Boogielander Build

[TSL]

Quite productive this weekend.
My Mountain Hatch Tailgate Insert was delivered on Tuesday and I put it on Friday. Within 30 seconds of installation my friends and I were enjoying our dinner on the newly install dinner table
View attachment 150906
Then, I measured the distance between bed support and the outer shell of the bed per SDHQ's request. We are trying to figure out if the TRX bed support brackets will work with the rebel, but it seems like it won't fit. Well, I guess the quest for bed stiffeners continue!
View attachment 150907
I then pulled front bumper to install Dark Dune's front bumper light brackets. These brackets had been sitting in the Decked since November and now that my LP6s are delivered, it's time to get them on.
I followed the first video instruction I found on how to install these, but struggled with removing the "cheeks" under the headlights. I spent probably 40 minutes on attempting to remove the driver side cheek without breaking anything, and eventually figured there must be a different way to do this.
So I searched more. This time, I found out that I don't need to remove the cheeks, but rather loosen the nuts and bolts and harness and remove the bumper carefully would do the trick. From then on, it was smooth sailing and I managed to finish the whole install and wiring in about hour and half. Then, with my OCD kicking in, I proceeded to move the accessories around to make the switches location more logical.

On Saturday, I gave the truck its first wash since November.
View attachment 150904
Nothing fancy, just a rinse and blast with foam canon. My primary goal was to prepare the underside for my rock sliders that are estimated to be ready this month.
On my previous trip to the desert, I drove over a couple mud puddles and the underside was caked in mud. I hate working on dirty customers' trucks, especially when I have to get under them and then get caked in mud. Since I'm not paying myself to install my sliders and rock lights, I am not going to get caked by my own truck. So I broke out my trusty undercarriage nozzle and blasted away.
View attachment 150905

Never knew there was such a thing as an undercarriage nozzle ! That's a useful looking attachment. Learn something new every day on here !

 

[boogielander]

Never knew there was such a thing as an undercarriage nozzle ! That's a useful looking attachment. Learn something new every day on here !

that thing is such a life saver lol it's an attachment that goes to your power washer if you have one. Got it off amazon for around $30 ish.

Super useful when you go through dirty stuff like mud or snow. I'd say buy one with bigger wheels and more nozzles. As you can see the left side nozzle is on its way out and small wheels are actually pretty difficult to maneuver

 

[boogielander]

So I had some issues with lighting at camp last time I went camping.
I've already addressed the frontal vision through putting on the pair of LP6s that I ordered back in July 2022 last week. This week it was time to address the bed area.

I'm not sure if I covered this before, but I do have 3 strips of red LEDs inside the crossbars of the bed rack. However, since they are recessed into the cross bars, the output is kind of obstructed and not 100% usable at night. It was so obstructed that I needed to use head lamp to supplement my night time vision while getting stuff in and out of the drawers. In addition, red LEDs are no good for cooking steaks since they make a fully cooked ribeye look raw still.

So I added a strip of white LEDs (that consist of about 20 individual lights). Those were leftovers from my friend's hood light project and he gave them to me. I placed these under the tent, directly above the tailgate. This white LED is strictly for cooking time only to preserve my night time vision. I will, however, try to find a piece of acrylic to diffuse the lights slightly so they're not too bright.

In addition, I added additional red light strips that follow the outline of the roof tent. Instead of wiring them to another switch, I just split the original red LED wires and call it a day.

Red light at night time is great because it offers some illumination but also prevents temporary blindness caused by bright lights. Plus. they don't attract insects and bugs.


Both lights are wired to the power distribution box on the left hand side. So far I've only taken 3 switches and I have 2 more blank switches to go!

 

[boogielander]

This weekend I put my bed lighting setup to test at Eagle Mountain Trestle.
We hit Salton Sea, Bombay Beach (2nd time), Salvation Mountain (3rd time), Slab City (first time), Eagle Mountain Trestle (2nd time), and Red Canyon Jeep Trail (2nd time).
We arrived early afternoon so sun was not my friend here. I would also like to add that I forgot to bring my DSLR and I'm not as proficient with phone camera.

Group photo at Salton Sea. For this trip we have 2 Toyotas and 3 FCA/ Stellantis Products. The third gen 2500 has the suspension setup can keep up with an empty TRX in the desert while fully kitted. Dream setup there.

I don't know who that lady is but that was great timing and great pose.

Three navigation systems I checked (built in navi, G Map, and Gaia GPS ) all show the same thing: I was in the middle of the water.
I know for sure where I parked was in the water a few years back. This just shows how fast the waterline recedes without new water added in. Gone along with the water was the fish bone beach. Imagine a beach filled with tiny fishbones instead of sand; that's exactly what it was.

We stopped at Salvation Mountain then. To be honest Salvation Mtn in 2023 was a disappointment. The first two times I went (as recent as 2018) tourists were able to climb the "mountain" itself; this time, everything was closed. Even the parking lot was fenced off and visitors had to park on the side of the road. We did not spend too much time there.
Then we stopped at Slab City, known as the Last Free Place in America. It was quite an experience. Let me explain:
Slab City, has no government, so no zoning, no police, no EMS, no utilities, nothing. It is a paradise for what I call liberals and hippies, and rightfully so: abundant "ACAB" slogans, drug use, filled with artists (nothing wrong with artists, but majority of artists are leftists), trash and junk everywhere, people just sit and chill all day, etc. It's like it's the exact thing that happened in Seattle in 2020 with "CHOP," but only in the desert.
I was locked and loaded the whole time I was there.


After Slab City, we hit the desert trail. We followed along the dirt road doing 40-50 until the road got rough. When I plotted the route, it looked like a graded dirt road capable to go over 40+ without issue so I plotted it. It turned out, only about 1/4 was smooth 40+ surface the rest was about 15mph choppy section. Normally, with correct suspension setup, the faster you go the more comfortable it is, but that was not the case this time. Even my friend with the dream suspension setup couldn't handle it.
But the desert sunset through the dust was amazing though.

After an eternity of bobbling around on the choppy surface, we finally arrived at the camp site. With my new kitchen light setup cooking became enjoyable again!

Also tested out the Devos LightRanger camp light. The price is steep but it's worth every penny I spent. Pictured above was 1 light on low setting with yellow filter, taken with iPhone's 13 promax night mode. These LightRangers are awesome because the stand extends pretty high, provide ample lighting to light up quite a large area. I had almost no need to use my headlamp this trip

The next day we returned to the Trestle. They had removed the tracks and the wooden rail ties compared to when I visited 2 years ago. Word on the street is they've done removing the entire railroad and the trestle will be gone soon. Kind of bums me out that they're removing a piece of history like that.

I drove along what the train track used to be for a little bit before I started to lose radio signals with the group. When I visited 2 years ago, where I parked was still railroad, but now it's just a dirt road.

I didn't take pictures at Red Canyon because for some reason if I turn off the truck or take my phone off the truck I'd lose Gaia GPS projection on CarPlay. So I left the truck running the whole time even when we stopped. I need to solve this problem, pronto.
My original plan was to use the ICS dash mount with RAM ball mounts and arms to hold the Samsung tablet, but it turned out if I put the tablet next to UC5 facing me, the weight of the tablet plus tablet mount would be too much to be held firmly still. And my Samsung tablet does not support Android Auto... maybe buy a new handheld device that supports carplay/ android auto?

 

[crusher]

This weekend I put my bed lighting setup to test at Eagle Mountain Trestle.
We hit Salton Sea, Bombay Beach (2nd time), Salvation Mountain (3rd time), Slab City (first time), Eagle Mountain Trestle (2nd time), and Red Canyon Jeep Trail (2nd time).
We arrived early afternoon so sun was not my friend here. I would also like to add that I forgot to bring my DSLR and I'm not as proficient with phone camera.
View attachment 152419
Group photo at Salton Sea. For this trip we have 2 Toyotas and 3 FCA/ Stellantis Products. The third gen 2500 has the suspension setup can keep up with an empty TRX in the desert while fully kitted. Dream setup there.
View attachment 152420
I don't know who that lady is but that was great timing and great pose.
View attachment 152421
Three navigation systems I checked (built in navi, G Map, and Gaia GPS ) all show the same thing: I was in the middle of the water.
I know for sure where I parked was in the water a few years back. This just shows how fast the waterline recedes without new water added in. Gone along with the water was the fish bone beach. Imagine a beach filled with tiny fishbones instead of sand; that's exactly what it was.
View attachment 152422
We stopped at Salvation Mountain then. To be honest Salvation Mtn in 2023 was a disappointment. The first two times I went (as recent as 2018) tourists were able to climb the "mountain" itself; this time, everything was closed. Even the parking lot was fenced off and visitors had to park on the side of the road. We did not spend too much time there.
Then we stopped at Slab City, known as the Last Free Place in America. It was quite an experience. Let me explain:
Slab City, has no government, so no zoning, no police, no EMS, no utilities, nothing. It is a paradise for what I call liberals and hippies, and rightfully so: abundant "ACAB" slogans, drug use, filled with artists (nothing wrong with artists, but majority of artists are leftists), trash and junk everywhere, people just sit and chill all day, etc. It's like it's the exact thing that happened in Seattle in 2020 with "CHOP," but only in the desert.
I was locked and loaded the whole time I was there.

View attachment 152423
After Slab City, we hit the desert trail. We followed along the dirt road doing 40-50 until the road got rough. When I plotted the route, it looked like a graded dirt road capable to go over 40+ without issue so I plotted it. It turned out, only about 1/4 was smooth 40+ surface the rest was about 15mph choppy section. Normally, with correct suspension setup, the faster you go the more comfortable it is, but that was not the case this time. Even my friend with the dream suspension setup couldn't handle it.
But the desert sunset through the dust was amazing though.
View attachment 152424
After an eternity of bobbling around on the choppy surface, we finally arrived at the camp site. With my new kitchen light setup cooking became enjoyable again!
View attachment 152425
Also tested out the Devos LightRanger camp light. The price is steep but it's worth every penny I spent. Pictured above was 1 light on low setting with yellow filter, taken with iPhone's 13 promax night mode. These LightRangers are awesome because the stand extends pretty high, provide ample lighting to light up quite a large area. I had almost no need to use my headlamp this trip
View attachment 152426
The next day we returned to the Trestle. They had removed the tracks and the wooden rail ties compared to when I visited 2 years ago. Word on the street is they've done removing the entire railroad and the trestle will be gone soon. Kind of bums me out that they're removing a piece of history like that.
View attachment 152427
I drove along what the train track used to be for a little bit before I started to lose radio signals with the group. When I visited 2 years ago, where I parked was still railroad, but now it's just a dirt road.

I didn't take pictures at Red Canyon because for some reason if I turn off the truck or take my phone off the truck I'd lose Gaia GPS projection on CarPlay. So I left the truck running the whole time even when we stopped. I need to solve this problem, pronto.
My original plan was to use the ICS dash mount with RAM ball mounts and arms to hold the Samsung tablet, but it turned out if I put the tablet next to UC5 facing me, the weight of the tablet plus tablet mount would be too much to be held firmly still. And my Samsung tablet does not support Android Auto... maybe buy a new handheld device that supports carplay/ android auto?

very nice pictures again

 

[boogielander]

very nice pictures again

thank you again!

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

This weekend I put my bed lighting setup to test at Eagle Mountain Trestle.
We hit Salton Sea, Bombay Beach (2nd time), Salvation Mountain (3rd time), Slab City (first time), Eagle Mountain Trestle (2nd time), and Red Canyon Jeep Trail (2nd time).
We arrived early afternoon so sun was not my friend here. I would also like to add that I forgot to bring my DSLR and I'm not as proficient with phone camera.
View attachment 152419
Group photo at Salton Sea. For this trip we have 2 Toyotas and 3 FCA/ Stellantis Products. The third gen 2500 has the suspension setup can keep up with an empty TRX in the desert while fully kitted. Dream setup there.
View attachment 152420
I don't know who that lady is but that was great timing and great pose.
View attachment 152421
Three navigation systems I checked (built in navi, G Map, and Gaia GPS ) all show the same thing: I was in the middle of the water.
I know for sure where I parked was in the water a few years back. This just shows how fast the waterline recedes without new water added in. Gone along with the water was the fish bone beach. Imagine a beach filled with tiny fishbones instead of sand; that's exactly what it was.
View attachment 152422
We stopped at Salvation Mountain then. To be honest Salvation Mtn in 2023 was a disappointment. The first two times I went (as recent as 2018) tourists were able to climb the "mountain" itself; this time, everything was closed. Even the parking lot was fenced off and visitors had to park on the side of the road. We did not spend too much time there.
Then we stopped at Slab City, known as the Last Free Place in America. It was quite an experience. Let me explain:
Slab City, has no government, so no zoning, no police, no EMS, no utilities, nothing. It is a paradise for what I call liberals and hippies, and rightfully so: abundant "ACAB" slogans, drug use, filled with artists (nothing wrong with artists, but majority of artists are leftists), trash and junk everywhere, people just sit and chill all day, etc. It's like it's the exact thing that happened in Seattle in 2020 with "CHOP," but only in the desert.
I was locked and loaded the whole time I was there.

View attachment 152423
After Slab City, we hit the desert trail. We followed along the dirt road doing 40-50 until the road got rough. When I plotted the route, it looked like a graded dirt road capable to go over 40+ without issue so I plotted it. It turned out, only about 1/4 was smooth 40+ surface the rest was about 15mph choppy section. Normally, with correct suspension setup, the faster you go the more comfortable it is, but that was not the case this time. Even my friend with the dream suspension setup couldn't handle it.
But the desert sunset through the dust was amazing though.
View attachment 152424
After an eternity of bobbling around on the choppy surface, we finally arrived at the camp site. With my new kitchen light setup cooking became enjoyable again!
View attachment 152425
Also tested out the Devos LightRanger camp light. The price is steep but it's worth every penny I spent. Pictured above was 1 light on low setting with yellow filter, taken with iPhone's 13 promax night mode. These LightRangers are awesome because the stand extends pretty high, provide ample lighting to light up quite a large area. I had almost no need to use my headlamp this trip
View attachment 152426
The next day we returned to the Trestle. They had removed the tracks and the wooden rail ties compared to when I visited 2 years ago. Word on the street is they've done removing the entire railroad and the trestle will be gone soon. Kind of bums me out that they're removing a piece of history like that.
View attachment 152427
I drove along what the train track used to be for a little bit before I started to lose radio signals with the group. When I visited 2 years ago, where I parked was still railroad, but now it's just a dirt road.

I didn't take pictures at Red Canyon because for some reason if I turn off the truck or take my phone off the truck I'd lose Gaia GPS projection on CarPlay. So I left the truck running the whole time even when we stopped. I need to solve this problem, pronto.
My original plan was to use the ICS dash mount with RAM ball mounts and arms to hold the Samsung tablet, but it turned out if I put the tablet next to UC5 facing me, the weight of the tablet plus tablet mount would be too much to be held firmly still. And my Samsung tablet does not support Android Auto... maybe buy a new handheld device that supports carplay/ android auto?

man thats awesome! thank you for sharing your trip. im curious how did u get the map on the 12" to display like that mine just shows half screen?

 

[boogielander]

man thats awesome! thank you for sharing your trip. im curious how did u get the map on the 12" to display like that mine just shows half screen?

factory navi displays like that

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

factory navi displays like that

Ahh I see I didn’t opt to pay for that just use the CarPlay google maps

 

[boogielander]

Ahh I see I didn’t opt to pay for that just use the CarPlay google maps

tbh google map is better lol
i paid for that just so in case i don't have cell signal I still have a way to get back to civilization lol

 

[boogielander]

On Friday my Amazon special 3rd brake light arrived so I installed it.
I thought about using rear facing LEDs from Baja Design, but they are too bright for on road use. I looked far and wide but no name brand offers a third brake light like this, so Amazon Chinese brand it is.
Reason for a dedicated third brake light is because my bed rack and RTT are permanently mounted, and they block my stock center brake light. I am NOT going to give any cop any reason to pull me over just because I don't have a center brake light.

Anyways, this is a kit of 2 lights and comes with all mounting hardware that I did not use. The lights have pig tails on them, one ground, one high output power and one low output power. For use other than third brake light (ie, regular brake lights with tail light function), all 3 wires must be connected. But for my use, since I only need high output for brake light, I simply tap the power and ground to the driver side taillight harness. Ground is black wire, and power is white and green wire.
For mounting, I had to drill 2 holes to my bed rack for the mounting bolts to go through. The hardware from the kit are some self-tapping screws that are not suitable for my application, so I used some long M5 nuts and bolts, as well as some nylon spacers to mount. Spacers are required to create enough space for the wires to fit from behind the light. I blue Locktited the nuts and bolts.

The next day, I went to Cougar Butte near Johnson Valley to look at some Ultra4 trails and do something I don't usually do: crawling.

This is one of the trails that Ultra4s and very seasoned and experienced Jeep drivers can play at. I see a few possible lines to take and would do it if I had a built beater Jeep or an Ultra4, but not for my Boogielander.

Also visited the painted skull rock. This was more of my thing lol basically aired down, and then went full send on the dirt trail.

We also found a decent space to camp in one of the rocky hills. It was decent when we scouted it and when we set up camp, but the wind picked up as we entered the night. Wind was blowing from one direction, but inside the tent it felt and sounded like wind was coming at me from all 360.
This is also my second time running Devos Camp Light, and I am officially hooked. The yellow lights seen here are from Devos light, not vehicle mounted lights. Two lights were more than enough to illuminate the whole camp site. Sure, they are expensive but they are worth every penny.

The next day we did some more crawling, and I suffered some damages:

All of these damages could've been avoided if I had 35s. I legit don't understand why Ram couldn't make 35s an option from factory, since Rebel is supposed to be an offroad orientated truck. 33s on a full size is a joke, and even with stock Rebel suspension it is nowhere near "enough" for offroad use. But good thing is these are all damages that can be fixed with a can of Steel It spray. Nothing major was damaged!
35s is the way to go. but I don't really want to toss these 33s with less than 5k miles on them though... if anyone would like to trade for set of TRX beadlock takeoffs with 35s on them please let me know!

The body side damage could've been prevented with a set of sliders. Unfortunately mine are not here yet. With sliders I'd have a lot more confidence going over things.

 

[boogielander]

This past weekend was our group's annual trip to the Anza area. It was mostly a chill trip for me aside from some more scraping, but more on that later.

As usual, my friends left on Friday while I had to work Friday and Saturday, so by the time I pulled into camp it was hours after dark.
No biggie, that's why I paid for the LP6. As soon as I pick up speed, going about ~40, I immediately noticed some issues with the bumper mounted light brackets: they shake!
I mean, that's probably normal and within design spec since I installed some foam tapes to help absorb movement, but it was quite an annoying sight. I'm thinking contacting BD to see if they'll sell me a pair of brackets.


Wishing I had solid axles, again.
The JL out flexed the 2500 by quite a lot, but understandable because the 2500 was built for all around wheeling with a bias toward desert terrain high speed runs while the JL was biased toward crawling. But when we were going down in the desert, 2500 dusted the JL.

So instead of doing things I'm not supposed to do, I went for a poser shot.

Then, we sprinted across the desert to the badland. I was doing about 63 and trying to get more but ran out of visibility thanks to my friend in the 2500 doing 70.

Overall, not a bad weekend. Aside from the scraping that could've been avoided if I:
-Had 35s. It is frigging amazing how 2 more inches in diameter can make such a big difference... I mean, shortness in size can be compensated by skills but it's always the bigger the better.

-Not push my luck doing the frame twister obstacle. I knew I don't have enough clearance with such a long wheel base and no slider but I figured my skill would compensate for that, but I was wrong lol the ruts were dug deeper than it looked and I cleared the course until the last rut that was way deeper. Luckily it was nothing major just a tap on the pinch weld under the cab.


I NEED 35s SOMEONE BUY MY 33s PLEASSSSSSSS

 

[boogielander]

Last week I got tired of the fishbowl I was in so I made a last minute appointment with my friend for ceramic tints.
Went with 50% rear, 20% front, and 70% windshield.

Ceramic tint is great because when the truck is exposed to the beating sun whole day, the interior was warm at most. Gone are the days that I open my doors and then get hit instantly by heatwaves, or have to put AC on full blast to cool down the cab!

Sure, the dark windows take some time to get used to, but just a day of driving around fixed that. I also feel my privacy is back with the tint too.

 

[boogielander]

On Friday, I finally had time to open my EcoFlow Delta 2
I will take more pictures and go through it when I get a chance, but here's the short version:
IT IS AWESOME!
Click here to watch I power a microwave with my Delta 2

I bought it to power my diesel heater in winter and my EcoFlow Wave AC in summer.
Diesel heater:
Warming up the glow plug takes about 150W of power. Diesel heater comes with 12V ciggy plugs. However, majority of the power stations cannot handle more than 100W on ciggy plugs (at least the ones we tested can't: Anker, Jackery, Bldr). This one can, and handled it like a champ.
With 29% power, I could run the diesel heater for more than 7 hours; that's more than enough for 1 night of sleep.

AC:
I have a EcoFlow Wave AC for summer use. I sleep better when it's cold, and summers in UT, CA, AZ, NV are brutal. I camped once in Canyonland Natl Park in Moab in September once and it was 80s at night; did not get a good night sleep. I then camped another time in Moab as I was on my way to CO in July, and that was not comfortable at all either.
For my safety and safety of others (if I can't sleep well I get cranky during the day, especially when we have to drive long distance. I either zone out or just send it whenever I encounter an obstacle, and I'm the tailgunner to keep the herd together) I need a better sleep solution.
And that solution is EcoFlow Wave. With both EcoFlow products hooked up, I can get at least 8 hours of cooled air per night.


But then just for laughs and giggles, we plugged in a microwave. And it worked fine.
We also plugged in hair dryer, and it worked just fine too. I guess I'll be charging hairdryer time for my friends' +1s in the future lol
(ie: a can of coke per hairdryer use)

 

[boogielander]

On Saturday I brought the truck in to work, as Saturdays are usually our slow days and if we need to occupy a lift that would be the day to do so. Also we only open for half a day so we would be working on our own vehicles only.
First thing I did was to check the White Knuckle Sliders that I ordered and painted with Steel-it.
I applied 2 coats, but it rained days into the curing period. I just needed to make sure there's no rust or anything. And it did not rust!


Reason why I chose Steel-it vs powdercoat is that I know I'll be scratching them anyways, and Steel-it is a lot more easier to blend and repair than trying to color match powdercoat from my previous experiences.

Then, I put the truck on the lift and changed my oil and filter. I can't believe it, but I only had the truck for about 4 months and I'm at 5k miles already!
I forgot to order the Fumoto valve, and I tried to block the sway bar from the oil mess with a piece of cardboard, but that did NOT work well and created a even bigger mess. i guess you live and you learn lol
I was able to remove the filter from the housing without making a mess with help from the same cardboard, but when I took it out it slipped and got caught right above the steering rack and made a big mess. All that careful work for nothing.
I refilled the engine with Liqui Molly 5w-40 after.

Lifted the truck again, installed the sliders. Installation was straight forward enough, only issue I encountered was finding the correct location to put in plastic spacers. But a trip to the computer and look at colored photos of install guide answered my questions. The other thing was I had to move my gas tank (required for 33g tanks) but my friend was able to get the bracket in without moving the tank! Talk about having friends!


Aside from those issues, install was easy enough. And yes, it'd be easier to do this on the ground if you're working alone because of the weight of these bad boys. They are heavy. We ended up using 3 pairs of hands to put them on the lift (now i think of it, we should've put the lift down and put them on the lift and send everything up together... but hindsight is 20/20 right)
But doing it on the lift also made it easier; we had ample amount of space under the truck to turn ratchets!


With the addition of these sliders, I felt like my truck's sitting lower than before. I know it's probably just visual and my ground clearance remain the same, but visually the truck looks lowered lol.
When I was driving home I noticed some rubbing/ knocking from under the cab, and I assume it's the passenger side first post hitting the cab. I'll need to adjust that this weekend. But for now, this will do!

 

[boogielander]

So this past weekend's trip was to Oceano Dunes SVRA and camped at Lopez Lake. Highly recommend Lopez Lake if you can get a big group (15+ vehicles) and use their group site. Secluded and you're right next to the lake.

Only gripe for the site was lack of level grounds. We reserved level grounds for our ground tent people, and with my MaxTraxx deployed my pitch was still ~5 degree off. Aside from that, the site has flush toilet and shower and 110v outlets. So didn't have to bring my portable toilet and pop up tent this time.

We ate good for both nights, and my friend gave me a cigar to enjoy while chilling by the camp fire. With the chill atmosphere and green scenery, I completely forgot I was in commiefailnia! Felt like heaven to me!

Next morning, the last member of the camp arrived with a bowl of clam chowder from Splash. I had that for breakfast and it was delicious. 100% recommend if you're ever in Pismo Beach area.

I also installed wireless charger as my "after lunch exercise." I was using media port to charge my phone but quickly found out doing that would switch my wireless carplay to wired carplay, which is not ideal. Since then, I've been using a portable power bank onboard but... that reminds me of my 1991 E30. 30 years later I should be able to charge my phone without another brick!

In the afternoon, we hit up the beach. The dunes at Oceano SVRA was closed due to unknown reasons, so we paid the $5 to drive on the beach doing 15mph. We were trying to get the sunset pictures, but it was a foggy day and rangers said if she was to wager a guess our probability to see sunset was infinitely close to 0.

16.1 MPG for the whole trip was not bad, especially when we were hauling *** quite most of the time. The weekend did not go how we planned it to be, given the dunes were closed and that took off 80% of the things that our group want to do. But for me, it was alright because it was such a chill and relaxing weekend. You know, in our group, we don't really get to just chill at developed campsite; it's usually dispersed sites and we usually have places to be during the day.


About the truck:
The whole weekend I was hearing knocking coming from under the cab whenever I go through slight bumps. White Knuckle's instruction said it may be due to slider mount hitting the cab, but when I checked after I got home that wasn't the case. I then saw some signs of contact on one of the washers, so I am guessing that could be the source of knocking. Other than that, I did not see any evidence of contact at all.
In addition, I hear a rubbing/ squishing kind of sound when I turn the wheels or when I rock the truck side to side. Nothing on the frame would contribute to that, so I am guessing it may be the upper arm bushings needing grease. I shall clean it up and take a look.

 

[boogielander]

Also installed a Victron DC-DC smart charger to charge my EcoFlow Delta 2.

What is it:
It is essentially a DC-DC smart charger used by many as a charge manager when doing dual battery setups. The primary function is to act as an isolator: connect the starter battery (charged by alternator) and the house battery when the engine is running, and disconnect when the engine is not running. Yet, in addition to that basic feature, it can also manage the voltage sent to house battery based on its chemistry.
It is an overkill for what I use it for, honestly.

Install process:
Installation process was easy for me, since I already have a fused distribution block pre-installed when the truck was only 500 miles old. I just hooked the Victron to the distribution block, secure it on the underside of my custom electrical component mount, ran a trigger wire to keyed power source, modify a EcoFlow XT60i connector from ciggy plug to ring terminal, and connect everything.
The whole thing probably took me about 5 minutes.

Purpose:
I don't have dual battery and am not really looking to do it, so my primary goal for using this charger is to charge my Delta 2.
Delta 2 is a 1000W capacity power station, so it does take a while to charge if it's fully drained. I know I will drain it at some point during my camping trips, especially in summer when I run my EcoFlow Wave AC (which is the primary reason why I bought this).
Using 12V input, the maximum charge speed was around 80W or so, and it would take more than 10 hours to completely charge it. However, with a modified XT60i that is directly hooked to battery, the constant charge speed can go up to 200W. I set mine to charge at 12.5V, which roughly translates to about 178W or so, to reduce the stress on components and heat. Now I can charge the whole thing from 0% to 100% in less than 6 hours, which is good since 6 hours falls within the amount of hours we drive daily when on trips.
Alternatively, I can ditch the XT60i and opt for an inverter. If I set my AC charging speed to 2000W/H and use an AC inverter, I'd be able to 100% it within 1 hour!

So far everything works as intended, so we shall see how long this setup will last!

 

[boogielander]

I won a raffle for $700 off any set of 4 tires about 2 weeks ago, so I guess the universe heard my whining about 33s being insufficient LOL
I decided to go back to what I had good experience with: Falken Wildpeak AT3W, but this time it's 35x12.5R18

I asked the shop that did the raffle but their price was no match to what I could get from MY shop, so I ordered the 5th one from my shop.
I also ordered a set of Method 305 NV Bronze, because I was going for the classic color combo from Subaru Impreza 22B.


I started at around 1PM on Saturday, when we close the gate to the shop.
First I dismounted the TPMS sensors from the OE wheels and set them aside. I much rather deal with swapping over sensors than buying new ones and program them to my truck lol.

Then, I put the new wheel on the machine to install TPMS sensors back before mounting the tire.
This is where I say "be very very liberal with lube application." I used a lot of WD-40 on the rim to make mounting tire and seating the bead easier.
Make sure you align the yellow dot with the valve stem as close as possible or else you will need to put a lot of wheel weight.
(I aligned one at the orange dot and ended up needing 7oz of weights. After debead and realign it with yellow I only needed 1.75oz)


Balance it. Usually I put the wheel weight toward the inner edge of the wheel, but this is no go on our truck. 18in wheels barely fit due to our big brakes, and I found out about this after I balanced all 5 and fitting them onto the truck.
I had to rebalance them all by moving the wheel weight toward the face.

Oh wells, you live and you learn.



The end result. Not going to lie I was slight disappointed when I dropped it down to the ground. I was expecting a big difference in ground clearance but honestly it wasn't much. Maybe, just MAYBE, a high clearance front bumper will give me the illusion that I have a lot of ground clearance lol


And the spare doesn't fit stock location due to bore size. That's the part I need to figure out now. For now, it will stay in the bed.



Also trimmed A LOT to achieve maximum clearance

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

I won a raffle for $700 off any set of 4 tires about 2 weeks ago, so I guess the universe heard my whining about 33s being insufficient LOL
I decided to go back to what I had good experience with: Falken Wildpeak AT3W, but this time it's 35x12.5R18
View attachment 157847
I asked the shop that did the raffle but their price was no match to what I could get from MY shop, so I ordered the 5th one from my shop.
I also ordered a set of Method 305 NV Bronze, because I was going for the classic color combo from Subaru Impreza 22B.
View attachment 157848

I started at around 1PM on Saturday, when we close the gate to the shop.
First I dismounted the TPMS sensors from the OE wheels and set them aside. I much rather deal with swapping over sensors than buying new ones and program them to my truck lol.
View attachment 157849
Then, I put the new wheel on the machine to install TPMS sensors back before mounting the tire.
This is where I say "be very very liberal with lube application." I used a lot of WD-40 on the rim to make mounting tire and seating the bead easier.
Make sure you align the yellow dot with the valve stem as close as possible or else you will need to put a lot of wheel weight.
(I aligned one at the orange dot and ended up needing 7oz of weights. After debead and realign it with yellow I only needed 1.75oz)

View attachment 157850
Balance it. Usually I put the wheel weight toward the inner edge of the wheel, but this is no go on our truck. 18in wheels barely fit due to our big brakes, and I found out about this after I balanced all 5 and fitting them onto the truck.
I had to rebalance them all by moving the wheel weight toward the face.

Oh wells, you live and you learn.

View attachment 157852
View attachment 157851
The end result. Not going to lie I was slight disappointed when I dropped it down to the ground. I was expecting a big difference in ground clearance but honestly it wasn't much. Maybe, just MAYBE, a high clearance front bumper will give me the illusion that I have a lot of ground clearance lol

View attachment 157853
And the spare doesn't fit stock location due to bore size. That's the part I need to figure out now. For now, it will stay in the bed.

View attachment 157863
View attachment 157862
Also trimmed A LOT to achieve maximum clearance

any way you can show a better picture of where u placed the weights? And what raffle is this i need to grab some spots... lol

 

[Biggiehorn]

Looks good brother! Sounds like you got a perfect excuse to get that high clearance bumper if you ask me lol.