AlumEscape Expo Build

awesome rig!

 

Installed the Wheelers Superbumps on the front last weekend. Hugely satisfied with them and wish I had done it sooner! They soak up some of the harshness I felt the 886's always had. I swear it even feels better in sweeping corners like onramps and offramps and controlling roll without the swaybar.




I'm still debating the next step in the rear but am leaning towards the Timbren Active Offroad setup. May be pulling the trigger on that soon.

Otherwise not much to update other than some tinkering projects including reinstalling the on board water setup and working some mounts for additional rear lighting off the rack.

 

I've been kicking around options for additional rearward lighting and was bouncing between a mast setup off the tire swingout or going right off the roof rack. I ended up going with the roof rack only so I can still strap my topper door down to the tire when hauling long items in the bed like lumber or steel materials.

I already had some Rigid dually lights lying around from a previous project so I'd figure I'd go ahead and use them. As their brackets weren't going to allow me to throw light to the sides of the truck I went ahead and fabbed up a DIY solution with some strips of 1/8" aluminum I sliced out of a larger sheet. A few bends in the vise turned out just perfect!







I still need to wrap up the wiring down to the bumper through the topper but I'll wait for a warmer day to get that done.

 

Caught a good deal on the Timbrens with flip kit (I'll be selling the u-bolts and plates shortly as I already have the all-pro setup) and hope to get these on soon!


I'll be switching up the mounting I think but I'll have to see if it'll work - I plan to drill the bracket on the frame and mount the bump to that facing downward and mount the Timbren bracket on my all-pro plate. Hopefully this will eliminate the bumpstop from packing up with mud like I've ready happens when you mount per the instructions with the bumpstop facing up. We'll see...

 

Well - Made some more progress on the winter build list for this year's travels. I was able to flip the Timbrens the way I had hoped so that they don't pack full of sand and other junk, I expect that this will improve their performance long term. I still haven't hitched up the trailer since putting them on so I'm eager to see how it rides with the trailer loaded up with the Honda on it.




I also ordered a Lotek a-pillar gauge pod which should be arriving tomorrow to install a gauge to monitor the on board air pressure as part of the future locker install and a transmission temperature gauge to keep an eye on things while towing. The Scangauge is able to see trans temp but I want something that's a little more in line of sight and intuitive to read at a glance. These should do the trick.


Last but not least, my bedside braces from @At The Helm arrived on Friday and the weather was nice enough to get some paint on them and installed yesterday. Very pleased with the fabrication quality as a hobbyist welder/fabricator! The only deviation I made was pounding off the facory bed bolt washers so I'd have as much thread engagement as possible which I was worried about on the passenger side with the fridge mount I'd previously made. Should work just fine!

 

Did the same washer delete on the passenger side. Having your fridge slide brackets I get we had the same intensions and solution.

 

Trucks looking good bro

 

Nice write up and one Epic Expedition Rig!

 

Thanks man!

I'm running a bit behind on the build thread but did get a few little things done over the last few weeks. The a-pillar pod from Lotek is in after a lot of trimming and adjusting but it fits pretty good given the price. It isn't my first choice but it is some of the last real estate I had left in the cab to mount some instrumentation that'd be in sight but out of the way. I'm satisfied so far with the glowshift gauges but the transmission temp seems to read ~10% low versus my scangauge. It could be a bum sensor or gauge but I need to fiddle with it some more.

I also re-installed the water tank and finally pieced together a somewhat acceptable shower sprayer setup. I'm not sure what direction I'm headed for hot water generation but have a few ideas up my sleeve.

General service included a new belt and fluid checks and I've been trying to track down a pesky noise. I seem to have developed a groan/grumble under gas in reverse. You need to goose it pretty good to get it to make the sound and steering input makes no difference. It seems to come from the front floorboard area and is more noticeable in cab than outside. I've checked the usual culprits but the suspension bushings seem in order, CV's don't have excessive play and my carrier bearing looks as loose as always. Front hubs still have a dry sound to them but no more-so than when I did my pads last month. Not sure but I'm hoping it's nothing too serious as I'm headed 1k+ miles to NC and back this weekend/next week.

 

Can you tell me where to get these t-slot nuts for the Prinsu rail? Thanks again!

After some thinking I decided rather than using the M6 bolts from ARB I'd use some countersunk 1/4"-20 SS socket caps for security and thread them into the same t-slot nuts I use in my PrInSu rails which are a perfect fit!


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Subbed.

 

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Sure - I had bought them through Amazon (here) before but had picked up more some months ago through ebay (here) at a slightly better price.

 

Sure - I had bought them through Amazon (here) before but had picked up more some months ago through ebay (here) at a slightly better price.

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Thanks man! I also found some last night while I can't sleep! Here's the link for your future reference.

$14 Faztek 15 Series Steel Drop-In T-Nut with Alignment Ball, 1/2" Width, M8 x 1.25 Thread (Pack of 10)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00869NX2E/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thanks man! I also found some last night while I can't sleep! Here's the link for your future reference.

$14 Faztek 15 Series Steel Drop-In T-Nut with Alignment Ball, 1/2" Width, M8 x 1.25 Thread (Pack of 10)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00869NX2E/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/QUOTE]

Nice - Just a heads up that those aren't stainless steel - it may not be an issue for your application but I didn't want to deal with hardware rusting up making disassembly a bear or any potential staining of the aluminum or anything (I used the same setup on the awning mount on my aluminum skinned teardrop trailer).

 

Thanks for the info, that's right.... I didn't pay attention on the material.... Rust can be an issue....

 

For sure, we get a fair amount of salt and calcium chloride spread hear despite the pretty weak snowfalls in winter. I'm already on the third prep, clean and re-paint of the frame and suspension as it seems to only last 18 months or so before you start seeing the signs again. Really all you can do is stay ahead of it and try to clean things up afterwards to make things last.

 

For the life of me I've been unable to get my mystery sound to come back

I do think the bearings up front should still be replaced but they're still tight and aren't giving off any noises (at least that I can hear) even after the 1,100 miles and few days playing on the beach. I've resolved that these are on the top of the list along with the ECGS bushing while I'm in there.

Otherwise I've been making minor comfort adjustments to the rig and trailer - I borrowed @Chux idea and put some magnets on my fridge lid and topper door so you don't need to use your head to hold it up anymore and I stripped and re-painted the frame of my trailer since getting back from NC. I hope to wrap up a vent and spigot setup on my H2O rotopax tonight and will do a little writeup on that. Hopefully I can upload a few pics from that trip tonight too.

Looks like the weather this weekend is going to be wet - I may channel my sewing skills into some new sleeping cushions for the trailer - the current setup of foam stuffed in a sleeping bag isn't the finishing touch I'm looking for and after a week sleeping on them I'm still finding them a bit too firm.

 

A few months back I decided I wanted a quicker and easier way to use my 2-gallon water rotopax for drinks, washup, etc and started poking around the web for possible parts to solve the problem. I knew I wanted some type of push-button style spigot but wasn't sure how I could incorporate it into the rotopax - after some searching I found this replacement spigot for one of those barrel style igloo coolers - perfect!

After some measuring I decided to order one of these 3/4" ID x 1-1/2" OD stainless washers. This is the perfect outside diameter to fit the rotopax gasket on off the original spout and after some dremeling and filing, the igloo spigot fits and seals right in.



It's compact and works great EXCEPT the container forms a vacuum inside that really slows down the output as air gulps back in - super disappointing! I'm not sure why but at some point rotopax did away with the vent that used to come on these suckers so I did some more thinking (read - drank some beers) and decided to bite the bullet and drill a vent of some type into the rotopax.

Obviously being leery of screwing up a perfectly good container I did some more searching and narrowed down the solution to either installing a rubber valve stem without a core or using some type of plumbing fittings to put in a vent like my jerry cans have. I passed on the valve stem as this will be potable water and I wasn't keen on having the rubber and brass around seeing as they weren't meant for that type of use. I tracked down this male to male nylon NPT and this NPT cap and decided they'd fit the bill.

After drilling a 9/16" hole in top side of the rotopax opposite the spigot I tapped the hole using a brass 3/8" NPT fitting I had lying around (better bet is an actual NPT tap but I couldn't find mine ). So that you don't need to fully remove the NPT cap from the NPT nipple, drill some holes in the threaded portion. It's important that these are placed far enough up that the cap will cover and "seal" these vent holes when the cap is tightened down but far enough down that they can breathe air in without fully removing the cap (read - lose it in the campsite somewhere). This step took me two nipples

Don't over tighten the nipple into the threaded hole for obvious reasons. Mine seems to be tight enough that it doesn't leak even when held upside down and hand tightening and loosening the cap doesn't move the nipple.




Boom - no more gulping when you use the spigot and crack open this bleeder.


As always, the parts and processes you see here are blah blah blah - I'm not responsible for you destroying your $50 water jug because I thought this was a good idea!

 

Probably one of the cleanest builds I have ever seen.