Ski Bum Truck V2.0, F450 Rough Road RV

Bubblegoose1

@PNWINFERNOPRO
Good plan on spare bag.
or better yet carry your springs and parts. that way if air compressor fails... or major leak somewhere.... you can reinstall springs.

As to shifting jack stands... I always weld mine to a used disk brake caliper.
Carrying heavy, dirty spare parts is not the best option, IMO. Replacing a bag is much more simple, plus any truck shop in the U.S. can work on and/or replace these.

Compressor failure: Another reason to stick with manual fills. Compressor system for this setup is unnecessary; fill'em, forget'em, check height or PSI prior to hitting the road. Done
 
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patoz

Expedition Leader
This reply is a little late and out of sequence, but here it is anyway...

I love seeing your climbing photos and stories! Having been a climber myself back in the 80's, and a High Angle Rescue Instructor for 30 years at the FD where I worked, I can't help but check out the rigging anytime I see any kind of climbing photo. Yours always looks good, but you would be surprised at what you see some times, if you know what to look for.

I love seeing your daughter zipping up the routes like that, and she will probably make a fine climber one day if she sticks with it. My Girl Friend (at the time) and I took her very young daughter with us camping one time in Cheaha State Park, AL. We went top rope climbing on one of the rocky outcroppings, which was only about 60'- 70', and she wanted to try it. I just happened to have a very small harness with me that I had gotten in a trade for some other gear, so we hooked her up and let her go. She went up the face like a monkey and made us all look bad! Of course her mother just about had a nervous break down, but she got over it. We also let her rappel back down, but I was on belay the whole time, and you know what I mean.
 

java

Expedition Leader
This reply is a little late and out of sequence, but here it is anyway...

I love seeing your climbing photos and stories! Having been a climber myself back in the 80's, and a High Angle Rescue Instructor for 30 years at the FD where I worked, I can't help but check out the rigging anytime I see any kind of climbing photo. Yours always looks good, but you would be surprised at what you see some times, if you know what to look for.

I love seeing your daughter zipping up the routes like that, and she will probably make a fine climber one day if she sticks with it. My Girl Friend (at the time) and I took her very young daughter with us camping one time in Cheaha State Park, AL. We went top rope climbing on one of the rocky outcroppings, which was only about 60'- 70', and she wanted to try it. I just happened to have a very small harness with me that I had gotten in a trade for some other gear, so we hooked her up and let her go. She went up the face like a monkey and made us all look bad! Of course her mother just about had a nervous break down, but she got over it. We also let her rappel back down, but I was on belay the whole time, and you know what I mean.

The climbing has been great, we kind of stopped ~10 years ago when we had the kid, its so much fun to get back into it.

I'm glad the rigging looks good :D I met my wife doing SAR, so I am a bit paranoid of such things, there is always risk, but mitigating it as best I can, hopefully our techniques are still good. Have been doing a lot of reading lately. Going to make some practice anchors in the back yard :D

Yeah the kid is impressive, she was super stoked she climbed a 5.10 the other day. Its going to get scary as she gets taller.... We had her do a coulple 15-20 rappels, she wants to a big one.... Thats scary still!!
 

patoz

Expedition Leader
The youngest I have taught to rappel was my GF's daughter at 5 y/o I believe, and an 70 y/o lady who said I gave her so much confidence in herself, she went home and promptly divorced her husband. :eek:

I am probably the king of overkill when it comes to setting up a system. I tend to double and triple everything, leaving as little to chance as possible. It takes longer, requires more gear (and weight if you're carrying it), but if something did happen at least I would know I took as much precaution as possible. Time is usually critical in a rescue situation and people get in a hurry and mistakes are made, so this is when it really pays off. Recreational climbing is usually more laid back, so more time can be spent making sure everything is correct to start with.
 

java

Expedition Leader
Yep rappelling isn't hard, but it seems like that's where a lot of accidents happen too though. She's got the idea, and has done short ones, but I'm still leery of letting her walk off a 90' cliff edge.....

Totally not truck related (like half this thread I guess :D ) but I got some new goodies today.

8215f23c1fedf6a7bfd8288bc2f31719.jpg


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patoz

Expedition Leader
When I'm teaching someone new to rappel, I usually have someone belay the tail of the line they are on, so they can apply the brake if the person learning loses control or just totally freaks, and I'll also set up a secondary safety line either belayed from the top or from a top anchor and then back down to the ground and belayed from there. And if I'm really worried about them, I'll have a rescue person set to rappel down to them, or even descend along side of them. Of course, you have to have enough people to make all of this work too.

And just when you think everything is going great, along comes some dork and steps on your rope!! :mad:

BTW, the picture you just posted does not work!
 
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java

Expedition Leader
When I'm teaching someone new to rappel, I usually have some belay the tail of the line they are on, so they can apply the brake if the person learning loses control or just totally freaks, and I'll also set up a secondary safety line either belayed from the top or from a top anchor and then back down to the ground and belayed from there. And if I'm really worried about them, I'll have a rescue person set to rappel down to them, or even descend along side of them. Of course, you have to have enough people to make all of this work too.

And just when you think everything is going great, along comes some dork and steps on your rope!! :mad:
Yep, we do the person on the bottom for emergency brake too. And for her I run an autoblock knot down to the leg loop, in theory that will stop things if she let's go for some reason..... I have tested it (close to the ground! Lol) and it works, but it's just a backup.

And I am as rope anal as they come.... And she's very careful since she doesn't like getting yelled it! :)

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java

Expedition Leader
Well I didn't fit on their alignment rack.... Grrrr

But the front end being over the pit was handy. Bushing and rod ends all are tight.

But.... I think I found my mystery clunk. That's a lot of backlash....


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java

Expedition Leader
Spent time on the phone with the gear guy, it might just be normal backlash for this big of a gear set and I'm just not used to it.

Going to drain the fluid and look for shiny stuff. Fingers crossed

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