Recent content by dustboy

Did a good amount of trail miles today in the lil’ Bronco. First was Sourgrass outside Dorrington CA. The gatekeeper obstacle is about 200 yards from the trailhead and I chickened out. Was pretty sure we could have gotten over the knee-high step up but was not 100% sure it would have happened...

Out of sheer luck, I ended up with a Badlands in my driveway. My dad had ordered it last year on a whim, and gave up waiting. When it finally came in to the dealer, I wasted no time. Right before Ford shut down production again. Haven’t had it on a trail yet, but my first impression is that it...

Awesome project, I would do the same if I had any time. Is that your wood shop? I've got one with a CNC too, seems almost criminal not to use it to build a crazy camper.

We are 4-up in a 6x12 cargo conversion, me, wife, 4 y.o. and 1 y.o., and our 50-lb pointer. We have a full-size bed, older kid sleeps above our feet in a bunk, youngest sleeps in a pack-n-play on the floor. Not much room to move around but once the youngest is ready to share the bunk, it will...

Our last camping trip really set us back on our motivation for adventure...found a backcountry spot with a fabulous view, but the locals made it clear they didn't like us hanging around in their backyard (almost 2m acres of USFS land). That made the atmosphere a little edgy, then the second...

Gotta subscribe to this. My next truck will probably be an F150 or F250. I usually only tow about 3,500 lbs so the F250 is overkill...but I really want diesel. I would buy one of those new Ram 1500 with the small diesel but I have watched too many of my friends' Rams fall apart.

Well, let's start with the fun part. What kind of vehicle do we need? Right now we have a Honda Ridgeline and a 6x12 cargo trailer conversion. The trailer has an outdoor galley at the rear and sleeps the 4 of us more or less comfortably. All other activities happen outside. This is fine for...

Last night we started talking about walking away from the rat race for a year, and taking our family of 4 out to see North America. In a couple of years, the kids will be 5 and 2, and not too attached to friends or school yet. I think it would be an incredible learning experience for them...

Well, now here's one the size of your smartphone for $69. junopower jumpr Now I know for sure that we live in the future.

If you can move to Bend with a job that can get you by on one income, then do it. It's an awesome place for us outdoorsy types, but I imagine the job market is pretty similar to South Lake. Your fiance might have a hard time finding work if she needs to. Otherwise, I'd say stay put. Yes...

I'm still happy with mine, but with a family, I don't do any real offroading anymore. The only real problems it has are no low-range on the transfer case and the paltry ground clearance. That said, it handles rough fireroads very well, it's far more comfortable at higher speed than my Tacoma...

I asked the same question when my family started growing. My solution was to convert a cargo trailer. I still won't take it on anything gnarly, but after I did some suspension tuning, it can handle the average fire road okay. I like the fiberglass body of the Escape trailers, but it's the...

I went ahead and removed the short 4th leaf, as described here. Didn't think it would make much difference, but boy, did it. No more jerking, bucking, or bouncing. On the highway you almost forget it's there. Off road you can move at a much more reasonable pace without all the drama. Gotta love...

Wow, that thing is super plush inside, here's a bump for ya.

I'm curious to see how this turns out. Never realized there was camber on the axles.