Regatta-mobile

My wife and I are mildly competitive sailors and my build is focused on serving our needs when we take the boat a few weekends a summer.

Hopefully some mild "overlanding" and exploration of Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky/Michigan state and national parks is in our future as well.

Here it is in when I bought it in September 2015. Not one of my smartest moments, but I impulsively bought the truck while my wife was at OTS in Tampa, a month before our wedding, without telling her.....She was a little bit upset that it is both a 5 speed and an access cab.

So far the 2.7 has done everything that I've needed it to do; even if it is gutless.

 

In the past few months I've added Level 8 MK6 wheels, an extang tonneau, a backup camera, and OEM side steps. The steps are pretty useless for anything more than fending off shopping carts and keeping road debris from bouncing off the rocker panels.

With the regatta season coming up and a couple of trips to Lake Michigan on the calendar I have a few things to get done still:


* My relentless fabrication bed bars are out for delivery today and I hope to get them painted this weekend
* I need to get my Tempui RTT that's been sitting in the box since January mounted
*The factory dunlops are getting pretty bad at 35,000 miles, so I plan on picking up some slightly more aggressive 245/75/16s to help with some of the beaches and grassy spots that we launch the boat from.
*Teach my wife how to drive the damn thing.

 

Got my relentless fab bed bars primed and painted this morning and scored a small storage bin for our cooking supplies for the low price of $4.

I'd like to build a sweet chuck box, but weight is a major factor with he 2.7......

Also managed to spray paint my wedding ring and anger my wife wife.....

 

Relentless bed bars and Tepui Kukenam made their first trip out and the setup worked pretty well and we managed 23.7mpg round trip. Crawling under to get into the cooler will get old quickly........

The stock dunlops were starting to hydroplane and and generally suck on pavement after 35k....picked up a new set of Michelin LTX AT2s. My off-road travel is pretty limited, so I went with another set of 245/75/16s.

First Impressions:
*Even the P rated sidewalls are stiffer than the factory Dunlops and bulge less
* I couldn't break them free on our steep asphalt driveway in the rain
*They steering feels more responsive than with the factory tires

Going to be heading up to Huron National Forest next month and will see how the mild ATs do on some mild forestry roads.