Blue Overland Build

x2

 

If you ask, then you shall receive

 

So this past weekend, @Chux , @cynicalrider , our friend Brian (4runner), and myself took an overloading trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia to do some wheeling and camping in George Washington State Forest. What an awesome trip it ended up being, with plenty of adventure and get times with some great trucks and friends. We started off coming up the backside of the mountain which ended up being a great trail with a bunch of switch-backs going all the way to the top of the mountain. Here's some rolling shots and a cool pic of the convoy heading up to the first site:
Mike ( @cynicalrider ):

Brian (4Runner):

Jay ( @Chux ):

Convoy:


After an awesome trail to the top, we set up camp for the night and opened the drinks and food.











It was at the first site where Brian helped me find my next mod (not even joking). The Bumper Dumper. Even got a picture of Mike modeling it! Ordered it the day after I got home



The next morning we woke up and ate some breakfast, packed up, hungout for a little bit, and then proceeded to head down the other side of the mountain, which eventually led us to the main entrance of the State Forest. Was able to snap some pics near the main entrance sign. We had to clear a couple downed trees on the trail out which gave everyone excuses (CHUX!! haha) to use some gear! On the way out, we actually came across another awesome spot to camp with a better view that'll give us al an excuse to come back and explore more.















After that, we decided it was time to head out and get to the second site, which was suppose to be about a 2.5 hour drive. Mike left us and head home for prior plans, and we were then down to three. Unfortunately, this is where our trip hit a huge speed bump. We were about 13 miles out, which in VA was about another 45 minutes and we decided to stop for gas and fill-up before the site. As we stopped at a local gas station, Brian got into a accident and ended up with a bent rear axle, and 2 extremely cambered rear tires. Everyone was okay but his truck was toast, and he couldn't drive over 25-30 mph without fish tailing and swaying really bad. So after everything was said and done with the accident, we decided that it would be a better idea to tow his truck home from VA to NJ. But being that it was now dark, all the U-hauls were closed till the morning. So we headed to the nearest U-haul that had a trailer available and did some urban camping in an empty parking lot tell the next morning where we then loaded up the 4-Runner to the trailer, and hooked it up to my truck. And yes, 35's, stock gears, and an almost 5000b truck in tow is not the best combo but the truck did great, and the trailer had surge breaks which helped greatly with the handling. Before loading up we tried to transfer as much weight out of my truck, to help with the load. We moved my tent over to Chux's front rack which made his truck the most overlanding expedition rig east of the Mississippi.
I have to say that the dakars w/ overload spring handled the weight amazingly, and to all of our surprise, my truck wasn't even squatting in the rear, just sitting level.







Overall, it took us about 8 hours to get home because I was driving slow with the trailer, but we made it and even though the trip didn't go as planned it was still an awesome time, and I can't wait to head out with the crew again!

 

Awesome! Looks fun and sucks about the accident. It's always fun though when things don't go planned because that's what makes memories

 

Yeah it sucked no doubt but you're right, its a trip we're all gonna remember bc of it haha

 

Some updates.. FINALLY did something about rear lights. I think because it took so long for me to pull the trigger on rear lights, it pushed me to go a little overboard, but I'm pumped on how everything came out. I used LED strips along both sides, and the back (facing the front) on the inside of the cap. Honestly, just the back strip woulda been more then enough but you can never have too much light. Next are some LED pods that are mounted to the stock screws from the rook rack tracks on the top of the cap. Got that idea from @Chux ..I have blue covers, amber covers, and then no covers for white light, which gives me a couple options, although I really like the amber. Lastly, I mounted some flush mounted amber LEDs to the inside of my door, underneath the window. They are flood pattern and do an awesome job lighting up the entire tailgate. Here's some pictures of everything lit up.
Just the interior lights:

Just the camp lights (pods and cap door):

Everything:

And heres a picture to show how much light is thrown backwards from the lights:

 

Nice!

 

Looks awesome PJ. Can I see an up close day pic of the ones on the cap door? Really dig that idea even though I don't have a cap haha

 

x2

 

Sorry it took so long!!

 

Gave my interior some love with this latest project.. After years of my girl telling me to update my radio I finally did.. But I can't do anything easy so after discovering that ppl actually use tablets as head units, I thought I would join the club. The tablet is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 7" and the radio behind it is a Sony MEX- 5100BT. With this setup, I am able to use apps, Google Maps GPS, radio (with Sony Songpal App), Bluetooth, handsfree calling, etc.. and pretty much do everything that most $700+ units do, for a fraction of the cost. I also am able to retain my steering wheel controls which is huge for me as I did not want to give those up! I'm still no pro on how to work everything but I'm stoked so far on how everything turned out. So heres some pics of the process.
Radio out:

Wires on wires on wires..

Prepping to solder the new wiring harness to the Sony wires:

All soldered up!:

Sony Head Unit in place (used stock double din mount that came with Double Din bezel)

And boom, Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 in place:

Controlling the radio with SongPal App:

Google Maps GPS:

 

you make the install look easy!

 

Thanks! It did take a good chunk of the day but it was worth it for me. I'm cheap and couldn't justify the cost of some of the real nice units out there. With this, i can just about anything and save $$$ for other things lol.. I'm still trying to work everything out but next is modifying the bezel to run a charging cable to the tablet so that i can charge it constantly when the truck is on. I also downloaded this awesome app that automatically puts the tablet to sleep, and wakeup when it gets, or loses power. So whenever I turn the truck on it'll wake up, and off, shutdown.

 

that was my next question. But I thought you hid the cable behind the vent, so I didnt ask it

 

Yeah it shouldn't be too hard i just had to walk away since it took up way more time then i thought lol.. whats funny with these samsung tablets is that it won't charge when only hooked up to a USB for some reason, only when plugged into the wall. It only allows data transfer, like music or pics or whatever. Luckily, I found a converter cable that will allow me to charge it in the truck with only the USB so as soon as that comes in I'll hook it up and run the wires

 

Since I couldn't tell you yesterday, love the tablet head unit dude! Awesome work.

 

Thanks bro!

 

Looks awesome man. How does the bezel hold the tablet in place?

 

Thanks! The tablet literally just slides right in.. it fits really snug and doesn't move, vibrate, etc.. Before doing the install, I got some info from other tablet installs and different videos and forums and stuff but unfortunately, being that this is the newest tablet offered by samsung, I couldn't find any other install like this, so I was going in a little blind. I was ready to cut up the new bezel and modify it to fit but lucky I didn't have to at all. It really worked out nice.

 

Whaaat?? That easy?! No fair bro, no fair. Is it just a regular old double din bezel?