2011 Ford(s) - Project Underdog

[MrCoffee]

Hi Everyone!

So my wife and I are new to overlanding, though we have been off-roading for years in our Trooper, Jeeps and such. These rigs were all built for off-road travel but were also daily drivers. And that is going to be the same theme for my current projects rigs.

The first is my daily driver, and it would not be my first choice in overland rigs, BUT you use what you have right? It is a 2011 Ford Escape. The Escape has a lot going for it, and a lot of things I would really like to change. I purchased it because my Ford Ranger was simply too small for myself and family, and we were beating my wife's Tribeca to death doing all the trips in her rig. I had an hour + commute every day, and the Ranger for thirsty a lot more than I liked.

The Pros:
Good mileage
pretty roomy for a downsize
handles great
pretty good visibility
decent ground clearance from the factory


The cons:
All-wheel drive
limited aftermarket support (as in none)
really tight dash design, no place to really install additional electronics
139,824 Miles (is that a con?)

To address those issue is going to take some planning and some minor mods on our part, and keeping the entire project reasonable. So far the only mods I have made are adding the roof cargo rack, a no-name brand I picked up for under $100, and I put General Grabber AT2 tires on it, something that has turned out to be an excellent choice with all the snow we have gotten late this year in New England. The Cargo rack has been a different story. While strong enough for our needs so far, it is LOUD when going down the road at speed. Need to either make a fairing for it or buy one. I am tempted to replace the rack with a different one. Oh, and I have added a class 3 trailer hitch/tow package to it. I have a nice utility trailer that I am also going to be modding for overlanding, but that is for a different thread.

Additional mods on the list. Needs some rocker and nose protection. And I am going to start looking at interior storage systems. If I can squeeze it into the dash, I will be adding a Yaesu 2 meter radio, as well as a remote mount CB. It has a TomTom for navigation but will be adding mounts for an iPad Air, and each of our cell phones, though the space is so limited I am not sure how I am going to manage to squeeze it all in, and still have access to the radio controls (built-in Bluetooth, local radio information, etc). And lighting, at least a decent light bar, and driving/fog lights. Why they weren't installed factory, I have no clue.

So a modest modes list to start, nothing so outrageous. Lift kits are not commonly available for the Escape, and even if they were, it would not be something I would want to tackle. I want the rig to stay as close to stock as possible.

The second part of this build thread is going to start next week. This is the newest addition to our family, a 2011 Ford F150 Long Bed. This is going to be our long-term project. My wife wants to travel, so we have set a date of two years, and we are planning to go at least cross country, but possibly to Alaska as well. She, however, wants to travel in a bit more comfort and style than I had thought. Enter the F150 and likely a 24-26ft travel trailer, tow behind. The Escape (and well... the Corvette, Mustang, Tribeca) are going to be taking a break, and going into storage while we are gone traveling. The F150 will be built up enough to handle the trails, but not so much that towing a large camper will be a problem. Since I haven't actually picked up the F150 yet, I am not really starting on the mods list. We will see.

After the long-term trip is completed, the F150 will either become the tow vehicle for the Escape to go to long trail rides or will replace it completely, IF I don't mind having a pickup the size of a school bus on the trails out west.

So there's da plan, I will keep ya posted on the progress and adventures from here on out :)

Chuck and Gloria
Springfield, Vermont

 

[Raul B]

love the escape platform... I have a Mariner which is basically the same thing. I also have a F150 :)

both will be great platforms.... I cant wait to see what you do with yours

-Raul

 

[MrCoffee]

Picked up the F150 yesterday at the dealership. Took it out for a run to see how it drove with the new sneaker I insisted they put on the rig. Well... 400 miles later, we love the truck. Quiet, smooth on the highway at speed, it pretty much filled all the checkboxes on a tow/work rig.

it is a BIG ride to drive. With the Extended cab and an 8-foot bed, it is much longer than my Durango was, huge compared to the Escape or Tribeca. The new sneakers are General Grabbers, but the HTS model, not the AT/AT2 that I want on the rig once it starts overlanding. Still, the HTS is very nice towing and highway tires, great for on pavement travel.

While the rig is perfect for us, it isn't perfect. I have a few things to fix before it is 100%. First is the bed step. I don't know how many of you out there know of the Ford bed step feature, I never heard of it before this truck. When you flip the tailgate down, there is a handle in it.

Left the handle up, then unlock the center part of the tailgate.

And drop down the center section into a bed step.

My 5'2" wife thought this was an awesome feature, and I have to admit, it does make getting into the bed easy.
The step itself needs to be repaired, the top cover on it is broken. I ordered a replacement, though being Easter, I don't think it will be in for a few days.

The second project will be repairing the bumper. The lower half of the step bumper on the passengers side it... well gone.

So I will be ordering a pair, in Black instead of chrome. I am not really big on Chrome, especially on trucks, and all the other accessories we are looking at are black. So black it is.

So Projects Underdog are underway. I will update as both projects continue. :)

 

[MrCoffee]

Well... so far the weather has not been overly helpful in getting either of these projects moving forward. We have done a couple of shakedown runs in the F150, but no mods to either rig, EXCEPT additional swag!

Motivation at the very least!

 

[MrCoffee]

Well everyone, been a few weeks (ok, maybe months) and project Underdog hasn't made any progress. We bought a new house in early June and everything else has come to a screaming halt until we move at the end of September.

A couple of things have been done to the Escape to get it ready for winter, ordered aftermarket fog lights to install, lightbar, and emergency strobe for the trek into work on the nasty weather nights. The F-150 will be sitting out most of the winter, only to be driven once in a while. The Escape and the Tribeca are going to dill the need of the daily driver for the next couple of years, helping to keep the miles off the truck.

After buying the house, our budget for Overlanding is nil. The dreams are still there, and we purchased a small tow behind trail to use as "base camp". But we have a lot of planning and figuring out details to do before we start our cross country Overlanding trip.

Just a quick update. Project Underdog isn't dead, but on hold for a while longer.

 

[MrCoffee]

I forgot to mention one upgrade the F-150 got earlier this summer, I actually thought I had posted in the thread about it, but I guess not. In late June, we purchased a Skamper 080S camper. This is going to be our living quarters while traveling to some of the more remote areas we are planning on overlanding to (i.e. Arctic Circle) in the upcoming years.

While it has had some bumps and bangs along the way over the last few years, it is solid. The roof doesn't leak, and everything works, with the exception of the fridge. So we plan to upgrade it over the coming months and arrange it so it makes sense for us. Still looking online for the owners manual. (Pardon my little utility trailer sticking out from under it, the trailer was in the way and I just shoved it there to make some room in the yard).

I will get some pictures of the camper opened, and as we make improvements, post them up. :)

 

[MrCoffee]

Found a couple of images with the Skamper on the F-150. :)

(yeah the tie-downs were just temporary)

What I love about this is the low profile of the camper on the rig. What I don't like is the total loss of cargo space, and that it is 1/2" too long to close the tailgate, and I have to remove the tailgate OR strap it open. Not insurmountable, but.... :/

All in all, though, I think it is going to make a decent Overlanding rig for easy trails, logging trails, and over the beaten path trail.

 

[MrCoffee]

Project update:

So since my last post, I've made almost no progress on the F-150 or the Camper. The good news is the Skamper made it through the winter, no leaks or problems at all. But with the work on the new house, the F-150 has been used as a daily hauled to Home Depot so much, I haven't had a chance to do anything to it.... other than drive it. A lot. But over the last year, we have had a lot of changes going on with our trip plans, and overlanding rigs.

First, my oldest son went to Italy for college for three months, then spend another 6 weeks bouncing around Europe, before coming back to finish his last few months at school. While this had nothing to do with overlanding, it sure helped eat up the overlanding budget fast. Really fast. But it seemed to be a once in a lifetime chance for him to go explore, and I wanted him to have it. He had a wonderful time, and now has the travel bug big time :) He graduates May 19th with a degree, and is promptly moving to Boston, and planning his next adventure.

Second, since the F-150 was always in use for one project or another, I shifted gears and bought a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, 42,000 miles on it. A beautiful rig that was bone stock, had never seen snow (!!!!!) that the owners family size outgrew the Jeeps carrying space. That was in December, and I had tons of plans for a new overland rig..... and then life happened. My wife Tribeca was starting to get long in the tooth and lots and lots of small, annoying issues. My Escape was starting to show it's age too, is driven by both of us on our constant travels around New England. Both had well over 170,000 on them. The Jeep was getting driven, but honestly, the more we rode in it, the less we liked it. The ride was really rough, it was a 6-speed stick, which liked, but my wife... not so much. It was not a rig we could see taking overlanding to Alaska for three months, let alone living out of for our planned lower 48 trips of 1+ years. It was a love/hate relationship.

About a month ago, I was sick of working on the Tribeca again (while my wife was driving the Escape) in the cold rain of April. We went down and traded the Tribeca on a leftover 2018 Jeep Renegade for her, her first brand new vehicle since 1990 when we bought our Isuzu Trooper! Rolled it out of the lot with 7 miles on the clock. And.... the Jeep was sold to a very happy local guy for what we paid for it, and the Escape was traded for a 2016 RAM 1500 Express. Now I can FINALLY put some pork in on Project Underdog, and STILL have a truck for home depot runs, and I love the damn thing.

Ok, so that's whats been happening, or more like, not happening with the project. Now that you're all caught up..... we are going to get back to it!

Today I am digging into the Skamper. The general goal today is to go through everything and see what works and what needs my attention. So far, the frig does not work at all on propane, or on 110v. I haven't tried it on 12v since there isn't a 12v source in the camper anywhere. The previous owner just powered it straight off his truck battery. The 12v system in the rig appears to be intact but has been "modified". I am going to go through it and start tracing the wiring, figure out what is what with the whole system. Third, there is a 25-gallon water tank and homemade water pump that was added to the camper, which would have made Walter Disney proud! While I want to keep the onboard water, ummmm, well let's just say it needs to be cleaned up.

I'll post pics of everything as I go, if I can. And we are going to start ordering parts for the F-150 part of this project this week I hope.

 

[MrCoffee]

Update!

So since Overland Expo East is right around the corner, I started turning my attention back to the F-150 and Skamper. Been really busy rebuilding our Tow behind camper and putting a new exhaust on our Class A motorhome and camping/traveling all summer. Not overland, for some reason.

Today we checked all the appliances out, found that the water system is completely fubar. Not only is it "custom" from the previous owner, but only half finish, and disconnected (behind panels, so we couldn't see it before we tried it). tried the 12v system, found that it is also half completed, and there is juice to the lights, but nothing else. Headed down to the parts store to pick up a new RV battery for it. Also realized that there is no wiring for a connection to the main engine bay, so no charging system in place. The 120V AC connections seem to be intact, but the converter seems to be junk. At this point, the best thing that the "Turtle" has going for it is that it has no leaks. (knocking on wood!!). I haven't even started on the propane system, I am tad gunshy about playing with that system at this point, and.... because of the design of it, if the camping is on the legs, you can't open the propane access door, the leg blocks it. (WTF?). So for this trip, it is just my sleeping space.

Monday the F-150 is getting it's new General Grabber AT-X sneakers all the way around. Wanted AT-2's since I have had such great luck with them, but they are discontinued. The AT-X's got good reviews, so I give them a try. All I know is that the HTS is not the tire for us. We've ordered the rear bumper, but I don't think it will be on in time for the trip to Expo East, we are headed to Yellowknife NWT for two weeks the 20th, and there just won't be time to get it installed.

Again, another season has rapidly passed and I haven't moved very far forward on Project Underdog, but we are planning to head to Expo West for 2020 and taking it cross country to get there and back. Good motivation to get moving on the Project. And since I bought a 2016 Dodge RAM 1500 in June, I can leave the camper mounted in the F-150 and still have a pick up for Home Depot runs.

 

[MrCoffee]

Holy CRAP! Overland Expo is next weekend! :O

Ok, today the F-150 got it's new sneakers all the way around. The Grabber HTS tires hardly look worn at all, with almost 20k on them, BUT they are a street only tire, and I was surprised to find they were 245's NOT the recommended 265's that Ford wants on the rig. The new tires are 265/70R/17, and it rides much nicer on the road. The new Grabber AT/X tires are far more aggressive and are not nearly as loud.... at least not yet.


Next, I got started on comms, wanting to at least install my 2-meter gig, but..... which one?


Top to bottom, Radio Shack HTX-252, Yaesu FT-1500M, and Yaesu FT-2800M. I tried each one on the dash, and in the end, the HTX-252 is a great basic rig, but a pain to program. The Yaesu FT-1500m is small, compact, more power than the 252, and fairly easy to program. And the FT-2800M is big, very powerful, and the easiest to program with a USB cable, computer, and software. BUT a real eyesore on the dash. I decided to go with the FT-1500m, just to keep the installation as clean as possible.



with the wiring run behind the rig, and the antenna cable tucked up into the dash, I think it will be the best bet. the antenna is on order, I am hoping it will get here in time.... :/

That's it for today, tomorrow though, I am going to load up the Skamper, and mount new Brophy clamp-on tie-downs to secure it in place for the trip to Overland East! Adding the Caribou 55lt cooler, and Coleman 2 burner stove for the trip.