Xpedition Ready Build.....

Hi all, I am Ben Gibson, owner of Xpedition Ready LLC based in Raleigh, NC. We aim to offer the best overlanding and off-road products on the market today. Xready is a family owned and operated business that strives to sell products at the best possible prices, as well as with the best customer service. We got started in early 2012 when I was working full time as a firefighter. As some of you know firefighter’s work a unique schedule, which allows the pursuit of extracurricular activities. Meaning, you have to work another job to make a living.
I have lived a life of 4-wheeling, camping, exploring, traveling, and riding motorcylces since a young age. Through college I spent every dime I had building trucks set up for rock crawling, which led to many arguments with my then girlfriend because there was no money left to go on dates. But hey, she was patient, and stuck it out and eventually became Mrs. Gibson and is now an employee/brains of Xready; also known as Jess. The third and final member of Xready is my older brother; guru of all things mechanical, and the instigator of making overlanding, 4-wheeling, motorcycle riding, traveling, and adventures my passion. Xready’s head mechanic; David.

Crawler Build:



Fast forward several years, we relocated to Raleigh for family reasons, I left the fire service from a professional standpoint, and now press head long into Xpedition Ready full-time. We are not the most computer, internet, or web design savvy so bear with us and our website problems as we continue to build the site, as well as update this build thread.

Now that you know a little bit about who we are….on with the build
September 23, 2013 Xpedition Ready purchased our 2013 4wd Double Cab TRD OR to be the new face of the company. We have plans to do a modest overland build, with a goal to make it functional, simplistic, and affordable for the common everyday consumer. This truck is an everyday driver and will be designed and built as such.

Stage 1: The goal of Stage 1 will be to get the truck ready for a cross country trip Jess and I will be leaving for in April. We will be leaving NC March 28th and headed North West on a loop to see the best places this great nation has to offer. We will arrive back on Easter Sunday April 20th. We will be camping and exploring all along the way and documenting it as well. We would love your input on what you would like to see in this build so please post up!

· Tires: BFG KM2s 255/85/16
· Suspension: Old Man Emu 885 coils, Nitro Chargers, and Dakar leafs....later changed to 886 for bumper
· Roof Top Tent: Undecided but leaning towards Eezi-Awn 1400
· RTT Rack: Xready prototype design
· Fridge/Slide: Undecided
· Sliders: Stubbs Welding HD-SKO most likely
· Skid Plates: Bud Built full skids, as we already have a set from another build
· Storage Solutions: Working on this so stay tuned
· Lighting: Undecided
· Battery: Not sure if we will go with a dual battery setup for this trip as we will be on the road everyday so we may go with a larger single battery for now. Ended up going with a single batter Die Hard 31M
· On Board Air: Undecided but probably an ARB Twin Air compressor because we want to try one out.

Stage 2: These are things we will not need for this particular trip so they will be put on the back burner for now.
· Front Bumper: ARB Deluxe Bumper
· Rear Bumper:
· Winch: M8000
· Front Locker:

Day we brought it home:

 

If you do a loop you miss the best part of the nation and the overlanders dream. Alaska. Sick crawler though. Definitely subd.

 

Sub'd. I am excited for this build

 

Tires:
We choose BFG KM2’s in size 255/85/16 because we wanted the height and performance of a 33” tall tire, but with a bit less rolling mass due, which will save us a bit of gas on our trips. If you are not familiar with the size it is roughly a 33x10 tire, also known as pizza cutters. It is our first time running this size, but we have heard great things from friends and customers. As for the mud terrain, a bit overkill for the majority of our trips but unfortunately there is not a lot of options in this size. We have had great luck with BFG in the past in other sizes so we are hoping this tire delivers.

In case anyone has told you differently, this size DOES fit on stock suspension for street driving. We had a local tire shop put them on before we had a chance to get the lift on, and we were also curious if they would fit to give you guys some feedback. Our thought process was if they don’t fit stock, they will rub under full compression off road. So lets see what happens. We have not had a chance to wheel them on stock suspension but if you are worried about getting the tires on before you can afford the lift or don’t have time to put the lift on, you wont have any problems with stock wheels, and with mud flaps removed. We removed our mud flaps because they drug over speed bumps and looked terrible in our opinion. Disclaimer: These tires fit our truck on stock TRD OR suspension without mud flaps. They may fit with mud flaps but we took ours off before so use your discretion. We will keep you guys posted on MPG with this tire size as well as a longer term review.

 

Yall are fast...stay tuned. Out of time to add more today

 

Why not go with the OME 886's if you are going to be putting on skids, winch, and a bumper?

Looking forward to the build!

Matt

 

I'm running 285s and wish I was running 255s..

 

267/82/17 ftw
And yes thats my actual tire size

 

27/32" deep tread for true ALL terrain

 

This looks good

 

Bumper and winch are a ways off so we will go with 885s for now and swap in the future because 886 is a harsh ride if not loaded down with a bumper and winch in our opinion.

 

Pass some of that over here

 

255s, IMO, are ideal for overland use. But not to clutter the thread up, this is a sick build OP.

 

Subbed as you have the exact truck I do and have been trying to decide how to build it out.

 

From their facebook page! Looking good!

 

Full-time fab and building? Let's get this thing going! Should have found a SWB!

 

i'm curious as to why yall went with the KM2s...not exactly the best road tire with wearing down and wet conditions...i have 35s on my 01 and absolutely dislike them. why not cooper stt, duratracs. i mean i can see one reason as to why going with KM2s for off road reasons but why not all around better tire? not hating on your build or anything like that just curious is all. also checked out your website and i like some of the prices as they are better than other places.

 

Sub'd

886's weren't bad without skids or bumper. With that being said, I'm wish I would've spent the coin to begin with and got Icon extended travel coilovers.