Boogielander Build

[boogielander]

vegas/ henderson area and AZ were on my list too... plenty of freedom to do whatever, but the heat...

after 50 days up north the heat is driving me crazy LOL

 

[Ready Go]

yeah that's also what i saw when i was out there with MT.
they were not joking with all the people moving in.

TN seems like the better median for me.

The super rich are buying 1000 acre tracts of land in MT at an unreal pace!

TN seems much more realistic.

 

[MagnumPSI]

my friend with his JT joined this weekend's trip.
i think that's gonna be the better option for me out east with tighter stuff while retaining solid axle capabilities.
at least while the full sizers in our group were going slow to navigate the trail due to size, the JT was taking everything like it's a walk in the park with plenty of rooms to spare.

I see a lot of those on trails out here for sure. JTs and JLs are all over the place for good reason.

 

[boogielander]

The super rich are buying 1000 acre tracts of land in MT at an unreal pace!

TN seems much more realistic.

TN is top of the list, MT was on the list because I was there and enjoyed my time. but once that "oh god this place is beautiful" wears off and reality kicks in... I don't think I can deal with the winter LOL

 

[boogielander]

I see a lot of those on trails out here for sure. JTs and JLs are all over the place for good reason.

yeah JT is really not bad of an idea.
GFC camper with Fox 3.0 on 37s with baja designs all over and switch-pro.

i already know LOL

 

[AverageJ03]

Day 22 - Denali Highway
Day 21 was spent doing nothing in Fairbanks other than to wash the mud off my truck. I like Fairbanks more than Anchorage for some reason... probably because it's a way smaller town and the Asian foods are more authentic (and more expensive)

Anyways, we left Fairbanks behind and headed south.
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Clouds hanging really low for some reason. I noticed the clouds sit lower up north than in lower 48.
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As I continued down Parks Highway, I passed by Denali again. I tried to position the truck to be next to the sign, but couldn't do it. There's a post at exactly where the truck would be.
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Denali Highway is an unpaved highway, the OG route to get to Denali from Anchorage before Parks Highway (the current route) was constructed. I aired down at the end of pavement, but in retrospect, I don't think airing down was needed.
I looked around while airing down, and found this perfect opportunity to take the picture I've been trying to take.
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Then, off I went. Boogie all the way, only slowing down to let vehicles pass or passing vehicles.
I was stuck behind two sprinter vans until they found a good spot to let me pass. I signaled them and then gunned it. They were doing 35 when speed limit was 50.
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As I continued, I saw a rainbow to my left. I found a clearing in the trees and pulled over to capture it.
After that, I kept going, and stumbled upon 2 cyclists. I waited, until one of them signaled that I should pass them. As I passed them, I slowed down to slightly faster than their pace. when I checked my mirror to see if I cleared them, I noticed one of them was missing. Then, I found him: dude was drafting behind me. I let him do some more of that then slowly increase my speed to pull away.
I got places to be man!
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The first half of Denali Highway follows the ridge that gives a good view of Hess Mountain, and there are plenty of good sites. I found this random pullout that offers good view of the snowcapped mountain, so camera and big lens time.
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I would camped at this site, but the site that I've picked is much better and less windy.
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By 5PM, I got to the site that I chose.
I got the whole place to myself, while a couple setup on the other side of the river a bit more upstream. Their site was next to the primary spot that I wanted, and when I asked if I could setup at a site 50ft from them, the male said it's a bit too close.
Like dude, you got the entire beach to yourself, I am just off to the side and behind a bush. He even said 120 miles to choose from man and look offended. I said ok and moved on to the other side of the bridge and found this spot.

I get it, he doesn't want people to be close to him. That's fine, but no need to bring that attitude.

Starting to show your true colors right there… weren’t you just couple days ago complaining about too many ppl around you in a park, now you’re just parking within 50ft (seeing you being that frustrated, I’m sure it was def less than that!) of a camping couple and having all that space around you, I’d be 100% against it as well! Isn’t it the whole point of enjoying the nature to be “you and nature”?! That’s def creepy you ranting how it went… Such a hypocrite clown, Cali says it all

 

[boogielander]

Starting to show your true colors right there… weren’t you just couple days ago complaining about too many ppl around you in a park, now you’re just parking within 50ft (seeing you being that frustrated, I’m sure it was def less than that!) of a camping couple and having all that space around you, I’d be 100% against it as well! Isn’t it the whole point of enjoying the nature to be “you and nature”?! That’s def creepy you ranting how it went… Such a hypocrite clown, Cali says it all

that is why i asked before i anchor down because like i said, their site is NEXT to the primary spot that I wanted and not ON TOP OF the site that I wanted.
50ft is quite enough distance to set up camp through my years of camping and travelling, not sure what you're yapping about.

of all the things i've posted that's the ONE THING you chose to comment about, says quite a lot about you yourself mr. new guy.

 

[boogielander]

Coming back to update my much neglected build thread after my Alaska trip.

In September 2024 the week after I came back, we went camping to see some fall colors:



Her name is Scout!
Scout loves digging and the result is... I gotta watch where I step because Scout has caused me to fall a few times in the past haha

Then, I drooled as the PW on stock suspension casually cruised up this "obstacle" while I had to watch my tire placement and scaped my slider and tow hitch doing the same exact line.

 

[boogielander]

October 2024 gone camping in Trona Pinnacles again.

Putting my driving-while-taking-pictures skill to test on bumpy dirt road:



Played with night time photography:

We all Asians so... hotpot for dinner. Yes, the right side is the spicy side.

Of course, can't miss this while burning:

And found the cover shot for my 2026 Calendar:

 

[boogielander]

Nothing happened in November 2024, because we were prepping for the big one in December: Henderson - Laughlin high speed run with the good knowledgeable folks from Dodge Truck Extreme (DTX)

Bought a new telephoto lens in November, for this types of shots:






This is also the trip where I realized my spring rates are insufficient:

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so, I needed to figure out if I should revalve the shocks or change the spring rates to combat the additional weights that I have.
I noticed my springs were sagging while on the Alaska trip, but I didn't bother to correct it because it drove fine... until that rub/ bottoming out on the smallest jumps. That's when I knew I couldn't overlook it any further.

 

[boogielander]

Then, on New Years Eve, we hit up Mojave on the way back from Laughlin:

(The Mojave Lava Tube... when the lighting/ timing was not correct)

(After day and half of running sweeper... also you can see the slight negative camber from... dropped ride height.)

(Lunch break at the Mailbox... lighting was not ideal at this time but man... that big lens sure made up for it)

The Mailbox

(another boogie shot)

This is by far one of my favorite shots in my ~10 years of messing with cameras. Just perfect lighting, perfect angle, my friends in the shot made it more lively.

The red PW had a go too!

We approached the Travelers' Monument as the sun was setting. This was taken while we were still moving and I didn't really have time to line up for the perfect shot.
A lot of the shots of the road/ driver's view/ etc you get the idea are all from when I was driving. I roughly have an idea of what the lens is seeing, so I didn't have to look at the viewfinder to get the shot. Just simple point, auto focus, and shoot while both of my eyes are focused on the road/ trail.

Arrived at the Monument as sun sets.

What a way to end the year!

 

[boogielander]

Went to Anza in Feb 2025 for our annual Anza trip:

After a peaceful night at camp, my friend decided he couldn't leave without some drama, so he took the hard way out:




Then the other friend decided to do the same:

Then we hit up one of the slot canyons, where it was the perfect time to get my big lens out again:




I thought the weekend was not dramatic enough, so I attempted the harder line.
Turned out the "harder" line was actually easier:

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[boogielander]

March 2025:
March was an important month in the Boogielander Build because this is when I finally decided to do something about my suspension to make it even more boogie-rated.
First, I took measurement of fender to ground and compared to before.

With 35s and 2" lift, the ideal fender to ground distance should be 40" and not 38". This confirms that I was sitting lower than I should, and given that I bottomed out/ rubbed when landing on that desert run, I concluded that I was too heavy for the spring rates that I had at the time.
I then put the truck on the lift, and I was getting about 10" of down travel. That is actually good, but my problem was uptravel. All that down travel doesn't mean anything when my uptravel was limited to ~2". I could go with a smaller tire, and that could give me another inch, but that is not really the ideal solution.
I decided to sacrifice some down travel for more breathing room on top, since I wasn't using all the down travel any ways.


After consulting with some friends (Corey @SKT Customs a huge thank you for doing the asking for me and explaining to me) I decided on the 600lb springs for the front. A huge jump from the stock Fox 450lb springs and definitely a bit overkill, but I was fine with firmer ride on the road anyways.

The first time I tried to put these on, I realized the Fox design on our application was completely different than the other platforms that I am used to. It is a lot more involving process and took a lot longer, so it took me 2 weeks to get the front in. I left it at the stock Fox preload, and this is the result:

The front sit a lot higher, and I now have a squatting truck. Unacceptable.
I left it like that for a week, hoping the springs would settle and the ride height would go back.
That did not happen. So... round 2:

This is when I got annoyed by it. I tried to cheat and adjust the preload without removing the coilover, but I almost dethread the collar. A major F up on my part, so back on the lift it goes. Luckily I was able to resolve this issue with the spring compressor.

New preload setting. No, the hose is not leaking, that's WD-40 that I sprayed to help with turning the collar.
I actually did this twice on the same day. First time I followed Fox's instruction and gave it a couple spins, and that turned out to be not enough. I then did it based on my own formula, and it was perfect!

Front end completed.
Now, the rear has been fine with the Carli Rebel HD springs, never bottomed out and never rubbed. BUT it does look a bit lower in the rear, and measurement confirmed it by ~0.5".
So, the hunt for new rear springs began and I ended up going with Clayton Offroad Jeep JT 2.5" Triple Rate HD springs.

By this time, it was April already.

Out with the old

In with the new.

It was a royal pain in the rear to put in, but with help from my coworker we got it in nontheless.

 

[boogielander]

This is how it sat after:


I am back at 40" all around. But did the performance improve?

To test this, we went to Death Valley.
In the south of Death Valley, there is an abandoned radio tower that I always wanted to visit.

We sent a scout up, and he reported that the road condition was not ideal to drive through. When the most experienced crawler on the trip says "not a good idea," I listen.
Maybe I'll return to do it again when I build my crawler in the future.

As we made the u-turn to leave the tower and find camp, disaster happened. Another friend was supposed to spot me but he got distracted, and I didn't know there's a hidden sign post in the bush. So... body damage. Good thing I got real rock sliders that pushed the sign away enough that it didn't really damage the door.

The big lens doing its magic, again.


And we found camp!


The Tundra kissed its skid plate while trying to keep up with us on the trail, but he said it's fine.

Yeap we Asians for sure... cooking steak with chopsticks

 

[boogielander]

The next day, we saw what "nature" is about:

Coyote ate a mule a long time ago, and that's what's left.

This is one of the "springs" in Death Valley, and attracted a lot of animals.

So it makes sense that we saw more dead mules.

The painted desert. This part of Death Valley is only accessible via off pavement driving and hiking, so this is not frequent by tourists. I think this is much better than Artist Palette that is filled with tourists.

Somewhere behind this hill there are some dunes that not many people know about. And as such, it has remained undisturbed. To access it, it requires 2+ hours of hiking in the wilderness with no marked trail, and is something that I was not ready to do.
From here, we headed north to get to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America. In between, there was a section of the trail that was getting eroded by extremely soft sand from the nearby dunes. Even with polarized sunglasses on, it was very difficult to spot these hidden obstacles, so we kept the speed low. We were going so slow that I almost got stuck a few times, but luckily 4H was all I needed to get through.

I was there the year prior when Death Valley flooded, and now it's a salt flat again.
From there, we headed north again to go to Ubehebe Crater:

Which served as a pitstop for us before we boogie to Racetrack Playa. Google Maps indicated it took about 80 minutes for 20 miles of trail, we did it in around 30 minutes including stopping for oncoming traffic.

When you see Teakettle Junction, you are close to the destination.

 

[boogielander]

We explored around Racetrack Playa, and left the playa of moving rocks for next day.


We found this abandoned mine, but it seems like it is still technically owned by a private party (we saw some documents of mining claim in one of the buildings, not sure if it was expired or not)
The mineshafts, like other mineshafts in the park boundary, are sealed.

driveshaft, anyone?



We found camp, and made dinner:

The Tundra left bright and early the next day, skipping the Playa:


This is my 3rd time here, so I wasn't as keen on finding tracks of moving rocks.
Instead, I went to photograph birds:

 

[boogielander]

Death Valley, despite most of our route were on dirt, did not really offer the chance to really stretch the truck's legs to test the suspensions. So another testrun was planned.
This time, we took it to Johnson Valley, home of King of Hammers and many other trophy truck pre-race shakedown runs, to test my theory.

We visited The Backdoor, and it was so windy that I could barely stand.

The desert may seem flat, but it is nothing close.


Well, how did the truck perform?

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One word: perfect.
4 weeks of headache and ~$700 well spent.

 

[boogielander]

In June, since I was bored again, I joined my friend and his bouldering club for a weekend of rock climbing up in the mountains.
Of course, I only went to escape the heat.



And be the kitchen for the night:


And the next day, we visited some "attraction" from the past:

And found this interesting looking tree:

 

[CZmenghe_Official]

October 2024 gone camping in Trona Pinnacles again.
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Putting my driving-while-taking-pictures skill to test on bumpy dirt road:
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Played with night time photography:
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We all Asians so... hotpot for dinner. Yes, the right side is the spicy side.
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Of course, can't miss this while burning:
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And found the cover shot for my 2026 Calendar:
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At first glance, I thought camping was going to be the main challenge of this adventure... until I spotted that chili oil in the hot pot!

 

[boogielander]

For July 4th Weekend, we decided to go somewhere a bit further to look for alpine lake and hot springs.



This time, we brought the grill:

And the bicycles

Of course, fire pit is mandatory: