Hackster's crew cab first gen cummins

[hackster]

I didn't find a CB necessary. It might have been nice on the haul road. This I my trip report http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/34534-Alaska-2009 . Hope it may help.

From reading your build thread it doesnt look like you took too much stuff =) I think you and I are opposites when it comes to packing I have about everything under the sun to take with me.

Your write up is fantastic though, read through a bunch of it last night going to highlight a few of your better stopping spots and make sure that we check those out. We are not planning on going much farther north than Denali as we only have three weeks off work and have to be back for a big Spartan Run on the 3rd of August.

Had a great day out in the garage yesterday. I got a cool little mount built for my bottle jack that mounts it right on the bed for easy access if needed on the road. Fixed some damage on the rocker panel that I did up snow wheeling so that the rear door now opens and closes nice and smooth cleaned up and painted that area as well and it looks descent.

Got power run from front to back for the ARB cooler and fired it up. It ran good for several hours but then once it got down to 32 degrees it tripped off on low battery voltage. The cutoff is 11.8v but the truck fired right up and ran like normal. I am wondering if I ran too small of a wire back there and am getting some kind of voltage drop front to back. Need to check that with a meter this weekend and see what's up. Cooler ran well though its quieter than I thought it would be.

Built some brackets for support on the front inner fenders to try and help out with a few rattles and squeaks (worked like a charm).

Changed the oil and filter.

Topped off the coolant.

But the best thing that I did all week was to get the condenser in there along with all the A/C lines and a new filter drier, evacuate the system and recharge it with some new r-12!! With the temps in the high 90's here last week the A/C was definately on my to do list before we headed out on the trip.

My buddy Chris came over and we got the ARB Canopy hung on the side of the trailer. I have got to say what an awesome product this thing is. Was really easy to install and self supporting. Cannot wait to see how it works on the trip.

Sean

 

[hackster]

Mounting it all up on the side of the Backpacker from Three feathers here in LaGrande.



Here is a shot of the awning all setup. It is permanently mounted on the rack on the trailer and has a weather tight zip up housing that it fits in.



Here is a pretty good shot of our little setup my wife took. She is super excited about the trip, as excited as I am nervous =)

 

[SFROMAN]

Very nice set up.
I must have missed it. Where is the trip to?
By the way congrats on the magazine feature.

 

[hackster]

Very nice set up.
I must have missed it. Where is the trip to?
By the way congrats on the magazine feature.

Thanks!! We are heading up to Homer Alaska from Portland Oregon.

The magazine feature was icing on the cake, pretty cool to see something go from a vision in your head, to building it in your driveway to seeing it in a magazine.

Sean

 

[SFROMAN]

Thanks!! We are heading up to Homer Alaska from Portland Oregon.

The magazine feature was icing on the cake, pretty cool to see something go from a vision in your head, to building it in your driveway to seeing it in a magazine.

Sean

Cool, I was up on Denali 2 or three years ago. it was an epic trip and would have loved to stay longer. Ever since I was a teenager and got into cars it has been my dream to have one of my vehicles featured in a magazine. That will have to wait when I have more time though. I travel too much for work to have the time to concentrate on working on any of my trucks for too long.

 

[redthies]

What ever happened to the dually chassis? Did you keep it for a future "rat hauler"?

 

[bftank]

congrats on the 4wheeloffroad article hackster! reading the article has me torn between finishing my crew build and starting over with a cheap superduty i found.

 

[kfgk14]

It just looks so...so right with the trailer. Excellent build dude.

 

[hackster]

congrats on the 4wheeloffroad article hackster! reading the article has me torn between finishing my crew build and starting over with a cheap superduty i found.

Honestly, if I knew what I knew now and did not love the old first gen, I would start over with a crew cab superduty and do a cummins swap with a 6 speed, super low on some 40's and a p pumped 12 valve.

That might be next on the list after the Ford.


I love how it looks with the trailer behind it too. I can't wait to get on the road.


Been having nightmare of a time with the rear brakes. I have one side that is dragging and getting really hot and they are both squealing like pigs. Changed out everything except for the passenger rear wheel cylinder at this point, picked that up at lunch today so tonight its back on the rear brakes again.......I never thought that this would be my demise, some stupid rear brake issues???? Halfway tempted to just cap the rear brake lines and call it good, I am just kidding of course.

Found the steering box bracket cracked and rusting at the crack so I rounded one of those up from a ramcharger on Sunday and got it replaced. Welded up the old one and got it put in the back of the truck for a spare.

ARB fridge is hooked up and running for a couple days at a consistent 25 degrees. Chainsaw is tuned up and mounted ready to go, all the fuel jugs are locked. Also picked up a honda EU2000i just in case.

Got the steering wheel all centered up and picked up a new 37" BFG all terrain for the trip.

Other than the brakes I am damn close to be ready to hook up to the trailer and head out. Truck feels realy solid with the frontend all rebuilt, steering box bracket replaced and the supports for the front fenders. Its the best the truck has felt since I built it.

Sean

 

[hackster]

What ever happened to the dually chassis? Did you keep it for a future "rat hauler"?

As a matter of fact.....I did keep it. Was going to use it for a hauler but I might have a few more projects that I can do in the next few months and my dad really wants me to go do some car shows with him next year.

You want the chassis? Come and get it and you can have it for $100.00. That is a friggin steal!!!

Sean

 

[bftank]

when you get started on the ford, could you post a link for us dreamers? sounds like an excellant little toy.

 

[Metcalf]

Found the steering box bracket cracked and rusting at the crack so I rounded one of those up from a ramcharger on Sunday and got it replaced. Welded up the old one and got it put in the back of the truck for a spare.

Sean

Yeah. having a spare is a really good call.

I trashed about 3 brackets in a year running big tires. Once I changed to crossover I really haven't had any issues in 3ish years now.

 

[hackster]

Yeah. having a spare is a really good call.

I trashed about 3 brackets in a year running big tires. Once I changed to crossover I really haven't had any issues in 3ish years now.

I cant clear the drag link for crossover at my ride height and I really would like to lower it more, push the frontend out and link it on coilovers. Then I would need to figre out the crossover and I kind of just got lazy and did not want to figure out the crossover stuff right now.

Probably would have been a good idea though.

Metcalf, I reread most of yourbuild thread the other night, its a great thread. Curious when you are going to get around to doing some turbo work on it =)

Sean

 

[Metcalf]

I cant clear the drag link for crossover at my ride height and I really would like to lower it more, push the frontend out and link it on coilovers. Then I would need to figre out the crossover and I kind of just got lazy and did not want to figure out the crossover stuff right now.

I squeezed crossover steering in with stock main leaves. My truck is leveled with an extra leaf or three, but the steering clears the stock ( flat ) main leaf. I ran the stock steering box in the 2wd position with a Jeep WJ pitman arm. I built a slightly taller 6" center to center steering arm. I needed to put a single bend in the drag link. Everything clears to full stuff.

I can understand the lower, linking, and pushing the axle forward.....

I don't know how much lower you could get the front and still have decent uptravel with the the cummins in the way?

Metcalf, I reread most of yourbuild thread the other night, its a great thread. Curious when you are going to get around to doing some turbo work on it =)

Thanks. The turbo is on the short list. I am still undecided on what to do about the exhaust. Some day I would like to mount another 30 gallon stock fuel tank on the other side of the driveshaft. I also have an idea for a mid mounted winch I want to try. So basically the exhaust needs to go outside the frame I think.......that is going to be a total pain in the rear.

 

[hackster]

A few buddies came over last night and watched me work on the brakes on the dodge.

New wheel cylinders on both sides, new springs, new shoes, new wheel seals and one new break line. Sounds like a fun project two days before a 6,000 mile road trip right?





And what a craphole of a driveway too....

The good news is that its all better now. There was two major things that we found wrong, the first one was a really nasty wheel cylinder on the passenger side. I could barely move it by hand and finally got it freed up off the truck, but it took lots of effort. The second thing was the passenger brake line was kinked pretty badly going into the wheel cylinder, so much that when I tried to bend it it just broke off. I wonder if that was acting like a residual valve and holding the brakes on.

Road tested it last night and all seems well. No noises or pulling, they get warm but evenly onboth sides and the truck rolls effortlessly now, you can tell when on a light downhill or pulling away from a light that the truck just rolls so much easier.

Only thing I have left that I really would like to get done is some kind of a hand throttle. The cruise works poorly on this thing, it hunts all over the place and stops for no reason.

Might be able to get to that tonight.

Sean