OBS F250 slow adventure build

[amgvr4]

The tent is here!

So I ordered my CVT Mt. Rainier on Wednesday and the plan was to drive down and pick it up on May 9th. On Thursday I got an e-mail shipping confirmation for the tent. After a few calls it turned out that there was some confusion at CVT and they accidentally sent my tent instead of holding it for me. This turned out to be a good thing as I will explain later. I was at a conference in Bellevue on Friday when I got a call from the freight company letting me know the tent was at the sorting facility in Mt. Vernon. Good thing is they were open until 9pm so I was able to make it up there just in time to pick it up. With the actual tent I could make my frame with a lot more confidence than I had with the measurements I got over the phone.

Picking it up


I set the frame on the tent to see how it lined up with the rails on the bottom of the tent. The spacing numbers I got over the phone were 32". Turns out mine was 29.5"


This made me have to change my plans on how I mounted to the frame. My original plan was to drill my holes down the length of the frame, but now that the rails were inset several inches I decided to use the triangle gussets to mount the tent. This would have been a big issue if I had made it without the tent and tried to bolt it up at CVT according to my original plans. I would have been hard pressed to make the modifications needed to mount the tent without my welder and tools.
I also had to shift gears with my mounts for the tent frame to the bed. I had originally planned on bolting each pad with four .5" bolts. Unfortunatly I drilled the holes too close together on the top and side and I will probably not be able to use the side holes


I modified the jig to be able to adjust the frame to the correct height and level with some 1/2-13 all thread



Then I cut the legs and notched them into the mounts




I added some cross bars to the legs for mounting my hi-lift and shovel to and welded most of the structure together. There are still some things I need to burn in with the frame off the truck





The tent ready for its first test fit


On the truck




The mounts. I have to cut the bolts down. They are head gashers of death!



The tent opened up






In spite of the glitches the setup turned out pretty much as I had planned. Bobby and CVT are great to work with and he really took care of me during the shipping mix up. I still plan on heading down to Bend to stop by and see their shop and show off the truck/tent combo in a few weeks. Now I got to gut out and go use this thing!

 

[seanpistol]

Awesome! I just gathered materials and started making cuts for my own bed rack. Very, very similar to yours. Good style with the jig...

 

[underdrive]

Looks good!

 

[Seabass]

Thats awesome!

 

[java]

Looks awesome!

 

[amgvr4]

Awesome! I just gathered materials and started making cuts for my own bed rack. Very, very similar to yours. Good style with the jig...

Awesome! The jig was super simple and incredably helpful keeping everything in place during mock up. I still have several things I want to add to it. Most notably some LED lights to illuminate the bed when looking for stuff in the bed at night.

 

[java]

Saw you in Bothell today! Looking good!!

 

[amgvr4]

Saw you in Bothell today! Looking good!!

LOL! I though that might have been you! It's funny now that my truck is so recognizable it get that a lot. It is pretty hard to miss a big red ford with an RTT on its back.

 

[java]

Yeah just pulled the rtt off mine last week. It definately stands out. I thought I saw the look of recognition! Lol

 

[R3D2]

Holy ********, amgvr4, just read your thread front to back and all the work you've done to your truck is impressive to say the least. It's pretty awesome that you document things as well as you do. Really helps newbies like me learn a thing or...twenty.

 

[amgvr4]

Holy ********, amgvr4, just read your thread front to back and all the work you've done to your truck is impressive to say the least. It's pretty awesome that you document things as well as you do. Really helps newbies like me learn a thing or...twenty.

Thanks man. When I was doing all my research before buying my truck I was really bummed by the lack of information out there for how to build our OBS fords. There are a million threads on how to swap in a D60 using all factory parts, but the only two people I found who had decent coil spring swaps did not document them very well. My hope was to give as much information and reference material for others as I could so they could have an easier go of it. I'm glad to help anyway I can!

 

[amgvr4]

I got a little done on the truck. I added some holders on the bed rack for my hi-lift and shovel. I also fully welded the rack and added the last gusset for the cross bar.






I also got two the the tie down rails mounted in the bed. I still have a bunch more to mount around the perimeter of the bed frame



My little helper


I had a chance to test out the ditch scaling ability of the truck this week as well. The ditch was deep enough to swallow the 37" tires whole!



The diff was touching the dirt here


Even so it crawled right through it without much trouble. I like trying little things like this cause it gives me a good feel for what the truck is capable of on the trail



I'm heading over to the Tahuya 4x4 loop on Saturday with some of the guys from NWOL so that should be a good time. It will be the first true offroad trip for the truck so I will make sure to have a report for you all.

 

[underdrive]

Details on the tie-down rails? And what's with the swaybar bushing bracket in the bed corner, you old tie-down point? Also how do you have the shovel secured to the platform?

That ditch... Let's just say that I would drive into it, but only cause I know the rear axle is wide enough to not fall into it completely, and with full expectations of testing the slider rails we have under the drivetrain. It's quite impressive what your truck is capable of, even more so since it's all your own work as opposed to a high-dollar ready-made setup.

 

[12husky]

If you were starting over on the front suspension now, would you still do the radius arms or three link?


MCOC

 

[amgvr4]

If you were starting over on the front suspension now, would you still do the radius arms or three link?MCOC

For a daily I would still use the radius arms because they help eliminate the need for a sway bar. If it was a more trail dedicated rig I would consider a three link for the front, but I can easily unbolt one of the upper link brackets when needed and turn it into quasi three link. I can get the front tire 36" off the ground before lifting a back wheel with it in that configuration and that is with a very unflexy rear suspension. I do wish I had in-boarded the mounts more to improve the steering angle. I may still address that in the future, but I don't need to so I will let it be for now.

Details on the tie-down rails? And what's with the swaybar bushing bracket in the bed corner, you old tie-down point? Also how do you have the shovel secured to the platform?

That ditch... Let's just say that I would drive into it, but only cause I know the rear axle is wide enough to not fall into it completely, and with full expectations of testing the slider rails we have under the drivetrain. It's quite impressive what your truck is capable of, even more so since it's all your own work as opposed to a high-dollar ready-made setup.

Here is were I got the tie downs from;

http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Ratchet-Straps-Tie-Downs/L-Track-Tie-Down-Rails

They had the best prices on L-track I could find. You can also get long sections of it and just line the bed with it for the ultimate in tie down options. The sway bar bushing brackets were a last minute addition a few years ago right before a dirt bike trip. Despite the fact that they are being used outside of the intended use they have served me really well so far. I will remove them soon and just rely on the L-track. I am really going o love it when I get awound to doing a three link on the back and ditching the worn out and bent leafs!