BKF Slowsand Build and Shenanigans Thread

Yeah that's about all I've found is in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, but even at that they are mostly gravel and not really off-roading.

 

Can you share some pictures of this: Bedliner on lower tailgate, door sills, and pinch weld

Have been thinking of doing something similar, and would love to see what it looks like before pulling the trigger.

 

For sure, here are some pictures from the shop when it was first put on [last winter]. It's held up very nicely. The stuff on the tailgate is honestly to cover up the damage/scuffed paint from my tailgate hitting the bumper. I can get more specific pictures if you'd like -- right now the truck is covered in dirt and mud so I'll have to go clean it up.

 

Thanks. I like the look...may need to try it myself.

 

Thanks, I think it looks pretty good. It was good to seal up that pinch weld, and I think it makes a nice contrast with the rest of the truck. My sliders and bumper are bedlined to match.

 

I started working on transferring my hand drawings into CAD so I could more accurately design the rear bumper. This is by no means a finished product, just a start and way for me to begin seeing how things fit.

I really don't love the look of so much stuff hanging off the back with a huge gap between the tailgate and the swingaways, so I'm designing them to cut back in towards the tailgate to stay nice and tight. I will continue to update this thread with pictures as I keep modeling it. I also really like how the Relentless Fab high clearance rear flows with the body lines in the back, and I want to try something similar with mine.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

Awesome trip Alex!

 

Hey @BEAR_KNIFE_FIGHT im going to be installing oge dual battery system and wanted to see where you mounted the red switch inside the cab. You have any pics?

 

yeah, let me get some pics for ya.

I had to dremel that switch opening a decent amount to get it to fit, but it's nicely snuggled in there otherwise. I am satisfied with it, at least.

 

Thank you sir. Yea I’m trying to figure out where to put that big bad boy. Maybe meso 7 switch under ac controls or over head towards crawl controls.

 

Another long-term update and trip report coming in.

In early November [Oct 31-Nov 12th], @ajmogen, my roommate, and myself took a trip from Wisconsin to Utah to do some exploring and trail time. We drove out separately and met up in Mesquite, NV on the night of Nov 2nd, then made our way back through Arizona and into Utah, stopping at Zion National Park for a quick drive, then continuing through Dixie National Forest and into Capital Reef. We aired down and did a quick river crossing, then continued up Hartnet Rd for a while for our first campsite at Upper Cathedral Valley Overlook. Trail running unknown terrain at night is always a hoot.


The next morning we got up and headed down along Cathedral Rd, stopping at a gypsum sinkhole (roommate for scale)


and Temple of the Sun (and Moon!) before getting back on concrete for a bit and heading north of the interstate to Buckhorn Draw Dr and headed to Wedge Overlook for the night. While the trail wasn't particularly challenging, the view from here was pretty awesome. I also confirmed that I need a snorkel.



We camped right on the rim of the canyon with an incredible (but chilly) sunrise view.


We did a bit of exploring that way before heading south. We stopped at Arches National Park to hike up to double-o arch:


and took the slightly more scenic and significantly less traveled primitive trail back to the truck before heading into Moab for a night at a hotel, fish tacos at Moab Brewery and fuel.

The next morning we headed into Canyonlands for our run on White Rim. This was my first time through here and I had a blast -- the park limits the number of vehicles/people allowed in per day which is pretty rad, and campsites must be reserved well in advance. We dropped in on the east side down Shafer Trail and enjoyed some serious switchbacks on the descent before the trail leveled out.


We ran into a Lexus GX470 on his way out that recommended that we drop into Lathrop Trail, which we did. Some nice, more technical ascents/descents at the start, then it levels out to follow a wash to the Colorado River. We had some lunch there and met some friends in jeeps, until they broke out a ukulele. We took that as our sign to leave.


This was a long but fun day, and we ended it by going up the hill to Murphy Hogback Campsite and setting up camp just as the sun was setting.


We don't have a ton of great opportunity for stars in WI so I tried my hand at some neat sky shots. My 7D, while trusty and apparently indestructible, is showing its age as the high ISO performance is less than stellar. (pun intended)


We headed out along White Rim the next morning. Pretty uneventful mechanically but some incredible sights and vistas.


We stopped for a bit to hike to the edge of a cliff for a nice view of the Green River.


We continued for the day and came to Hardscrabble Hill, which is another cool ascent/descent. Steep and sandy with some significant exposure. We camped that night at Labyrinth and went for a late afternoon hike to the Upheaval Dome area but got stymied by a lack of light and turned around before we could see much. This was our last night on White Rim and we had an excellent but windy spot right along the Green River.


We finished up White Rim the next morning, and drove up to Canyonlands Visitor Center to mingle with cleaner folks, then drove to the access point of Upheaval Dome and hiked the top part of the overlook to see what we missed the day before. We then headed back to Moab to refuel and run some trails around that area before making our way back east towards Colorado and home. We turned onto Onion Creek for an easy trail ride and made a new friend -- A Tacoma headed south on 128 saw us pull off onto the access road and pulled in to say hi -- he had purchased the truck in Denver 2 days prior and decided to go take it out to Moab with basically zero plan. It was pretty nicely equipped from the dealer with an OME suspension kit and 285 Nittos, which was cool. We ran down Onion Creek and I got some shots of him in his basically brand-new truck (it still had temp plates) getting dirty. We ran Onion Creek to its end, then went down towards Fisher Valley. We stopped for lunch at Onion Creek Hideout, then turned around to head home. We parted ways with our new friend at 128 and headed back to I-70 to start our trip home.


Things I learned:
these trucks are capable! I had a leaking Icon shock, AALs, and pretty worn M/T with 40,000 on them. The truck just ate up whatever we did. Just point and go, 4LO.
the RTT is worth the cost. Camp setup took maybe 5 minutes -- park, unfold, pull out cooler, done.

Things I will change:
better camp lighting. I didn't get around to installing my side lights on my rack, but a better camp light situation would be good. I have since modified my CAD rear bumper design to accept an extendable camp light at the back.
this thing has a LOOOOONG nose. A front camera would be a good thing to install for those spicier drop-offs/rolling gullies with bad visibility.

 

Great read and photos. I hope to make a trip like this someday.

 

Thanks man! It was an awesome time. Definitely headed back that way sometime soon.

 

Great trip report Alex!
Makes me want to go find a dirt road and some fish tacos

 

Don’t know how I missed this thread. Staying tuned, killer work!

 

Alrighty gentlemen [and ladies],

Join me for a fender-cutting, paint-dripping, low-quality chinesium plastique adventure!

Yesterday, @ajmogen and I attempted [and mostly successfully] to install my Prado 150 ebay dorkel. We found a few issues but everything worked out well for the most part -- it's pretty straightforward all things considered.

Step 1: hold snork up and admire your #broverlander status in the garage. Return snork to bed of truck for 150 miles of highway travel to, "break it in"


Step 2: apply painters tape to fender area to mark the cutting area [optional step 2.5, trash the shitty inaccurate directions included]. Remove your fender liners at this point if they're not already trashed.


Step 3:

Mark your aperture and drill, baby, drill. Step drill recommended.


Step 4 -- unrelated but important -- take out your frustration with the shitty directions on your pinch weld. Beat that bastard back for better clearance.


Step 5: Embiggen the hole. Cut-off wheel recommended. Big air tank recommendeder.



Step 6: admire your orifice.


Step 7: Mark and drill the remaining holes in your fender. Eyeball most measurements and step-bit + fender warsher to fit. Chooch those bastards up real nice and snug with some lock-tight as well.


Step 8: Find out that the snork fits just a but further away from the A-pillar than the Prado thought. Fab up an extendo-bracket to 3M to your A-pillar.


Step 9: Admire your new snork. I will update this with a real picture of the damn thing on because I totally forgot.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

I have a question; why isn't there any pictures of the snork installed?

 

Step 9: Admire your new snork. I will update this with a real picture of the damn thing on because I totally forgot.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Also its dark and i'm at the station

 

and mystery is good for the soul


Tomorrow morning I will grab a few.

 

It came out really nice.
Good work man!