bossman429
Adventurer
Figured I might as well take some time on this rainy day to start my own build thread.
I recently sold my Defender 90 because although it was nostalgic, amazing in the trails and a ton of fun, the truth of the matter is it wasn't practical. Seeting for (2) and not much...errrr ANY creature comforts, it just wasnt the right vehicle to build up for overland travel. Not to mention the trouble in getting parts, and the constant working on random silly things got old.
So Enter the 100 series. Probably the most luxurious vehicle I've ever owned, and it happens to be one of the best platforms to build an overland vehicle on... SCORE!
Living in the Northeast, i will never buy a vechile from here. They might as well spray the roads with hydrochloric acid in the winters. I refused to buy a rust bucket.
I picked up this beauty from Colorodo, sight unseen. I bought it from JC Wynn from Wynco trucks. very nice guy, great to deal with and good communication. I have nothing but good things to say about him and he was very straight up about everything. It was completely stock and VERY clean from the pics and my conversation with JC. Also had meticulous service records to boot!
128K miles on the clock and a factory rear diff lock what more could you want?
Now JC just so happen to be 30 minutes from Slee offroad. And with a little extra cash from my defender sale I had him drop it off, and dealt with Amory to get some goodies add on and save me from hours on my back in the driveway. I have nothing but good thinks to say about Amory, his customer service and the job Slee did on the install/work.
List of goodies were:
So after dealing with a not so friendly shipping service (Jays Auto transport) Would never deal with him again after I was cursed off when HE made a mistake on the paper work that cost us both some money. this is how it was dropped off for my first look on it with my own eyes
I had picked up a very slightly used Superwinch EPI9.0 and needed to make some modifications to have it fit, mainly to remote mount the solenoid. (more on that later)
With the bumper off (love the fact its two pieces and the winch tray stays on) i put in the winch on with grade 8 hardware of course
The fabbed up a bracket for a isolator switch,
Found some space near the fuse box (with existing holes/hardware)
Wired it up
And put it in (w/ Stainless hardware)
Finished off the rest of the wiring with proper clamps (not a million zip ties) using existing hardware.. (dont like drilling holes into a perfectly good peice of painted metal.
Hard to see here, but I left the leads a little long (Looped them once), as I plan on putting a bigger battery in and dont want to cut the cables short incase I needed to re-route them.
Bumper back on (with hawse fairlead) - and the battery wire routed through a new hole with proper grommets. I'm waiting for the extended wiring kit to come in from Superwinch before I put the solenoid box on and finish the connections (as you see the 3 other holes I made for those wires). Also have a new Amsteel synthetic rope coming in. I used all stainless hardware for anything thats not load bearing. Anything that was is all Grade 8 of course. It blows my mind when people spend all this time and money on mods, and then cheap out on the hardware, and in 1 week its all rusted up.
As I wait for the wiring kit and winch rope - i figured lets take the running boards off in anticipation of my sliders coming in soon from Bump it Off Road. I am also getting a dual swing out rear bumper from him. Should be here by months end. Haven't seen the products yet, but so far Mike at BIOR has been really responsive and great to deal with. I'm sure the products will be just as good. :victory:
You'll also notice I swapped the Chrome wheels for the stock Alloys that also came with the truck. Put on a set of 285/17/16 Good Year Duratracs. I wouldnt have minded a slightly taller tire (34-35") but didn't want to go any wider than these are. So I stuck with the 33's and think they will do fine. The Duratracs are great on road (not loud at all), and aren't mushy at all (as lot of reviews said but I think they just got the wrong load rating) Haven't tested them offroad yet but they look (lol) like they will do fine.
My goal here is to make a comfortable and capable rig for overland travel (on and off road) and remote camping/exploring with the wife and dog Its not going to be so much a trail/rock crawling truck... the paint is just too damn pretty lol)
Not so distant future plans will be the aformentioned rear bumper and sliders, a hot water shower system (haven't decided what route I want to go with just yet), an aux fuel tank, and some storage solutions.... stay tuned!
I recently sold my Defender 90 because although it was nostalgic, amazing in the trails and a ton of fun, the truth of the matter is it wasn't practical. Seeting for (2) and not much...errrr ANY creature comforts, it just wasnt the right vehicle to build up for overland travel. Not to mention the trouble in getting parts, and the constant working on random silly things got old.
So Enter the 100 series. Probably the most luxurious vehicle I've ever owned, and it happens to be one of the best platforms to build an overland vehicle on... SCORE!
Living in the Northeast, i will never buy a vechile from here. They might as well spray the roads with hydrochloric acid in the winters. I refused to buy a rust bucket.
I picked up this beauty from Colorodo, sight unseen. I bought it from JC Wynn from Wynco trucks. very nice guy, great to deal with and good communication. I have nothing but good things to say about him and he was very straight up about everything. It was completely stock and VERY clean from the pics and my conversation with JC. Also had meticulous service records to boot!
128K miles on the clock and a factory rear diff lock what more could you want?
Now JC just so happen to be 30 minutes from Slee offroad. And with a little extra cash from my defender sale I had him drop it off, and dealt with Amory to get some goodies add on and save me from hours on my back in the driveway. I have nothing but good thinks to say about Amory, his customer service and the job Slee did on the install/work.
List of goodies were:
- ARB 2.5" HD lift
- TJM outback T13 Bumper
- Full Slee Skid plate system
- New brake pads and front wheel bearing/hub service
So after dealing with a not so friendly shipping service (Jays Auto transport) Would never deal with him again after I was cursed off when HE made a mistake on the paper work that cost us both some money. this is how it was dropped off for my first look on it with my own eyes
I had picked up a very slightly used Superwinch EPI9.0 and needed to make some modifications to have it fit, mainly to remote mount the solenoid. (more on that later)
With the bumper off (love the fact its two pieces and the winch tray stays on) i put in the winch on with grade 8 hardware of course
The fabbed up a bracket for a isolator switch,
Found some space near the fuse box (with existing holes/hardware)
Wired it up
And put it in (w/ Stainless hardware)
Finished off the rest of the wiring with proper clamps (not a million zip ties) using existing hardware.. (dont like drilling holes into a perfectly good peice of painted metal.
Hard to see here, but I left the leads a little long (Looped them once), as I plan on putting a bigger battery in and dont want to cut the cables short incase I needed to re-route them.
Bumper back on (with hawse fairlead) - and the battery wire routed through a new hole with proper grommets. I'm waiting for the extended wiring kit to come in from Superwinch before I put the solenoid box on and finish the connections (as you see the 3 other holes I made for those wires). Also have a new Amsteel synthetic rope coming in. I used all stainless hardware for anything thats not load bearing. Anything that was is all Grade 8 of course. It blows my mind when people spend all this time and money on mods, and then cheap out on the hardware, and in 1 week its all rusted up.
As I wait for the wiring kit and winch rope - i figured lets take the running boards off in anticipation of my sliders coming in soon from Bump it Off Road. I am also getting a dual swing out rear bumper from him. Should be here by months end. Haven't seen the products yet, but so far Mike at BIOR has been really responsive and great to deal with. I'm sure the products will be just as good. :victory:
You'll also notice I swapped the Chrome wheels for the stock Alloys that also came with the truck. Put on a set of 285/17/16 Good Year Duratracs. I wouldnt have minded a slightly taller tire (34-35") but didn't want to go any wider than these are. So I stuck with the 33's and think they will do fine. The Duratracs are great on road (not loud at all), and aren't mushy at all (as lot of reviews said but I think they just got the wrong load rating) Haven't tested them offroad yet but they look (lol) like they will do fine.
My goal here is to make a comfortable and capable rig for overland travel (on and off road) and remote camping/exploring with the wife and dog Its not going to be so much a trail/rock crawling truck... the paint is just too damn pretty lol)
Not so distant future plans will be the aformentioned rear bumper and sliders, a hot water shower system (haven't decided what route I want to go with just yet), an aux fuel tank, and some storage solutions.... stay tuned!
