I'm in Gardnerville. I like Ely; last time I was there was about a year ago.
Tell us some more about your plans for the truck.
I love Gardnerville! Nice place. I use to live in Reno years ago when it really was the Biggest "Little" city! Now its just BIG.
As far as other plans for my build? Wow there are allot! I like to build stuff with my own hands but my shop is no more and my shop tools now belong to my brother. I have my basic hand tools and such. For my Bumpers I will hand that off to Wayne Hanson. Wayne was the originator of the after market bumper that wasnt Junk! Currie contracted him to build there first bumper which was of his design. But Wayne was and still is a custom fab shop that he does pretty much by himself and they wanted more production. Anyway you can also see his work on one of the Turtle expedition trucks. I believe it was called the weekend warrior? It was the Blue Dakota. In the credits I believe Turtle gave the credit to ARB for the bumper. That couldnt be farther from the truth. I saw that bumper in his shop and after it was I beieve Powder coated that beautiful Blue. Anyway take that Bumper and enlarge it for my full size Dodge and thats what it will look like. There rear bumper I have designed but will let Wayne have his way with it. Either way it will be done right. I am thinking about 2 spare tires with one side holding the sand matts behind the tire and the other side holding a Hi Lift, Shuvel and axe behind the other. All of my Shackles (4) on back will be the larger ones. Not your typical 3/4 Shackles found on just about every expedition rig. The reason is this vehicle will need the larger recovery straps (4") and thus the eye lets or end loops are much thicker. Have you ever tried hooking 2 of these eye lets on a 3/4 shackle? Pain in the ******** especailly when its below zero and your hands arent responding very well. Been there done that. I have some rough scetches I can post. And I mean rough.....
The front bumper will house an industrial Warn 15K winch. The rear will be kept empty. I have several 9K portable Warn winches but I dont plan on going anywhere I need to get yanked out.... Famous last word right. Anyway a front mounted winch should suffice.
Any true Expedition Rig should have the ability to produce its own air. I have decided on a Viar dual compressor system and remote tank to fill that need. Maybe a custom box under the bed with access from the side of the bed with a door might work. I havent figured that out yet since I really havent focused on that part of my build. Other niceties will include a remote shower and sink. Side Table to mount on the bed when in camp and a nice Awning. I will also carry some nice rugs that will stow in the bed area when on the move and then unrolled and layed out like a bedouin tent floor. I did this once with some old rugs we had and man does it keep the dirt out of you tent and everything else for that matter! Plus the dust is kept down as well. For beaches its a must!
