Bill's Build - 2018 F-250 Overloader Extraordinaire

[pwm]

What fun is a project without a ridiculous build thread? Especially since this is my first over landing/camping build (and also my first truck)

2018 F-250 CCSB 6.7 Power Stroke. Picked it up 2/2/18 and it was stock until today.

studded Nokians for the winter on a set of 18" Lariat wheels I picked up.

Today I had FOX 2.0 shocks and steering stabilizer installed along with a 2.5" leveling kit.
Also had a set of Mickey Thompson ATZ in 35" installed on the stock 20" rims. Happily it appears that the spare tire mount/area can handle a 35. Those rims and tires will be put on for the summer.

So far my ordered equipment list looks like this:

1. ARE Z series topper with roof rails
2. Autohome Maggiolina Grand Tour Medium Tent
3. Trail Kitchens Camp Kitchen with GSI cookware kit and an Everest 20k BTU/burner stove, King Charles Box, & Clean Machine.
4. Thetford Porta 550P
5. Titan Tanks 55 Gallon replacement diesel tank


Things that are being spec'd and worked on include:

1. Extendobed Hunter's platform to be customized. Seems like a great platform, I'm going to have configurable drawers below a load bearing platform that can be modified to hold a propane tank in a properly designed sleeve rack. Extendobed has a few modules that they use for fire departments/scuba equipment/plumber's fuel tanks and they can be located anywhere on the slide out that we'd like. As things keep arriving and the hard-mount items are firmed up I'll be able to place the order, but no reason to rush this until I have confirmed dimensions for everything to go on/in/above it.

2. Eezi Awn Manta awning. Since the entire build is based around the Extendobed, I'd like to have proper coverage for the slide out, and the Manta is great option IF my fabricators can build me a proper swing arm to allow for mounting on the right side of the platform, but swing into place around the back of the truck. it seems like nobody makes a square/rectangle awning that can deploy to the rear without being too wide for the truck or not offer enough coverage to be worth it. The goal is to mount a right side Manta on this swing arm such that it can be deployed with the square area to the rear, covering the whole size of the extendobed when it is out. In theory if all my dimensions are right, I should be able to even put the awning walls on in inclement weather and still have about 18" around the slide-out for access. This is the most custom and potentially fraught part of the build as far as I can tell.

3. Consumables Sizing. Because of the configuration of the ExtendoBed, I'm going to be able to make the under-drawers shorter, and possibly raise the platform height to leave space under the front of the platform for batteries and water.

Battery: Because my wife is a life-long resident of the tropics and we now live in Montana, one of the critical components is an electric blanket to take the chill out of the bedding in the tent. I've found a few 12V, 4amp options that get good reviews. As far as other power needs, the list currently includes miscellaneous charging of cameras/phones/lights/etc, a fridge and charging the battery for the Clean Machine (pump battery is good for 100 gal).

Water: Hoping to place a 15-20 gal tank on the front wall of the bed. I'd like it to be set up so that I can gravity feed from a smaller can via quick-disconnect hose, and then run another length of quick disconnect to the clean machine. The pump in that can prime 25' of garden hose and push a 6' column as well, so I don't need to worry about an onboard pump (or so I will continue to hope)

Propane: As I said in the Extendobed part, I'm planning on building a cage for a propane tank to be installed in. Right now my goal is to plumb a T with one branch high pressure for the stove and one low pressure for the clean machine's water heater. I'm also considering a Propane fire pit for times when we aren't going to be out very far and can afford to be silly with our propane use.

Other than that, I'm moving forward with research on duffle bags/luggage, camp furniture, etc.

Since this is my first time, I'm open to any input (that's why I'd post this anyway, right?) and I appreciate any guidance you all might want to throw my way.

I'll update as new stuff comes up.
-bill

 

[McCarthy]

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[T-Rey1]

Yes. Pics please

 

[Tex68w]

Congrats on the new rig, sounds lie you already have a nice build laid out. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Ditto on the pics!

 

[pwm]

Pics or it didn't happen!

I'll get some pics snapped at some point when there's anything fun to look at. Right now the only thing to see is that there's some FOX 2.0 shocks. Otherwise everything looks stock...unless you're keen enough on model details to know that the truck is a platinum sitting on lariat rims.


I will say that my interactions with Autohome US have been stunningly sub par. I can understand doing as they please with the on-hand inventory (specifically not stocking large size tents in US inventory. If you want one it will be until mid-July.) but for the sake of customer service some follow up would be good. My first conversation with Autohome was just to talk options compatibility and address inconsistencies in the catalogue vs. web site. I left the guy with a couple specific questions and he let me know that there MIGHT be a large tent on the way in the current container, but that he didn't know, and if the tent wasn't on that shipment it would be until at least mid-May. After a week of trying to follow up with calls and emails, I finally just reached out to a dealer. Turns out there aren't large tents in either shipment and I'd have to wait for a custom order.

What really chaps my *** about all of it is that the dealer called the same dude, at the same number I had been trying to reconnect with him at. It was closing in on the end of business of day 6 with zero response and the dealer had all the info to me within an hour. Yay for the dealer, boo to the importer.

No big deal, but worth reporting I think.

So the plan is that I ordered a Maggiolina Grand Tour Medium, and it'll be here shortly. Once the wife and I wrap our heads around the reality of that size sleeping space, we'll make a decision as to whether or not we custom order the large and sell the medium, or just keep the medium. Thankfully the charging room/awning thing fits on both sizes and can be swapped if we upgrade. Either way, the entire platform engineering job is being done based on wanting to have space for the large at a later date.

 

[1pieceatatime]

Really like where your rig is going! Will be watching with interest... and perhaps a little jealousy! :drool:

 

[BPD53]

@pwm

You said this is your first build, but do you have a lot camping experience?

 

[Explorerinil]

Your gonna love the are topper with rack, I’m 100% satisfied with mine, for the money the fit and finish is great. Rack works perfect. Congrats on the build, sounds like it will be a great truck.

 

[pwm]

@pwm

You said this is your first build, but do you have a lot camping experience?

I did a pretty good amount of backpacking when I was younger, and a lot of car camping in my 20s, but not a whole lot lately, but the point of this is to change that.

 

[pwm]

UPDATE:

The 35" mickey Thompson ATZ Baja mounted on my stock 20" platinum rim fits perfectly in the spare tire well. My guy was out of the shop the day the work got done, and we both decided that eyeballing this wasn't acceptable, so I dropped in and they properly test fit the spare.Now to order a new rim/tire so I can have a spare that matches. baby steps!

install date for the ARE topper is going to be the first week of April.

I'm going to be a princess and try to figure out how to swap out my tailgate. I don't really want to do anything aesthetic, but the rear end of the platinums are just fugly. The bling is out of control, and the long straight lines across the back ruin any sense of body lines. I'd much rather have a standard tailgate, hopefully I can take advantage of conspicuous consumption and social signaling and get this thing swapped out without losing my shirt. Something tells me I'll be shipping it to Texas, lol.

 

[Tex68w]

UPDATE:

The 35" mickey Thompson ATZ Baja mounted on my stock 20" platinum rim fits perfectly in the spare tire well. My guy was out of the shop the day the work got done, and we both decided that eyeballing this wasn't acceptable, so I dropped in and they properly test fit the spare.Now to order a new rim/tire so I can have a spare that matches. baby steps!

install date for the ARE topper is going to be the first week of April.

I'm going to be a princess and try to figure out how to swap out my tailgate. I don't really want to do anything aesthetic, but the rear end of the platinums are just fugly. The bling is out of control, and the long straight lines across the back ruin any sense of body lines. I'd much rather have a standard tailgate, hopefully I can take advantage of conspicuous consumption and social signaling and get this thing swapped out without losing my shirt. Something tells me I'll be shipping it to Texas, lol.

I would have the Platinum appliqué painted or powder coated to match your truck or in black (not sure what color your truck is), otherwise you'll have to get an entirely new tail gate because the appliqué is held on by 30+ push rivets that pop into the aluminum, so there's no simply removing it. I've seen it done this way before and it looks good, also a lot easier and cheaper than swapping out tail gates.

I think the new tires warrant a pic or two lol.

 

[pwm]

I would have the Platinum appliqué painted or powder coated to match your truck or in black (not sure what color your truck is), otherwise you'll have to get an entirely new tail gate because the appliqué is held on by 30+ push rivets that pop into the aluminum, so there's no simply removing it. I've seen it done this way before and it looks good, also a lot easier and cheaper than swapping out tail gates.

I think the new tires warrant a pic or two lol.

I've found a local wrecker who's got me on the list for a tailgate with a step in it. Thankfully I got a popular color (Magnetic), and it looks like the tailgate is modular enough that I ought to be able to figure it out. If y'all could keep your fingers crossed for a front end/side swipe on a lariat in my color, that'd be great. Mostly, I'm kidding.


As far as pics, I would... even washed the truck today... but I still have the winter tires on because we've still got at least a couple months left up here.


trust me, once I'm back in town and the topper and tent and whatnot are here, you'll get your eye candy.


-bill

 

[pwm]

Alrighty, I'm back from vacation and things are moving along.

Things that have arrived: ARE topper, getting installed tomorrow AM. Maggiolina Grand Tour Medium. Spare tire for 5th Platinum rim.

Things being ordered this week: Trail Kitchens Gear - Camp Kitchen, King Charles Chuck Box, Clean Machine. Platform for the tent/awning that fits in the Yakima tracks on the top of the ARE.

Complications: The TK camp kitchen can't accommodate a stove big enough to get into 20k BTU burners. They build in the hardware from the camp chef Everest into one version, but it's bigger, heavier, and comes with big all terrain wheels on it. It also means you can't just toss the stove on the tailgate and get cooking.... full kitchen setup is required, which seems like a pain. I'm certainly not building onboard bulk propane storage to cook on a weak burner, so I'm looking into other options and right now it looks like the Camp Chef Mountaineer is leading the way. It is less expensive than the Cook Partner and has bigger more powerful burners, but possibly construction that isn't as sturdy. It looks more substantially built than the mountain series stoves, and gets me into a low pressure propane fitting so I don't have to worry about running multiple kinds of propane plumbing or converting the stove, just 2-3 low pressure fittings for the clean machine, stove and fire pit.

Once the topper is installed tomorrow I'll be dropping the truck at the shop for work to begin in earnest. I'm hoping to have stuff mocked up properly to order the ExtendoBed in the next 2 weeks. Gotta holler at those guys and get some basic dimensions and a weight estimate for the slide out as well. I've ballparked 550lb for it and with all my calculated weights including 35 gallons of water and 40lb propane tank, I'm still a few hundred lb under payload (yes, including passenger weights) so I'm pretty stoked.

more updates to come.

-bill

 

[Tex68w]

I went with the Camp Kitchen, I use an older Coleman 425E stove, it doesn't fit in the standard Camp Kitchen dimensions either. I talked with the owner of Trail Kitchen Gear and for no extra charge he agreed to make modifications to the current Camp Kitchen in order for it to accommodate my stove. If your stove is within the width range then this certainly can be done for you as well.

 

[pwm]

I went with the Camp Kitchen, I use an older Coleman 425E stove, it doesn't fit in the standard Camp Kitchen dimensions either. I talked with the owner of Trail Kitchen Gear and for no extra charge he agreed to make modifications to the current Camp Kitchen in order for it to accommodate my stove. If your stove is within the width range then this certainly can be done for you as well.

Very cool! I didn't know that they would customize. Sadly my stuff has already been ordered. I'm pretty sure the Mountaineer is too big no matter what, and I'm pretty sure I'll be carrying a smaller stove that fits when I don't need the big honker. I'm hedging my build toward being able to be a higher capacity mobile kitchen for tailgating and traveling in groups, but not needing to carry the over-sized stove when I don't need it. Constant work in progress.