Boogielander Build

[boogielander]

So, to fix all these problems I found, I took advantage of Black Friday:

I added a dedicated 40A circuit breaker from Blue Sea Systems. Even though it draws from the power side of the grounded fuse block it's totally fine because power do not go through the fuse block. This solved the problem completely and now I have around ~375w of charging power for the Ecoflow.

To address the camper power usage, I got a 12v 100ah LiFEPO4 battery. It is advertised to have 1280wh of capacity, which should be plenty enough for my use. To charge the battery, I opted for a Renogy DC-DC charger with MPPT built in. This way, I have the option of charging it via the engine and solar, instead of just having one option or running my old DC-DC charger and then add my MPPT solar charger later (aka, 2 charger, 1 battery).
I housed the battery inside the All Top battery box. This box is great because it has built in 12v ciggy plug, voltage monitor, and TWO 50A fused Anderson connectors.
I strapped everything down using Front Runner Stratchets. Funny story: I bought 6 (3 pairs) because I needed 2 pairs and wanted to keep the one as spare, and I didn't read that they are sold as pairs. So I clicked. I was very surprised when I received 6 pairs.

I also added a Powerpole connector/ wire to run diesel heater. It is also controlled via the switches.
The white box is the control module for the LED light strip. I have one for downstairs and another one for upstairs.
To mount the Renogy, I had to extend the bracket/ mount I made with some janky weld job.

To test how everything holds, we went for a day trip in Mojave desert. Happy to say that my janky weld job held, but discovered new problems: I was touching front bump stop even when the Foxes were put in offroad setting. That should NOT happen at all.

 

[boogielander]

The touching bump stop issue was probably due to low nitrogen level in the shocks. I mean, I've put the truck through its paces in the past 17k miles. That would be addressed alter down the line.
For New Year weekend we planned a trip to Alabama Hills and Trona Pinnacles. So I loaded up the truck. I added these Pelican boxes to put camping gears in: right side is where sleeping bag and pillow go, and the left side is the portable toilet, toilet supplies, and other misc items.

I also added a fake Rotopax to hold diesel fuel for the heater. I found out that the rotopax mount works perfectly with the fake Rotopax, so there it goes! I may or may not put my 5G Rotopax back in. For me to put it back in I need to find a mounting solution for it

I also added a grab handle for the tail panel.

And a window cover for maximum privacy

Then off we went!

 

[boogielander]

Well, happy to say that my electrical setup is now complete.
The cab mounted DC-DC charger now fully charged the Ecoflow from ~20% to 100% in 3 hours, while simultaneously charging the camper battery as well. I am impressed.

Since it was new years, I figured it'd come up with the new build breakdown:
And also add the MSRP:


As I've said before, with experiences in these kind of builds and doing what I do, this is the ultimate build for 5th gen 1500 using top of the line products that are problem free, reliable, and long lasting.
I'm very proud of this build. And I call this chart "The Bible of Proper Ram 1500 DT Build for Off Pavement and Overlanding Use"

#teamnomickeymouseshit

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

Crazy awesome build man!

 

[boogielander]

Crazy awesome buld man!

thanks!!

 

[boogielander]

So in the past 2 weeks I've been busy at work.

This thing is nice for a desert play truck BUT also reason why I wouldn't buy any pre-2014 5.7 tundras. We've swapped so many engines for these that one of our guys got fed up and quit lol (just kidding, I dont know why he quitted)
But the thing is supercharged and on Kings all around with bypass shocks, and the bed's cut to mount the shocks. Comes with the bed mounted spare carrier and stuff too!
That suspension setup is everything I want for the Rebel, but honestly I don't see it happening. I much rather just do a 2500 PW and Carli Dominator kit and call it a day lol

Since I was done with the truck build, I'm finally moving on to things that I considered to be "optional". One of those is rock lights. However, I need to clean up the underside of the truck and get rid of the dirt before I go work underneath the truck. I'm not paying myself to install the lights, and certainly I'm not going to get my face blasted with dirt and sand for free.
I spent around 40-45 minutes just blasting the underside with my power washer and attachment, about 30 minutes washing the truck with 2 buckets, and another 2 hours cleaning up the floor because of how sticky the mud is.

 

[boogielander]

And the rock lights are in. The entire process took me about 5 hours to put the lights and the brackets together, and then make the harness myself. To be honest, 2 of those 5 hours were wasted because I put things together incorrectly and I only found out when I was installing them onto the truck.
I was also going to install the lights in the wheel well BUT I am terrible at counting, so when I was counting the number of in stock rock lights I counted 10 and thought that'd be enough. I forgot I need at least 4 more for the wheel wells so when I took the last 10 off the shelf I figured that was enough. If I could count to 14, I'd know that I'd need 4 more and postpone the project. Oh wells it is what it is. I was too lazy to mess with the wheel well mounting anyways. That's a problem for Future Boogielander to worry about. The Present Boogielander is content with this setup.

The Present Boogielander also realized that the aim of the rock lights need to be improved so there'd be no sharp cutoffs under the cab. Unfortunately it was getting late and Present Boogielander was hungry, so he called it a day and let Future Boogielander to fix.
Original rock lights were aimed at 45 degrees front and rear, and flat 0 degree in the middle. Present Boogielander is having Future Boogielander turn the front and rear under the cab to 30 degrees and move them down to the lower mounting points to match the cutoffs of the middle one.

 

[boogielander]

Shortly after the rock lights, the next thing that needs to be addressed is the rock chip on the windshield.
Unfortunately I didn't take picture of the chip, but it wasn't something pretty to look at.

I used my friend's professional grade windshield repair kit to fill the chip to prevent the chip from spreading and eventually costing me a new windshield.
Kit used is called Delta Kits Windshield Repair & Headlight Restoration Products - Delta Kits
We've repaired many windshields from rock chips, and honestly I think I should get one and offering it as a service at the shop.

 

[boogielander]

I've neglected my build thread for so long that I post at "what did you do to your ram" thread more...

Anyways, here are some things that I've done in the past 3 months:
2/2/2024: More Baja Designs

This time for the big boy!
The two smaller boxes are my gifts to my friend since they contain the harnesses and lenses for the Squadrons that I sold him. The black box carries some historical value I guess. Being in the industry for so long and installing BD for so long, my box from 2017/ 2018 was the only box I've seen that's not red and white.

Swapping Squadron ditch lights for XL Racers to get some more throw and distance.

Through my night time driving down trails and in complete darkness, I noticed that I don't use my ditch lights AT ALL. Primary reason is because it's practically useless on the passenger side: I can't see what's next to the passenger side fender from the driver seat, and I don't have a passenger. Secondary reason is because I want to be able to see further ahead. My LP6 on the bumper are for close to mid distance only and the amber lenses, though good for close to mid distance and cutting through dust, are not enough for long distance at all.

So, I sold my Squadron to my friend for what I paid for them back in 2017 (yeap inflation... and at wholesale cost) and got myself upgrades.

 

[boogielander]

Day after installing these bad boys, I lead a trip to Death Valley to see Manly Lake (Bad Water Basin).





Those little dots on the right by the foothill are tourists at the Bad Water Basin parking lot

Looking north into the distance, can you see Furnace Creek Visitor Center?
I couldn't, because it's too far away still.

Salty beach, like one of my coworker, i guess.

When the wind stopped blowing and the water calmed down. What a view.

Catching reflections.

Proof that earth is not flat.
Not because I can't line the camera flat.

 

[boogielander]

That night, we settled down at this abandoned RV park outside of Death Valley.
Everything resembles an RV park is all gone, but the concrete slabs remained. For the first time in a long time I didn't have to level the truck to set up campsite, and that's a very welcoming change.

We tasked my friend's kids for fire duty. They had way too much fun with it. Good thing I forgot to bring the blower or else...

Yeap, that's an oven, powered by EcoFlow.

I was quite useless that night because of my busted ankle. Yeap, I made the trip with a busted ankle because reappearance of Lake Manly was such a rare occurrence that I didn't want to miss.
Red Light District.
Red Lights are great for campsites or in tent for 2 reasons:
1. They aren't visible to flying insects so you won't have bugs trying to get into your living space
2. They preserve your night time vision, especially when transition between lit area and unlit area.

Woke up to a cold, damp, and wet morning. So we returned to the same spot for a different view. This time I didn't make it all the way down because even after a few painkillers, my ankle was still killing me.

Got stuck at a one-way traffic control zone. We missed the mark by 3 minutes. On the plus side, we got to get out and stretch, and I talked to the guy working the control zone and shared the pictures with him. Now he wants to go see it for himself.

Trip mileage.

 

[boogielander]

2/9/2024:

So, sitting at 19k miles and about year and 3 months of ownership, this is how much dust was trapped in my air filter. I'm sure I didn't get ALL of them out lol. Looking into washable ones so I can wash it after every trip.

Also found some water intrusion inside the tent. Wasn't sure if it was user error or I got water intrusion problem, but I took the chance to stress test the diesel heater and my bed battery setup to see how long the battery will last running 1 gallon of diesel heater.

The frigging thing ran for over 24 hours! I had to stop the test because I ran out of diesel lol

 

[boogielander]

2/24/2024
Went camping.
Crossed the border from PRCommiefailnia to the United States.




Lots of meat for dinner.

Did some light testing. For details, see this thread: In-depth View of Electrical System for Overlanding and Offroading

Woke up and found myself on top of water

Then the water went down

Friend's POV.

Took some shots and stitched them together.

3/2/2024

Camping Trip Mileage.

 

[boogielander]

3/2/2024

Oil change time.
3/5/2024
Received an email from the boss of RCI for my writeups on their skid plate kits. Beyond stoked that a Made in USA company that produces quality stuff is recognizing the work I put into my writeups.

Also started the rough draft for my long trip later this year.
This is some ambitious stuff.

3/8/2024


Fitcam install. Nothing to write home about as important stuff are all noted by others in the FitCam X thread.
I will say though, their customer service at China is quite useless. I needed to extend the rear cam cable and they were not helpful at all (I'm guessing they didn't understand English very well). I thought about explaining to them what I need in Chinese but decided it'd be a lot faster if I just get one from Amazon and reorder as I see fit.
It worked so much better that way.

 

[boogielander]

3/9/2024
More Camping


Took some pictures while waiting for friend to show up



Also took some more shots for RCI

And Sliders:


And almost ate sh*t when I got off the truck.

Weekend mileage:

 

[boogielander]

3/17/2024



Installed rear cam for the FitCam
Used almost 25ft of extension cable.
Had to wear eye pro because of the dirt on frame.

 

[boogielander]

4/5/2024




I got this set of S2s sitting in the garage not doing anything. Originally I was going to use them for fog lights, but ultimately decided I'll do that with S2 SAE kit instead.
From the night time drone shot, I realized I have no side lights, so I decided to use these S2s for side/ camp lights.
To avoid draining them when at camp, I wired these to the bed battery along with my rock lights. HOWEVER, I want to retain the ability to turn them on and off with the switch pro, so I ran a trigger wire and utilized a relay. This way, I can still turn them on and off from the driver seat when going down a dark trail, and be able to leave them on at camp and avoid draining the starting battery.

The only downside is I had to forego the dimming function for these lights on the switch pro. No biggie, I may wire a dimmer in after the relay sometime down the line.

4/7/2024

Finally a much delayed wash.

I did both vehicles in one afternoon.

 

[boogielander]

4/13/2024

In preparation for the big trip that I'm expecting mud, rain, dirt, and all kind of things, I want to protect the latches on my camper.
So I ordered and installed these latch covers.

Also ordered one of these for the house battery inside camper:

Since i am expecting to run my laptop off the house battery while on the trip, it's vital for me to know the percentage of my battery so I know when to save my work and stop for the night.

 

[boogielander]

4/21/2024


Installed shower tent that I got from my friend since he's not using it.
I can do without shower for a few days while on the road, but when going for 2 months with 1 night of lodging per week is not going to work.

Next, I need to figure out MOLLE Panels and mounting for various stuff to keep them organized.

 

[1BADRAMLIMITED]

Always a good read and beautiful pics when you post brother! wish i could make some trips like that some day, until then keep sharing those journeys with us !