DMC South America Expedition and ROTW write-up

[beno]

Epic as always DMC--continue to raise the bar my friend.

Happy and safe travels to you.

-o-

[ERG80]

Wow! amazing rig and pics.

[CruiserLegolas]

So, is this mainly an expedition rig as opposed to a rock crawler?

Seeing your photos and reading about your adventures makes me want to quit my job, sell the house, and go on my own adventure. Very cool.

Maybe by the time I'm ready, you can sell me your rig :-)

[Romer]

So how is the gasoline along your travels? Have to do anything special?

[dmc]

Originally Posted by CruiserLegolas

So, is this mainly an expedition rig as opposed to a rock crawler?

Seeing your photos and reading about your adventures makes me want to quit my job, sell the house, and go on my own adventure. Very cool.

Maybe by the time I'm ready, you can sell me your rig :-)

It depends on what you mean by 'rockcrawler.' In Utah rockcrawling generally means Moab, not something like the Hammers or Black Hills. without the roofrack I have done essentially every trail in Moab except Pritchett or the BFE trails. The 80 is the ideal platform for slickrock. I would have no issues tackling the rubicon either. If I can drive it in a pretty much stock xtra cab taco the 80 would be a cake walk. But you're right it was bought and built with this trip in mind. While the 80 can run the Spike or the Rim I think it is best suited for overland travel. it handles the washboard well, has the power to carry all my crap and tons of room as well. if you're bored there are some pics throughout my gallery page with all sort of rockcrawling pics....

as far as selling goes. I have not plans anytime soon. give me a few more months in the truck and my mind may change however.

dmc

[dmc]

Originally Posted by beno

Epic as always DMC--continue to raise the bar my friend.

Happy and safe travels to you.

-o-

This from the guy who is pretty much building a brand new motor with his own two hands. the happy part is easy. hard not to be in my current situation. i'm doing my best to be safe. get that truck back on the road. Winter is the best time to explore the southwest. if you're not hooked by now a few long weekends in the snow and sandstone will get you for sure. actually i'm sending you an email.
dmc

[dmc]

Originally Posted by ERG80

Wow! amazing rig and pics.

thank you sir.

[dmc]

Originally Posted by Romer

So how is the gasoline along your travels? Have to do anything special?

so far I have had no issues finding gas or the quality of it. as far as I can tell. the truck has been running great and my fuel economy (after i convert liters to gallons, the miles per gallon, then US dollars to pesos, bolivars, balboas, quetzals etc) has hovered around 12/13 miles per gallon and about $3.25 per gallon. exceeding my expectations on both fronts. here is the plan and i've only used it once so far.

I have 2 spare fuel filters with me and the long ass extentions to make the swap easier. i'm also carry coffee filters with me to preclean any iffy gas I might pick up along the way. I used the coffee filter once in a remote town in baja (even though it was still pemex) and it was totally clean after the fill up. I have been running premium/super whenever possible which as added to my costs but once I get the truck here in Colombia I think i'm going to run mid-grade in that the difference is almost a $1 between the two. last check it was 1800 pesos. Accoding to a fellow Mudder the midgrade is fine and he runs it in his Prado. So i'll give it a shot. Once I hit 20k miles i'll swap out a filter and let you know if there are any issues.
dmc

[Vitesse_6]

Great work Dave!
This is what I would expect of you when it comes to writing and pic's
Good luck on your travels

[dmc]

Mule Expedition Equipment prototype aluminum roof rack

In a word this rack is AWESOME. I know Mule is trying to get the fabrication online. I have a prototype and now have permission to take some more detailed photos of the rack. The tent had to come off to fit in the container so I'll take some pics tomorrow when I pick it up. The design is very simple and to me simple is best. it works, it is lightweight and so far has been bulletproof. His fabricator has done work on Walker Evans' race trucks and the quality of the work shines through. the deck is aluminum and the feet are steel and are designed with security in mind. the whole thing is powder coated and yet in a pinch i could put in on the truck myself if I had to. With a second person it is a piece of cake. pics tomorrow will say a lot more than my words. most importantly I have been providing feedback to Mule on way I think the rack can be 'perfected.' IE I wish we had made it about 4 inches longer. real world feedback to meet the needs of future buyers. I've had experience with ARB, Con-ferr and a JMoose rack and this exceeds all of them.

Eezi Awn 1400 Rooftop Tent

I'll be very honest. This was a challenge. I have camped hundreds of nights in my life and I never owned/used a tent until March of this year in Baja due to the hundreds of spiders on the beach. that was a borrowed backpacking tent. to go from a blue tarp and a sleeping bag to the luxury of the Eezi-Awn was quite the transition. Honestly it is one I'm still getting used to. The comfort, (i roll with sheets, 2 pillows and a down comforter) the security of not being away from the vehicle and the nice dry place to escape the element during the week long rain in Costa Rica is something I could easily grow to love. I have not camped as much as I would have liked but the deserts of Chile, Arg and Bolivia await and the tent will get far more use. one of the largest benefits has been protection from the bugs. to be frank there are some nights it's been so damn hot I've basically slept stripped to the skivvies on top of all my bedding and still managed to sweat all night long. I added a second layer of permethrin treated netting to the tent and so far the bugs have been a non-issue at night. a pic...



so rooftop tents may be a fetish for the expedition crowd but I have become a believer. I just wish I was about 4 inches taller. It would be far easier to open and close if I wasn't 5'7' with a 8'6" tall truck. But I'll blame that on my genetics not the tent.

Scepter Fuel/Water cans

Now this one may seem like an interesting choice to include in my write up however there is a reason for it. one of the needs for true overland travel is fluid storage. water and fuel. Tom Sheppard, the God of expeditions (wow I just had a very bad Pirate4x4 flash back) Okay Tom Sheppard who literally and figuratively wrote the book on expedition travel advises against and almost mocks the (mis)use of roof racks for water/fuel storage. So I debated for most of the summer about a long range aux tank and trying to build some onboard water storage. what it came down to was I have a tiny little personal bank account and Tom Sheppard has the British Royal Geographic Society funding his travels. So $1k for a tank set up or cans donated from a friend. A no-brainer. $1k is almost enough to pay for my fuel for Chile. When I get home. or if i figure out a way to keep going a long range tank may be an option but for now the two spares were more important than a tank. It also speaks to the mindset I've taken with this trip. I'm alone in the middle of a country (go ahead and pick one) that is not my own and is completely new to me. The situation alone mandates I take the more conservative approach in my choices. I will not be venturing far enough off the beaten path during the trip to necessitate more than 35gallons of fuel. when I return home and get back to 1k miles dirt treks through Utah and Nevada I'll worry about it. for now the roof rack will suffice. And the Scepter cans are well worth the money. they don't leak a drop and funnel alone is worth the investment. wow that was a long paragraph about gas cans. tomorrow I'll get my truck. take some more pics and type up the strategy behind the build.
dmc

[96Cruiser13]

amazing write ups so far

and amazing rig

and pics

[Box Rocket]

Great stuff Dave!! Miss you man. Stay safe and hop on messenger when you can.

[NorCalSam]

Very cool rig and trip

keep it coming

[Atticus]

Inspirational.

[dmc]

well I just returned from a 12 hour day at the port. but I got the truck back tonight and I can't wait to hit the road again tomorrow. here a few pics as promised. I'm headed to dinner with floridafj80 but i'll post up tonight when I get back.

the fake deck. it even confused a fellow 80 owner briefly so maybe it's better than i thought. I'll take a better pic in the sun tomorrow.



the rack...








and one before getting her back. I was so happy at 11:45. Little did I know it would be 7:30 before I would actually drive her out of the port.



more later.

[dmc]

A funny thing happened on the way to Cruise Moab this year. I took a left and ended up in Telluride, CO When I returned home via CM 4 days later I was ready to go to Ushuaia. You'll notice in the first post of my previous ROTW that I make some comment about building the truck to drive to South America. It was a true statement however it was more like a 5 year plan. After my solo jaunt to CO in May I came home, told my boss I was quitting in November then told everyone I knew I was going so there would be no way I could possibly back out. It didn't happen exactly like that but that is the succinct version.

Then an even funnier thing happened. The summer in Utah was hot as hell. I really wanted my friend who is a Technical Trainer for Toyota to supervise/help me with all of my projects on the truck. which of course took a back seat to me helping him landscape (digging trenches) his new yard. So I spent the summer working on my website, my golf swing, my writing, my attempt to get sponsors and my research with some odd projects along the way. As the Nov 5th launch date drew closer the time for completely projects shrank. One of the benefits however was I was able to find plenty of time to think about the projects I would undertake. The goals were very simple.

Spend money where I had to. Save money where I could. Make the truck as solid and usable as possible. for the most part I think I was successful. There are plenty of things I wish I would have done. long range tank, higher rated winch, tweaked the rear boxes a bit more, strengthened the rear swing out, security film/glass/expanded metal on the windows, morphed a 60 body on the the 80 chassis, drivetrain, suspension and interior, we can call dream right.

however those are all wants. I don't think there is anything, at this point, that I need to make the truck right. everything in my life and with the vehicle was about 90% of perfect to make the trip happen so I pulled the trigger and here I am.

A few more thoughts for anyone looking to do a South American Expedition. DO NOT plan to use Mobil 1 synthetic for your entire trip if you are burning at least the slightest bit of oil. I don't leak a drop but I burn about a quart every 3k miles. The price of Mobil 1 Synthetic in Colombia is $17.50 a quart. yep a quart. sooooo yeah big mistake on my part.

There are certain 'must haves' in an expedition rig and I think I did okay by them. A reliable drivetrain. Valve adjustment, tb cleaning, overall tune up, new rotors, pads, gears including rebuild kit, ujoints, drivelines and all seals in the tcase. leaks fixed and cooling system upgraded. i have with me a cap, rotor, plugs, wires, filters, waterpump, alternator, starter contacts and various other parts. I replaced the low pressure power steering return line while the engine bay was gutted so I can avoid that fiasco. Having seen it done twice on the trail I figured it was worth it. Since my first ROTW I had done the phh, and my intake tube, pcv, as well. the Scangage II allows me to monitor the truck through the various operating environments.

It's not often I allow myself to brag but having set out with a plan when I purchased the truck in the spring of 05 I can't tell you how satisfied I am to have the truck in this state less than 3 years later. the help of this board (i'm a huge lurker/searcher), my good cruiser friends, a great parts sponsor/resource in the local dealership, as well as my other sponsors, made it happen for me. right down to the hood logo and limb risers. (which in the right environment are invaluable, IE panama and costa rica) I'm going to hit the road tomorrow and head toward Medellin but I should have access tomorrow night to check on this thread.
dmc

[dmc]

Originally Posted by Vitesse_6

Great work Dave!
This is what I would expect of you when it comes to writing and pic's
Good luck on your travels

and by that you mean i use too many words right? I am trying to make up for that overly concise Baja article in Trails this month. 40 is looking good by the way.
dmc

[Vitesse_6]

Originally Posted by dmc

and by that you mean i use too many words right? I am trying to make up for that overly concise Baja article in Trails this month. 40 is looking good by the way.
dmc

Perhaps...But I wouldnt have it any other way, I envy what you have taken on

Thanks for the 40 compliment, Someday it will be finished

[Box Rocket]

So do you have to worry about safety an emissions inspections down there?





I make a joke.

[cruisermon]

So this is long overdue (sorry dmc) but I was given the honor of being Dave's official Expedition Americas sticker/support manager.

I have a limited amount of Expedition Americas Logo Stickers (around 65 at this writing). The stickers are professional quality, die cut, measuring approx. 6 inches tall x 5 inches wide. The price of the sticker is based on the production cost and includes a little extra to buy Dave some petrol, help pay for $$$hipping his truck, a taco or two, a bribe to cross a border, etc.




The stickers are $10 each, minimum. Feel free to pay more for them if you would like to support Dave beyond that. It will be greatly appreciated.

Sticker payment and support funds can be PayPal'd to dave@expeditionamericas.com. I will promptly mail the stickers out to you.

Dave also has a cafepress site with logowear.

And don't forget to sign up for Dave's Expedition Americas blog so that you can follow his journey and adventure.

(mods, I apologize in advance if this post is not appropriate in this thread. Feel free to delete or move to FS)

[LIVERUST]

thanks for reminding me Darren

money on the way. buy yourself a quart of mobile 1 Dave. nice write up by the way.

[PHAEDRUS]

Still remember The first day I moved back to SLC and saw Dave's truck in the parking lot at work. Looks even better now.
Dave


Pick up a quart for me Dave.
Just send me one sticker Darren, I will have the adress in paypal.

[Box Rocket]

The picture of Dave getting his truck back out of the container gives a good idea of the size of the sticker. Dave's got one of them on his liftgate glass.

Edit: here's the shot I was talking about. sorry...


Too bad we can't get the sweet giant hood blackout versions of the EA logo

[BLACKGOLD]

Ok...the Mule Rack is looking pretty Bad-Ass. Consider me jealous. Very nice.