wreckdiver1321
Overlander
That last pic shows the glare. It's definitely a good amount of glare, but not enough to deter me. The extra visibility I gain in the dark is well worth it.
WreckDiver1321's 2003 Frontier CC SC
- Thread starter wreckdiver1321
- Start date
That last pic shows the glare. It's definitely a good amount of glare, but not enough to deter me. The extra visibility I gain in the dark is well worth it.
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Really funny story. There's a guy who drives around my town in like a 99 Frontier XCab, also in sand dune. He's got some 31" Wrangler Authoritys and shackles on the rear bumper. I pull up next to him in traffic today. He smiles and nods, giving me a thumbs-up.
I roll down my window. "Want to buy a bumper?"
"That one?"
"Yeah!"
"Hell yeah I do!"
"$600!"
At which point he got my phone number and told me he'd get a hold of me later. We exchanged "nice truck!" and went on our way.
It's days like these I love Montana.
I roll down my window. "Want to buy a bumper?"
"That one?"
"Yeah!"
"Hell yeah I do!"
"$600!"
At which point he got my phone number and told me he'd get a hold of me later. We exchanged "nice truck!" and went on our way.
It's days like these I love Montana.
richard310
pew pew
Nice pics and weather! I'm tired of this sun that seems to never go away... I like the awning idea with RTT. Must be nice to have such options with the bed, and basket above the cabin. And thanks for the pic of the glare. Looks pretty significant especially when it's pitch black, but I'll most likely modify as needed with custom glare shields.
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Thanks! Yeah I've been tossing around a whole bunch of ideas for what I'd like to do since I got the truck. It's all just getting refined as I go. I'm pretty stoked about the next few months. I'm ordering a Superwinch X9 within the next few days (courtesy of awesome Costco prices) and I'm hoping to have front and rear bumpers, sliders, RTT and rack, and awning done before summer. It will be a busy time.
Having all that space is pretty nice. It allows me to configure everything the way I want. This way I can break my storage space up into zones: Bed space, interior, and on top. The basket is really useful for things like firewood when the bed is full of camping gear. Having a RTT will significantly cut down on what needs to be carried in the bed too. No tent, no bedding. All just stays in the RTT.
The other thing you could do is some matte black on the hood. Not sure if you'd want to, but it's an idea. I've thought about it a bunch of times, but I just don't know if I'd like it enough. The glare doesn't really bug me enough to warrant it I think. You get used to it. I could see how it would drive somebody nuts, but I don't mind it that much.
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richard310
pew pew
Thats quite a list before summer time! I cant wait to see everything done! I'll be hoping to get half that list done by summer hahaha.
Yeah not sure how i feel with a matte black hood... even if its vinyl. I'd rather have physical shields on the lights instead but we'll see when the time comes.
Yeah not sure how i feel with a matte black hood... even if its vinyl. I'd rather have physical shields on the lights instead but we'll see when the time comes.
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Makes sense to me. Just an idea.
Haha I'll be a busy man, that's for sure. I'm pretty excited. This thing is gonna be overland ready when I'm done with her.
mortonm
Expedition Leader
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Hahahaha ummmm..... I went a little nuts with this build.... I got some money stuff sorted out and it's just falling into place.
Can't complain
mortonm
Expedition Leader
Hahahaha ummmm..... I went a little nuts with this build.... I got some money stuff sorted out and it's just falling into place.
Can't complain
Just giving you grief. Hopefully you get that ARB sold off!
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
I'm hoping I do eventually. I'm not in such a hurry now that I know I'll be going with Shrockworks. If I sold it, I have no bumper!
mortonm
Expedition Leader
Can you not put the stock back on ?
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Uhhh... the factory grille is actually part of the factory bumper. So that was cut up to fill that stupid 2" gap between the bumper and the body. You can see it here:
wreckdiver1321
Overlander
Yesterday was a big day. A really big day. The reasons for which will become apparent. The Montana Overland crew did a Christmas Tree run to the Pryor Mountains outside Bridger, MT. We met up at a gas station near my house before we headed out. The group was My GF, her niece, me, Aaron, his dad (Earl), his dad's GF (Lucy), Lucy's friend, and her two kids.
Aaron's newest 4x4 is a first gen Dodge Durango on 33's. This was going to be the first real off road trip for that truck, as well as Montana Overland's first full-scale run. Needless to say, we were pretty excited. From Laurel, we headed southeast towards Bridger. We topped off the tanks at Bridger's Maverick station and left the town. Just outside, we turned left on Pryor Mountain Road. We soon were traveling through the long expanses of Eastern Montana farmlands.
About twenty minutes into these roads, we stopped to air down. From there, we turned towards the mountains. We passed farms and campgrounds as we climbed up higher and higher. It wasn't long before we needed 4 wheel drive. We passed a truck with an empty snowmobile trailer, but other than that we were completely alone. Eventually, the tire tracks stopped, and we were cutting a new trail. A little ways into that, Aaron started to struggle. Eventually he stopped and had to go back and forth to try to bust through some deeper snow. It was at this point his transmission started to overheat, so we stopped to let it cool. Luckily, we were in an open area with a big hill, so people could get out and go sledding.
From here I chained up and put the truck in low range as a precaution. I took the lead and we began to climb again. It was during this time I learned a valuable lesson: chain up or air down. Don't do both. The chains won't be tight enough.
We were well past the point where the tracks had stopped, and yet we kept climbing. Our goal was the Big Ice Cave, a large cave carved out by glacier ice many millennia ago. We drove about an hour past the end of the tracks trying to reach it.
As the snow got deeper, the trucks struggled more. Aaron chose to stop and let the transmission cool again while I checked out the path ahead. Eventually, we got to in intersection. Straight would take us to a FS road. Right went to the Ice Cave. Unfortunately, the road to the right was covered by deeper snow. I gave it a shot anyway. The tires kept clawing and about here is where I threw in the towel. Aaron was a half mile behind me, and there was no way to get myself out except dig. Luckily I didn't push it and avoided getting stuck. The chains were able to claw the truck out.
Here was the view I had.
And it was here, with this view, in the middle of the mountains, up to my bumper in snow, that I brought my girlfriend out of the truck, said some things from the heart, and asked her to marry me. She most eagerly said yes. And so I put a ring that has been in my family for over 120 years over her finger, very happy at our new engagement. During this whole time, her niece was spying on us and, rather thankfully, took some pictures.
After this exciting event, we returned to the rest of the group ecstatic, a feeling they shared with us. We were standing there discussing the event and what to do next trail-wise when a couple of Jeeps and a lifted Ford drove around us, heading straight up the road. We were wondering if we should continue when they came back down. I asked one of the group if the trail was passable, and he said no. So we turned around and headed back down, with my new fiance Beret at the wheel of my truck. We found a nice sheltered spot in the trees to warm up around a fire and cook a lunch of hot dogs and chili.
And for, for our objective!
We went off into the forest in search of trees. We had three groups with us, so we were looking for three trees. Beret and I found ours in a hurry and loaded it into the truck. The other groups decided to head back down the road to find better ones, so that's what we did.
Beret was having a lot of fun driving in the deep snow.
The second group found their tree fairly quick, and we loaded that into the truck too. Lucy, however, was apparently looking for the perfect tree. We spent a good 30 minutes doing 5 mph looking for this damned tree. Eventually, we found it, and loaded it up with the others.
We drove past a snowman that someone had made a while back too. Even had fluffy hair, like me.
Eventually, we headed out of the Pryors with this sight to greet us.
We took a picture to commemorate the event.
With that, we were on our way back home. The wilderness of Montana gave us one final, fantastic wave goodbye.
Talk about your good days.
Aaron's newest 4x4 is a first gen Dodge Durango on 33's. This was going to be the first real off road trip for that truck, as well as Montana Overland's first full-scale run. Needless to say, we were pretty excited. From Laurel, we headed southeast towards Bridger. We topped off the tanks at Bridger's Maverick station and left the town. Just outside, we turned left on Pryor Mountain Road. We soon were traveling through the long expanses of Eastern Montana farmlands.
About twenty minutes into these roads, we stopped to air down. From there, we turned towards the mountains. We passed farms and campgrounds as we climbed up higher and higher. It wasn't long before we needed 4 wheel drive. We passed a truck with an empty snowmobile trailer, but other than that we were completely alone. Eventually, the tire tracks stopped, and we were cutting a new trail. A little ways into that, Aaron started to struggle. Eventually he stopped and had to go back and forth to try to bust through some deeper snow. It was at this point his transmission started to overheat, so we stopped to let it cool. Luckily, we were in an open area with a big hill, so people could get out and go sledding.
From here I chained up and put the truck in low range as a precaution. I took the lead and we began to climb again. It was during this time I learned a valuable lesson: chain up or air down. Don't do both. The chains won't be tight enough.
We were well past the point where the tracks had stopped, and yet we kept climbing. Our goal was the Big Ice Cave, a large cave carved out by glacier ice many millennia ago. We drove about an hour past the end of the tracks trying to reach it.
As the snow got deeper, the trucks struggled more. Aaron chose to stop and let the transmission cool again while I checked out the path ahead. Eventually, we got to in intersection. Straight would take us to a FS road. Right went to the Ice Cave. Unfortunately, the road to the right was covered by deeper snow. I gave it a shot anyway. The tires kept clawing and about here is where I threw in the towel. Aaron was a half mile behind me, and there was no way to get myself out except dig. Luckily I didn't push it and avoided getting stuck. The chains were able to claw the truck out.
Here was the view I had.
And it was here, with this view, in the middle of the mountains, up to my bumper in snow, that I brought my girlfriend out of the truck, said some things from the heart, and asked her to marry me. She most eagerly said yes. And so I put a ring that has been in my family for over 120 years over her finger, very happy at our new engagement. During this whole time, her niece was spying on us and, rather thankfully, took some pictures.
After this exciting event, we returned to the rest of the group ecstatic, a feeling they shared with us. We were standing there discussing the event and what to do next trail-wise when a couple of Jeeps and a lifted Ford drove around us, heading straight up the road. We were wondering if we should continue when they came back down. I asked one of the group if the trail was passable, and he said no. So we turned around and headed back down, with my new fiance Beret at the wheel of my truck. We found a nice sheltered spot in the trees to warm up around a fire and cook a lunch of hot dogs and chili.
And for, for our objective!
We went off into the forest in search of trees. We had three groups with us, so we were looking for three trees. Beret and I found ours in a hurry and loaded it into the truck. The other groups decided to head back down the road to find better ones, so that's what we did.
Beret was having a lot of fun driving in the deep snow.
The second group found their tree fairly quick, and we loaded that into the truck too. Lucy, however, was apparently looking for the perfect tree. We spent a good 30 minutes doing 5 mph looking for this damned tree. Eventually, we found it, and loaded it up with the others.
We drove past a snowman that someone had made a while back too. Even had fluffy hair, like me.
Eventually, we headed out of the Pryors with this sight to greet us.
We took a picture to commemorate the event.
With that, we were on our way back home. The wilderness of Montana gave us one final, fantastic wave goodbye.
Talk about your good days.
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