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Java's F450 RV

Did not know this was still going on. Swear i hadnt read it in a few years, last time i had read it you were still framing the bed. Fantastic build really enjoyed reading it thus far.
 
I think my favorite part of this build is that you're using it while building it. That's my style too, helps figure out what works, and what doesn't.
 
Subscribed also, I followed this build on pirate from nearly the beginning and glad to see it made it over here!
 
Thanks Guys, Its been a ton of fun. Almost 45k miles we have put on it now.



Played moto hauler this weekend. What a awesome basecamp it makes
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My only complaint, I cant see the little trailer, period. LOL




First weekend riding for the kiddo, she did awesome. Wrecking and ripping the exhaust off was the only casualty
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Man its nice to be back on the bikes.




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A couple little projects, got the maxtrax mounted on the back door. It will be nice when they are snow and muddy.....




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And OBA! It will be nice to be able to air down a little as needed, as well as fill the airbags. Puma 12v compressor, 2.0CFM @40psi, 1.36@90psi, 1.5 gallon tank.

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I have a couple options, one to mount it under the truck, it fits just in front of the tool boxes on either side, or under the bed in the back. Under the bed is clean and easy to install, but back doors would need to be opened to turn it on, under the truck is out of the way, but in the dust/mud/spray, and harder to install/plumb/wire.

the easy option.

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COMPRESSOR IS A HUGE PITA.... THE DUMP VALVE I USED LEAKS DOWN CONSTANTLY. TRIPS THE CIRCUIT BREAKER NOW FOR SOME REASON.....
 
Lazy Airbag installer's filler location, not ideal. Climbing under the truck to check pressures or fill kinda sucked. Good news is that those are push to connect fittings there, and I have some airline.

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Now they come out the back. Much better.

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A few more little things got wrapped up this weekend.




Added some LED strips under the bed, it was dark trying to find things under there at times. Not any more, I may have gone a little overboard on light
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THESE SHORTED SOMEWHERE....NEED TO FIX. USE SOMETHING WITH A COVER OVER THE LED STRIP. THEY GET BEAT UP.


4 strips on the bed frame.

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Made a new switch mount for the lights and inverter.

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Nice and bright!

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Next up was OBA. I went the easy route and just mounted the compressor in the back under the bed. I love having a local supplier for nice wire, paired 8ga tinned marine wire. Good stuff. Used a 50A re settable breaker and it runs off the house batteries.

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Now a complaint on the puma, the stamped end cap where the air filter goes sucks, the threads are not well formed. I dont have a 1/2" NPT tap, so I got creative. The air filter had a very long nipple on it, so I cut it down, and simply epoxied it in place.

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Ratchet strap holds it nicely in place, however it also holds the head of the compressor right against the wall, that makes the whole truck become a resonator
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whoops. I can release it when running if I need to.

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Took another ski trip, probably the last one for the year realistically.




Snow is rapidly vanishing....

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This is the same CG at the end of Jan

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Sunny spring skiing!

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A bit of snow rain mix down low the next couple days.

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Delicious treats and weather warm enough to have the door open!
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Driving up to the mid station lot makes for an easy spot. Parking right under the gondola.

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Truck runs great, drives nice, there was a bit of a wind storm, 60+ side wind gusts, never felt bad at all. Averaged 9.6mpg doing 67mph in the 70 zones and 62-65 in the 60. Lots of stop and go and twisty windy in there too.


Why must Ford make everything hard? The mirror really needs to be one piece?!

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Mirror stem extracted, getting attached to a monitor for review.
USE EPOXY AND SCREWS. VHB DOESNT HOLD WHEN ITS BAKED IN THE SUN

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Taken from eye view point, does not bock much more than the mirror IMO

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Wiring to come.... Wanted to have a starting and ending point before wildly running wires.

GREAT Weekend. Started out Friday night in a CG, but everyone there spread out, and no one was around. Windy and a bit cold, so we made a big ol fire to sit around.




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Hiked up Icicle ridge first thing in the morning, nice easy hike, ~3 miles each way, 1800ft of elevation. Weather was amazing! Sun, but not crazy hot summer temps.

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360 degree views off the top of the ridge.

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Nest up after lunch was some Eastern WA slab climbing! Its been years since I was here (Peshastin Pinnacles) again not sure crazy summer temps, but I still got a bit of sun.... Forgot how damn hard slabs can be to climb..... This one is well bolted which is nice, but leading was a bit sketch still, lots of moss/growth on the rocks from winter. This was the kids first taste of real outdoor climbing.

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Then off to find our camp spot! Probably the roughest road we have done to date. It wasn't bad, just slow going. A Subaru full of ladies just about drove off the road starting at us
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19.5's don't give much, rocks make bumps, and this things sways back and fourth a lot, contemplating more air in the rear bags, but that would also increase spring rate. Maybe thats just a normal big truck thing. Will need a catch on the kitchen drawer, blue tape to the rescue!




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Pictures sure flatten the road out....

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Spot the truck? We hiked up the ridge for fun, it was steep!

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Nice camp site, someone sets up hunting camp here, they have taken the time to dig a flat spot for a wall tent, water drainage ditches and everything.

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Now back to truck stuff. Backup cam worked good! Need to get the second cam installed. I aimed the one we currently have ~35 degrees out, I cant quite see the bumper, and cant quite see the car behind me unless its right on my ass. But I treid aiming it down to where I could see the bumper and it was vertigo inducing watching the ground like that
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aimed out a bit is much much better!




Also sat in traffic for 3.5 hours to get an awning yesterday...... all caused by a little fruit stand thing on the side of the road!!! ARGG. Not how I wanted to spend my afternoon, but only two bridges in and out of where I went.... Its a 8' Carefree crank out. I wanted the larger version, but the price was right on this one! More ugly colors!




Now mounting Q: The literature wants through bolts through the wall. I am assuming they are thinking typical camper construction with a thin fiberglass and luan skin. I don't want to through bolt.... It uses 2 1/4" bolts per mounting plate, Thoughts on 4 #10 screws in each plate (3 plates) instead? It weighs ~40-45# or so.


Awning install went sideways.... Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Last God damn hole.
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Fuck up fixes acquired.

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Awning is on. Need to add the brackets for the legs on the wall still. And find a good light step stool, because there is no way in hell I can reach the legs from the ground! (thats an 8' step ladder in the pic)




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Opened and added the leg mounts to the walls. Put them just high enough to walk under (unless you walking within 12" of the truck... )




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Give me a follow
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Or we will see how much hate mail I get in traffic....




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Weekend report.




Took off early Friday to get some climbing done before the rain came in.




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View from the top is pretty good.




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Rolled into camp at sunset.




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Wet morning.*




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That was the end of the fun, then we headed to the inlaws.... Last car on the boat!




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So I have mentioned its a bit of a jarring ride.... Well The USB ports stopped working after out last "rough" trip.....







Last night I pulled it apart to see what was going on. Luckily I left enough slack to get it out. And the switch panel uses a standard sized hole, so I can replace it as needed.




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Bounced down enough roads to literally break the two PCB's apart.... There were 4 solder joints holding it, tore most of the traces off and broke in half. Was not expecting that!




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But I soldered it back together with big old solder goopyness. They reinforced it with hot snot. Slipped it back into the housing and filled that with hot glue too. Hopefully that lasts a bit longer
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Mobile cabin FTW. I love this truck!! 350 miles of pavement, half mile of dirt. Spent the weekend climbing in Frenchman Coulee. A little overcast which was super nice to keep the temps down.

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Lots of people, a couple big groups, but not bad at all.

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Just terrible.

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Getting up early was rewarded by not so many people on the routes, and cooler temps. The basalt is really fun, some slaby sections, but grippy, and lots of ledges and pcokets too.

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Kiddo did awesome

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Fun little slot canyon approach to one of the walls. It was actually pretty tight.

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Pretty crazy landscapes.

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Ran across a couple danger noodles. Both were pretty small and unimpressed with us.

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Tested out my folding solar panel. Its sold as "100 watt" but my reading seems to make me think its made from two 40w panels.... I was unimpressed. It was a bit overcast, but I saw 1.26A max. (it was showing 16w input)

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Now back to truck stuff.




Pulled ryegrass grade at 64mph on cruise control. Oil temp was 212 and coolant was 208 ish? Goes from the Columbia river~500ft? to 2300 ft in 5 miles. Ran right around 1k EGT's at 30-35psi boost.




Thoughts on what Ford engineers their leaves to take? Its rated at 5,800-6,200 payload in the bed. Do they build the packs for 75% of payload? 50%? Supposedly they are progressive leaf packs. I have added bags and run 75 psi in them to stay up off the overloads. But I have been thinking of getting a custom pack made for my weight. Thoughts? Much benefit over bags and OE leaves?
 
Every time we do a trip in this thing I realize how much I love it. Comfort, drive like a dream (AC sucks.... ) but its great.




Did ~520 miles, 2 lakes, two climbing areas, one island, one ferry and a ton of fun. Big loop, and crossed hwy 20 that just opened Friday, which is such an awesome area.

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Came back for the tall walls from last weekend, I didn't have enough gear to climb them! Topped out our 60m rope, top anchor was ~90' off the belay station. So fun, had not lead anything that tall. Was not a real hard lead, a couple tricky spots, but some good pucker being that high.




On a ledge half way up

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nearly at the top

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Kiddo going up

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Not a bad spot.

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We headed to Fun Rocks in Mazama next. Found an amazing camp site.

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Fun granite! Tougher than it looked.

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Heading over hwy 20

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And I think we have a goal for the end of summer some time..... Its only a 5.6-5.7 climb, but 4 pitches, should be fun.

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And we saw both sides of baker today too!

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Now back to truck stuff.

Faucet has rattled loose a little. AC sucks.




I used my super cheap ass "AC Gauge" And it read "green" pressure, but it builds to ~70 psi on the low side, then drops the compressor off, like every ~6-8 seconds. I'm pretty sure the system has been apart, when the motor was pulled. Not enough pressure/oil? Ideas? Its blows cool ish, not cold. Worth buying a vac pump and gauge set and starting over?


Picked up some proper AC gauges.




After dumping one 12oz can in, no compressor turning on. Compressor engages jumping the low pressure switch.




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But let it run on its own and low pressure side drops to ~20psi compressor cycles off.

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So some googling says it should be either 26-27 or 34-36oz depending on which spec this truck is.... So I "should" have enough refrigerant in it, but the pressures are not quite right. Low pressure side drops to 20psi and the compressor cycles off. Plugged orifice tube perhaps? High pressure side never goes above 150 ish. Removing the gauges showed there is some dye on the high side.


Had another fun weekend, but ran into a crappy situation..... I broke the black tank..... Not sure exactly where yet, need to dump it and clean the area.....




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Was very glad to be in the truck when it poured rain ALL night.


mmmm nasty.

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Supplies.

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After dumping and cleaning..... See the crack? Looks like it flexed too much and that was the thin spot. Go back 30 pages or something and there is discussion about this blowing up in the middle of no where in the middle of the night.....

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Took a piece of alu tube, and a half a tube of 3M 5200, hopefully that not only glues the crack closed, but reinforces the edge of the tank there..... Metal tape is just keeping gravity to a minimum while the 5200 dries.

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While I was waiting for the tank area to dry after cleaning.... I added a POL tee to the propane line. That gives me a high pressure connection for anything, I can run an outdoor stove, BBQ or the firepit off the main tank now.




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Works dandy! However I am not sure I trust the sending unit on the propane tank.... It still says 3/4 full. We only use it for cooking and hot water, but I have not filled it since I installed it.

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Wife is out of town, which means I can stay up late working on the truck after the kid is in bed.




So I finally added a desperately needed latch to the kitchen drawer. Blue tape has been sort of working to hold it closed.




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Pulled the metal tape off as it was really slowing the cure, and the 5200 has set up enough to not sag out of the joint. Not pretty, but hopefully it holds together.




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Then started to install my tank gauge. I got sick of trying top figure out how much water was left. Its a SeeLevel gauge, sticks on the outside of the tank, can also read the sedning unit on the propane which will be nice, and I could add a sensor to the black tank if I feel like it too.




Sensor cut to length for the tank.

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Made a little shelf to hold the gauge unit. In stalling it under the bench seat at the moment. Not sure I want it up next to the Tsat and battery monitor. Debating.

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Realized it was late at this point and I was out of 18/2 to wire it, so I put the plumbing back together and went to bed.

THIS THING IS ANNOYING..... THE SENDER JUST WONT STAY STUCK TO THE TANK

New goodies
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1.5" solid rear sway bar, and a Bluetooth dongle for my battery and solar meters.




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Very nice weekend relaxing in the truck. Just in a CG, but it was nice none the less.







Set up our glamp site. Grabbed an aluminum "screen/shade" thing, works pretty slick for keeping the temps down.




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Did lots of cooking in the Dutch Oven. Biscuits, pizza's, Cake.




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Spotted this fire flare up, headed over in the boat and got to watch the helicopter dip the bucket over and over, it looked like they saved all the houses though! Probably started at the road, luckily there was not much fuel.




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And my solar panel took a crap, one cell seems to have shorted out.

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Another fun weekend spent climbing!




Pretty spot, but zero shade at all. Truck stays cool for awhile, good insulation is nice!

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Snuck some routes in after dinner Friday. Its nice to climb in the early morning and evening, mid day is WAY to hot for me. Im a PNW boy, over 75 and I melt.

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Nice evening walk (on the edge of a cliff )

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Peaceful at night

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Up at 5:30am for some climbing before the sun bakes us!

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This was a fun route to lead, 10 clips, not as tall as the other one, but its a 5.9 with a couple tough spots, and the crack to the left can be climbed once the ancor is set, its a 5.10a. That was fun too, but a good workout. They are however right next to "Air Guitar" the route which Goran Kropp died on in 2002. A bit of a sobering reminder.

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Wife tired to pull a superman. (yes she held on)

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From the top of the next tower over. Pretty easy 5.8 with one tough spot.

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Back to the truck for a mid day nap, being able to open the back door onto the bed is awesome, so much air movement that way.

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My bed was the popular spot....

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Then off to the other side of the canyon once the sun was setting. This is "The Feathers" much shorter walls, but also only a couple minute walk from the truck.

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A couple nice guys let me top rope this one, I fell trying to lead it last time, and didn't really want to try again at the moment. Its a 5.10c and overhangs the whole way. OK for top ropeing, not wanting to lead that yet....

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Then we moved over to the other side and my lovely wife lead this one. Ran it a few times and just barely cleaned up the anchor before it got really dark.

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Crashed out early, and got up at 5:30 again. This was the target for the morning. Agatha rock.

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Not a terrible way to start the day.

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"My hand are sore"

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Actual truck work now!




My Kelderman air bag front coil replacements came in. Nice pieces of work.




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Jack truck up. I had to dig level spots for my plywood jack stand bases.... Truck is so heavy they wanted to tip if it was* not dead flat. I was surprised by the lack of frame movement though. The dirvers side is completely on the ground here.




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Ready for work, was not bad with two jacks to be able to raise and lower the axle as needed.




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Before:




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Old stuff out




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Had to drill two holes in each of the upper springs mounts to hold the new mount in place.




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Everything bolted in! Air line runs up into the engine bay on both sides.




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Discard pile.




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Rusty lugs got a coat of paint while they were off. Not sure I like it, did black (thats primer) and they kind of stand out now.




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Sitting on its own weight! ~90psi in the bags, they are a little tall (8.5" between mounts, spec is 7.5-8.5) but it may settle a bit, need to drive it and adjust.




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It was late.... No good pics....




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Now in the tire wear/alignment issue. It looks like my axle is offset to the drivers side almost 1". That is just quick and dirty tape measure work, but measuring from the frame to the tire ribs both sides gives me that. And the air bag is only a finger or so from the frame on the passenger side, and has at least an inch on the drivers side..... odd.




Cant wait to test drive it this evening!
 
This went on last night, hopefully that will help body roll a bit. 1.5" solid rear bar.




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Alignment done. The before numbers were pretty good. Toe was just at max spec on one side, but that was it.....

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Another fun weekend out in the rocks!




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This is a 5.9 route, lots of blots, but a couple tricky spots. The crack to the left is a 5.10a, tough one for me, cant quite get hand jambs in it.

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Made an awesome dutch oven apple rhubarb pie too
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Update on the Kelderman, I have ~400 miles on it now. And they are aired up to 8" bag height per the instructions. Range is 7.5-8.5, so I could drop a little pressure and try that. Its not a mind blowing change. A bit less harsh on sharp bumps, but it still rides like a heavy ass truck. I think that may be partly due to my heavy front axle weight, the OE springs may have been softened (or rode softer due to the weight). I did get some much needed front lift, and up travel was increased by nearly double, which should be much better on the big bumps. But at the moment its hard to tell with the stiff rear end. Sway bar did well bringing the truck back to feeling like it did originally cornering wise. The back end seemed to "flop" side to side less as well on the off road sections. Need an adjustable track bar to get the passenger side bag away from the frame. It does not appear to have touched at all, but there is only 1/2" or so of clearance, I'd like a bit more. Any suggestions are welcome.




Drives great on the highway still! Gets 10mpg no matter what it seems, cruise gets set to 68mph as that is 2250rpms, much more just seems like it would eat gas badly. Climbs grades at 66mph, 30psi of boost and right around 1000 degree EGT's
 
A GREAT weekend.




Washington has some pretty great areas.

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A bit of climbing on Saturday morning. A quick multi pitch is a great way to start the day! Got on the wall at 6:30am. Its get hot when the sun comes out....

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Stopped by the NW Overland Rally for a night. Its getting big.... My good friends with Three amigos Offroad let me sneak in behind their camp area. Great to see friends we dont see often, but its a bit crazy.

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Headed out of the rally Sunday am and drove up to Mazama, did a few routes and headed off a little early to make sure we could find a camp site, it was busy!




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Nice spot near a creek, road getting there was interesting, I think I dragged belly a couple times.... No issues though.




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It was my lovely wife's birthday, so we BBQ'ed some lobsters. They were good!

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Not bad if I do say so myself
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Monday was a bit rainy, but we hiked out across the Ross Lake damn, kind of a neat hike

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Kid wanted them to open the spillways

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Then we jetted back home! Having to work sucks!


Lots of trips have been packed in! Kids of to summer camp so the adults get to do things she would not appreciate being dragged on. So first up was Pinto rock, 400ft of climbing, base of the rock is at 5123ft, pretty damn fun. Easy climbing, but out first long ish multi pitch.




Water bars for MILES. Ugh, but good lights really help.

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Camp for the night.





Not a terrible spot to wake up.





The goal.





Almost to the top, truck looks tiny





At the top!







This neighboring one looks fun too. Half way down the rap off the back side.





Then back to the truck and drive home in time for the family 4th party.
 
Not a bad spot at all.

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Serious long wheel base problems.... Dragged the tank and steps a bit....

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Springs V2.0 arrived. They are the right length, but.... They are pretty different. No extra wrap on the leading end, and one less leaf? Thoughts?




New:

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Old:

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THESE SPRINGS SUCK BTW. They are nearly flat at this point....
 
FOAM DIDN'T DO A WHOLE LOT. NEED SOME ABOVE THE FLOOR REALLY.

Prepping for spray foam under the floor. Sprayed down with simple green, sprinkler and hosed it off and started masking.




Masking under there sucks ass!!




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And just because the PNW is awesome, we did a little hike to Camp Muir on Mt Rainier




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Well it's not pretty, but there is some insulation on there. What a mess.... Glad I farmed out the big project of foam.
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Well I am rapidly losing faith in Atlas Spring Company.




Springs are installed, ended up being able to ream the bushing out to fit the OE bolts. Correct length this time.




Now the fun, I took a measurement before I dropped the truck off at the shop. ~37.5" to the wheel well in the rear.




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Note the patch of plants, just to show I am in nearly the same spot.




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And After.... 36.5" Thats an inch SHORTER not 1" taller than stock!! bags are at 10 psi, I ran 70 previously with the OE springs, just enough to keep then above the overloads or it squeaked like crazy.




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And here is my order, clearly give the weight, and 1" over stock. I emailed after the first set were wrong verifying that was rear end only, just to try to mitigate any issues with the new set.




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This still makes me angry...... They have sagged way back down....


Ive got them re-assembled. That was a fun weekend in the gravel driveway. Big truck stuff is heavy.




Here is what I ended up doing....




Take these two pieces out of the stock pack. The anti wrap leak and the spacer block.

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Buy new center pins, cut them down because you can only get 3/4x3/4 heads locally. Ford used 3/4x3/8 ish

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Jack up truck from the frame. Remind yourself to use a bottle jack next time..... Floor jacks don't roll on gravel. The license plate panel is not so pretty anymore.... Truck fell off jack.

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Plan was to undo U bolts, roll axle forward, drop center pin out, reassemble with extra parts. Well remember this truck has an LSD? Yeah can roll one side forward.... So get out plywood, and a second floor jack, add some ratchet straps, and you can barely move the axle enough (after disconnecting sway bar).

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OK, center pin out, WTF why does new one not fit?! Oh Atlas used a smaller one... WHY?! Head would flop in the centering hole in the axle.... Anyway. Now I have to drill out the entire spring pack to the larger center pin..... That was fun and my drill hates me.




Pack with extra bits together.




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Now the Ubolts are too short again. Did I mention I just got new ones for this pack?? (at $15 each...) No more pictures, but new Ubolts got made. bolts were tightened, not need to find a torque wrench that goes too 300 ft lbs... They are about as tight as my electric rattle gun will go. Which I had to drive on block and dig a hole under each spring pack to use.... anyway. Frustrated by this ordeal, but truck is derivable now, and ~3/4" higher than it was with the stock springs and airbags, with no air in the bags. I have not even test driven it I was so tired and pissed off. Need to beat the license plate panel out still too.




Weekends progress after vacuuming out mouse nests and scrubbing everything.... They got in again.... I cant figure out where!!







Cardboard mock up. Long enough to be useful? Maybe? Not hang up on everything? Hopefully....

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One polyethylene mud flap, supposed to not blow up in very freezing weather. Cut into two mirror pieces.




More wider.




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Two OE bolts and a few stainless screws, done. Hopefully that keeps things a bit cleaner.




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Another weekend in the truck, sure makes a nice cozy cabin!




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Did some climbing, hiking and enjoyed the PNW.




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Ill check the Ubolts again and see if I can get anything out of them.




Truck threw a CEL..... P0703, Torque Converter/Brake Switch B Circuit Malfunction, oh joy. Some googling says it may just be the pressure switch behind the master cyl, brake lights still work. Fingers crossed that is the issue.


Hopefully p0703 is resolved. Will find out after a drive cycle. Motorcraft repair kit as this is a known issue I guess. $22 part. Bench bleeding thr switch was the hardest part.










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Stunning hike this weekend! Followed the ridge line all the way around the lake. Gorgeous and snow is fun.




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Spent the night tucked away outside Mazama.

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And a sneak preview of the new things coming!

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My paint skill have been better, but I think this is going to happen, loose the blue.




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OK guys, tire storage.....




I need to measure more carefully, but it does not look good for mounting under the truck in the stock location.




So mount it on the back door. With the latch the way it is, it needs to be ~5' or a bit more off the ground. Thats a long was for a heavy tire!




So I am thinking a flip down, like the jeep guys do. Deal with getting it on studs and bolted down at waist height then flip up and have a big pin/latch holding it.




Inspiration ish




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Red is behind the tire, 1x3 or 4 to spread load over the door (the panels are 12" wide horizontal on the door). Yellow would be hinges (bushings) and the grey would be outside the tire.




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Anyone have better ideas? Another option is the red frame and a hand crank winch to lift the tire up to the mounting area.


Wheels are on the way to Portland now....




So much vinyl to peel..... Luckily someone on IG suggested Rapid Remover. It makes getting the glue off 1000% easier.




Starting.




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The grey is the glue left behind. I was scrubbing with acetone....




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Headed out for the weekend.




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One side done.




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Drivers side done. Just about 2 hours with the Rapid remover.




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And the cabover section is a pain in the ass.




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Blue is gone!*




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Then I got carried away.... I had the cutout from the door still. I tried peeling the vinyl off the cutout to reapply to the door.*




Should be easy right? Cut strips. Peel




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Does not come off nicely.... But a heat gun takes most of the stretches out....




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Re-applied. Some definite wrinkles. But stick ok ish?




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So I got to work, in the dark. Did two pieces, not sure I can get the big bottom one nicely, would have to be three pieces I think. And my god going around the bottom of the window was a huge pain! Modeled rounded bits, to flat panels, with*old vinyl.... There are some wrinkles....







OK so the new wheels appear to be designed as singles, The centers are 1" thick, there is only 1" of lip at the centerbore on the axle. And the the studs would need to take the loads for them as duals.




Thoughts?




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Bore/lip engagement.

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hey are all on. Torqued. Front will need clearancing a lot.... Tomorrow.




Found my source of boost loss.... Torn boot/connector at the bottom of the intercooler. Maybe it wasn't up pipes.....




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Daylight pics. Its :smokin: IMO
yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7





Drives GREAT, just around town so far, but feel 99% the same as the OE setup.




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Going to have to watch that disk.

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Much clearnacing happened. Still rubs back there.... Fender liner isnt really covering anything once your just inside the wheel well where the body seam is. May just hack it off.




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Sorry for the blurry, but boost leak much? Got a new OE boot on that.

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Now more tech.... I updated the tire size with my tuner and it rewrote the tuning wrong.... Zero throttle, tons of smoke, bad. So I returned to stock, definitely down on power, but much less smoke. I will try a tank and see how the MPG's are, I will miss the power, but not the soot, if the MPG's are the same I will stay with it probably.
 
Haven't finished this thread, but whatever, lets get back to tech talk for a bit.


SOOOOO on the way out of town Friday for LD weekend, blew a air bag..... I was literally just telling my wife I needed to do the trackbar and front end work since I was worried it would blow a bag from rubbing on the frame. But nope, much have gotten a rock in the convoluted area.

I noticed it was a bit harsh after a few mins, look down and gauge is pegged at 0psi. Fawk. Pull over and yep. So we drove 80 miles on the bump stop.... Now the fun part.... My wife said she could hardly tell the difference. And I have never been very happy with the bags, didn't make much difference IMO. So maybe its hitting the bumps all the time?

So I am contemplating going back to coils.... It would take a couple hours to swap back I think.

SO thoughts on that. And thoughts on finding an off the shelf coil vs a custom one? I spoke with someone YEARS ago that used a f350 4" lift spring with 2" cut off or something. You may remember my custom rear coil debacle..... I am not sure custom is worth the $$


Obvious hole.
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Good news is I carry a spare, and had everything I needed to swap it. Took about an hour.
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Can see the frame rub spot
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Back together.
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SO I am dealing with the rear end of mine right now and adding the add-a-leaf is down right scary, having 10,000 lbs of motorhome above me makes me want to question everything.
Did you do one pack at a time, or unbolt both U bolt plates and roll the axle?
I am thinking I can pull shocks and sway bar, and one side u bolts then just see if I can jack it up high enough to get the add leafs in and new pin, then do the other side.
 
SO I am dealing with the rear end of mine right now and adding the add-a-leaf is down right scary, having 10,000 lbs of motorhome above me makes me want to question everything.
Did you do one pack at a time, or unbolt both U bolt plates and roll the axle?
I am thinking I can pull shocks and sway bar, and one side u bolts then just see if I can jack it up high enough to get the add leafs in and new pin, then do the other side.

Yeah they aren't light.... I do mine on gravel which makes jackstands that much better....

I unbolted both sides, pulled shocks and sway bar (get the big ass Hellwig if you haven't already), then used ratchet strap to pull one side of axle back (forgetting LSD makes that a BITCH). Pull pin add parts to the bottom of pack repeat on other side.
 
I tired to order another backup bag..... Apparently these are special order now....

Should I hack the brackets and try taller bags??
 
Ok went for a drive. Bags seems to top out at 80 psi, ie they don't get higher pressure, just get taller. Like odd shape on mounts etc.

Buttt they seem to ride better (was hitting speed bumps) this makes me think taller bag is the ticket. I'm just on bumpstops all the time. And rear felt like shit.

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That lsat pic, the bag shape doesn't look good.

I would think that taller bags in that position will interfere more with the frame, and probably tear faster. They'll bag out more under compression, right?
 
That lsat pic, the bag shape doesn't look good.

I would think that taller bags in that position will interfere more with the frame, and probably tear faster. They'll bag out more under compression, right?

Taller bags would have different lower mount tho. Less twist overall. But yeah that's what it takes to keep off the bumpstops it seems.

Not happy with Kelderman.... I am trying to go back thru my pirate thread.... Pretty sure I found a taller bag PN and posted it.
 
From Pirate 10 months ago.....


Thinking about bags vs coils again.... Frustrated by this stupid thing. Worried I am stressing the frame a lot rather than the suspension moving enough.

I was just looking at the bag data again, It shows 5.4" tall at bump stop contact if I am reading correct. If I am only running the bags at 8" tall that is not much movement. (and corresponds to the zip tie test IIRC).

Maybe I'm better trying to find a coil that will allow a bit more movement.... UGH. Not sure I even want to try pink tanks.

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BUUUUT looking thru the firestone catalog, top bag is the one I am using now. Bottom one is same diameter but 2" taller. No internal bumpstop though. Build a new lower mount, add bumpstop somewhere, and have more travel?

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BUUUUT looking thru the firestone catalog, top bag is the one I am using now. Bottom one is same diameter but 2" taller. No internal bumpstop though. Build a new lower mount, add bumpstop somewhere, and have more travel?

Yes.

Edit: It's still perplexing to me that they are running such a small diameter bag. I also dislike the force curve on rolling bags. I think that something like these would offer way better performance.

https://www.airbagit.com/Air-Springs-Air-Bags-p/baga-26-triplex.htm
 
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Yes.

Edit: It's still perplexing to me that they are running such a small diameter bag. I also dislike the force curve on rolling bags. I think that something like these would offer way better performance.

https://www.airbagit.com/Air-Springs-Air-Bags-p/baga-26-triplex.htm

Can't get much larger diameter. See frame run above. They are replacing a coil.

Agree the rolling isn't perfect, but they are pretty linear till you get to the upper and lower limits
 
they are pretty linear till you get to the upper and lower limits

And there is your issue.

Bags seems to top out at 80 psi, ie they don't get higher pressure, just get taller.

You are getting into the part of the stroke where the flat part of the curve is at. At 80PSI the spring rate is listed as 535#. That is a little light. To get the spring rate you need the pressure gets really close to the bag limits. A lager diameter bag would let you get the rate you need without pushing the limits of the bag. I realize you have space constraints which is why I pointed out the 7-1/4" bag and not the 8"which would be better.

Going to the taller bag will give your shock a little more time to make you for the flat spot in the curve.
 
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