Builds A Teenagers Attempt of a Build Thread (1 Viewer)

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Soooo if you got 5 minutes I got a story!

So I had a bit of an unexpected adventure. I got up yesterday and had the urge to go camping for a night and go for a bike ride and just enjoy being outside and not having any distractions. So 30 minutes later I was on the road I just threw my bike on the back and grabbed my camping bin and hit the road. I decided to camp up on Pearl Pass just outside of Crested Butte. I set up camp pretty close to the bottom of the trail then road my bike to the summit. Really good workout and was honestly more pushing then riding towards the top Peal Pass starts pretty easy but gets pretty gnarly towards the top.

Anyways so I get to the top and I head back on down and I find this camp spot probably a mile from the summit that is just awesome. Just around tree line so you can see all the surrounding peaks but it was still protected from the wind and I really decided this was the camping spot I had to be at tonight. So I road on down and hoped in the cruiser and started the treck on up. Like I said the first 3ish miles are really pretty easy but then it starts climbing and its pretty loose in some spots. But no biggie the cruiser does it with ease. So i get up to this camp spot and set up the tent and grill myself a burger and reading a book and life is good. But then I decide around sunset I want to drive as far as I can up to the “top” (still a little snowed it) and get a poser shot and just enjoy the sunset as high up as I can.


So I close up the tent and put all of my crap away and start heading up the hill. I no less then get around two corners from where I was camping and all of sudden I hear the pshhhh boom. Sidewall on the driver rear tire blows out. All the air is out of it within probably a minute it was a pretty big gash.

At this point I’m sorta freaking out I don’t run with a spare, nobody really knows where I am because I don’t really know where I was going to end up and here I am around sunset at just under 13,000 feet. Great.

I am so so lucky that a few days ago I had a impulsive day on amazon and ordered some stuff that just seemed liked it would be fun to get. So I ordered a new cook set, silverware set, sleeping bag, AND the ARB tire repair kit. I no joke got this kit two days ago and threw it in the truck still in the unopened box I really did not think today was the day I was going to be getting myself into a hairy situation. But I guess you always need stuff when you don’t expect it. So I unbox this thing for the very first time and follow the simple ARB 6 step instructions and put 8 plugs into the sidewall of this tire and I was shocked this tire aired up with no leaks and made it all the way back down the pass and the 30 minutes on the highway back to my house.

I don’t want to dis on the tires too much they are Cooper AT3 XLT and I have about 50,000 miles on them. I have honestly loved them they have been awesome on the trail and in the snow and really awesome on the road. So I don‘t want to complain about them to much. But also, this should not have happened in this spot in my opinion I think the rear tire just slipped off a rock and got stabbed I have really pushed these tires before and this was not one of those situations where I think there was extreme stress on it I couldn’t really even pin point what rock gashed it.

I have never run a spare because I like my rear bumper and when I am actually going out on a wheeling day I am always with someone who runs a spare. Welp I guess that makes sense in theory but not in practice.

Soooo I am in the market for some new tires I think I am going to make a jump to a mud terrain as I am planning on going to Alaska next year and I am sure I will run into some mud but if that wasn’t on the radar I would 100% run these tires again. Any recommendations? Currently between the Yokohama Geo and Cooper STT Pro I think. But let me know what y’all think.

Any if anyone is wondering if the ARB tire plug kit works, it works and it works well! Totally recommend I will never leave home without it from here on out.




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Thank goodness you have a compressor as well!

That's an impressive hole to fill. Please post a pic of the ARB box of tire repair for others.
 
Nice job, that's a hell of a patch. I know exactly the camp spot your talking about. I know the rock field that got you too, got hit in a blizzard in August up there once and had to ride up it on the YZ, nothing nasty but a long section of sharp small boulders that seem to go on forever. I hear nothing but good things on the Geo's. Cant speak from experience but were a close second for me.

Thanks! I can’t imagine getting caught up there in a blizzard it’s pretty narrow in spots not a lot of room for error in there. Appreciate the feedback on the Geos thanks!
 
And I assume that after patching that tire you got on the highway and did not drive at a slow speed, right?

I hung around 40-50 I have a tire pressure monitoring thing on the tires that I kept a eye on. But luckily smooth sailing even checking it out in the driveway 14 hours after the intial patch it hasn’t lost any air.
 
I’m sure you plan to traverse the Dalton Highway. It’s highly recommended to run 2 spares. Considering the size, weight , and cost of a quality mud terrain tire and give the fact that a quality mud tire that’s early in its life can be tougher than a passenger car tire, a second spare probably isn’t necessary or feasible.

Buy 5 tires this time if you plan to be more than a couple miles from Anchorage. The Dalton highway is on my bucket list.
 
How are you liking the flex and handling with the new coils? Was thinking of going that route with mine, I run the 4" flexi coils with spacers too, but with 4-6" travel Icon shocks. Sitting at around 5" lift unloaded.
 
Great read Andrew. A teenager who can afford all this AND going to school? Dang, times are different :) . I was surviving on 39c ents Taco Bell tacos and packages of noodles back in college!

So, you have a 4" lift, from what it sounds like. Please post up the height from the hub center to fender edge, if you would. Thanks and carry on!
 
Long over due update. The cruiser hasn’t gotten much love lately with gas prices and having to buy new tires before I orginally anticipated, I didn’t have a lot of gas money to take the cruiser on trips. I did however end up selling the Miata and getting a Prius which I will stand by as being the best car for having next to the cruiser.

Little off topic but here me out haha. The Prius is such an appliance it is awesome. You push a button and the thing silently comes to life and on the worst, most brutal day, it will get 40mpg, and when your really taken care of her she will get 50. Everybody gives you ZERO respect on the roadway, you feel so small, but also it just works, and it saves SO much money. I bought it for $3200 with 124,000 miles on it and it rocks. Just got back with a 2,500 mile trip with my buddy and we went from Colorado Springs to Flagstaff, Sedona, Vegas, Salt Lake, and back all on under $200 of gas. AND we had two bikes, a tent, fridge, and all of our other crap in there and it was comfy and awesome. I am really excited for it because even already there is a noticeable chunk of change in my bank account just from driving the Prius everywhere and not the cruiser. Which will ultimately translate into more money that can be spent on the cruiser. It’s also cool coming back and getting out of the Prius and when you get back in the Cruiser I feel like a king and going from 0% road respect to 100% is pretty fun. ANYWAYS back to the Cruiser stuff.

So catching up this thread from where I left off, the cruiser was sitting on jackstands patiently waiting for its new tires to come in. It was quite the process getting the old tires pulled and back down to discount tire so I could get the tire cert credit, and getting the new Yokohamas mounted and back up to the truck. Ultimately the truck sat for over a month through this process. But finally the truck had some new shoes. I ended up getting the Yokohama Geolandar in a 37/12.5/17. And man what a difference. I was always the guy to defend all terrains and I still do stand by that. If Alaska wasn’t on the bucket list for next year I probably would have ended up getting another set of all terrains as 95% of the time the truck lives on the road. But these things are pretty sweet. The two things I was worried about getting a set of Mud Terrains was noise, and driving mannars like everybody else.

From my limited experience so far I have been put at ease with my concerns. I have about 1,000 miles on them so far so I cant speak for wear but currently the noise is minimal at best. With the windows down and radio off you can hear a quite hum but it doesn’t sound nearly as loud as I thought. With the windows up I have enough wind noise that thats all I hear and the tires are really hard to notice. With the supercharger the truck still gets them rolling easy and stopping feels decent still. It doesn’t corner on rails quite as much as it use to that probably where I notice it the most its not a suspension issue but I can feel when really cranking it around corners that it is transferring onto a different set of lugs or doing something that makes it feel a little weird until it is fully loaded up. Ultimately I probably corner to fast anyways and don’t really blame the tires its more just of me having a lead foot. Overall my gas mileage hasn’t changed too much I get 12.5-13 mpg pretty consistently which I will take between the mud terrains, the tent, and all the other stuff that makes it a fat pig.

A few weeks back I headed to the San Juan’s to meet up with @ExpoMax after not really seeing him much this summer. We camped for 4 nights which was super fun. I got to use my “new” roof top tent which is a 49inch Free Spirit Oddessy mounted to the gutter rails. Overall I really like the tent the fit and finish is really nice and its light enough I really don’t feel it on the truck. I have noticed in big head winds it is acting like a sail sorta a lot of wind gets caught under it and I can tell. I was thinking of fabbing up a wind deflector but ultimately I think I am going to sell it.

With the goal being departing for Alaska this time next year, I think I have decided I want to make the inside of the truck livable. My thinking being selling the roof top tent will allow me to add some money to the travel fund and sleeping inside the truck will be dry and insulated which I think is important considering how wet Alaska is. Just doing the constant temperature swings that come with a roof top tent would get old after a couple of months.

So currently in the next year the following needs to be done on the truck

-Interior build out
-Front and rear axel rebuild: The front ARB locker works but the compressor has to constantly run and the rear I have never really gone through and want to replace everything
-Swingout: Plan is to modify the existing bumper
-Add a additonal fuel tank?: I really want to do this but is pretty spendy I am not sure if I am going to do this or bring jerry cans
-New seats: Looking at Procar elites or Corbeau trailcat. Anyone have any experience with either?
-New winch: The smittybuilt has served its purpose but its time for a quality dependable winch
- Pull headliner and replace my broken and rattley sunroof

I think thats all I can think of right now. Just tonight I just rolled 280,000 miles on it. Honestly it is running better then it ever has it Idles better then it ever has, has power, shifts good, doesn’t burn much oil, interior looks better then it ever has, and the suspension is finally dialed.


@alia176 and @GW Nugget I am sincerely very sorry for not getting lift height specs posted sooner. After I blew the tire and got it up on jackstands it totally slipped my mind. I pulled my 30mm spacers out of the front yesterday trying to gain back some castor and get it dead level I did have a little bit of extra lift in the front with the 30mm spacers. I can post up pictures if you would like but right now it is sitting dead at 25 inches on all 4 corners from center of the hub to the base of the fender flare. I am pretty impressed It doesn’t have extra lift in the back as I have a bumper and winch on the front and just a light bumper and sleeping platform in the rear. I need to find a scale one of these days and see the weight from the front to the back.

If anyone made it this far thanks for reading and here is a photo dump from the last few months


New shoes
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Welp. It’s about time to update this thread.

I graduated college! So glad to finally be done with school. From the time I went to college, all I could think about was how I could get done as soon as possible and start living in the real world. My thought was when COVID originally hit, if I could graduate in 3 years instead of 4, I should be able to give myself a year to travel and enjoy life before settling in and committing to a career. And that‘s exactly what I plan on doing. I worked all throughout college slinging pizzas in the evenings so I could have a bank account that could stomach a little bit of travel without having a job. The plan has been for years to head up to Alaska in the Cruiser, and although the plan is still to point and head up that direction, with the crazy gas prices right now I am not sure if I will make it all the way up that way. The new plan to account for these crazy prices is to at least make it up to BC and see all the sights along the way with @ExpoMax . It will be a shorter trip, but none the less, should be an unforgetable trip.

Max has been killing it helping me deck out the cruiser getting it ready for more overlandy activities. Since I last updated this thread the cruiser has received a lot of love. It has gotten dual batteries, a roof rack, and, the two most notable things, a one of a kind HuddExpo Swingout rear bumper, and an interior build out.

Starting with the HuddExpo rear swingout. This is the coolest thing ever that has happened to my cruiser. This bumper is beefy as hell. Max was able to get the location of the tire high up on the bumper, while still retaining maximum rigidty. Mounting a 37 geolandar on it and the tire does not move AT all. On the other side of the bumper we have a 3 Jerry Can holder, and we added an additonal hitch that is going allow us to mount the bike rack on that swingout portion. Also rather cool, with all the stuff going on with this rear bumper, the license plate is still visible in the factory location which is quite neat.

Next up is the interior build. The interior build was dreamed up after using a roof top tent last summer and establishing that it wasn’t my cup of tee. There are a few elements of a roof top tent that were not working for me, and with the idea of heading north, being able to sleep in the warm and secure cruiser seemed to make more sense. Going into it there were a few fundamental things I wanted out of an interior build. I first of all wanted to be able to sit up in the back with relative comfort. I wanted it to be a totally comfy place to be for extended periods of time if every stuck in a nasty storm. Also, I wanted a bed that could become roomy enough for two people. I also wanted to have running water, a place to be able to cook, and a fridge that was easy to access. We have been able to achieve all of these things so far with the build. Attached bellow are some pics. Perhaps the most baller part of it was using a mini fridge instead of buying a $700 Dometic. Not only did the fridge fit perfectly in the frame we built, but with the $100 vs the $700 domestic, it basically paid for the rest of the interior build out. We believe it will be able to run a day or maybe two between the dual batteries without the truck starting, and has been tested and proved by sitting in the driveway these last few days running. However, we are going to add a flexbile solar panel to the roof to hopefully allow us to let the truck sit for even longer periods of time. I will post more details on the interior build as we finish it up.

Overall super excited for the next few months and will defiantly be updating this thread better since I am not drowning in school anymore.

Cheers!


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Slick Nickle.
Nice bumper.
VERY NICE little stove top.
Is that frig AC or DC?
 
Last edited:
Slick Nickle.
Nice bumper.
Is that frig AC or DC?
AC fridge. He has a 1500w inverter in the quarter panel. Then we are gonna put a 150w flexible solar panel on the roof box. From my calculations should be good to run the fridge. We will see
 
Welp. It’s about time to update this thread.

I graduated college! So glad to finally be done with school. From the time I went to college, all I could think about was how I could get done as soon as possible and start living in the real world. My thought was when COVID originally hit, if I could graduate in 3 years instead of 4, I should be able to give myself a year to travel and enjoy life before settling in and committing to a career. And that‘s exactly what I plan on doing. I worked all throughout college slinging pizzas in the evenings so I could have a bank account that could stomach a little bit of travel without having a job. The plan has been for years to head up to Alaska in the Cruiser, and although the plan is still to point and head up that direction, with the crazy gas prices right now I am not sure if I will make it all the way up that way. The new plan to account for these crazy prices is to at least make it up to BC and see all the sights along the way with @ExpoMax . It will be a shorter trip, but none the less, should be an unforgetable trip.

Max has been killing it helping me deck out the cruiser getting it ready for more overlandy activities. Since I last updated this thread the cruiser has received a lot of love. It has gotten dual batteries, a roof rack, and, the two most notable things, a one of a kind HuddExpo Swingout rear bumper, and an interior build out.

Starting with the HuddExpo rear swingout. This is the coolest thing ever that has happened to my cruiser. This bumper is beefy as hell. Max was able to get the location of the tire high up on the bumper, while still retaining maximum rigidty. Mounting a 37 geolandar on it and the tire does not move AT all. On the other side of the bumper we have a 3 Jerry Can holder, and we added an additonal hitch that is going allow us to mount the bike rack on that swingout portion. Also rather cool, with all the stuff going on with this rear bumper, the license plate is still visible in the factory location which is quite neat.

Next up is the interior build. The interior build was dreamed up after using a roof top tent last summer and establishing that it wasn’t my cup of tee. There are a few elements of a roof top tent that were not working for me, and with the idea of heading north, being able to sleep in the warm and secure cruiser seemed to make more sense. Going into it there were a few fundamental things I wanted out of an interior build. I first of all wanted to be able to sit up in the back with relative comfort. I wanted it to be a totally comfy place to be for extended periods of time if every stuck in a nasty storm. Also, I wanted a bed that could become roomy enough for two people. I also wanted to have running water, a place to be able to cook, and a fridge that was easy to access. We have been able to achieve all of these things so far with the build. Attached bellow are some pics. Perhaps the most baller part of it was using a mini fridge instead of buying a $700 Dometic. Not only did the fridge fit perfectly in the frame we built, but with the $100 vs the $700 domestic, it basically paid for the rest of the interior build out. We believe it will be able to run a day or maybe two between the dual batteries without the truck starting, and has been tested and proved by sitting in the driveway these last few days running. However, we are going to add a flexbile solar panel to the roof to hopefully allow us to let the truck sit for even longer periods of time. I will post more details on the interior build as we finish it up.

Overall super excited for the next few months and will defiantly be updating this thread better since I am not drowning in school anymore.

Cheers!


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All this and you still have the original fuel filter
 
Long over due update. The cruiser hasn’t gotten much love lately with gas prices and having to buy new tires before I orginally anticipated, I didn’t have a lot of gas money to take the cruiser on trips. I did however end up selling the Miata and getting a Prius which I will stand by as being the best car for having next to the cruiser.

Little off topic but here me out haha. The Prius is such an appliance it is awesome. You push a button and the thing silently comes to life and on the worst, most brutal day, it will get 40mpg, and when your really taken care of her she will get 50. Everybody gives you ZERO respect on the roadway, you feel so small, but also it just works, and it saves SO much money. I bought it for $3200 with 124,000 miles on it and it rocks. Just got back with a 2,500 mile trip with my buddy and we went from Colorado Springs to Flagstaff, Sedona, Vegas, Salt Lake, and back all on under $200 of gas. AND we had two bikes, a tent, fridge, and all of our other crap in there and it was comfy and awesome. I am really excited for it because even already there is a noticeable chunk of change in my bank account just from driving the Prius everywhere and not the cruiser. Which will ultimately translate into more money that can be spent on the cruiser. It’s also cool coming back and getting out of the Prius and when you get back in the Cruiser I feel like a king and going from 0% road respect to 100% is pretty fun. ANYWAYS back to the Cruiser stuff.

So catching up this thread from where I left off, the cruiser was sitting on jackstands patiently waiting for its new tires to come in. It was quite the process getting the old tires pulled and back down to discount tire so I could get the tire cert credit, and getting the new Yokohamas mounted and back up to the truck. Ultimately the truck sat for over a month through this process. But finally the truck had some new shoes. I ended up getting the Yokohama Geolandar in a 37/12.5/17. And man what a difference. I was always the guy to defend all terrains and I still do stand by that. If Alaska wasn’t on the bucket list for next year I probably would have ended up getting another set of all terrains as 95% of the time the truck lives on the road. But these things are pretty sweet. The two things I was worried about getting a set of Mud Terrains was noise, and driving mannars like everybody else.

From my limited experience so far I have been put at ease with my concerns. I have about 1,000 miles on them so far so I cant speak for wear but currently the noise is minimal at best. With the windows down and radio off you can hear a quite hum but it doesn’t sound nearly as loud as I thought. With the windows up I have enough wind noise that thats all I hear and the tires are really hard to notice. With the supercharger the truck still gets them rolling easy and stopping feels decent still. It doesn’t corner on rails quite as much as it use to that probably where I notice it the most its not a suspension issue but I can feel when really cranking it around corners that it is transferring onto a different set of lugs or doing something that makes it feel a little weird until it is fully loaded up. Ultimately I probably corner to fast anyways and don’t really blame the tires its more just of me having a lead foot. Overall my gas mileage hasn’t changed too much I get 12.5-13 mpg pretty consistently which I will take between the mud terrains, the tent, and all the other stuff that makes it a fat pig.

A few weeks back I headed to the San Juan’s to meet up with @ExpoMax after not really seeing him much this summer. We camped for 4 nights which was super fun. I got to use my “new” roof top tent which is a 49inch Free Spirit Oddessy mounted to the gutter rails. Overall I really like the tent the fit and finish is really nice and its light enough I really don’t feel it on the truck. I have noticed in big head winds it is acting like a sail sorta a lot of wind gets caught under it and I can tell. I was thinking of fabbing up a wind deflector but ultimately I think I am going to sell it.

With the goal being departing for Alaska this time next year, I think I have decided I want to make the inside of the truck livable. My thinking being selling the roof top tent will allow me to add some money to the travel fund and sleeping inside the truck will be dry and insulated which I think is important considering how wet Alaska is. Just doing the constant temperature swings that come with a roof top tent would get old after a couple of months.

So currently in the next year the following needs to be done on the truck

-Interior build out
-Front and rear axel rebuild: The front ARB locker works but the compressor has to constantly run and the rear I have never really gone through and want to replace everything
-Swingout: Plan is to modify the existing bumper
-Add a additonal fuel tank?: I really want to do this but is pretty spendy I am not sure if I am going to do this or bring jerry cans
-New seats: Looking at Procar elites or Corbeau trailcat. Anyone have any experience with either?
-New winch: The smittybuilt has served its purpose but its time for a quality dependable winch
- Pull headliner and replace my broken and rattley sunroof

I think thats all I can think of right now. Just tonight I just rolled 280,000 miles on it. Honestly it is running better then it ever has it Idles better then it ever has, has power, shifts good, doesn’t burn much oil, interior looks better then it ever has, and the suspension is finally dialed.


@alia176 and @GW Nugget I am sincerely very sorry for not getting lift height specs posted sooner. After I blew the tire and got it up on jackstands it totally slipped my mind. I pulled my 30mm spacers out of the front yesterday trying to gain back some castor and get it dead level I did have a little bit of extra lift in the front with the 30mm spacers. I can post up pictures if you would like but right now it is sitting dead at 25 inches on all 4 corners from center of the hub to the base of the fender flare. I am pretty impressed It doesn’t have extra lift in the back as I have a bumper and winch on the front and just a light bumper and sleeping platform in the rear. I need to find a scale one of these days and see the weight from the front to the back.

If anyone made it this far thanks for reading and here is a photo dump from the last few months


New shoes
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Great build. How are you liking those Yokohama tires? I am looking at getting them to replace my KO2 which I enjoyed at first and not to keen on now.
 
@Andrew Bluemel
I would like to donate some money to you and buy the roof top tent with the gutter mounts if you still have it, I’m over in junction let me know. Also camptech is over here if your into something like that he also does full interiors with stoves and wht not

Unfortunately I sold the tent and the mounts at the end of last summer. Four of the universal smittybuilt gutterclamps being drilled into the bottom of the 49 Inch FreeSpirit Oddessey was pretty slick and bullet proof. That thing would not wiggle what so ever. So if you end up going the roof top tent route I totally recommend that settup. And ya haha, i have been eye ballin the campteq. I could see that happening someday… maybe if I win the lottery :hmm:.
 
Great build. How are you liking those Yokohama tires? I am looking at getting them to replace my KO2 which I enjoyed at first and not to keen on now.

The Yokohama for being a Mud Terrains are great. Really a bulletproof tire. They are wearing in really well right now (only have 8,000 on them so far) and driving characteristics wise they feel very similar to my old all terrains in terms of steering and braking. You can definitely hear them, and I know I stated when I first put them on I didn’t loose any MPG but that’s BS I lost at least 1MPG with them, but I think that is to be expected compared to my old Coopers. All tires are crazy expensive right now including the Yokohama, but I think they are on the cheaper side of mud terrains right now. I think it makes it a no brainer
 

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