fun sand track in to a beautiful area to hike and explore rock formations similar to the Wave, but a little less busy. We had visited this are in last October and campered nearby. This was out Lunch stop for the day. I failed to take photos this visit to enjoy some that we took last time we were there.


After White Pocket we headed north to check off a bucket list place for me and a couple others on the trip. A quick run down the highway and a fuel stop in Big Water. (Some rigs on the trip didn't have long range fuel tanks so fuel stops were planned in every 150 miles.) We headed north to Alstrom Point, making good progress on dirt, and pushing as far out to the edge as we could. While windy we had scored a perfect camp spot.

We set up camp, and watched as golden hour took over. As I am writing this I am realizing I never pulled the photos off my actual camera, so I will be coming back to add some better photos in the coming days.

Tims Gladiator that has been on a fair few trips of mine.

Jons Tundra, a truly badass rig.

 

Day 2 Tuesday
Waking up before the sun to watch the sunrise over Powell was something I knew I had to do.



After the rest of the group slowly got up and moving, we enjoyed the first windless morning of the trip. Around 9 we left camp, making out way through the rocky ledges that take you what feels like the edge of the world. Today started off with a solid 80 mile run on dirt and trails to out next fuel stop.


We made our way up the SmokeyMountain Switchbacks
And over to the Coal fires vents. Just off the main road there is a underground coal fire that has been burning for an unknown amount of time. Some say hundreds of years, other say Thousands of years. There have been multiple attempts to put the fire out but all have failed. If you plan to visit, park a 1/4 or 1/2 mile from the vents, unless you want the very naxous sulfur smell to be stuck in your truck weeks.
The Vents have formed a Tar/Glass like coating around them and are very damp due to condensation and steam coming out of the vent.


Within a half mile radius there are well over a dozen of these vents.
Pushing hard I didn't stop of photos until later in the day. But after a few trails that were slightly rougher than expected we popped into Escalante a bit later than expected. After a quick fill up half the group decided to head directly to camp, and half decided to continue on the route and go up Hell's Backbone. A very stark contrast from where we woke up, heading high up into the hills and trees. The Backbone is a sharp spine of a ridge that have a vertical drop on both sides.

At one point the ridge becomes narrower than your truck as you drive out on a small bridge just one vehicle wide, over a canyon, with cliffs on both sides. Not a great road for those scared of heights.

Shooting down from the mountain the goal was to head through Capital Reef on the South Draw trail. This trail has been closed on and off the last couple years due to a construction project in the part blocking access. This time we were coming in from outside the park and were going to camp on the trail right at the edge of the NP. I had checked a dozen times to make sure it was open even checking 5/13 the day before we left. Turns out they decided to resume construction on 5/14. Closing the trail to through traffic and screwing us over for the next morning. After some choice words were said from me after failing this trail for the 3rd time. we found a nice camp to hang out and I figured out a new route for the morning.

Vill from Krave also pilled in to join us for the remained of the trip.

 

Day 3

We started off by Back tracking a few miles up to highway 12.
We shot over to Hanksville for an early lunch. If you are ever in Hanksville, Stans Burger Shack is a great stop.
Vill's Tundra

Matt's Ram

Our Shop F150 that Tanner was Driving

Big Daryl leading the way.

Tim's Gladiator


Soon enough we were back on dirt, heading up to camp for the night and a stop over south of Green River. A majority of the group was to peel off when we got up there. Though it would only be day 4 on the trip it had actually been over a week since most people had left home, some having to make it back to Washington before Monday morning.
After saying goodbye to Jon and Nate we were out in the desert again.

Our group of rigs.
Its wild how out of nowhere canyons seem to appear in Utah.

We had a quick stop to walk around a random patch of dunes.

Onward to camp.

 

Day 4

Waking up to a beautiful camp. We were ready for a good part of the group to peel off. But first we had to stop and see some Dinosaur bones.


Here is where pictures got better at camp and worse during the day. After most people headed home Vill and I headed into a completely new area for either of us. The Book Cliffs north of Moab really weren't on my radar at any point until earlier this year we pulled off to spend the night in them on the drive home and I was blown away with the area. Also knowing we wanted to get into the mountains since the temps were creeping into the 90s we headed into the hills.

Through some gorgeous area that I wish I stopped and got more photos of.

After some very steep climbs we started to looks for a camp.

After seeing a short road that lead off to an open space right on the cliffs edge we knew we needed to check it out and call it home for the night.


Looking south towards Moab
East to Grand Junction and Fruita.



We were then treated to the best sunset of the trip.



I need to step up my light game a little bit.

While at Expo I picked up a Devos Light Ranger 2000. After playing with it on this trip, I can say its awesome, it goes up 10' and you control it with and app, you can turn the light in 90° segments with white, amber and red sections. Perfect for cooking dinner and hanging out.
Tomorrow would be out last day with Vill, but we had a special stop to make before they headed back north.

 

Day 5
A Land of Fantasy
In the morning we headed north to Fantasy Canyon. An area of sandstone formations buried under bentonite hills that are slowly being washed away revealing new formations every few years. Its dead center oil country but the have made a small parking lot and oil tends to keep the roads is decent shape in the surrounding area.

A lot of the formations really make you question how they haven't broken due to the weight of the stone.

There are even a few small coves and caves in the area to find shade during the summer.

Mini Delicate Arch?

The arm extending out is over 2' tall and 2' wide, but only being help in place by a 6'' piece of stone.
It was at this point we said goodbye to Vill, and the solo trip started for the remaining couple days leading up to memorial day.
We decided to head to our Favorite place for some exploring. Daryl and the Camper were perfect through the entire trip. Proving far more capable that I originally expected.

Down into the river valley.

I have rafted this river before and camped just below where this photo was taken.

This is also where I proposed almost a year ago.

Recreating the photo.

Then continuing on.

My favorite view in Colorado.

Local kids playing in the road.

And finally it was Pizza Night! Which is becoming one of my favorite camp meals.

 

Day 6
Having pulled into camp basically in the dark it wasn't till the morning that we were able to see what was around us. While not the most amazin camp of the trip it was peaceful and quite.

Camped just off a nearly forgotten BLM road.

Daryl looking as good as always after nearly a week and a half on the road.
While eat breakfast I decided I didn't want to take highway as much as possible so I through together a route through BLM and some National Forest in hopes of making it to Steamboat on dirt.
Some more local Traffic

These little guys/gals really wanted to just keep running up the road so we crepted forward as slowly as possible while to ran back to the herd and mom finally pushed them off into the brush.

We cruised through some of the smoothest BLM roads I have ever experienced and slowly started getting into the Mountains. With our route taking us up to 8600 feet I did wonder if we were going to run into snow. If we did it wouldn't have been the first time we turned back due to snow on a May trip.

This was 2023 in Utah getting stopped around 9k feet.

We cruised along happy to be in cooler mountain temps.

While the main road was open, many of the side roads were still seasonally closed. I have a few of them marked to head back and explore with Burt.
No snow to speak off on the road so we were able the pop up and over the the mountain saddle and start dropping back towards Steamboat.

This section of the trip had some of the smoothest roads I had been on in a long time.

Stopping to see some of the wildflowers.

Weather was slowly turning as we got closer to home. It had rained almost every day over the last couple weeks we had been gone.

Hoping to have a dry camp tonight and continue the steak of good weather on the trip.

I have started planning another trip through this area for late summer. I think this section earned its keep on being worth every mile and having great views the entire time.



The Final stretches of dirt before getting into Steamboat and having to take highway to camp.

After Airing up and heading into town for diesel. We headed up and over Cameron Pass to an area we have camped in a few times. Even though we were a couple hours from home neither of us wanted to get home quite yet.

Another easy mountain camp just outside of the rain on the front range.

Being pretty early we decided queso was the best snack.

Amazingly this worked. It was warm in a few minutes. The lid just placed on but not tight.

A nice sunset for the final night of the trip.

Storms were rolling off the surrounding peaks.


The next morning we woke up, packed down and started our return to normal life. A very hard task after being away for 2 weeks.
The truck covered in bugs, mud, dust but full of memories. Daryl proved a lot on this trip. Showing that its pretty close to being ready for Alaska next year.



A nice blue sky broke from the cloudy right as we left. Making us wish we had more time out to enjoy it.

 

Now that I am fully caught up with Daryl and Donna, I can finally get up to speed with Burt.
Yesterday I started the tear down process to fully update the front end. I got all the parts I am replacing and before heading to work I got the truck up on stands, pulled the skid plate and wheels, off.

The 5100s and 880 have served me well but are both struggling with the weight of the truck with armor, a second battery and the bumper/winch.
I have also been getting a few more squeaks and clunks out of the front end than I would like to have on trips.
I was able to get off work a hour early as well and in about 2 hours I got both side torn down.


This was my first time pulling the hubs apart as well, they need some love since it looks like the gasket on the passenger side has allowed some water in. It works smoothly but I have it apart so not better time to clean and grease.

The Axle retaining clip is a bit of a pain but with a pick comes off without too much fuss.


I also found that the LCA bushing on the rear passenger side has over 1/4" of play and the metal sleeve was completely separated from the rubber. Likely the source of the squeak that I have been trying to find for the last year.
Seems like the perfect time for a refresh.
I hope to get the upper ball joints pushed out this afternoon and start prepping the spindles for gussets, then moving to the coilover bucket plates, finally steering rack bushings, and then reassemble everything.