Bear, My 200 Series Newbie Build

[aausmana]

You may have noticed that I am missing a drawer above. I actually got pulled into several unexpected late in the day meetings yesterday which botched most of my plans for finishing the install of the final drawer.

The above photos are how she stands today. I am sitting in the Denver airport right now in-between flights as I just dropped the truck off to the guys at CBI Off-road. Nathan at CBI has been...well...a HUGE help. I have spent many phone calls and emails planning this out with Nathan. He will be using my 200 series as the Guinea pig for many cool products that you will be able to purchase for the 200 series directly from CBI. So I drove out to Idaho Falls through last night to drop her off today. They will be starting a deep and thorough overhaul of Bear next week. I will be posting pictures along the way of what is happening. I will be back to CBI in 4 weeks to pick her up...wow that's a long time...but it will be worth it!

I do also have to thank Paul May, who is Equipt1, for the hours he has spent on the phone with me walking through my build plan, what I was overthinking, what seemed like a good option, etc. More on the K9 roof rack Install to follow CBI's work.

Stay tuned.

 

[aausmana]

The Way to Idaho Falls

A few pictures from the drive to Idaho Falls & CBI Off Road:



















Yeah Baby - I'm used to a very slow 65 limit in California....ahhh freedom



Snake River!

 

[chaingangster]

Great job on the drawers. I hope to build some for our 100 series, and like your double drawer on the driver side. Look forward to the rest of your build out!

 

[aausmana]

Great job on the drawers. I hope to build some for our 100 series, and like your double drawer on the driver side. Look forward to the rest of your build out!

Thanks very much. They're still not fully complete but once I get her back from CBI at the end of March I will fit the wings and final drawer in there and post more pics, then move onto the electrical. In the mean time I should have some additional updates later this week.

 

[natvet]

Do you get any rubbing with the 305s?
Luv your drawers

 

[aausmana]

Do you get any rubbing with the 305s?
Luv your drawers

Thanks Nathan. No rubbing at all with the 305's. Love them.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

I really like your drawer setup, looks really well thought out and well built!

 

[aausmana]

I really like your drawer setup, looks really well thought out and well built!

Thanks Andrew, very much. I started looking at your Wagoneer build and you've done some great restoration/upgrades to it. Love the stock look, and the camper!

 

[aausmana]

Skids and Rear Bumper

Quick update: So she is finally up on the lift and it is good to get to see Bear again! CBI Offroad jumped right in with first planning out the rear bumper design tying in the skids. Then the cutting began around the back. You can really tell how well the 200 series is built and how much thought continues through this legendary platform.



Factory skids removed:


Side steps removed:


From first cut to where we ended up:




Beefy factory hitch and the hitch cover plate to be integrated.



That's all for now. Should have more goodies pretty soon here!

 

[aausmana]

Ostrich Wing Awning Experience

Hi all, I posted another thread around the Ostrich Wing awning and wanted to see if any has had any experience with them or any interest in the awning? It seem pretty stout and I have been in communication with the manufacturer out of South Africa.

Interested to hear of any experience with them and if anyone may be potentially interested in them. I have been set on getting a Manta or Swift by Eezi-Awn but am concerned with the back strut hitting the gigantic spoiler of the 200 series, and they are well, very expensive.

 

[shellb]

Really looking forward to the CBI rear bumper!

What are you going to do for skid plates? ARB? Sorry if I missed it!

 

[aausmana]

Really looking forward to the CBI rear bumper!

What are you going to do for skid plates? ARB? Sorry if I missed it!

Thanks Brett!

The skids will be custom built by CBI as well. They may manufacture them if there is enough interest for the 200 series.

 

[shellb]

That's very cool to hear! The more options for us the better...I'm certainly interested in seeing them developed and picking up a set.

 

[buddha]

subscribing!

 

[aausmana]

More Progress!

Okay, it's been a little bit but with work and the site being down for the better part of the week, I was able to accumulate some goodies for everyone! :luxhello:

CBI has been making some good progress overall. I will probably share these across multiple updates.

Firstly the rear section. The baseline is done and the bumper plate has been designed, mounted, and tacked. She is starting to come together. We are still talking about the rear swing-aways so those will come a little later.

Originally I wanted to have a few 'rub rails' above the corners of the bumper, kind of like they have with their 5th gen bumper, but we decided against it for looks and efficiency, they would ultimately stick out too far.

I am happy with how the rear is coming along, I have gained approximately 4" of clearance and this is taking the future transfer fuel tank into consideration. Not too shabby.