F350 Overland Upgrades

xtremexj

Adventurer
Well, I guess I should start a build thread for some of the mods I've already done to the truck and for what is still to come. :)

Up until now, my truck has been mainly used as the camper toter and tow rig for my big Jeep. At the moment, I am in the process of stripping the drive train out of my XJ in order to swap it into the new CJ based buggy I'm building. This means NO wheeling this year so we decided to focus more on using the truck to get to some more remote locations. This thread will document those changes over the next several weeks, while I build and install some parts to help make my F350 as capable offroad as it is on the road.

We'll start with the winch bumper I built and installed previous to my journey from Edmonton, Alberta all the way down to Overland Expo 2012 (4200 miles round trip in 2 weeks).:smiley_drive: Some of my design objectives were to have something that didn't stick out or hang down too much, easy to mount with one person, used the factory tow hooks, had some sort of prerunner look and had auxillary lighting for those back country drives at night.

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xtremexj

Adventurer
I have more time in this than I hoped (about 3 weekends worth) but I'm very particular about what I want on my truck. I tried to keep this as close to the grille as possible (this is only 3.5" further than stock) and I also wanted the flat top for standing on if I needed to be under the hood for anything. Also, I made it a bit taller at the tips than some others on the market, but I was thinking about wind resistance and fuel mileage ahead of a real hardcore crawler style bumper.

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xtremexj

Adventurer
Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the hoop as I built it due to being in a huge hurry. I ended up taking the day before we were supposed to leave off so I could get this thing finished up and mounted. I spent a couple evenings during that week bending the hoop, fully welding the bumper, and doing all the grinding. The final day was spent painting and picking up my new color matched grille.

Installing the winch tray and winch. The winch is the new Smittybilt X20 15K that I thought I'd try, seeing as I work for a Smittybilt dealer and the price was right.

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xtremexj

Adventurer
Finally, the finished (for the moment) project, including the Hella 700 and 500 lights with upgraded PIAA bulbs, as well as the color matched grille. Stay tuned for more as money and time permits.:wings:

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herm

Adventurer
that bumper looks great! I like the factory tow points that you kept. do you see any difference in engine temp?
 

xtremexj

Adventurer
that bumper looks great! I like the factory tow points that you kept. do you see any difference in engine temp?

Thanks!! Engine temps were fine, even in the 102* heat we hit around Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam. EGTs were a bit higher, but it was hard to tell if it was from the bumper because it was so damn hot and the altitude much higher than what we have at home. It might have gone up about 50* higher than normal on the pyro but I'll pay more attention on our next local camping weekend.
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
Looks great! I have a piece of steel in the back of my truck right now that is destined to become a winch bumper. I haven't decided on a fixed or multi mount winch set up yet. What do you guys sell the 10,000 or 12,000 Smittybuilts for?
 

xtremexj

Adventurer
Looks great! I have a piece of steel in the back of my truck right now that is destined to become a winch bumper. I haven't decided on a fixed or multi mount winch set up yet. What do you guys sell the 10,000 or 12,000 Smittybuilts for?

You have a PM. :D
 

brussum

Adventurer
As a fellow F350 owner, I'm looking forward to seeing what else you have in store for your truck. Keep us posted and thanks!
 

xtremexj

Adventurer
Nice work! Wish I could weld more than a muffler hanger.

Thanks! It's nothing as comprehensive as your build but it sure is nice to be able to bring my ideas to life with my own hands.

As a fellow F350 owner, I'm looking forward to seeing what else you have in store for your truck. Keep us posted and thanks!

I'll post up as soon as I get the next project under way, which hopefully will be in the next couple of weeks. :)
 

xtremexj

Adventurer
Finally some updates! :) My ProComp 4" suspension lift showed up and I installed that two weekends ago as well as my Bushwacker pocket flares. I was thinking about going higher but decided that for now I would see how it works with the 4" and 35s, plus I wouldn't need to do a gear swap like I would for 37s. I will post a before and after pic in a few days as I don't have those on hand at the moment.
 

xtremexj

Adventurer
I've also been working on the rear bumper for a couple of weekends now. I was hoping to have it done for this weekend (long weekend holiday for us) but it just wasn't in the cards. Here are some pics of the progress.

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xtremexj

Adventurer
More. As you can see, I borrowed some ideas for some corner protection from the Toyota boys. ;)

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