KEWW Pro's Build Thread
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KEWW Pro
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Nope, I had this rig mentally finished months before I placed the order. Once the down payment was made I put the USPS and FedEx to work.
It is kinda funny that a brand new 42k truck "needed" so many upgrades but all told with my doing the labor and after state taxes I will still be under 50k. The hardest part is probably going to be seeing if I can recognize when it is DONE and then to see if I can just be content...
Either way, we are heading to the UP next weekend and then down to WV for Bridge Day for a week so I would rather have everything done rather than wishing it was. I can only imagine what it was like for you to do your trip, which looked awesome, knowing your new 4R was waiting patiently at home.
aelarson
New member
There are always more toys that "need" to be added :hungry:
It was very tough to go on such a cool trip and have the new truck at home! Unfortunately, I had only owned it for a week before I left and did not have the time or funds to get it setup properly!
Has the extra weight of the roof rack and your slimline bumper affected performance of your truck (sagging/loaded suspension, less MPG, etc.)?
Thank you!
KEWW Pro
Member
Given there is only 1,200 miles on it in the first ~20 days and only 200 of them were bone stock coming home on the highway, maybe 50 around the house before I got going on it all I really don't have a difference to compare it to.
I did do a 200 mile round trip with everything (lift, spacers, SSO, Rack, ladder etc.) and loaded to camp, maybe say +600 more pounds inside it (including us) and it still pulled off ~16mpg highway, I think. After the WV trip next month, ~1,500 Round Trip loaded for battle, I will have a very accurate picture of what mileage and performance is like.
I traded off mpg from the start, no surprise to me, it was expected.
concrete_boots
New member
GREAT color, nice build ! Killer truck, thanks for your service as well.
KEWW Pro
Member
Busted out the sewing machine today and cut down an "off season" half price yard awning screen net to fit the ARB 2000. Then decided to grab a bolt of fabric to create a side shield for those times it seems like the sun and the awning are simply lined up at the exact angle to accomplish exactly nothing.
I forgot by now how much the ARB screens and the side panels were but I was not paying that price so I am in for <$25 including the grommets I added to the bottom corners of each.
I forgot by now how much the ARB screens and the side panels were but I was not paying that price so I am in for <$25 including the grommets I added to the bottom corners of each.
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KEWW Pro
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963 Mile (weekend) Road Trip to Da' UP! (Part 1)
When you've got the kids for the weekend and your GF is available and it is in the mid-80's in late September for the fall colors starting to change and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is calling... you answer!!!
Kids got off the bus at 4PM on Friday and we were on the road...but lets start a few hours earlier...
Knowing I did not want 4 torpedoes in the cabin of my truck with (or without) the kids I needed to find a means of storing the hammock poles on the roof.
Wednesday evening I stopped by Lowes and picked up a 5' section of 4" I.D. tactical black schedule 40 PVC piping an end cap and a screw top end cap for the other end. Cemented the parts together and camouflaged the ends with remnant bed liner spray and used some bungee straps to secure the full tube to one side of the rack.
You'll just have to keep an eye out for in in future pictures, It's pretty low profile (because of the tactical piping! ha)
Next up was solving the ridiculous fact that there is no all time power outlet... What the ____ were they thinking???
Oh well, ~$20 in parts and another hole in the panel and now I have a dual port full time USB and retractable charge cord to keep the A Post nice and tidy.
I really tried but could not figure out how to take a picture of my phone in the mount...with my phone...so my model is a box...pun might be intended.
For those inquisitive types out there who may ask, I tapped into the all time hot that feeds my 20" front bumper light bar. I don't know why, or how to, or care to fix it, but the supplied harness that came with the light bar is a constant on deal?
Anyway, as you inquisitive types out there who will also zoom in and ask... yes, that is an extra switch placed for future use for god knows what and since it currently does nothing, hence not existing, it gets the squatch cover ;-)
I also scored a pair of Pelican 1630 cases on longish term loan that needed some TLC. Added new lip seals and cleaned them up, good to go!
Final trip prep was putting some new reflective tape on the "tailgate". I REALLY wanted to keep the pair of cases on that but it would not allow the lift gate to open, but the cooler on the end allowed perfect clearance.
So with self, three kids and another adult stocked up for nearly a month it seemed, we were off. I was wondering about the squat and by chance came upon the rarest of rare opportunities in NW Ohio... a parking space between a TRDP I never saw in town previously and a de-badged 5th gen. I slid in nice and neat like and turns out my load made my entire 2" lift just about disappear.
(I will put this out there now... at 84mph cruise control for a tank of gas on levelish ground with my rack, lights, Pelican case front and center, 5 humans we scored 12.6 MPG. That loss of MPG though was far outweighed by the quality of travel, places we went, comfort of sleeping kids, ability to do everything from a mobile platform and leave nothing behind...people, I am a happy camper!!!)
((I am going to sleep now, Part two will have to wait till I recuperate))
When you've got the kids for the weekend and your GF is available and it is in the mid-80's in late September for the fall colors starting to change and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is calling... you answer!!!
Kids got off the bus at 4PM on Friday and we were on the road...but lets start a few hours earlier...
Knowing I did not want 4 torpedoes in the cabin of my truck with (or without) the kids I needed to find a means of storing the hammock poles on the roof.
Wednesday evening I stopped by Lowes and picked up a 5' section of 4" I.D. tactical black schedule 40 PVC piping an end cap and a screw top end cap for the other end. Cemented the parts together and camouflaged the ends with remnant bed liner spray and used some bungee straps to secure the full tube to one side of the rack.
You'll just have to keep an eye out for in in future pictures, It's pretty low profile (because of the tactical piping! ha)
Next up was solving the ridiculous fact that there is no all time power outlet... What the ____ were they thinking???
Oh well, ~$20 in parts and another hole in the panel and now I have a dual port full time USB and retractable charge cord to keep the A Post nice and tidy.
I really tried but could not figure out how to take a picture of my phone in the mount...with my phone...so my model is a box...pun might be intended.
For those inquisitive types out there who may ask, I tapped into the all time hot that feeds my 20" front bumper light bar. I don't know why, or how to, or care to fix it, but the supplied harness that came with the light bar is a constant on deal?
Anyway, as you inquisitive types out there who will also zoom in and ask... yes, that is an extra switch placed for future use for god knows what and since it currently does nothing, hence not existing, it gets the squatch cover ;-)
I also scored a pair of Pelican 1630 cases on longish term loan that needed some TLC. Added new lip seals and cleaned them up, good to go!
Final trip prep was putting some new reflective tape on the "tailgate". I REALLY wanted to keep the pair of cases on that but it would not allow the lift gate to open, but the cooler on the end allowed perfect clearance.
So with self, three kids and another adult stocked up for nearly a month it seemed, we were off. I was wondering about the squat and by chance came upon the rarest of rare opportunities in NW Ohio... a parking space between a TRDP I never saw in town previously and a de-badged 5th gen. I slid in nice and neat like and turns out my load made my entire 2" lift just about disappear.
(I will put this out there now... at 84mph cruise control for a tank of gas on levelish ground with my rack, lights, Pelican case front and center, 5 humans we scored 12.6 MPG. That loss of MPG though was far outweighed by the quality of travel, places we went, comfort of sleeping kids, ability to do everything from a mobile platform and leave nothing behind...people, I am a happy camper!!!)
((I am going to sleep now, Part two will have to wait till I recuperate))
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Nice to see someone else actually doing some fab and not just buying and bolting everything on.
I feel you on the ex helping herself to your checks. Child support is complete BS when the dad wants to be equally in the kids lives and mom has a job.
Anyways looking good, keep it up.
How did you run the wires from the roof rack to the car?
I feel you on the ex helping herself to your checks. Child support is complete BS when the dad wants to be equally in the kids lives and mom has a job.
Anyways looking good, keep it up.
How did you run the wires from the roof rack to the car?
KEWW Pro
Member
963 Mile (weekend) Road Trip to Da' UP! (Part 1.5)
One more MacGyver-esq mod before we left...
Given that I received cube lights from [MENTION=110183]SouthernSS[/MENTION] as a group buy perk on the front bumper, and could not decide where to put them, I decided to put the everywhere! When I put the Code 3 Covert in I led a pair of paddle wires to the tail light access panel. These were tied into the Aux 4 button on the controller.
I stopped in to the local box store and grabbed some vice clamps and a spool of speaker wire, mounted the cubes on each and cut the wire into the leads. Now I have LED lights that can be clamped all around camp.
I will admit though, I must be running auxiliary power and the box to power these so I am using far more juice throughout the truck when all I want is this/these lights, but at least I wont forget to turn them off hehe
Final product... pretty stoked!
One more MacGyver-esq mod before we left...
Given that I received cube lights from [MENTION=110183]SouthernSS[/MENTION] as a group buy perk on the front bumper, and could not decide where to put them, I decided to put the everywhere! When I put the Code 3 Covert in I led a pair of paddle wires to the tail light access panel. These were tied into the Aux 4 button on the controller.
I stopped in to the local box store and grabbed some vice clamps and a spool of speaker wire, mounted the cubes on each and cut the wire into the leads. Now I have LED lights that can be clamped all around camp.
I will admit though, I must be running auxiliary power and the box to power these so I am using far more juice throughout the truck when all I want is this/these lights, but at least I wont forget to turn them off hehe
Final product... pretty stoked!
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KEWW Pro
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I traced them down the rain channel along the rear under the lift gate then down through the port of the tail light so everything is behind the panels.
I have to say... I may like the color of "Cement covered by Michigan Mud and Sand" a bit more than straight up Cement... so reluctant to wash it now.
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KEWW Pro
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963 Mile (weekend) Road Trip to Da' UP! (Part 2)
Now on to the tale...
We took off Friday evening and did a shakedown overnight close to home but far enough into the mitten to be committed. It was pretty much your standard road trip until we got to the Mighty Mac.
Except for trying to track down how and where to buy the out of state ORV license, turns out Meijer/Wal-Mart etc. is all we had to do... now we were legal to go play.
Interesting note... water crossings are forbidden in MI so my lack of completed diff breather was not an issue...or so I thought.
Night two was at Tahquamenon Falls River Mouth State Park. Set everything up again and enjoyed the morning. Broke down and picked some trails on our way to Whitefish Point.
Trail maps are a bit lacking... at least in the "No Trespassing", chained gates and bullet riddled "Get the F out" signs... After a few U-turns on unimproved roads finally found some free roaming ORV routes and at 1,700 miles my baby was falling in love with it's owner as much as I am with it. (Is this a sickness?)
After visiting the Shipwreck Museum and a little geocaching we crossed the peninsula via Wildcat Lane and I got my first real experience with getting stuck...like way stuck. As a matter of interest it may have been a better idea to air down, and walk it out first to see that what I thought was level turned out to be a sloping uphill assent.
I will be perfectly honest right now. I had not up to this point officially practiced engaging crawl control...or the other fancy push buttons... but after taking a calming breath, walking down my next three options and deciding on one, I engaged the Diff, A-track, and not sure what else but was able to drive it straight up the hill, around the turn, through the woods and down to the beach where if we were going to be stuck for real, it was going to be beautiful.
(this was looking back at the route traveled, imaging going left to right from the picture then down at you towards the beach behind you)
It turned out beautiful, to be sure!
We got our butts kicked by the flies so that was a short stay but we made it out and went to the lower and upper falls, took obligatory tourist photos, visited other ORV commuters in the parking lots, determined another trail route to start the trip home after finding a pizza joint in Newberry.
Stopped in the wetlands at sunset enjoying the elevated views
I mentioned the lack of diff breather right... well I did not take a picture and NOT having it in most likely saved us a night of unexperienced misery. The trail ahead at one point was flooded for some hundred yards and only a grassy two track appeared in the distance. All that and the sun setting called for a reverse trip of 1/4 mile or so but sometimes adventures not taken are adventures in themselves.
And now for the crazy part...that worked. We left Newberry, MI at 9pm for a 400+ mile return trip in time to get the kids on the bus in the morning. That said, they had enough room and comfort to get their sleep in the reclined rear seats, I had a few wake up jogging around the rest stop breaks and we were home at 0430 unpacked and kids off to school a few hours later.
There are so many ways that I love this truck, and from this trip there are so many ways that I will be making changes/improvement but what an amazing start.
(Thanks for reading if you made it this far)
Now on to the tale...
We took off Friday evening and did a shakedown overnight close to home but far enough into the mitten to be committed. It was pretty much your standard road trip until we got to the Mighty Mac.
Except for trying to track down how and where to buy the out of state ORV license, turns out Meijer/Wal-Mart etc. is all we had to do... now we were legal to go play.
Interesting note... water crossings are forbidden in MI so my lack of completed diff breather was not an issue...or so I thought.
Night two was at Tahquamenon Falls River Mouth State Park. Set everything up again and enjoyed the morning. Broke down and picked some trails on our way to Whitefish Point.
Trail maps are a bit lacking... at least in the "No Trespassing", chained gates and bullet riddled "Get the F out" signs... After a few U-turns on unimproved roads finally found some free roaming ORV routes and at 1,700 miles my baby was falling in love with it's owner as much as I am with it. (Is this a sickness?)
After visiting the Shipwreck Museum and a little geocaching we crossed the peninsula via Wildcat Lane and I got my first real experience with getting stuck...like way stuck. As a matter of interest it may have been a better idea to air down, and walk it out first to see that what I thought was level turned out to be a sloping uphill assent.
I will be perfectly honest right now. I had not up to this point officially practiced engaging crawl control...or the other fancy push buttons... but after taking a calming breath, walking down my next three options and deciding on one, I engaged the Diff, A-track, and not sure what else but was able to drive it straight up the hill, around the turn, through the woods and down to the beach where if we were going to be stuck for real, it was going to be beautiful.
(this was looking back at the route traveled, imaging going left to right from the picture then down at you towards the beach behind you)
It turned out beautiful, to be sure!
We got our butts kicked by the flies so that was a short stay but we made it out and went to the lower and upper falls, took obligatory tourist photos, visited other ORV commuters in the parking lots, determined another trail route to start the trip home after finding a pizza joint in Newberry.
Stopped in the wetlands at sunset enjoying the elevated views
I mentioned the lack of diff breather right... well I did not take a picture and NOT having it in most likely saved us a night of unexperienced misery. The trail ahead at one point was flooded for some hundred yards and only a grassy two track appeared in the distance. All that and the sun setting called for a reverse trip of 1/4 mile or so but sometimes adventures not taken are adventures in themselves.
And now for the crazy part...that worked. We left Newberry, MI at 9pm for a 400+ mile return trip in time to get the kids on the bus in the morning. That said, they had enough room and comfort to get their sleep in the reclined rear seats, I had a few wake up jogging around the rest stop breaks and we were home at 0430 unpacked and kids off to school a few hours later.
There are so many ways that I love this truck, and from this trip there are so many ways that I will be making changes/improvement but what an amazing start.
(Thanks for reading if you made it this far)
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scubajosh77
New member
Looks good SGT!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
KEWW Pro
Member
Thank you... I had to double take on the SGT thing haha...been something like 13 years for that.
Thank you... I think. I don't know what "deff subb" means but I hope it is good.
My 11yo who taught me that it is Instagram and not Instant Graham told me on this trip that telling someone else their rig is "tight" is ancient haha
Thank you. The kids have gotten used to me doing the "Stop... this would be a great picture" thing.
KEWW Pro
Member
[MENTION=120701]Cymon[/MENTION] <== Thank you for your Diff Breather thread. Used your photos and details to get the ARB wrapped up while waiting for the kids to get delivered home. No need for photos here, the undersides are all the same but I will say that after my stubborn a$$ decided to drop the spare tire the job wend super smooth. I did do the E-locker too with the same kit, only needed the $1.49 universal vacuum tube dohickey from O'Rileys...done!
Cymon
New member
KEWW Pro
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Mud!
https://youtu.be/uQFjDEZVx6A
Found a little gem of a trail near my house. I remember scoping out the headwaters of the creek years ago almost getting stuck then it clicked for me!!! That's my trail! haha I did not stop for the best pictures and the video doesn't capture all of the splashes etc. but for what it's worth that is the first time I ever recorded a trail ride... next time I will let some Pantera jam out during the ride to add an audio element.
Either way, she's painted in Black Swamp Mud and I just might leave it that way for the Bridge Day Trip coming up next week.
I did some work recently to the cubes and upgraded the interiors and puddles to LED. I may put together a post on all of that in a few days.
https://youtu.be/uQFjDEZVx6A
Found a little gem of a trail near my house. I remember scoping out the headwaters of the creek years ago almost getting stuck then it clicked for me!!! That's my trail! haha I did not stop for the best pictures and the video doesn't capture all of the splashes etc. but for what it's worth that is the first time I ever recorded a trail ride... next time I will let some Pantera jam out during the ride to add an audio element.
Either way, she's painted in Black Swamp Mud and I just might leave it that way for the Bridge Day Trip coming up next week.
I did some work recently to the cubes and upgraded the interiors and puddles to LED. I may put together a post on all of that in a few days.
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KEWW Pro
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Loved the functional idea of the Trasharoo but did not want the giant size flapping around when mounted to the ladder and I don't even have that much trash from my home in a weeks time so I picked up a $10 Czechoslovakian ruck sack from the surplus store and 550'd it to the ladder. Now I have a good place to toss diapers and other crap between fill-ups. I can (and usually do) skip the first step and still have the ladder function. This won't be a daily driver option but definitely on the road trips.
