The Memorial F150 Craptor.

[dbhost]

Good luck, hoping the truck is back in your hands soon to continue your build

One hickey with the inspection. Apparently the evap system line got squished either pulling or reinstalling the engine, drive cycle didn't catch it, but once he pulled into the inspector it threw the code. Took it back to the shop, found it had to dig around for one, not like they are a commonly replaced item. Got it swapped out, but inspection won't be able to get done until tomorrow.

VERY anxious about getting the build done. I believe I listed the remaining items for this stage. It is a lot of minutia, but not really a lot do to. A weekend plus a few evenings of just piddling around.

Still planning on a pop top camper of some kind sooner rather than later. Slide in isn't a perfect idea, but the price of the Project M is too high. WAY too high. I saw a very basic looked like fiberglass and aluminum pop top camper shell with a full bed up top for about 6 grand listed somewhere yesterday, brand new that was taking pre orders and would be ready by May. Lost the stupid ad though...

Honestly, if money was no object, but it IS, but lets say it wasn't. Then my choice would be...

Hmm. Tough. None of them are perfect fit for me. I may have to DIY a pop up camper to get what I want...

 

[dbhost]

So the new 12V panel that honestly works better for me is in. I installed it straight to the side of the electrical comparment for easy access from the bed. Hopefully won't have any interference with the mattress. I doubt it but you never know.

Anyway, from top left to bottom right we have...
Dual USB charger.
Dual USB Fast Charger with voltometer.
LED lighted rocker switch. Should have gotten red. Oops.
3 12V power sockets.



Next step for this compartment is to dig up stock for a different lid. This one is wonky at best, and now has a half dozen unused holes. It's gotta go.

I am now beyond annoyed, into the territory of pissed at the shop / mechanic. A job that he promised out in 2 weeks, 3 tops has now passed 7 weeks. One of the delays has been due to the truck / old engine was siezed so he had to pull engine and trans as a unit so he could safetly separate them as he couldn't spin the engine over to access the torque converter bolts. That shouldn't have slowed him down more than 4 hours. The rest is on him. I have been abundantly patient, even when the delays has blown right past the hard due dates set for him TWICE. My patience is expired now. This thing had better be done, and it better be right...

 

[ITTOG]

Man that sucks. I assume you are still waiting given no celebration post. I hope this saga ends for you very soon.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[dbhost]

Man that sucks. I assume you are still waiting given no celebration post. I hope this saga ends for you very soon.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

In all fairness, I have SEEN the truck, and HEARD it run, I know in no incertain terms it is done. No CELs show up now. I have him going over it with a fine tooth comb to insure no other rude surprises. It should be in my hands this week (I have heard that before!)

Assuming back in my hands this week my plan of attack is...

Replace the OE taillight assemblies with the blackout LED assemblies, add the 1K lumen backup light bulbs. Yes I have the LED compatible flasher relay already...
Replace the seals on the front turn signal bulb sockets. Finally figured out that is where the moisture in my headlight assemblies keeps coming from.
Get the new tires installed.
Install the tailgate seal kit.

I will stab the camper as it is in the back of the truck, sans 2nd battery as I need to redo the electrical cabinet, I mean majorly redo it...

I will be getting after the inside of the truck bed with my profile gauge and some cardboard to make templates of the truck bed walls. Most likely redo the whole interior build out. Probably go with 3/4" plywood framing with 3/4" XPS foam and poor mans fiberglass to keep weight and potential wood rot down. Try to get the bed frame and electrical cabinet in as tight to the truck bed sides as possible, That will get me the fit I need for my dual battery rig...

 

[dbhost]

So... on Monday, the mechanic said one to two days more max to get through a thorough inspection and be ready for delivery. I am going to have to call and pester him today, wish me luck!

It's been over 2 months! Ugh... I should start charging him a rental fee!

 

[1000arms]

So... on Monday, the mechanic said one to two days more max to get through a thorough inspection and be ready for delivery. I am going to have to call and pester him today, wish me luck!

It's been over 2 months! Ugh... I should start charging him a rental fee!

Good luck! ... Hang in there! ... Hopefully you will be travelling soon!

 

[dbhost]

Good luck! ... Hang in there! ... Hopefully you will be travelling soon!

Just got off the phone with him. Unfortunately his health is horrible, I knew that going in. He's been dealing with health issue that I would rather not go into here, but I get it... Good thing I am not relying on having this ready to get to and from work though!

If he's not able to deliver by Saturday, I will head over and start doing some of the stuff I need to on my end, it is no longer on the hoist, so doing stuff like swapping the tail lights out will be a no brainer. Mostly I want to get the tails swapped and the Bed Rug installed. And make the tempates for the electrical cabinet so I can get that rebuild finished...

 

[1000arms]

Just got off the phone with him. Unfortunately his health is horrible, I knew that going in. He's been dealing with health issue that I would rather not go into here, but I get it... Good thing I am not relying on having this ready to get to and from work though!

If he's not able to deliver by Saturday, I will head over and start doing some of the stuff I need to on my end, it is no longer on the hoist, so doing stuff like swapping the tail lights out will be a no brainer. Mostly I want to get the tails swapped and the Bed Rug installed. And make the templates for the electrical cabinet so I can get that rebuild finished...

I'm glad you knew about his health issues when you took your truck to him, there is no need to share the particulars of his difficulties, and I hope he can complete his work for you soon!

 

[dbhost]

I'm glad you knew about his health issues when you took your truck to him, there is no need to share the particulars of his difficulties, and I hope he can complete his work for you soon!

The guy has been doing the heavy work that neither I, nor my friends want to, or have the room to do, and has been doing great work for decades. His health issues have been particularly bad this year... To be fair, I consider the guy a friend as well. He needs a surgery but has to wait until the new year starts out and his new coverage starts...

The quality of work he does though is spot on, usually. The brake issue was one where he checked lines, but didn't consider pulling the calipers and inspecting. Honestly if the truck hadn't sat as long as it did, I wouldn't have given it much of a thought...

 

[dbhost]

So, all the bits and bobs for the house power system are here. The 2nd battery showed up via UPS today.

Talked with my mechanic earlier, depending on how his health / stamina hold out we maybe handing over today or tomorrow... That is a good thing...

Need to make a home depot run. I have been making some basic outline drawings in Sketchup for the electrical cabinet build.

Since I am having to redo this, assuming I can squeeze it in with the batteries side by side, do remember my intended layout.

Basically a full height cabinet, so floor to as close to ceiling as I can get, and truck bed side to bed platform side. So yes, there will likely be some in truck assembly required...

Bottom compartment should be tall enough to house the toilet. Not going to bother with putting a door on that, just, compartment with opening and a stop block to keep the toilet from sliding out accidentally.
Middle compartment battery enclsoure. Door on side pointed to tailgate. . Solar charge controller / DC to DC charger, breaker, and inverter mounted on the door. On lower cabinet if room allows, just below the shelf separating I want the ouptut panel for the 12V. That should be tall enough but not so tall as to make me stretch for the switch while in bed. My CPAP I am still working on designing a mount for, but long story short, I am going to mount it up to the side of the cabinet, and provide a hanger for the mask. This should leave a top section, not going to be huge, enough space to hold smalls, maybe socks, underwear, and a towel or two... And at the very top I need a panel to mount a 12V dual USB power outlet to power my interior lighting.

At this point the question is, do I go with PMF / Foamie for light weight, but physically bulky material, or do I go with 15/32" sanded ply for less bulky material but higher weight?

 

[dbhost]

So my mechanic is in the hospital, again. I know he's not bull ******tting me because, well like I said, he is not just my mechanic, he is also a friend, and I have visited with him in the hospital. He's got someone coming in to help lend a hand and finalize 4 big jobs on monday, mine being the first one allegedly. All we are waiting on is a full inspection of the rest of the brake system.

In the mean time, Amazon FINALLY delivered the cable lugs for my battery to battery cables so I can get the parallel wiring done. Probably going to deal with those tomorrow as I REALLY don't feel like messing with it tonight.

I have been digging into options, slide in pop up, or pop up topper, and which one. I was so very close to pulling the trigger on the Lone Peak Overland camper, but didn't really dig the wedge camper, or the narrow overcab bed. I for some reason was under the impression a 4 Wheel Campers Project M would ring up around $24K and I was NOT going to pay that much, then I looked at them again... Not sure why but just did.

I am not crazy about the fact the closest dealer is Colorado and I would have to burn off vacation time to go get the camper installed, but will be looking into what it would take to get it done and on my truck. I can literally eyeball one of those and see extactly where everything should fit. Pretty sure the Project M is the way for me to go... Especially with those structural shelves they use. About a dozen organization / layout problems are solved by those, an east / west sleeper at the front can be rigged and other storage immediately under, you get the idea....

 

[dbhost]

Aw to heck with it, I couldn't wait. Battery cables fabbed up and installed. Sure enough I made them too danged long, but that beats the snot out of too short.

So just to get it functional, once the truck hits my driveway.

#1. Install bedrug. Been sitting in my living room far too long. I should have installed it before the truck went into the shop, I was trying to make the job easier by not having it in the way, now I won't have a day warm enough to soften the bedrug to make install easier... ********...
#2. Install bed platform.
#3. Create template for, and cut panels for new electrical compartment.Build and install new electrical compartment. There will be no 2x2s in the new one. Fully plywood construction to save weight..
#4. Install anderson connectors for DC to DC charging. Complete install of charge controller / DC to DC charging.
#5. Install keyed trigger wire for DC to DC charger.
#6. Install SAE connectors for 12V oulet for back seat, install 12V back seat outlet.
#7. Finalize connections for DC to DC charger / solar charge controller and 12v / inverter output including breaker for DC to DC charger to disable charging should I need to Solar should the batteries be below freezing can simply be not connected...
#8. Load and plug in fridge to back seat 12v outlet.
#9. Move in mattress, and load up camping gear.

There is no chance in Sheol that this will happen before Christmas weekend.

I should remind you, this was supposed to have been done with at least one week to go before Veterans day...

********.

Oh well, after all this is done, I can fine tune.

#1. Install tailgate weater seal.
#2. Install reverse camera / tailgate handle.
#3. Install new head unit / Android Auto / Reverese cam system.
#4. Install blackout LED tail lights and 1K Lumen LED reverse light bulbs

 

[dbhost]

So not much as I wait for the truck to be finished and delivered. But at least for now, I have the parallel cables run for the Lifepo4 batteries. So connect to positive on the first battery, negative on second, check, checker, checkest.... I am beyond ready for my install, and actually sitting here somewhat anxious..

 

[dbhost]

So I talked to the mechanic this morning. Health issues ongoing, he has a guy that fills in for him, and he knows he needs to get the truck out and done. I am in a hurry to get the truck out and camping for now. Anxious to get the truck in my hands so I can get supplies to finish the camper build...

 

[dbhost]

Okay not happy. The guy that was supposed to be helping out, didn't, so my truck is still on jack stands with the front calipers and lines replaced and the rears not done yet. I have Monday off of work, I am going to load on and head over and do them myself if I have to. 11 weeks is just too long.

On the plus side, the Vevor 5KW tall self contained heater arrived today. There is a story behind this...

I ordered the 5KW Vevor THINKING it was the tall skinny model, that I could tuck around the wheel well of the truck using pretty much dead space, but nope. This one was the short and fat model. Basically the tall one puts the fuel tank above the heater, the short fat one puts the fuel tank next to the heater. Anyway so once it came in I went to Amazon to arrange a return because it was the wrong item. No returns on diesel heaters for some reason. Got a hold of Amazon customer support after digging through forever trying to find their customer chat function, and after a bit, they agreed to refund me the cost of the heater. I asked them how do I get this back to them and their response was keep it, donate it, we don't want it back...

Say what?

So I am an idiot, ordered the wrong thing, tried to get it returned and would actually have paid return shipping because I am the idiot here, and they gave me my money back and insisted I keep the product?

Amazon sometimes makes no sense at all...

I have the parallel cable for solar set up, and the parallel wiring for the batteries set up, so far so good...

So my plan here, probably said it above, but moving forward once the truck is in hand.

1. Swap BFG ATs on and get them balanced.
2. Replace tail lights with blacked out ones, and swap in 1K lumen LED reverse bulbs.
3. Strip chrome from and raptor line rear bumper.
4. Install bedrug.
5. Install pull strap for camper shell hatch.
6. Wire up from battery to just inside camper with anderson connector for DC to DC charger, Wire other side of anderson connector to DC to DC charger.
7. Install bed platform. Take measurements and profiles for electrical compartment.
8. Build and install new electrical compartment to faciliate dual batteries, Install and finish wiring MPPT charge controller / DC to DC charger, inverter, and 12v output circuits including back seat of truck for fridge, and roof of topper for interior lighting. Install interior liighting.
9. Build and install HVAC panel. Wooden of Foamie panel that acts as a flange in place of lowered tailgate to close off the truck bed, but allow pass through of air conditioner in summer, or diesel heater in winter.
10. Install mattress. Fridge and other remaining bigs.
11. Make and install curtains for all windows. Re secure screens where spline has popped out. Make reflectix panels that will fit between curtains and window glass to act as insulating barrier.

At that point, with the remainder of my gear and supplies loaded in, it is time to take a maiden voyage. ASSUMMING and that is a massive assumption, that I get the truck back this next week, yeah right... I should have my part done except maybe the raptor lining the rear bumper by Mid January, and so late January should be the maiden voyage. Hunters camps should be good and empty, as should the beaches Not sure which direction to go first, but I will figure it out.

I need to find boondocking opportunities in Texas that will allow me time, and distance to get the legs under this thing, before I head out west...