Burt, The Old Man With friends Daryl and Donna

Still working away on all the Projects for Burt.
I haven't had much welding time so the Swing outs are still on hold.
I did sand blast the Tundra Wheels, still need to paint them. I will be going with the same gun metal grey I have on currently.

But I was able to finish up the Dual battery system under the hood, relocated my air compressor, and plumb the air compressor to the front bumper.
The Starter battery is on top of a Tray to Mount a Blue Sea ML-ACR, a Automatic Magnetic Latching 500amp relay, it waits till the truck starts, seeing 13+ volts for 30 seconds then latched the batteries together to charge. This works perfectly in this truck since I have a Voltage boosting fuse and the alternator charges at 14.2-14.8V, perfect for AGM batteries. My Rangers dual battery system uses a Redarc DC-DC Charger to charge a lithium house battery. This is because new truck often charge in the 12.9-13.5 Volt Range which is too low for AGM and Lithium Batteries.

The power cables are fused on Both ends with MRBF fuses at 225Amps.

The Compressor was moved back to just in front of the wiper motor, everything fits with just a little bit of clearance to spare.

The Tie Down is not Permanent but It was 10 pm before I had to leave for the airport at 4am. But it hold it nice and tight but I want to do something nicer in the future.

My Air Chuck is now plumbed to the front bumper and has a cover over it. Something I have wanted to do for the last couple years. So I don't have to open the hood to air back up.

 

Been slowly making progress on the Dual Swing outs. The Mounts are all welded to the bumper. The Tire Carrier Arm is welded up and barring getting the studs pressed in is ready to go. I am using Weld Nuts for anything that bolts to the carrier such as the latch so that they are fully replaceable in the future as latches always eventually fail.
I was able to test fit the tire last night.


I was showed these Weld Nuts while helping Prep the Sherpa Motorsports 4600 car for KOH this year and knew I had to use them on a project, I picked them up off Stock Car Steel, Then provide a much longer thread than tapping the .125 wall tube I am using. However, these are the biggest PITA to Tig Weld so if you use them stick to Mig. I tacked them in place with Tig and mig welded them in for the latch Mount.

The Carrier arm is always what fails on these bumpers. So I always brace mine with a large .25 gusset.
The Dual Fuel can holder is almost finished up and I will be building the arm for that one this weekend. The goal is that it can be changed from a fuel can holder to a storage box for trips that don't require high fuel range.

 

Very nice

 

Finally an update with finished photos and trip photos!

I finally finished up the new wheels and got the 34s mounted.



I got the swing out wrapped up the night before leaving for a 3 day trip.


I also Flexed the truck to check where I need to clearance for the tires, the same front spot on the front of the rear wheel wells still hits. I need to push my axle back a 1/2-3/4" soon.
and there is a tiny piece of plastic on the front of the front wheel well that needs trimmed.
I did have to change my washer fluid reservoir to a smaller unit.
While is looks like something other than a washer fluid container its been working perfectly. Its around 3/4 gallon so its not as big as the factory tank but not a terrible size either.


Looks kind of like a Geoduck

It only took one trip to home depot, not 3 like my usual projects.

 

Fall colors trip!



Fall colors are just about in full swing and with snow in the forecast we shot up to north of Steamboat and tried to get some camping in where we would wake up to snow on the tent, which failed. Weather called for rain, snow, high winds, and cold temps. We ended up with no wind, nearly no rain, and fairly nice temps the entire trip. No complaints here.



One of the big upgrades we did for our camping gear was the addition of a diesel heater, the CDH (Chinese Diesel Heater). I want to do a bit of winter camping this year, so being able to preheat the tent while we get ready for bed is the goal. I use a -20 bag in the winter and with long johns and a blanket I really have no complaints down into the -5 degree range. But getting changed, climbing in and out of bed is where it does get less fun.



We left Saturday morning and headed up to the Colorado Wyoming Border, a place I have really come to enjoy over the last couple years.

There was a road we marked as it was full of aspens and we knew it was going to be the best place to see the color changes.





Color did not disappoint.

I dropped down to about 11psi which provided good sidewall flex but still felt comfortable on higher speed dirt roads. In the rocks I think I will go down a bit more to 8Psi. I ran these at 16-18 on the Ranger which I would guess is about ~



twice the weight.



The First Trip with the Dual Swing outs, it was perfect, though I forgot to throw my old Trasharoo on for this trip.



The Colors in this area were just about perfect, though in other places we may have been a hair early since there was still a good bit of green around.



Burt got to wear a Starlink for the first time. Something I have been running on the ranger for the last summer but with navigation, music, and my Fiance working remote some days it got thrown on the roof for this trip. The paints already destroyed and been redone once so I don't mind if it scratches on the magnets.





A hidden cabin, I unfortunately didn't find any additional info on this one.



I happened to pass a buddy of mine on the trail that was taking his Son up for a weekend of fishing and exploring so we ended up camping with them, a round of Kielbasa and mashed potatoes was in order. Lots of laughs were had around the campfire catching up with friends.



We had a great view of Hahns Peak in the morning, even being able to see the Fire lookout at the very top.





We decided this morning to run the northern few sections of the Colorado BDR. Having come up here more or less without a plan we figured since we had already hit the Wyoming border the night before we should make our way south along the BDR Path. Let me tell you, Section 7,6, and 5 contain a hell of a lot of pavement, and as someone that explored these areas quickly, there are dozens of better ways to get from I-70 to The Wyoming Border.



Leaving the border all the way down past steamboat we were basically in neighborhoods, some dirt, some paved. We had one 15 miles stretch through a ranch that started to feel more remote but quickly dropped us off into a paved neighborhood again.



Colors started becoming more Orange and even a hair of red, some trees looking as if they are on fire.



Lynx pass was the first time we started getting away from people, however leaf peeping season has tourists on any dirt road they can find. Sadly the BDR sticks to fully maintained roads as far as we followed it.







From Lynx Pass you drop on to Blacktail Creek, the highlight of the day just for the views and lack of people, nothing difficult and could be driven in any AWD Vehicle. But very pretty overall.

We went through a few more small dirt roads, mixed in with paved roads, ranch properties.



My Windshield is looking a bit haggard at this point.



Once we hit Highway 131 we decided We had enough of the BDR, it had taken nearly all day to travel what a couple other dirt roads in the area cover in a couple hours.

Around 5 at this point the BDR also went into a stretch of towns and highways that wouldn't have camping along it.

So we bailed to the east and headed up Muddy Creek, knowing we wanted to be in Leadville the next day to get
We found a perfect little campsite tucked away in an aspen grove.


Dinner was Spam Fried Rice. A Favorite of mine. Before bed we preheated the tent, it was really nice crawling into a warm 65 degree tent and sleeping bag. With temps dropping into the Mid 30s we were comfy.
Propane Fire Pits also help keep warm.

 

The Next Morning we woke up to a lot of frost and dew on the rain fly and truck. Overnight the humidity had cranked up to 94% we fired up the diesel heater to dry the inside of the tent, which worked perfectly. But being in the trees by 9 the sun hadn't made it through the trees yet so we packed away the still slightly wet tent and headed across Muddy creek, stopping to take in some view and move out of the way for logging trucks cruising down the mountain will full trailers.
The Views on Muddy Creek were pretty fantastic.


I marked a few campsites I want to return to up there, better than where we stayed the night before, but more exposed if bad weather came in.
We dropped into Vail and headed up 24 to Leadville.
As soon as we hit 9K feet, we started seeing snow on the mountains in the distance.

Aired down again we headed up the trail, this is one I have done before and really enjoyed but haven't been on since around 2019. Oddly a trip I never posted on here.


It was one of the first Wheeling trips I had taken in the truck, and it really made me fall in love with the Burt
I didn't grab any photos on the way up because this trail leaves the staging area and goes up at nearly 3,000' in just a couple miles, Steep enough even 2nd low wasn't deep enough gearing so slowly making it up in 1st low was the only option. my guess is that its close to 22-24% in some sections.
Up top you have fantastic views of the Collegiate Peaks. All from the alpine tundra up above 12,000'

Nothing on this trail is hard, however if there was any snow these would be a really sketchy trail.
You cross over a could rocky fields with some of the best views in the background.



High Country seasons close to over here in Colorado, a fair few trails in these are got a few inches of snow and it will only get snowier from here on.
But we made our way down

Aired up, here luckily after airing up half a dozen times on the BDR trip on my last tire right as I hit my 25psi road pressure, the hose blew off the compresor, I need to fix that now that I am home, but it was perfect timing.
We had a bit of mud and so many different colors all layering over each other.

 

It's too early for fall colors... Things haven't started changing much here yet

 

Most of the good ones we found were between 9500 feet and up to treeline at 11,800. Down where I live (5k) nothing has started yet.

 

With winter coming up and hopefully a good year of Snow Wheeling on the horizon. I wanted to switch back to a Pre filter on my Snorkel. I have never had an issue with rain getting in the ram air head but I have had snow build up in the back of the tube. Previously when I put one on I had ordered the 3" model and had to run a adapter to make it work. It eventually sun faded and I got rid of it.
I picked up the 3.5 this time and with the truck now living in the garage when I'm not on a trip it shouldn't yellow nearly as fast.


My last one helping to filter out snow

 

I always thought they were supposed to be yellow

 

Give Colorado 6 Months with the sun and it will be yellow.
This was a little under 2 years of sitting outside every day.
At $22 I consider them a Wearable Item...

 

First Post Updated.

 

Nothing major lately on Burt, I've been caught up on trips in the Ranger and starting a new build on our F250.
But I had time to swap out my Voltmeter with a much nicer one.
The Powerwerx one is great but a bit bright at night and hard to see during the day. The Blue Sea OLED one is super visible in both conditions and not bright at night. Also reading to .00 instead of just .0.
This was a good update on one of my Oldest Mods I have done.
Its nice having a Voltmeter to keep and eye on the alternator, and the Fast Charge USB has been flawless over the last couple years.

 

Edited the Name to include Roger (the Ranger) and Daryl (F250) as this is the only forum I can kinda keep up on. So Minor Updated of all trucks will now be in this tread.
Background info on each truck
Roger
2020 Ford Ranger
2024 Four Wheel Camper Project M (Soon to be sold)
Dakota Lithium 135Ah W/Redarc 1225 and Renogy 200W Solar
Old Man Emu Nitrogas Sport Kit
275/70R17 Falken Wildpeak AT4/W
Sherpa RedCloud Rack
LRA 37 Gallon Fuel Tank
589 Skid Plates Front to Back
White Knuckle Rock Sliders
589 Hidden Winch
Warn 9.5XP-S
ARB Single OBA
Icom 2730A

Daryl
2006 Ford F250 6.0
Bulletproofed, Deleted, Tuned
2022 F250 Tremor Wheels
285/75R18 Cooper Stronghold A/T
ARB Deluxe Bumper (Installing shortly)
Come Up Seal 16.5RS
Ironman 5x7 Spot Lights
Baja Designs S2 SAE
sPOD SoureLT Controller.
Much More to Come Shortly.

Roger Photos Through the Years
White Rim with less than 1000 miles on the truck

Lift and 285/70R17 Maxxis RAZR AT


Super Pacific X1


Between Campers On 34x10.50R17 Toyo AT3s (Now On Burt)

Four Wheel Campers Project M Sand Dune Testing in Wyoming

Lake Superior Camping

San Rafael Swell Work Trip


Daryl
Stock Picking in up in Wisconsin

2022 Tremor Wheels and 285/75R18 Cooper Stronghold A/T

First Time Off Road

Christmas Tree Cutting

 

This Thread will be for all three trucks moving forwards. But Majority surrounding Burts Mods and Adventures. Only Major Mods of trips for the other trips on here.

 

So, why are you selling your camper?

 

The F250 will be getting a camper in January, so there isn't a need to have both, and to find the new camper the Project M has to go. Plus my wife is selling her car and will be driving the Ranger as her daily instead.

 

That will give you a lot more room

 

I look forward to the 6.0l Build! Missing my HEUI truck already...been about 5 months since I sold it. Regret.

 

There will be a huge amount of room. As well as it will be nice to have a bigger difference between trucks. Burt will get used more since it will actually be more capable than the F250.