Warthog Build and Adventure Thread

[AirspeedX]

While it was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun to make. And considering I saved $1500 to $1700 doing it myself and ended up with something
with even MORE utility than an off the shelf solution, it was SO worth it. Heck the money saved could go to buying a high quality 220V MIG welder,
cold saw and a drill press!

Miller's Build with Blue Program is quite enticing... just saying

I'm buying the Miller 211 - rebate program gives me a free aluminum spool gun and $400 in accessories. I built my own sliders and front bumper, and that savings pays for many tools!

Great job on the drawers. I also plan on tackling this project in the coming months.

Looking forward to more of your posts.

 

[AirspeedX]

For the sleeping pad, have you thought about trying out say a 6" memory foam mattress?

I may buy one and test it out (for only sleeping in the 4Runner). That, combined with a sleeping bag and maybe a comforter and it should be nice.

For my hiking tent, I use an auto inflating pad. Definitely not as comfortable as a thicker memory foam pad but the portability is there.

 

[2014 Warthog]

Miller's Build with Blue Program is quite enticing... just saying

I'm buying the Miller 211 - rebate program gives me a free aluminum spool gun and $400 in accessories. I built my own sliders and front bumper, and that savings pays for many tools!

Great job on the drawers. I also plan on tackling this project in the coming months.

Looking forward to more of your posts.

Thanks

Heh I just saw the new miller specialized Aluminium MIG TV this weekend

I've never actually welded Aluminum, sort of hesitant due to what I do know about it I guess I just need a big project to get me thinking about it

For the sleeping pad, have you thought about trying out say a 6" memory foam mattress?

I may buy one and test it out (for only sleeping in the 4Runner). That, combined with a sleeping bag and maybe a comforter and it should be nice.

For my hiking tent, I use an auto inflating pad. Definitely not as comfortable as a thicker memory foam pad but the portability is there.

I was considering a straight foam block. They are super expensive, but would be max comfort. My main concern was how small you could roll it up. If the thing ends up being like 2 feet in diameter rolled up that takes up a lot of space

 

[Rattlesnake44]

Those storage drawers are a work of art. I'm impressed, my skills definitely do not lie in that area.

 

[nismoxr34]

Love the storage drawers! I am a little too tall to sleep comfortably inside the cab, but I can make it work. Those three inches for the sleeping arrangement will make it nicer at the head, the rear seat bottoms always ended up making my neck all crooked and weird when sleeping.

 

[BrianSD_42]

That wood working looks good man.

ARB cooler, you've gone all out getting ready for your future adventures.

I totally agree with you about the draw backs of a rooftop tent, especially in California which in my opinion is not rooftop camping friendly unless you are far out in BLM land or some where like Anza-B.

 

[2014 Warthog]

That wood working looks good man.

ARB cooler, you've gone all out getting ready for your future adventures.

I totally agree with you about the draw backs of a rooftop tent, especially in California which in my opinion is not rooftop camping friendly unless you are far out in BLM land or some where like Anza-B.

Getting ready for Utah in a couple weeks.

Unfortunately I will be out there the week before Rock Therapy so we won't be able to meet for a trail run.

Staying in the Needles District right near Elephant Hill. But we can compare photos when we both get back ;D

 

[2014 Warthog]

Ok so after getting my drawers done I got my diff skid and gas tank skid installed, as well as a dash cam for hassle free (though likely dull) trail images/video.

 

[2014 Warthog]

Moaaaaab!

Ok, so me and [MENTION=116891]RogueYota[/MENTION] caravanned from San Diego to Moab for 4 days of offroading, then split up and went our separate ways home.

We mainly stayed at the Devils Kitchen campground in the Canyonlands Needle District back country. It was a bit remote, required an hour or two of offroading along the hardest part of the Elephant Hill trail to get too.

But first! After 13 hours of driving, we weren't prepared for another 2-3 hours to get to Devils Kitchen and so found a (crappy) camp spot at Sand Flats. Was pretty amazingly full, course it was the week leading up to the Memorial Day weekend. No matter, just needed a place to sleep. Poor Rogue had some noisy neighbors to contend with sleeping in a tent. But I didn't hear them much in the back of the runner.

Next morning we ran Fins and Things. Neither of us had been on it, so I was a bit nervous as usual going it alone on a new trail. In the end though, except for a couple of optional harder parts, it was a cakewalk.

Gasp! [MENTION=116891]RogueYota[/MENTION] doesn't have a 4Runner!
















To be continued...

 

[2014 Warthog]

We only did the north part of Fins and Things, it was getting onto lunch so we gassed up and ate in Moab and headed the 60+ miles south to the Needled District entrance where we checked in for the back country camping.

Then out to the Elephant Hill trail head. This one also had me nervous, it being a "Difficult" trail that neither of us had been on. It was a bit nerve wracking in places. In the end though there are not huge ledges or any other problems that required winching or stacking or anything severe. In fact parts of the trail area actually patched with cement so the rangers can drive it daily without too much trouble.

So without any further wait, here is the trail to the Devils Kitchen camp:







At this turnaround, there was a sign that said, "Pull up to sign, back down". Well that sounded kind of crazy so we turned around on the hairpin instead. Turns out that if we HAD backed down a little ways there was a place to back into and turn down the trail forward before it got hard again.








Yikes! Watch your PS roofline/Rack!


Continued...

 

[2014 Warthog]

Still more to go before camp!






Camp! Awesome views and nice hiking throughout here. The actual camping spot is in-between the boulders behind me.


Heading down SOB hill. Very tight turn there with a bot of a drop off on the left. Scraped all the way around






The top of SOB hill on the way back. This was in fact the hardest bit of trail on the entire Elephant hill area. That rock ledge on the right was just a scraper on the way down but was a bit of an obstacle coming back up.


Continued...

 

[2014 Warthog]

Hiking the Joint Trail












The weather was "iffy" the entire trip. Lots of times it was dark and overcast which was too bad since it mutes the
color of the fantastic scenery. But morning and evening got some sun and at times the clouds did make for dramatic
backgrounds for photos.


Old corral using natural rock formations and just a bit of fencing.


Continued...

 

[2014 Warthog]

Confluence Overlook. Green and Colorado rivers meet


We had reserved Devils Kitchen for three days, but after two we'd did all the offroading available and see the major sights. We decided the next morning to go out the south exit through Bobby's Hole. The route out is labeled "Frequently impassible by 4x4" on the maps. It is a steep sandy, rutty, rocky climb out of a valley. We had scouted it the day before though and it was in good shape.


We were now down in the Beef Basin area and Ruin Park where several Indian ruins can be found throughout the area.




The Beef Basin trail/Road is very long. Goes from the Ruin Park area south, then up over some mountains and down the other side and finally through this valley before hitting the Needles road. There is no real "offroading", but it's very scenic. Nice "break" day with great views and the ruins. Road does look like a 60 mile muddy nightmare if it was completely wet though.

 

[2014 Warthog]

So now after giving up out camp spot, we had nowhere to go! And this was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I wanted to be up closer to Moab to run some fun scenic trails for [MENTION=116891]RogueYota[/MENTION] and to be an hour closer to home when leaving the next day.

So we drove up to the BFE turnoff and headed West instead. We found a nice free camp spot near the sand dunes. Well neat except it is a popular place for people with quads to camp BECAUSE of the dunes Was a tad noisy but hey, we found camping!

Next morning We headed south again a bit to the Looking Glass Arch road. Took in the arch, the cave homes and Rockland Ranch (From a safe distance)

Near the end of Eight Mile Road we ran into a big heard of cattle. ON THE ROAD. Turns out they like traveling by road better than over scrub like everyone else. They were being driven towards us and we inched along, very slowly as they reluctantly got off the road and went around. Except for that occasional defiant cow that would rather stare the Warthog down... Had to just wait till they got tired and moved on. They did all have calves with them so it was cute.


Well cute until it became obvious that the herd had left 10,000 cowpies on the road behind them. There was no way to miss them all and so we both ended up looking like this. Smelled pretty bad too


Lots of rain today but we didn't really see too much of it again luckily. Mostly off in the distance except for right when we stopped at Hole In The Wall at Rogues son's insistence


Another shot of Anticline Overlook which may be the best view in all of the Moab area.


Going up Pucker Pass


Continued...

 

[2014 Warthog]

Since we already had Canyonland passes, we came down the Shafer switchbacks and took a bit of the White Rim trail to a Colorado overlook and Muscleman arch












We headed back to camp for beer and bratwurst on our final night. It rained quite a bit overnight, sadly for Rogue... I was snug in the runner Having said good-byes before bed, I got up at 4am and drove out. 12 hours to home.

Bonus pic! [MENTION=116891]RogueYota[/MENTION] took this somewhere, not sure where (Turns out it was on the Elephant Hill trail)


Elephant hill caused a LOT of minor bangs and scrapes on nearly every skid I had. Two of them punched upwards one on one side of the middle of this plate and one on the other, bending it entirely.


I took all the center skids off and repainted the scrapes. Also used the Warthog to somewhat flatten out the middle plate by driving up a 6 in ramp and then having the tire fall down onto the plate. It worked some but that plate is just permanently bent at this point :/

All in all another great Moab trip. And Thanks to [MENTION=116891]RogueYota[/MENTION] for the company and the mental safety of traveling in a pair for the week!


Addendum:
This weekend I spend two days washing the Warthog twice! I hadn't washed her for some time with so many trips back to back. The dust was really stuck on. Inside vacuum and damp towel wash. Outside power spray underside and all the dried on cow crap. OMG that was a pain to get off. Like dried oatmeal or something. Compressed air blasted most of the dirt off from inside the engine compartment. Then a complete detail hand wash one panel at a time with microfiber towels to get last layer of dirt off and out of all the nooks and crannies. Finally, a complete window polishing.

This trip left some new and spectacular pinstripes in the paint too... Maybe next weekend will be the claybar/scratch remover/wax routine.

 

[Taco04]

Great Pics as always and glad to see you had a good time!

 

[3wbdriver]

I'm truly sorry we missed each other by a month.......

 

[STX4Runner]

Elephant hill caused a LOT of minor bangs and scrapes on nearly every skid I had. Two of them punched upwards one on one side of the middle of this plate and one on the other, bending it entirely.

all the dried on cow crap. OMG that was a pain to get off. Like dried oatmeal or something.

Maybe a shop with a press would bend your plate back for you, or just leave it as is. It looks like its still functional.

As for the dried cow S*%t. I concur, that stuff is sticks like glue once dried. Ask me how I know...

 

[RogueYota]

Larry! Thanks for posting our trip report. It was great meeting you and as you said comforting to have a travel partner. Thanks for playing tour guide as well!

That pic was taken on Elephant Hill by the way.

 

[2014 Warthog]

I'm truly sorry we missed each other by a month.......

Hee