10th Generation F-150 Overland build (The Craptor)

[OBS460]

Hi, I'm Justin and along with my fiancée and three lovely kids, we are building our 'ultimately budget overland camping setup.

I was a Ford Master Certified technician, so we decided to stick with Ford as its what I am most familiar with. Currently, I work for Komatsu America Corporation as an electrician building ultra class mining trucks.

Last year, I inherited a 1998 F-150 4x4 from my late Uncle and decided it would be a bit more efficient/comfortable platform in comparison to my 1996 F-250 camper build. The truck has been exceptionally well maintained, is rust free, and has proven to be a capable/reliable vehicle. It's equipped with a NPI 5.4, 4r100 trans, 9.75 rear end (3.55LS) and the offroad package (with engine and fuel tank skid plates).

We have decided we do like Overland style camping, and wanted to have a setup that will allow us to get quite a ways off-grid. However, we did not want to drastically hamper on-road performance and usability.

As you'll read in the upcoming comments, we went ahead and installed Gen 2 3.0" Fox shocks from a 2019 Raptor. A good friend owns a Raptor, so I lovingly nicknamed this one "The Craptor".

 

[OBS460]

With a growing family, the prospect of sleeping of soon to be five in a pickup truck seemed to be a bit daunting.

In the truck bed, I built a sleeping platform that spans the width of the truck bed from 2x10"s and 3/4" plywood. 3 full length drawers house the 'kitchen', along with most of our gear. On top of this platform is a queen sized sleeping area, comprised of 6" of gel filled memory foam and our sleeping bags (or sheets, weather dependent).

Our 'kitchen' is a simple one, but quite useful for our typical diets. A coleman dual burner stove and griddle plate lends itself to it's versatility, and our sink is a simple 15x15" stainless unit found at the local Menards. It drains through a hole in the drawer, and down into a bucket that serves as our gray water tank.

The three year old, and seven year old each have an air mattress in the cab of the truck and we sleep in the back of the truck. Locking the doors sets the alarm, and let's us quickly know if one of the kiddos tried to get out of the truck while we are asleep.

A 5x7' Yescomusa awning provides shade and rain protection while we cook our food or hang out.

 

[OBS460]

From the onset, I knew I wanted to use a 12V fridge as opposed to lugging around a cooler and dealing with their shortcomings.

To ensure a steady supply of power, I installed a Group 31 Deep Cycle battery in an E-350 battery box on to the passenger frame rail behind my running board. 2 gauge wiring is ran through a circuit breaker (and an isolator here soon) to the primary battery. While running, I can supply 70-75A of charging power from the truck to the Deep Cycle to top it off.

On the roof of the Truck topper, I installed 3 25w Harbor Freight solar panels and wired them to the deep cycle. The last 25w panel was not installed, as I wanted to be able to remotely deploy it at an optimum angle. I'm seeing a consistent 60w of charging voltage from the array, which will supply the fridge with all the power it needs, regardless if the truck is driven that day.

A/C power is provided by a 1000w modified sine wave inverter, allowing us to use a small coffee maker at camp.

The fridge we selected was an Iceco 50L, with a Dan-Foss (Sepco) compressor. Once it arrives I will post pictures of it's mounting.

 

[OBS460]

We all know that one of the most important pieces of equipment on our rig's comes down to where the rubber meets the road. I wanted a good all around tire that was not overly loud, as we have to do a lot of highway miles to get to our camping destinations usually.

I've had good luck with Falken WildPeak AT3W's in the past, and selected a 285-70-17 for the F-150. With a 3.55 gear ratio, the 5.4 moves out well enough for it's intended purpose.

In the event my right foot writes a check my truck can't cash, I opted to install a ZXR12000 winch on a Warn hidden mount. We didn't want to incur the weight penalty that most off-road bumpers include, and this has proven to be a very robust mounting arrangement. A frame mounted bull bar rounded out the 'rugged' look, while offering modest protection to the truck's vital bits.

 

[OBS460]

To help deal with the larger tires, a 1.5" taller rear block was installed and the front bars were turned up to level the load.

Next, the notoriously weak brakes were addressed. Id be willing to say this is one of the largest inadequacies on this platform, but luckily Ford did fix the issue in a sense.

Brake calipers, pads, rotors and brackets from an Expedition are a direct bolt on swap. The piston area increases roughly 20%, and the pads/rotors are quite a bit more robust.

To ease pedal effort, a dual diaphragm booster from an E-150 rounded out the upgrades. The factory F150 booster is a single diaphragm unit.

 

[OBS460]

As the pounds have piled on, the 235hp 5.4 has become noticeably more anemic (not to say they're a real power house in the first place).

Luckily, Mike from 5 Star tuning has some great tunes that help the engine make a little more power, as well as crispen up the transmission shifts. With the 89 octane tow tune, we have largely gained back the acceleration lost from the weight gain.

With my typical OCD tendencies, I decided to pull the injectors to inspect them for carbon deposits. #4 and #8 showed extensive blockage from carbon, and were the EV1 style injector. The 454 vortec runs the same: flow rate, impedence, and connector type but utilizes the newer EV6 style. The benefits are a more uniform spray pattern, lending to better efficiency and a smoother idle. At $103 shipped for flow matched injectors, it seemed like a no brainer! We are hoping for a 3-5% reduction in fuel consumption as well.

 

[OBS460]

This weekend we are taking the setup on it's first real adventure! The Trans-Wisconsin Adventure Trail is about 3 hours from our location, and with any luck we intend to complete it over the course of 4 days.

Stay tuned!

 

[ITTOG]

Good luck and enjoy.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

 

[givemethewillys]

I was just saying to my wife today how I missed my 2002 (same generation as yours) f150 supercrew. I sold it with 215k miles on it, and probably only spent $1000 in maintenance over the 10+ years that i owned the truck. It was great.

I'm impressed by how clean your truck looks! In looking online, every single one I've seen is beat to heck. Hopefully this one will treat you well. It looks like a great platform to work off of!

 

[ExplorerTom]

Awesome. I had a 1st gen Expedition that I really enjoyed. I’ve always liked the look of the 10th gen F150/1st gen Expedition. I took my Expedition on many, many trips- on pavement and off. Check out my link below to my 2000. Miss that truck- and its lack of truck payment.

 

[SDDiver5]

I have a 2018 now but sure do miss my 98...Bought it with 98k on the clock and I finally had to let it go with 236k. It took me all around AZ during college and it is an amazingly capable truck offroad and got great gas mileage if you do 70MPH at cruise control. I was always very impressed with what I put it through.

Yours looks to be in fantastic condition and enjoy it!

 

[hammerg26]

Wonder if I can follow a similar setup on my 1999 Expedition.
Hmm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Looks like a fun build, I love my '02.

 

[OBS460]

As no one truly likes a cold shower, my fiancée especially, we looked into options for a nice camping shower setup. Here it is in our testing phase, the pump has since been hooked up with a quick connect to the truck.

Obviously indoor space, or lack thereof, dictates that the setup will need to be outside of the rig. A Camplux propane water heater, pop up shower tent, 35psi water pump, and 7 gallon water jugs round out the setup.

Amazon has quite a few propane fed instant hot water heaters, and I have been very happy with this Camplux unit. At full flow (1.2gpm, according to my pump spec) it is routinely able to raise water temps 75F above ambient conditions.

Ever the one for consolidation, the camp shower also doubles as the faucet for our kitchen sink.

The next phase will involve installing a 21gal freshwater tank under the truck where the OEM muffler originally was installed. This location is ideal as its: well protected, low, and toward the rear of the truck to help improve weight distribution.

 

[badm0t0rfinger]

@OBS460 your build is awesome so far, but tell me more about that RX8!