M1010 expo build. The Mountain Turtle

stevo-mt

Member
Since it has been -20 deg ******** here in Saskatoon I've been doing some designing and planning for some of the projects I want to build for the old truck. One thing I did and completely forgot to show was a storage system that I build in the back. Before Jess and I were heading to Alaska we bolted in some aluminum angle pieces in the cabin area right behind where the door to get into the pickup cab is. We made three shelves and bought 3 sets of 2 milk crates to go inside. This area used to store air re-circulation / medical equipment area when it was an ambulance. The square footprint was about 14"x24"x the height of the box so milk crates fit perfect. I didn't want to remove the steel supports because then I couldn't keep the stock back board that doubles as an extra bunk or gear storage.

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I spaced the heights 12 inches apart to fit in 11" tall milk crates. Each shelf holds two crates with a 3/8" plywood board on each shelf for support and the floor holds two crates as well. The top shelf is just storage for our big hiking backpacks. The milk crates I got off of amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MNHT1NU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
DSCN6435.jpg We were in such a hurry to get things buttoned up to head to AK I forgot to ever get a photo of what the back looks like with the wood and then crates installed. I used one bunji chord to go across all three shelves like a > shape. I also bolted some L track pieces to make removable anchors. All that was needed is just a little bit of help holding them in. They have worked out well for things such as food storage of dry goods, one for all of the coffee fixings (grinder, french press, aeropress, peculator, etc. I think we have at least four or five ways to make coffee at any given time...)
 
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chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Wow:Wow1:looks good Stevo1 Some times simple thing make for a good solution. Milk crates are extremely handy!:)
 

stevo-mt

Member
I finally made it home to Montana for a bit. I wasn't able to get any work done on my truck which made me feel a bit sad. I had a have dozen trees to cut down that were at risk of falling onto the fence between the neighbors and our place. So I spent days sawing up wood vs getting to play with the old truck. I did fire it up. Everything seemed ok minus the solar charge controller was dead. That fried sometime over the last year. I just disconnected everything. The Odyssey AGM batteries have no problem holding a charge just sitting there. I also rigged up a fancy electronic charger/maintainer to get plugged in everyonce in a while.

The big change with the truck situation is that I was able to finally see the M1101 trailer with the hard top hitched to the truck! I was pretty surprised when I hooked it up how much the truck dwarfed the trailer. It was a good reminder of how huge this whole thing is. The tan color is going to get addressed this winter and I will probably do some painting on the truck at the same time to give them a matching look. Not sure yet on colors but that isn't a really big deal.

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The main reason I really wanted this trailer is after our last trip to Alaska we were packed in the truck pretty tight by the time we packed all 4 seasons of gear and our Zodiac boat. Since we are planning on moving back up there this next spring, this time with two dogs, it made sense to have a little room for us to breath. I'm planning on building shelves over the space of the fender wells that go up to the ceiling of the hard top. I'll incorporate a stand for the Zodiac's outboard motor and have dedicated spots for these items to live at. That way whenever we travel, if we are wanting to do exploring with the boat we will have it at our disposal. I was planning on shipping my old yamaha timberwolf atv and a dirt bike out to the bush so we will have a set of wheels in King Salmon.

I guess the overall goal is to keep the truck self sufficient and lighter weight, but have the trailer if we are wanting to drag toys to go play. Either way I'm excited to get to do another month + long trip next year and get to take whatever scenic route we want!
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
I have always enjoyed :Wow1:your posts and continue to do so Stevo. Lets hope you get more time to work on your rig and get it looking the way you want. Cheers, Chilli..:)
 

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