Crypticracer
New member
Sick rig man keep it up ill be watching this build
1978 Ford Crew Cummins hunting rig
- Thread starter Higbean
- Start date
huntsonora
Explorer
Took a few of my girls camping last weekend. They loved the camper. As a matter of fact, they wanted to sleep in it. It rained the second night and Mama and I were glad they did. Stayed dry and all our stuff stayed relatively dust free for the ride. I'm diggin the side doors. Made a deal with my buddies wife. Said I'd bring the firewood, if she brought the Sailor Jerry. I opened the side doors and stacked all the wood in the front of the bed. Thought I was in tall cotton until I saw the tiny bottle of Sailor they brought!
Beautiful family bud! Is that a Mystery Ranch pack?
Nice rig! My 97 Cummins might get a 4 door cab swap someday and those old Fords are so tough looking. I don't know if you have a rear locker yet, but that's where my money would go first. I have 1979 Ford Dana 60's in both my 97 Cummins and my 1996 Tacoma. The Taco is on 42's and I snapped the factory 30 spline stub shafts like twigs before I upgraded to 35 spline Chromo inners, outers and Hubs. That truck has an ARB in the front. My Dodge is still open in the front with a re-stacked Dana 80 factory limited slip in the rear. The limited slip works great for daily driving, towing and snowy roads, but it definitely isn't a locker once you get one tire in the air. When I built the 79 60 for the front I upgraded to 35 spline outers and Hubs. The inners are still the factory 35 spliners and with the open front every thing seems to be holding together great.
If you can afford it I'd drop an ARB and 35 spline stubs in the front while its apart, if not rebuild it stock and lock up the rear somehow.
If you can afford it I'd drop an ARB and 35 spline stubs in the front while its apart, if not rebuild it stock and lock up the rear somehow.
Oh my. This is what expo portal is all about.
I love the built up Camel Trophy Disco's as much as the next guy, but so often folks get on here just to show they can slap a bunch of accessories on a new Tundra. We get caught up in cool stuff, and forget the whole point of a purpose built rig for expeditions. Granted, here in the USA an expedition for many of us is really just taking extended road trips with a few forest trails at our destination, but we WANT to spend a month in the back country.
This truck has all the makings of a great expedition rig once it gets all buttoned up.
- There is room for a real family, not just a couple DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) and a dog.
- There is room for gear without throwing it on a top rack. Low COG and you can go through trails with low hanging branches without ripping gear off the top.
- It has legendary reliability of the 70's Ford AND a Cummins diesel. Sourcing parts in the boonies will be possible if modifications are kept track of and off normal/common production vehicles. Oh, and it's the most ************** body style ford ever built.
- It's got the wheelbase and power to pull a camper if desired. Or a friends Land Rover on a trailer.
- Incredible fuel economy, considering it's twice the size of a Land Cruiser and will probably get better mileage.
- Will burn more than just diesel from the pump...
I could go on. Disadvantage? It's big. More difficult to squeeze into parking spaces in the small mountain village or at the grocery store, and down tight trails. But hell, you can carry a Suzuki Samurai in the back for when you need to make a run to town.
Higbean, If you sit back and start second guessing whether you've made the right decision building that truck, all you need to do is go back through this thread and wipe all the drool off. Just stay true to what you're building it for and don't let us distract you.
I love the built up Camel Trophy Disco's as much as the next guy, but so often folks get on here just to show they can slap a bunch of accessories on a new Tundra. We get caught up in cool stuff, and forget the whole point of a purpose built rig for expeditions. Granted, here in the USA an expedition for many of us is really just taking extended road trips with a few forest trails at our destination, but we WANT to spend a month in the back country.
This truck has all the makings of a great expedition rig once it gets all buttoned up.
- There is room for a real family, not just a couple DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) and a dog.
- There is room for gear without throwing it on a top rack. Low COG and you can go through trails with low hanging branches without ripping gear off the top.
- It has legendary reliability of the 70's Ford AND a Cummins diesel. Sourcing parts in the boonies will be possible if modifications are kept track of and off normal/common production vehicles. Oh, and it's the most ************** body style ford ever built.
- It's got the wheelbase and power to pull a camper if desired. Or a friends Land Rover on a trailer.
- Incredible fuel economy, considering it's twice the size of a Land Cruiser and will probably get better mileage.
- Will burn more than just diesel from the pump...
I could go on. Disadvantage? It's big. More difficult to squeeze into parking spaces in the small mountain village or at the grocery store, and down tight trails. But hell, you can carry a Suzuki Samurai in the back for when you need to make a run to town.
Higbean, If you sit back and start second guessing whether you've made the right decision building that truck, all you need to do is go back through this thread and wipe all the drool off. Just stay true to what you're building it for and don't let us distract you.
Thanks man. Yeah, I hear ya on the bolt on stuff. I'm always disappointed when I see posts like "check out my new expedition rig!" and on further review it's a brand new truck with bumpers and a shell. That's cool, but I think the expedition moniker gets thrown around a little loosely. This won't be used very often for extended periods of camping. Mostly weekend trips with the wife and three daughters. Hunting deer a few weeks in remote areas. Loading my lab up and heading to the duck blind or chasing pheasants. Heading to the coast crab fishing. Stuff like that.
I'm not worried about the size of it one bit. I've had it in to my buddies cabin already and it did fine in the few spots I was worried about. The main reason I wanted to build it is reliability. I figure once I finish with the Dana 60 rebuild and go through the trans, I won't have to worry about anything for a long, long time. Sure I'll always be tinkering with it, but that's my favorite part.
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
As a guy with a 70 Suburban I gotta say I really like your rig....best body style Ford ever did as others have said plus the killer Cummins.
Looking forward to some indepth trip reports and thoughts as you use it and enjoy taking the girls out to play in the dirt
Looking forward to some indepth trip reports and thoughts as you use it and enjoy taking the girls out to play in the dirt
