Vanilla Gorilla: 2017 Power Wagon build

[marshal]

my main big expense that I'm looking to is re-gearing. Im not going to touch the suspension until the OEM shocks are burned up

 

[reloaderguy]

I'm curious how you plan to do the inner fenders. It might be worth looking at the AEV fender flare instructions for some ideas. Don Thuren said he bought rolls of the material AEV uses for the inner fender extensions from McMaster Carr. I was thinking you could glass in lips under the fenders for Christmas-Tree push pins to hold in the liners. There will be a bunch of glass work anyway so glassing in wire mesh support for the liner mounts shouldn't be too hard. I started looking at this option originally and that was the route I was considering.

 

[Wirebrush]

My factory Bilsteins in the front lasted two years and 20k miles so it shouldn't be long. I'd love to swap in some 5.13 gears and 39" or 40" tires, but I'm going to wait until it's paid off and the warranty is gone.

 

[Tex68w]

I wanna roll fenders and 40's as well, but at 16,000+ miles in under 10 months I am starting to feel the shocks slowly degrade. I have a feeling these factory Bilsteins will need to be replaced in the next year or so. Looks like King's will have to come before the fenders/40's/regear.

 

[Explorerinil]

So overall how do you like the at tires now that you have had them for a bit? Seams like everyone is going with falken ties now.

 

[Tex68w]

So overall how do you like the at tires now that you have had them for a bit? Seams like everyone is going with falken ties now.

I think they are popular mostly because they are cheaper than BFG's or Toyo's etc.

 

[marshal]

I'm curious how you plan to do the inner fenders. It might be worth looking at the AEV fender flare instructions for some ideas. Don Thuren said he bought rolls of the material AEV uses for the inner fender extensions from McMaster Carr. I was thinking you could glass in lips under the fenders for Christmas-Tree push pins to hold in the liners. There will be a bunch of glass work anyway so glassing in wire mesh support for the liner mounts shouldn't be too hard. I started looking at this option originally and that was the route I was considering.

Unsure. It looks like the easiest thing I can do will be to be making a fender liner extension from aluminum sheet, and fastening the stock liners to them, or making all new ones from poly

there is a pretty substantial lip already in place on these Fiberwerx fenders. My plan right now is to fit them and drill out holes in the factory locations for fender liners, and epoxy in washers as reinforcements, then have the inside of the fenders LineX'd. Then I'm going to body work the outside and paint them myself.

I will be lucky to have paint on them before Expo West

My factory Bilsteins in the front lasted two years and 20k miles so it shouldn't be long. I'd love to swap in some 5.13 gears and 39" or 40" tires, but I'm going to wait until it's paid off and the warranty is gone.

I have 42k on mine and they're still good. I want to replace them, but there are so many other places I could throw five grand than at the suspension. Im not going anything other than the full Thuren kit with 3.0 kings in the front.

So overall how do you like the at tires now that you have had them for a bit? Seams like everyone is going with falken ties now.

Im really really pleased with them. Honestly my only complaint is that they, like BFG, run small. im about 3500 miles into these AT3W's and I couldn't be happier

 

[Hemi_Wagon812]

I have 42k on mine and they're still good. I want to replace them, but there are so many other places I could throw five grand than at the suspension. Im not going anything other than the full Thuren kit with 3.0 kings in the front.

You’ll love the Kings once you pull the trigger. If your around Newburgh/Evansville sometime. Hit me up and I’ll be more than glad to let you see how they feel on my truck.

 

[marshal]

just wrapped up a 4000 mile trip in the PW in 6 days. Departed Louisville KY this past Thursday and made my way to Bozeman MT. I drove 1000 miles straight on the lowest grade of fuel available, with ethanol to Mitchell SD, where I slept in the truck and idled the engine for 7 hours straight while i slept in the back of the cab, woke up and drove the remaining 700 miles into Bozeman. Stayed two days, picked up my Go Fast Camper, then drove straight south through Yellowstone, the Wasatch range and into Fruita Colorado, where i stayed there for another two days. left Tuesday morning and headed straight home across I70 back to Louisville another 1400 miles in one jaunt.

All in all, the truck was set to 75mph on the cruise control the entire time, and sometimes 85. Faced a couple headwinds, but was otherwise an uneventful drive. temperature was as high as 45 and as low as -15. My main takeaway from this trip is the 6.4L would seriously benefit from a radiator blanket. I dont think i ever hit 210 degrees when i was on the highway, sometimes dropping as low as 175 degrees at speed. i know for sure that affected my fuel economy, and the super dense air as well. The radiator blanket would certainly help the drag co-efficient.

my trip computer, idle time included averaged 72 mph ant 12.9MPG (again, on the cheapest, worst fuel available). I noticed that on the two tanks i did get mid-grade, like the engine requests i was averaging 1.5-2mpg better fuel economy.

Untitled by Will Marshal, on Flickr

 

[Littlehouse]

So, how do u like the GFC so far? Any major trips planned?

 

[marshal]

So, how do u like the GFC so far? Any major trips planned?

I’ve had it for less than a week so far. I loved my tent, but this has the whole lower section this to around. So far I’m really pleased and I’m enjoying the ability to use the entire rear of the bed in inclement weather and lock it down tight

 

[Wilbah]

Long trip....those deadhead runs can be brutal!

my trip computer, idle time included averaged 72 mph ant 12.9MPG (again, on the cheapest, worst fuel available). I noticed that on the two tanks i did get mid-grade, like the engine requests i was averaging 1.5-2mpg better

So given that as long as the midrange fuel is less than 33% more expensive it pays for itself. (1.75 mpg better / 13 mpg).

I used to run mid grade in my 79 K10 for just that reason back 100 years ago. I got 11.5 which was 15% better than the 10 I normally got, but it was only $0.04 or $0.06 more per gallon (IIRC....it was a lot of years ago! Ha) so it made sense to run mid grade over economy.

The camper looks great. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

 

[Dalko43]

These Hemi engines have a recommended 89 octane fuel rating (though 87 will work). So it makes sense that they would be slightly more efficient with mid-grade vs regular.

 

[marshal]

I need 40's

IMG_3395 by Will Marshal, on Flickr

 

[Tex68w]

40's, fenders, gears, and a nice set of shocks/springs!