2021 Ford F250 Tremor Adventure Rig

[BretEdge]

We snuck in one more trip before winter got its frosty hands on the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado. We'd planned to spend four days and nights exploring, camping and mountain biking but with the storm rolling in sometime Saturday night we decided to pack it in and head home. Even so, we managed to find three gorgeous campsites, a waterfall, a little bit of fall color and do several laps on the incredible Rib Cage trail at Phil's World near Cortez.

Our camper batteries have been on the fritz for a while so we decided to replace them while we were in Durango. Back to full power now...$800 later. At some point will probably upgrade to lithium but for now, we're good with 6V AGM's. On the coldest night the temp dropped to 22 degrees, leaving frost on everything outside the camper. Inside, we stayed toasty warm thanks to ample blankets, sleeping bags and, of course, a heater that works at high elevations. Thanks, Propex!

We've got three weeks before our next trip. We're headed somewhere for 9-10 days during Thanksgiving. Historically, we go to Sedona. This year we're contemplating either New Mexico or Nevada. Whatever we do, it'll be nice to spend all the quality time with my family.

 

[BretEdge]

We took our annual Thanksgiving trip to Sedona and while the weather wasn't as warm as it's been in past years, it wasn't awful. We even enjoyed a couple outrageous sunsets, including one on our first night at camp. We got a late start on the day we left so we only drove for a couple of hours and camped under Mexican Hat rock. With no cities of any size within at least 100 miles the night skies are quite dark, which meant that stars shone quite brightly in the big vacant nothing. The temps dropped to around 20 that night but our Propex heater kept us toasty warm inside and we had no issues with frozen water lines. From there we finished the drive to Sedona the following day. While in Sedona we hiked and mountain biked, though not as much as we'd initially planned. We rode a new-to-us loop with some extra spicy sections of black diamond trail. Thankfully, we all survived unscathed. At least, until the next to last day when I decided to attempt to climb a three foot ledge followed by a two foot ledge. I made it almost to the top of the bottom ledge, ran out of gas and tipped over to the left which was, of course, exposed. I sprained my wrist and jacked up my pinky, but luckily caught myself before getting impaled by the sharp broken off tree pointed directly at my face. Ugh, mountain biking. On the way home we stopped at Wupatki NM and were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Wukoki ruin. All in all, a great trip!

We're finally making some upgrades to the rig. I've got a Carli Trophy Hitch on order and will have it installed by the crew at BVO when it arrives in a few months. Torklift sent us a set of GlowSteps and we're installing those this week, before our two week trip down to Phoenix. Other mods we're considering are an on-demand hot water heater, some KC lights mounted in the rear of the flatbed that we can switch on from the cab and...??? Lastly, my 7 year old iMac is on its last legs and I'll be upgrading to a 16" MacBook Pro at some point in the near future. It'll be nice to be able to process images on the road rather than having to wait to do them all when I get home, which is a huge time suck.

Anyway, I have some time today and thought I'd post a few photos and this short trip report.

 

[eyemgh]

some KC lights mounted in the rear of the flatbed that we can switch on from the cab

We did that. HUGE upgrade parking at night.

 

[BretEdge]

We did that. HUGE upgrade parking at night.

No doubt. Without the bigass tire to block the backup lights, plus KC's, I think we'd have much better visibility. Also, tailgater defense.

 

[mk216v]

Instead of the $$$ for the Carli Trophy hitch/spare setup, why not just stuff a 37" spare in the factory location like @montypower and I have done??

 

[BretEdge]

Instead of the $$$ for the Carli Trophy hitch/spare setup, why not just stuff a 37" spare in the factory location like @montypower and I have done??

I don't want to have to deflate a tire and figure out how to cram it into place using a Hi-Lift or something else.

 

[mk216v]

I don't want to have to deflate a tire and figure out how to cram it into place using a Hi-Lift or something else.

So ~$4000+ installed for Trophy, vs initially deflating a full-sized spare and winding it up with the factory cable hook?

 

[BretEdge]

So ~$4000+ installed for Trophy, vs initially deflating a full-sized spare and winding it up with the factory cable hook?

You do you.

 

[mk216v]

You do you.

Agreed.
And no disrespect--I just wanted to make sure you were aware it's only ~20min of your time to get a slightly worn 37" to fit in there.

Carry on...

 

[BretEdge]

Agreed.
And no disrespect--I just wanted to make sure you were aware it's only ~20min of your time to get a slightly worn 37" to fit in there.

Carry on...

Appreciate it.

 

[Over The Silent Planet]

Really nice build. How many miles do you have on the rig? Any issues or reliability problems? I think I’m about to graduate from the half ton world.

 

[montypower]

I don't want to have to deflate a tire and figure out how to cram it into place using a Hi-Lift or something else.

For those of you wondering... 2017+ Super Duty will fit 35.75" diameter spare in the factory location with factory cable winch at full street pressure. 37" tires do not measure 37" diameter. For instance a brand new 37" BFG KO2 on 8.5" wheel measures 36" at full pressure. Our slightly used KO2 measured at 35.75" at full pressure (ideal spare).

You can fit a brand new KO2 37" tire (measuring 36" diameter) completely aired down. Crank up the winch until it gets tight. Then you'll need to go under the truck and push it into place. Don't try to force it in with the factory cable winch.

Many tire shops can shave tread to reduce diameter... TireRack.com offers the service and could make an ideal brand new 37" tire fit properly. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=259

Carli Hitch is a neat offering. I'm glad they are building it. However, I wouldn't use the ratchet strap they provide. The factory cable winch is plenty strong. Also... my experience is that ratchet straps under the truck become nearly impossible to use after covered in road grime. You might end up cutting the strap unless performing regular cleaning and keep lubed. You really can't beat the spare tire location under the truck. Spare tires are rarely used (with high quality tires) and keeping the massive heavy spare out of sight and low as possible (COG) is ideal.

We've been using our factory spare location with 37" KO2 for nearly 3 years and plenty of off road driving. It simply works. And for the cost it's hard to argue against it.

 

[BretEdge]

Really nice build. How many miles do you have on the rig? Any issues or reliability problems? I think I’m about to graduate from the half ton world.

Thanks! We've got around 27,000 miles on it with zero issues. The FWC has had a couple minor issues - one we're sorting out now - but nothing crazy. The truck has been bulletproof thus far and we certainly haven't baby'd it.

 

[Macfly]

Happy to hear the Ford is giving you many trouble free off-road miles, are there any shortcomings or things you'd change or upgrade now you've had a good few off-road adventures?

 

[mk216v]

For those of you wondering... 2017+ Super Duty will fit 35.75" diameter spare in the factory location with factory cable winch at full street pressure. 37" tires do not measure 37" diameter. For instance a brand new 37" BFG KO2 on 8.5" wheel measures 36" at full pressure. Our slightly used KO2 measured at 35.75" at full pressure (ideal spare).

You can fit a brand new KO2 37" tire (measuring 36" diameter) completely aired down. Crank up the winch until it gets tight. Then you'll need to go under the truck and push it into place. Don't try to force it in with the factory cable winch.

Many tire shops can shave tread to reduce diameter... TireRack.com offers the service and could make an ideal brand new 37" tire fit properly. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=259

Carli Hitch is a neat offering. I'm glad they are building it. However, I wouldn't use the ratchet strap they provide. The factory cable winch is plenty strong. Also... my experience is that ratchet straps under the truck become nearly impossible to use after covered in road grime. You might end up cutting the strap unless performing regular cleaning and keep lubed. You really can't beat the spare tire location under the truck. Spare tires are rarely used (with high quality tires) and keeping the massive heavy spare out of sight and low as possible (COG) is ideal.

We've been using our factory spare location with 37" KO2 for nearly 3 years and plenty of off road driving. It simply works. And for the cost it's hard to argue against it.

Thx much to you Peter, I'm happily riding with a good used 37" M/T as my spare, in my factory spare location. Cost me all of a six pack of microbrew and 20min of time to fit it. Retained my OEM Ford hitch as well.

Good point about a ratchet strap with the Carli Trophy hitch; that will get nasty.