Doc Foster
Adventurer
Looking forward to following your journey!
The Bowman Odyssey Rig
- Thread starter LeftofLucky
- Start date
dnorrell
Adventurer
Our daughter was 8 months when we ditched it all and hit the road. Well, we didn't ditch everything, I still work, but instead of being in a cube, I'm now in a hammock, or a brewery, or a quaint cafe, or a...well, you get the picture. I love it. We love it. Best thing we ever did. We chose to do this adventure with no end date in mind, and we'll road school the kid when the time comes. We are in a big Class A now, but we are downsizing from our ridiculous 300 sq ft to a more manageable 90ish later this year, and we can't wait to be more mobile and flexible. I'm so thankful to be able to share in so many new experiences with my family on a daily basis. I no longer live for the weekends, but have found a way to live every single day. When the weather is nice and I don't feel like working, I close the computer and head outside. I simply can't emphasize how much it was worth giving up all the stuff to have the freedom we now enjoy. Money, toys, and sometimes friends come and go, but time is something you must make the most of this very instant. Hopefully we cross paths out there on the road during your travels!
justbecause
perpetually lost
[hyjack] do you blog, or do tech assistance, or what?
dnorrell
Adventurer
Hey justbecause!
We will make it a tiny hijack. I'm a software developer for Lockheed and do the smallest bit of paid blogging possible on the side. Once we made up our minds to give traveling a go, I began looking for virtual positions on the internal job board and totally lucked out. I took a lower level (and lower paying) position, but love my team and what I do. So fortunate! Please feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions, or if I can help talk you into making the leap
We will make it a tiny hijack. I'm a software developer for Lockheed and do the smallest bit of paid blogging possible on the side. Once we made up our minds to give traveling a go, I began looking for virtual positions on the internal job board and totally lucked out. I took a lower level (and lower paying) position, but love my team and what I do. So fortunate! Please feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions, or if I can help talk you into making the leap
K.Ray
Adventurer
Hey justbecause!
We will make it a tiny hijack. I'm a software developer for Lockheed and do the smallest bit of paid blogging possible on the side. Once we made up our minds to give traveling a go, I began looking for virtual positions on the internal job board and totally lucked out. I took a lower level (and lower paying) position, but love my team and what I do. So fortunate! Please feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions, or if I can help talk you into making the leap
You wouldn't need an international logstics / supply-chain senior on your virtual team, would you? I've got 10 years experience with government export and commercial domestic moves.
Edit: Oh, and Zach's rig is cool or whatever. (family friends)
dnorrell
Adventurer
I wish we did! Actually, I'm the only full-time virtual guy on my team which makes for interesting dynamics and challenges.
Zach, seriously enjoying the writing over at The Drive! I don't think I was able to part with any of my John McPhee books...I know I've still got Encounters with the Archdruid. We will be downsizing again soon, though. Thank god for the Kindle.
Actually, I'm the only full-time virtual guy on my team which makes for interesting dynamics and challenges. Zach, seriously enjoying the writing over at The Drive! I don't think I was able to part with any of my John McPhee books...I know I've still got Encounters with the Archdruid. We will be downsizing again soon, though. Thank god for the Kindle.
K.Ray
Adventurer
I wish we did!
Zach, seriously enjoying the writing over at The Drive! I don't think I was able to part with any of my John McPhee books...I know I've still got Encounters with the Archdruid. We will be downsizing again soon, though. Thank god for the Kindle.
A passed opportunity is a lost opportunity...or something like that.
Do you log your journey on expeditionportal or anywhere we could follow along?
dnorrell
Adventurer
Indeed it is! I don't maintain a thread here on our travels, but we occasionally update our blog (huckleberrybound.com) and I also do a post every once in a while for Winnebago at winnebagolife.com. We do have some significant changes in the works that will have me writing quite a bit more, if only just to save my mind from madness. I'll post more on the ol' blog when the time is right (we haven't shared it with the Winnebago family yet). I've got a thread started on here somewhere that hints at the changes to come
Ok, end hijack! I just couldn't resist posting with the hope of motivating others to take the leap into the unknown.
K.Ray
Adventurer
Indeed it is! I don't maintain a thread here on our travels, but we occasionally update our blog (huckleberrybound.com) and I also do a post every once in a while for Winnebago at winnebagolife.com. We do have some significant changes in the works that will have me writing quite a bit more, if only just to save my mind from madness. I'll post more on the ol' blog when the time is right (we haven't shared it with the Winnebago family yet). I've got a thread started on here somewhere that hints at the changes to come
Ok, end hijack! I just couldn't resist posting with the hope of motivating others to take the leap into the unknown.
Excellent! Thanks for link. I'm sure Zach doesn't mind. He's out of state acquiring new bits for the truck this week. He'll enjoy seeing all of the discussion when he returns.
LeftofLucky
Observer
Thanks for the kindness, guys. I appreciate the offers of garages and driveways. Better be careful of I'll take you up on it.
It's been a week. The radiator's been weeping on the truck for a couple of weeks, and it had gotten to the point of being a concern. Throw in a CEL for low clutch fan speed, and it was time for some cooling system maintenance. Radiator options for the truck are few and far between. You either get a $140 aftermarket piece that looks like it was stuck together by blind sloths, the original Mopar piece for about three times the cost, or a Mosimoto for twice the cost of the Mopar.
I went with the middle path, and wound up having to pay the idiot tax at the dealership after an online supplier screwed me.
Clearly, it was time.
Likewise with the fan clutch.
The thing rattled like a bunch of buttons in a tin can. Who knows how long it's been dead.
But the new one looks like a cool million. And, more importantly, it works.
I went back and forth on replacing the lift pump while I had the bed off the truck. I knew the thing had been swapped at some point. These trucks originally came with a pump on the back of the fuel filter housing, but Dodge later went with an in-tank unit after a handful of failures. My truck had some shoddy wiring at the tank and the later in-tank guy. Who knows when that swap happened, and I have exactly zero inclination to drop the 35 gallon tank if the thing fails once the flatbed and the camper are installed. Better safe than sorry. And also, one less thing to sweat over once we're out there. It had to come from the dealership as well, which meant a grand total of about $400 more than what the online guys want.
So, why did I have to go to the dealership? I ordered both a radiator and a lift pump from MoparOnlineParts.com on the 16th. The radiator showed up promptly enough, but with one of the fan shroud clips busted off. It wasn't in the box, so I'm guessing the damage happened before it left the warehouse. As for the lift pump, I received a tracking number quickly, but it said "shipping label created" for the next week and a half. They were almost impossible to get ahold of. When I did finally get someone through email, they told me the pump had never shipped and that they would simply cancel my order. Great. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the radiator. Since i had to be in PA to get the flatbed installed, I was out of options. Total idiot tax? $400 over the online cost.
Awesome.
The drive to PA went great. Dad tagged along for the second half. I left Knoxville Wednesday morning. There's still a fair amount of snow on the ground from the winter storm, and the roads are an absolute salt bath. We stopped for lunch in Berkley Springs, West Virginia. Cool town with a great lunch/dinner spot. Tari's. Both the falafel burger and the burning bones ribs were top-notch. The lady behind the bar said the town got 38 inches of snow. They were still digging out with loaders and graders. Stayed in Breezewood, PA that night, then made it to Martin's Welding around 7:30 the next day.
I'd debated back and forth about what flatbed to go with and who'd build it. There's a local place, Bullhead, that does really nice, really heavy work, but it's crazy expensive. Likewise with most of places out of the midwest. I found Martin's Welding through eBay of all places. They've been around since '91, mostly doing big truck work, but got into building consumer beds, both steel and aluminum, a few years back.
I ordered an 104x84 with an extruded floor. With install, it came out to $2,800, and the thing looks great.
The guys were super nice. Laid back. Totally fine with us hanging out in the shop and bull****ting while they did the install. As much as I wanted to document the thing, I'm a picky dude. I was more concerned with whether or not they were going to carve up the truck. But they didn't. Super professional. Everything was done at least as well as I could have managed and a hell of a lot quicker. They were done in two and a half hours.
My only issue is that the bed sits a little higher than I was hoping. It looks like I'll have about a 5-inch gap between the roof of the truck and the camper. I was hoping for more in the 3" range. But, the truck's a hell of a lot quieter going down the road. Much less empty-steel-drum noise from the tailgate flopping around. I don't think it's any lighter. Martins said the bed's around 400 pounds.
It looks great, though. Certainly an improvement over the hammered steel bed that was on the truck.
All said, we did 1040 miles over five states in two days. Truck never missed a beat. 19.2 mpg average.
It's been a week. The radiator's been weeping on the truck for a couple of weeks, and it had gotten to the point of being a concern. Throw in a CEL for low clutch fan speed, and it was time for some cooling system maintenance. Radiator options for the truck are few and far between. You either get a $140 aftermarket piece that looks like it was stuck together by blind sloths, the original Mopar piece for about three times the cost, or a Mosimoto for twice the cost of the Mopar.
I went with the middle path, and wound up having to pay the idiot tax at the dealership after an online supplier screwed me.
Clearly, it was time.
Likewise with the fan clutch.
The thing rattled like a bunch of buttons in a tin can. Who knows how long it's been dead.
But the new one looks like a cool million. And, more importantly, it works.
I went back and forth on replacing the lift pump while I had the bed off the truck. I knew the thing had been swapped at some point. These trucks originally came with a pump on the back of the fuel filter housing, but Dodge later went with an in-tank unit after a handful of failures. My truck had some shoddy wiring at the tank and the later in-tank guy. Who knows when that swap happened, and I have exactly zero inclination to drop the 35 gallon tank if the thing fails once the flatbed and the camper are installed. Better safe than sorry. And also, one less thing to sweat over once we're out there. It had to come from the dealership as well, which meant a grand total of about $400 more than what the online guys want.
So, why did I have to go to the dealership? I ordered both a radiator and a lift pump from MoparOnlineParts.com on the 16th. The radiator showed up promptly enough, but with one of the fan shroud clips busted off. It wasn't in the box, so I'm guessing the damage happened before it left the warehouse. As for the lift pump, I received a tracking number quickly, but it said "shipping label created" for the next week and a half. They were almost impossible to get ahold of. When I did finally get someone through email, they told me the pump had never shipped and that they would simply cancel my order. Great. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the radiator. Since i had to be in PA to get the flatbed installed, I was out of options. Total idiot tax? $400 over the online cost.
Awesome.
The drive to PA went great. Dad tagged along for the second half. I left Knoxville Wednesday morning. There's still a fair amount of snow on the ground from the winter storm, and the roads are an absolute salt bath. We stopped for lunch in Berkley Springs, West Virginia. Cool town with a great lunch/dinner spot. Tari's. Both the falafel burger and the burning bones ribs were top-notch. The lady behind the bar said the town got 38 inches of snow. They were still digging out with loaders and graders. Stayed in Breezewood, PA that night, then made it to Martin's Welding around 7:30 the next day.
I'd debated back and forth about what flatbed to go with and who'd build it. There's a local place, Bullhead, that does really nice, really heavy work, but it's crazy expensive. Likewise with most of places out of the midwest. I found Martin's Welding through eBay of all places. They've been around since '91, mostly doing big truck work, but got into building consumer beds, both steel and aluminum, a few years back.
I ordered an 104x84 with an extruded floor. With install, it came out to $2,800, and the thing looks great.
The guys were super nice. Laid back. Totally fine with us hanging out in the shop and bull****ting while they did the install. As much as I wanted to document the thing, I'm a picky dude. I was more concerned with whether or not they were going to carve up the truck. But they didn't. Super professional. Everything was done at least as well as I could have managed and a hell of a lot quicker. They were done in two and a half hours.
My only issue is that the bed sits a little higher than I was hoping. It looks like I'll have about a 5-inch gap between the roof of the truck and the camper. I was hoping for more in the 3" range. But, the truck's a hell of a lot quieter going down the road. Much less empty-steel-drum noise from the tailgate flopping around. I don't think it's any lighter. Martins said the bed's around 400 pounds.
It looks great, though. Certainly an improvement over the hammered steel bed that was on the truck.
All said, we did 1040 miles over five states in two days. Truck never missed a beat. 19.2 mpg average.
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