Boogielander Build

[boogielander]

Unlike many on the forum, the truck has only gone through TWO iterations of build process in the past 3 years, 50k miles of ownership. That is because as a professional, I know what works and what doesn't, and I don't fall for marketing terms or so called "good deals."

The benefit of that is, there's no wasting money on things that seem "legit" but are actually not - aka, nonboogierated.
The drawback, of course, is I finish the build way too quick and get bored easily.

Here is the final version of the truck, as you will see, not much has changed from the last time I did the graphs.
Because this, quite frankly, is the ultimate truck build (aside from suspension department... I may still do that Thuren kit, if I really can't have that PW)

 

[hogger]

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

I'm jealous you beat me to camping hotpot. I've passed the turn off for Trona Rd a few times now going to the Owen's valley from SoCal. Looks like some neat stuff up there.

 

[boogielander]

I'm jealous you beat me to camping hotpot. I've passed the turn off for Trona Rd a few times now going to the Owen's valley from SoCal. Looks like some neat stuff up there.

the "main" road to Trona is kinda meh hhaha
it's the back way where you go through some OHV areas that's the fun way.

camping hotpot only happens when my Thai friends come... because they're the only ones in our group who would lug around a pot with divider LOL

 

[hogger]

the "main" road to Trona is kinda meh hhaha
it's the back way where you go through some OHV areas that's the fun way.

camping hotpot only happens when my Thai friends come... because they're the only ones in our group who would lug around a pot with divider LOL

I've seen some of the dirt roads going off in the distance. Do want to get out there, but the YL isn't as keen.

A few years ago, I picked up these small cast iron dishes. They fit perfectly on my portable propane grill, and they're great for 2 sunny side or over-medium eggs in the morning, and some evening pot stickers and regrilled left over fried rice. Also good for grilled cut onions and bell peppers to smother a grilled sausage. Campout food is great!

I'll be dedicated enough one of these days to bring the divided pot!

 

[Reverse]

I really enjoyed your Alaska ride report. Planning to go that way in 2026/7. I plan to take my Ram, but wont be able to customize it as much as yours.

Could you do a 'lessons learned' on your Alaska trip? On basic gear, places visited etc.?

 

[boogielander]

I've seen some of the dirt roads going off in the distance. Do want to get out there, but the YL isn't as keen.

A few years ago, I picked up these small cast iron dishes. They fit perfectly on my portable propane grill, and they're great for 2 sunny side or over-medium eggs in the morning, and some evening pot stickers and regrilled left over fried rice. Also good for grilled cut onions and bell peppers to smother a grilled sausage. Campout food is great!

I'll be dedicated enough one of these days to bring the divided pot!

i went from cast iron to griddle to those jetboil half gen kit, then back to cast iron on half gen stove.

cast iron & griddle for feeding camp (in case you haven't picked up, my truck is usually the kitchen when I do group trips) but i gave that combo to my friend with the 2500 so I can bring more seasoning and stuff lol I only dedicate half a Decked for kitchen stuff, with half of that (half of half, 1/4 of the decked space) for cookware & seasonings.

 

[boogielander]

I really enjoyed your Alaska ride report. Planning to go that way in 2026/7. I plan to take my Ram, but wont be able to customize it as much as yours.

Could you do a 'lessons learned' on your Alaska trip? On basic gear, places visited etc.?

sure! (i have been meaning to do a detailed post about it on my site but got distracted lol)

• depend on which time of the year you go, you can expect different things. I am assuming you're doing it in summer, so here goes:
  • Go early in summer (June/ July): expect lots of mosquitoes. As such, a Thermacell mosquito repellent device (https://a.co/d/cDrOjVH) will do wonders. I ran that in the camper and it kept all the flying insects away. Be sure to bring extra repellent cartridges.
  • Go late in summer (Late July/ August): expect rain. lots of rain. As temperature drops, flying insects and mosquitoes numbers are reduced, but still, Thermacell repellent device is highly recommended.
• Have reasonable troubleshooting/ repair skills:
  • you probably already can do basic things like changing spare, jump starting the truck, etc. if not, get familiar with it.
• Schedule 0 days.
  • 0 days are days where you have zero miles scheduled/ planned. These are the days where you stay stationary, so your body can relax. It doesn't necessary mean you have to put 0 miles on the truck though.
  • You can do 0 days in major cities (ie, Anchorage/ Fairbanks) so you can explore the city, like visiting museums, sample local foods, watch people fish (relaxing, not participating like your next meal depends on what you catch). Depending on your mileage thus far, this would be a good time to get your truck inspected or serviced (read below very carefully)
    • A simple draining oil and refill will do. I don't change oil filter right before or during long trips, because there have been instances where the vehicle left the shop with filter secured but later the truck shook the filter loose. That goes for my own truck and for customer trucks. If you are going to get your oil changed (like I did. I paid to get it drained and filled because I didn't want to get under the truck and deal with the skid plate while on vacation), be sure to tell the tech to drain and fill only and not touch the filter. The thinking is, if your filter last all these miles being secured, then it will continue to be secured. Look for local 4x4 shops or independent shops with high reviews and avoid the dealer, because dealers have to do it by the book (aka, change your filter as well)
  • Alternatively, you can also use 0 days for activities like hiking, fishing, sightseeing, or anything that you find relaxing. The idea is to take a pause to the driving schedule.
    • For me, I slept in and woke up late just so my body can recover. I already have hiking days and sightseeing days, so those are not entirely "relaxing"
• Have a healthy mindset:
  • Yes it's a once-a-lifetime experience for a lot of people, so many people tend to squeeze a lot of activities and places to visit during their trip. A packed schedule means rushing and nothing good happens when rushed.
  • Understand that you are going to see nature, and nature operates on its own time. You may expect to see certain animals, but end up not seeing them; you may also expect to see Northern Lights, but end up not seeing them due to overcast despite the Aurora Forecast put you right in the zone. Things happen, and if you don't see something you want to see, that is completely normal and don't get too bummed over it.
• Do your own research and book activities early:
  • You and I probably like different things, so the focus of research are probably different.
  • Booking activities (ie, glacier hikes, Kennecott Tour, fishing trips, etc) early guarantee you a spot and you have more flexibility on when to do these activities. Booking activities late CAN net you some savings, but you won't have as much freedom to choose because... spots are filled.
  • Summer is the tour season where 99% of the activities are available, and because of that, spots fill quick. If you're going to camp at paid sites, book them early because RVers and such will take up spaces quick.
  • ideally, you'll want to start putting all these together in the beginning of the year (assuming you're doing this in summer) and actively make reservations around February or March.

Now, here are some things to have:

• Ideally, you want a camper or GFC. A roof tent and awning will work just fine, until it rains.
  • With a pop-up camper like GFC, when it is pouring outside you can do everything inside because of the vertical space.
  • You won't need to worry about finding high ground or water intrusion to your tent, since you're high up.
  • If you only have a roof tent, plan to get an awning room as well, so you have a dry place to be.
• Obviously your cooking/ kitchen stuff, including a fridge and a way to power fridge when the truck is not running.
• Starlink is extremely helpful to have too, from daily backing up your data to contacting home to if you're stranded you can call for help. But same as the fridge, you'll need a power source.
• Bring extra oil and coolant, i brought a jug of 5 qt oil and a jug of Mopar coolant. Be sure to check your fluids daily.
• Get yourself a satellite communicator (ie, Garmin inReach mini) so your friends and family can track your movement, and you can get help when you need.
• Get yourself a secondary mapping system. Google Map works until you forget to download offline map and there's no cell service. Personally I went with Gaia GPS on an iPad mini 6, with the entire trip planned based on Gaia and downloaded to the tablet (as you see in some pictures) - even if you have Starlink running while you drive it's still good to have a secondary device. Don't rely on the onboard navi in the head unit, because map data can be old.
• Have a diesel heater - up north can get cold, especially if you go further than Fairbanks up Dalton into Arctic Circle. I mean, it was cold enough for this desert boy lol again, you'll need a power source for this.
• Bring bear sprays and leave your pewpew at home.
  • If you are not planning to go anywhere in Canada, you can legally bring your pew pew with you though models are restricted. But it is still a royal PITA to deal with.
  • Bear sprays are allowed, and the more the better. Get reputable ones (more expensive) and not the cheap ones. pepper sprays/ MACE are not bear sprays.
• Bring air compressors - airing down on rougher unpaved roads help with ride quality a lot.
• Bring camera and lenses!

Places and Activities:

• Kennecott & Root Glacier - Be sure to take the Kennecott Milling Site Tour, the guides will take you through the milling building and you learn quite a lot from the tour. You can go hike Root Glacier yourself, but signing up for a group hike tour thing will get you a ride to get closer to the glacier before you actually start the hike.
• Homer is a good place to relax. Homer Spit Campground puts you right at the beach, but it is a paid campground (aka, a giant parking lot with fire pits and hookups)
  • If budget allows, spending a night at Land's End Resort is also recommended.
  • This is also a good jump start point for chartered boat ride for fishing.
• Whittier is a nice place to visit, driving through the long tunnel shared with trains and seeing Buckner Building is really cool. Visiting the tower where the whole town lives in is also cool, though you may need permissions or something to enter the tower.
  • You can camp there in the city's campground (a giant parking lot) next to the "airport"
• Seward is a cool town to be, it is also the jumping point for a lot of bear watching tours (the type where you take a small airplane to kenai Fjords to watch bears line up at the river and catch fish)
  • I highly recommend doing the bear watching tour. I didn't and I regret not doing it. My issue was flying in small planes and leaving my truck behind (i got trust issues when im out solo)
• Kodiak Island - I didn't know you can take a ferry and get your vehicle to Kodiak Island, but if you do get your vehicle across, you can visit the Pacific Spaceport Complex and Fossil Beach nearby.
• Drive to Matanuska Glacier (there's a possibility that you can drive on it, i think)
• Visit Independence Mine (do it before Kennecott... I went after Kennecott and I was a bit disappointed)
• Drive down Hatcher Pass to get to Denali, stopping by Igloo City on the way
• Spend a few days on Denali Highway (the old route) - plenty of places to camp and enjoy your time.
• Visit North Pole
• Drive up Dalton Highway
  • You don't really have to go all the way to the end, but... I regret not doing it in full due to weather.
• Visit Chicken and drive through Top of the World Highway to get to Dawson City (if you're doing Dempster or if you don't want to backtrack)
• If you are driving the Alcan in full, stop and spend a night in these places:
  • Liard Hot Spring (be sure to go for a soak)
  • Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs north of Whitehorse (i'd spend 2 days 1 night here. camp at the campground and you have unlimited access to the hot springs. very relaxing place)
  • Obviously don't miss the Mile 0 of Alcan and Welcome to Alaska sign before border crossing into Alaska, (way past the Canadian Border Service and right before the US Border Port of Entry - it's easy to miss)
• If you're coming up from West Coast, at Prince George you have the option of heading north to start at mile 0 or swing west to go on Yellowhead Highway and then Stewart-Cassiar Highway. If you take the second option, you can go to Stewart, cross back into Hyder, USA without border crossing, and go camp at the spot where you can wake up to glacier as your backdrop. Not sure if ground tenting is allowed there though. That road is a dead end, so you must cross back into US to continue, and there's a Canadian border station there that you must go through (no idea why...)

hmm that's all i can think of right now. feel free to ask anything any time.

 

[boogielander]

There were a few camping trips here and there but I didn't really document it.
Went up to camp with friends while they went rock climbing a few times, and in August my truck got broken into while parked in front of the lobby at work.
Among the stolen items were my Canon 6Dmk2 and the Sigma 24-70 F2.8 lens that accompanied me to Alaska, as well as the newly acquired Sigma 70-200 F2.8 lens that was only about 8 months old.

But I've been thinking about switching from Canon DSLR (mirrored) to Sony A7 (mirrorless hybrid) and although I was pretty angry about it, I took it as a sign that God gave me: maybe it's time to explore Sony.

So... a week and around $8k later, along with another week of playing/ getting familiarized with the settings, I was good to go again.

First trip with the Sony A7IV happened over Memorial Day weekend: we hit up Flagstaff area.

First actual shot with the new camera (discounting the ones that I took at home while figuring out the correct internal settings). Color profile on the A7IV is completely different from Canon 6D2, so it took me a long time in post to get the result I like.

Color is skewed a bit to the "cool/ blue" ish side, but it is kind of a refreshing look.

Pictures for food look quite good though.

And low light performance was a significant improvement over the Canon due to generational difference and newer generation sensor.

 

[boogielander]

Day 2 of Sedona trip:

We started the day with exploring around Cinder Hills OHV area.
Certain areas in Cinder Hills are popular locations for folks to go full send, and the GFC equipped 2500 on the right did. Unfortunately I didn't, because I did not air down at all and I had things that were not secured properly (I thought it was just going to be a chill, sightseeing weekend so... I threw a bunch of things in the camper without actually securing them down)

Yeap, dude went full send. I was blown away by how fast the auto focus how many shots I can burst at a time with the A7, and that's not even with the more professional memory card.

And then... disaster!
Well, the bike carrier is marketed as an "offroad rated" carrier and seemed engineered to be so, so we put it to test.
See, this is why when I say certain products are good or certain products are trash: either I (or in this case my friend) put things to test, then we go back to the manufacturer and tell them what went wrong so they can improve their designs.
When Boogielander speaks, you listen.
We reported our findings to the bike rack manufacturer, along with how we "fixed" it to make it real offroad rated.
Boogie-rated is the way.


Trail repair done, we went to visit the "hill"... from afar. It was hot, and I had migraine, so there'd be absolutely no way for me to hike far.

And of course, the mandatory tourist picture.

The next stop was Wupatki National Monument, where we went to see some Native American ruins.



Well, the ruins were being restored at the time of arrival, so there was a big scaffolding in the middle of it.
But regardless, I was impressed with how people managed to build this "town" by stacking rocks.

 

[boogielander]

That night, we went back to camp in higher elevation:

And my chips... got bloated. I think that's what I'll look like if I continue to eat a bag of that every day:

and we had more steak for dinner:

But of course, we had greens too. you know, something about nutritions and dietary balance. (you can tell friend brought his wife because... when I prepare meals at camp veggies is one thing the boys don't really bring)

Perfection:


As night fell with no moon, I decided to attempt milky way shots. unfortunately, it was quite cloudy. I also looked up how to take milky way photos, particularly with the white balance settings:


Well, after an hour of messing around hoping the clouds would clear, I gave up and went to bed.

 

[boogielander]

We left camp really late on the last day, so I was able to squeeze in some photo editing in the morning:

Shortly after we left Flagstaff area, the weather turned:

Yeap, still got this "shoot while not looking" skill, but took more tries to nail it.
We drove through Sedona to feel the Vortex, but I guess we did it wrong because I didn't feel anything.

The final (and the only official stop) for the trip was Jerome, AZ. I like ghost towns, and I found out about this place watching Throttle House so I put this on the route.


no we don't!

Hey! It's a RAM!


I want to play a game

Jerome has quite an impressive collection of old school trucks, though some of them were shipped in from other places. It is still cool to see these trucks though and honestly makes me want to restore one.

As we headed for the freeway to get home, this happened. Some farmer was probably spraying his field, and created this very cool foggy effect.

This is also when my AC stopped working, and later on as we stopped for fuel I found out I had bursted my AC line due to my ARB compressor fitting rubbed on the rubber hose a year and half ago.
Ended up driving home in triple digits for 4 hours with no AC.

But I managed to fix it 2 days later.

 

[boogielander]

Every year around September, Toyo Tires would host a free camping event in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. Last year I didn't make it because I was on Alcan, so I made up for it this year.


Hi Marti!!
And of course, hot pot for dinner.

Our campsite was probably the brightest of them all, with 6 Devos light scattered around our area and numerous vehicle mounted camp lights illuminating the cooking area.

And of course, more steak:

After dinner, I pushed the boundary of A7's low light performance without using tripod:

Ngl, still impressed.

The next day, I played with the camera as my friends air up after leaving the trails (I didn't air down).

This color profile is why I wanted to switch to Sony. The picture would have a warmer tone to it with the Canon.
And yes, I am still the lowest ground clearance here, lower than that of 100 Series LC.

Look who's hiding!

 

[boogielander]

no camping trip happened during month of October. I had one "media day" scheduled but ultimately had to cancel it because I had ordered a bunch of things to change my setup for the desk, and they happen to arrive on the weekend of "media day."
The "media day" would've been a very small group outing, with all the cameras (DSLR, my DJI Pocket 3, my DJI drone, my friend's FPV drone, my DJI Action 4, etc) all focused on my truck as I go through whoops in high speed and take jumps. It'd be an unscripted shoot, and I'd put together a short clip of Boogielander doing things that other less equipped trucks couldn't do. why? because why not?


Well, this is what I cancelled the trip for:
Philip Hues scenic lights, 34" Alienware screen, BenQ screen bar, charging hub, etc.
Also added a StreamDeck for the PC, it's like a Switch-Pro for the computer and I can control a lot of things with a simple push of the button.

Yeap, I was working on 2026 Calendars in October lol and when I do creative things I like to have lights synced to my music.

I also applied some cerakote for the plastic trims on the bumper and exterior, because I was looking at some old pictures of the truck and I got tired of the dull plastic trims from the truck sitting outside for 2 years.

But the biggest change I made was swapping out the HAM radio antenna.
The Antenna that I've been using was a Tram antenna, and it worked great with great range. However, when the trail gets bumpy or when the wind picks up (ie, highway), the antenna would wiggle a lot and I feared the vibration caused by said wiggling would result in metal fatigue on my SDHQ A-pillar mount - afterall, I was at max weight rating with those mounts running BD Squadron XL sized lights.


Ended up with a Comet antenna with built in spring base, so I didn't have to mess with modifying the Tram antenna to add a spring adaptor.
The spring base absorbs all the unwanted wiggling, and eliminates any vibration that'd passed down to the A-pillar mount. Sure, it is slightly shorter, but it should work fine still.

We shall see about that in the future.

 

[boogielander]

Well, Black Friday Sales are never good ideas. For instance:

This happened. Home Depot has it for $229 plus tax, free shipping, so I grabbed myself a Starlink Mini to replace the Gen 2 I have.
The Gen 2 has been fine in terms of doing what it's supposed to do, but here are some areas that I didn't like:

1. Gen 2 Starlink runs on AC power. Well, technically it runs on 48v DC, but does not have option for DC input. To convert it to 12V DC input, cutting the disk to modify the existing hardware is required.
   1. The problem with doing AC-DC is inefficiency. When it's running using AC, it draws about 50-60W of power, just so that it could convert to 48v DC. This process is estimated to have about 30% loss.
2. I have to set it up and run the wire every time I set up camp.
   1. This means either I have to close the cab door with the wire running out, potentially damaging the wire or the weather seal on the door, or feed it through the window. Either way, it would be problematic to open and close the door, and render one of the 3 GFC panel unopenable when Starlink is running.

With the Mini, both issues would be addressed:

1. Mini can run on 12V DC power, as long as the power supply is PD-certified 100W USB-C port. Alternatively, I can also hook it to the LiFEPO4 in the bed directly using ring terminals. There is no modification to the hardware required.
   1. Efficiency will also be improved, since there's is no loss due to AC-DC conversion. In addition, the Mini runs on 20-40W, with average consumption at around 25-30w as tested.
2. I will mount this on the roof of the cab, so it will be a permanent mount with single setup only. Saves me the trouble, and I can have internet access 24/7 even when I'm driving in the middle of nowhere.

However, it's not all problem free with the Mini. There are still issues that I need to address:

1. Wireless Carplay. Since Wireless Carplay operates on wifi network and my phone can only connect to one wifi network at a time, there will be a conflict in connectivity.
   1. One possible solution is to use wired carplay, but that is one option that I am trying to avoid.
   2. The other option is to install a wireless carplay with wifi pass-through dongle in the truck, as this opens up the carplay network to receive two wifi signals at a time. I am unsure if this will work though.
2. Satellite communication. Since the Mini will be permanently flat mounted, I will not be able to move it to a ground stand or a location with clear view of sky when camping in shaded area. In addition, the Mini is not actuated, meaning it cannot tilt and turn to get the optimal connection with the satellites.

At this point, I honestly am unsure if I should continue with this project due to these potential issues, or I should just continue to use the Gen 2. I mean, the Ecoflow Delta 2 has been more than enough to provide adequate juice power the Starlink overnight with no issues.