Newbie - Slow but Sure F150 Build

[bdbecker]

Sorry for the delay folks, it has been a hectic summer. Not long after we got back, my girlfriend got an amazing job offer that we just couldn't turn down. The last month and a half has been spent applying for jobs, looking at houses, and getting our current house ready to be put on the market.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I've been promising.

First, here is the front reciever hitch I installed. In the short term, I finally have a front recovery point. Long term, I hope to get a winch and basket so I can get myself out of trouble if needed.

Next is the cruise control. It really has made a huge difference in fatigue while driving and paid for itself on the trip.

Finally a few pictures from the trip. We left on Saturday morning at 5am, headed to Iowa to drop off our dogs at my parents' place, and drove straight through to Corpus Christi, arriving at 8am Sunday morning. The trip down was completely uneventful with the exception of when in Oklahoma I let out a pretty good string of choice four letter words directed at the GPS. I was sleeping at the time, but my girlfriend woke me up asking for change for the tolls. Apparently, it had kept directing her to get on and off toll roads for no reason (I think its a conspiracy). We ended up having to run through an unmanned tollboth because we were out of change - they took our picture, but I never saw anything in the mail about it. Also the traffic around Dallas and Austin, even in the dead of night, had this hick from the sticks checking his underpants for accidents. But we made it in one piece, picked up some supplies for the week, and headed out to the sand.

We ended up leaving on Thursday morning so we could have some time to see some sights on the way home. Besides, I was out of Lone Star and had read the books I brought along.

 

[DoMiNiC1]

Sounds like fun!!! Great pics!

 

[kevint]

I would love to hear more about your trip to PINS. How far down the beach did you go?

 

[Mad_Texan]

Nice looking truck! Padre is ice since they let you drive on the beach...took my old blazer there several times as I grew up in Texas. Spent several spring breaks there...I think?!?!?

:friday:

 

[mastersryan]

awesome truck nice build so far!

 

[SDDiver5]

good to see another f150!

 

[bdbecker]

Bringing this thread back from the dead with a quick rundown of the last 4 years (I don't like threads that just leave everyone hanging). As far as the truck goes, I've not made any serious changes or modifications to since I last posted. We have continued exploring and camping, but I've not had any real time or money to devote to upgrades or big trips, or even really had time to think about until now.

July of 2012 was my last post, six weeks later, we (the girlfriend and I) moved to the Des Moines, Iowa area for new jobs and a change of scenery. My job in SD was going nowhere and she had a great opportunity to further her career, so we went for it. We ended up living with my uncle for the first 6 months, commuting almost an hour each way. We were really glad when we found a townhouse and moved in February of 2013. It was small and crappy, but they let us have our dogs, so we were happy.

In October 2013 we got married. During the reception, we each threw a dart at a map of the United States to determine where we would go for our honeymoon. The map was covered in craft paper and was mounted on a spinning board so we couldn't try and aim for any specific locations. I hit Valentine, Nebraska and she hit Wheeling, West Virginia. Then, instead of doing a dollar dance, we had people vote on where we should go by putting money in a jar. Thank goodness Wheeling won. We ended up going to Niagara Falls first, and then came down through Allegheny National Forest. Even though we were in a car, we still made it more interesting by staying off the interstate as much as possible throughout the trip.

May of 2014, I finally got the house in SD sold. An expensive life lesson learned, don't buy a tiny house with a huge garage in a small town, its not easy to sell. Up until that point we were paying the mortgage on the SD house, rent on the IA townhouse, and saving any extra to put towards a down payment on a new house. A few months later, we bought a house and moved again. I finally had a garage after two years.

September of 2015, we welcomed our first child into the world, a beautiful girl named Vela Marlene. It blows my mind how fast she is growing up and is really fun seeing her personality develop. She's a little pistol and I can already tell that I'm in big, big trouble. Even though its been pretty tough at times, being a Dad is awesome. Oh, and I should add that my wife ended up finding a new job about a month ago, so now she gets to work M-F, 8-5 instead of nights and weekends. The pay bump is nice too.

So yeah, life kind of snuck up on this ole boy. Between moving, getting married, buying a house, and becoming a Dad, I feel like I've finally just woke up from this 4 year long blur of life events. Now, we actually have time at night to do stuff around the house since one of us can watch the kid. We've paid off some bills and have some cash set aside for a rainy day, so now its time to play again.

The F150, as good as its been to me over the last 100k miles, no longer really fits into the family mix anymore. The regular cab just doesn't work with a car seat, the long box and big tires make it a bear for daily use in an urban environment, the Iowa salt has given it cancer in a bad way, and its decided to start marking its territory through the rear main seal (not an easy or cheap fix with these vehicles). So I'm putting it up for sale in the next few weeks. I'll shine her up one more time, take her for a little cruise, and say my goodbyes.

Hopefully I'll find time to start a new thread for my "new" vehicle... a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4.7L V8 with QTII. I tried holding out for one with the QDII system, but when this one came across the radar a few months ago, I couldn't pass it up. I'm not planning on anything crazy, just a few mods that make the roads less traveled a little more accessible for me and the whole family.