blueberry.taco build and adventures

Half of your truck is missing! You getting a flatbed?

 

I wish I could be satisfied with any off the shelf available flatbed options.
But no, I have to do it the hard way and make my own to be happy.

 

You could probably make a trailer out of that rear end to pay off your flat bed/camper. Or just drag it your self to flex on everyone that wants one

 

Have you checked out Mits Alloy? they make a pretty nice setup

 

yup, they look nice but won't work for me, Not willing to raise the camper up that high is the biggest issue with store bought flatbeds

 

this is why the bed was off


got a scan of the VR evo winch too so i can package that

 

just installed the Mits Tray

 

And you got rid of the Fox shocks? Mule is paying you too much!

 

minor update but added an outdoor kitchen light to the camper.
"normal" DD SSC2 mount stuck out too far and i was worried it'd get ripped off by trees on the trail so i spent a little effort making it subflush.
If I were to do it again I'd angle it down a little more, thought the flood lens would be more spread than it is but still should be pretty helpful

 

more little fixes:

Added a smart shunt/battery monitor, this has bluetooth so i can log history on my phone.
I have the aux input wired to the truck battery so i can keep eyes on all the batteries!


added a little blue LED that will light up when the automatic charge relay is latched. basically a quick glance to tell if the house battery is connected to the truck battery or not. Shouldn't ever NEED to know, but it makes me feel better knowing the status of everything.


after moving a bunch of electrical and water related stuff around in this cabinet under the sink I wanted to maximize the storage space while keeping everything delicate protected. So i bent up some aluminum and now have a good wall of protection while gaining some storage volume compared to the factory partition

 

Super simple turnbuckle door ventilation.
Step 1. Poke a big hole in the door.
Step 2. Install a big blast door.
Step 3. Add stainless mesh to the outside with a big hose clamp.
Step 4. Enjoy nice air circulation without the critters joining you inside the camper.

 

Not 100% complete but good enough for our upcoming trip. This was an emergency fab job using only scrap pieces rolling around the shop after realizing on Saturday night that we were not equipped to carry maxtrax with us on our trip. And everyone knows it isn’t an overlanding trip without maxtrax on the exterior of your rig!
old 9/16" 12pt wrench works perfectly as the door 'open' catch

 

so, first "offroad" trip with the camper setup.
Ran down to Kentucky to try the Kentucky Adventure Tour over an extended Memorial Day weekend

found a spot to camp right off a river as the sun disappeared.



made use of the new camp light, more than bright enough! (Diode dynamics SSC2 sport flood)

 

first day of hitting the trails on the KAT.
fairly mild, but nice scenery. couple creek crossings and mud but nothing notable, good for some easy pictures though!








we ended up finding a nice spot to camp with our personal waterfall. this waterfall became a bit more significant as it poured overnight, but we were super comfy in our camper.

 

day 2 started out similar to day 1, occasional rain, mostly cloudy.





we had found some public land along a bigger river that looked like a good place to set up camp on GAIA, so we decided to check it out.
narrow trails and a big washout ravine to cross...(pics never do obstacles offroad justice)

rear bumper took some damage (you can see the hitch did some landscaping as well) but no big deal, this bumper was never intended to stay on the truck long term anyways.
(videos on instagram, not sure how to embed it into the forum)


also the rock beach camp spot was totally worth it. probably because it's remote and unadvertised, (plus most stock rigs won't make it there) so we had it completely to ourselves.

 

camp was so good there we decided to spend an extra day there just relaxing

 

Awesome camp spot! Looks like it might be time for a high clearance rear bumper

 

im skipping that whole step and will limp this stock bumper along until i find time to do the flatbed

 

The more and more I see flatbed builds, the more and more I like em

 

trails got wilder after the rain










my rear diff locker solenoid appears to be sucking gear oil.