Lane Family ’99 F250 2WD 7.3 Multi Duty Build/Transformation

[Daryl 32]

Little history about me and vehicles lending to understanding why this build is the way it is:

Personal opinion of factory stock vehicles: “Factory delivered vehicles are just a curd basic starting point for real enthusiasts to build upon to achieve heights of gloriously individual works of craftsmanship and function meeting the owners desired needs.” So I have never left any car or truck I have owned in the configuration I purchased it in.

Also a few months back Kathy and I bought a Roku for our TV – we have watched close to a if not more than 100 You Tube videos by now on lots of topics:

Living off grid – Living full time in an R/V – Tiny homes – Truck Camping – Living in a Truck – Living in a Tab trailer – Roadkill – Alabama hills – Mojavi Road (which is where we first got introduced to Overland Bound) – Overlanding -4xoverland – life style overland - Dirt every day – lots of videos on spots and trails we have learned about.

So we do not have just overlanding as a single goal for our Super Duty rig, but rather it serves multiple duties with overlanding being the most resent twist to its life in the Lane family.


We found our current truck an early 99 F250 7.3 Power Stroke 2WD with 135,000 miles on it back in 2004. So this first picture is how it was when we brought it home. We are the third owners, it came with Fabtech 6” lift, 6 way adjust on the fly tuner chip, Banks converter, Cab length side bars, air tank welded to frame, 4” exhaust, Bed had a nice spray in bed liner and it was riding on big heavy Moto Metal steel wheels and Pro Comp tires.

Its duties then were:

#1. Hauling materials for yard and home improvements

#2. Weekend trips and vacations out of state with our high school aged three children

#3. Towing the track car to events on other weekends



First “Mod/Revision” was to get rid of the heavy MM steel wheels and 315/70-16 M/T pro-comp tire combo. Because after rotating the tires myself in the driveway once I decided lighter would be better. Replaced them with stock Super Duty 16x7" aluminum wheels and Falken Wildpeak HT 235/85-16 street E rated tires for better fuel mileage. Got up to 16.5 on the highway while out of town away from So Cal traffic.

Second mod was to install some Westin wheel to wheel side bars or steps so I could more easily get things out of the bed that had either slide to the front while driving or I had placed there.



Then came the paying it off in 3 years’ time as my wife and I do not believe/like being in debit for things other than our home.

The next upgrade was a used fiberglass shell, so we could put stuff in the bed and be able to drive places and have it all still be there when we arrived after a “quick” freeway sprint. Before the shell I would spend lots of time packing and tying things down or putting things in the back seat I would rather not have there.

The shell was also nice for camping trips with the family as it providing for more area for gear and an extra sleeping area for family. About the same time we bought a used travel trailer for a sweet deal - another work in progress - LOL. This picture is outside Mormon Like Flagstaff area leaving our first time at Overland Expo 2012.



This picture is the same day in Needles on the I40.

One reason we bought the SD with the 7.3 diesel was for the towing power. I had the cruise control set at 70 mph and the truck was just humming along with out a care, I had felt some wind come up but the engine was not troubled so on I went. Then I realized the front and drivers side of the trailers aluminum siding was coming off. Turns out we were doing 70 mph head on into 40mph winds. So made it to a Home Depot in Needles and patched it up for the rest of the drive home to Corona. Gotta love 200mph duck tape and self drilling tech screws! I was glad I packed my cordless screw gun in Bob.



More revisions as we transition into more of the overlanding way of camping.

 

[Notedhillbilly]

Fantastic stuff!!!

Turbo Diesel YJ

https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/index.php?threads/8019/

 

[Daryl 32]

Thanks Noted - I have enjoyed reading and seeing your story & build! Glad to see you have recovered from your ordeal!

I have done a lot more overlanding add-ons to the rig just need to get the time to do the typing and triple check the spelling and word choices! LOL I know tools, design and fading things, just horrible with writing it out.

 

[Daryl 32]

Time for a DISLAIMER: “Opinions expressed herein are every much may own and may not be that of the management - or my beloved wife Kathy.” As of tomorrow June 28th we have been Happily Married for 37 years! :)




I have been involved with designing, prototyping and putting products into production in the aftermarket truck and off road industry now for 14 years or so. I have seen and been involved with products I would buy and use and some I would not.

In the past few years I worked designing for TJM USA, after a trip to the home office and factory in Queensland Australia in Feb of 2016, I am now a TJM product loyalist. When they make a product it has been tested and proven, so I am always looking to see if they have something need and will fit our truck. So I will mention TJM now and then.

Duty #4 – as seen above for our SD is that of towing Bob our R/V trailer or what we now call BASE CAMP.

BOB a well-used 1986 25ft travel trailer had entered our family around mid-2011. While looking for fix it up ideas, as Bob was in grave need of TLC and refurbishing. Kathy stumbled upon “Glamping” on Pinterest, which is another story all in its own. Is there such a thing as Overland-glamping? If so we have the truck big enough for it, I think?

Our first real long haul road trip in Bob was to Moron Lake in Flagstaff Arizona for Overland Expo in 2012. So we looked at things we thought would work for use. That year we picked up a small folding case ZAMP 40 watt solar unit. It is small but it has keep our truck and trailer batteries charged very time we needed it to. With our first Overland Expo under our belts and “now an expert on overlanding – I thinks to himself (RIGHT)” after seeing lots of cool gear.

I embark on the first actual mod, to get an awning attached to the shell, simple right?
"NO"
Because I am “me”, I decided to personally design and build a custom roof rack for the shell. That I could mount an awning to - not so simple after all.

Since I was working for TJM USA at the time the awning I choose was the TJM 2.5 Meter awning. I designed the rack around mounting it when finished. I also added three light mounts in the rear of the rack and two to the front. With vertical facing smaller mounts to be used as tie down points for gear that would be carried up on the rack in the future.

With the rack mostly finished and mounted to the shell for a final test fit along with the TJM awning, we went out camping to Anza to test it all in use. We like Anza in the late fall through mid-spring as it is cool enough to be there during the day. And somewhat empty of humans with lots of big sky for being in So Cal. We also towed Bob up as repairs had been finished after the I40 blowout.


Here we are in Anza with our children. Why Bob you may ask? Kathy and I are fans of Minions.

Night shoot - awning is behind the easy up for more sun shade and such.








So in the above pictures - additional awning/equipment mounting plates on DS not welded on yet so it rack is not powder coated yet. It is not powder coated semi-gloss black.

More pictures of Anza camping - the Cherokee is my sons.

















Having Bob is good for getting out of the 40 plus mph winds that come up in Anza.

 

[Raul B]

Welcome aboard.... love what your doing with your rig....

 

[Daryl 32]

Thanks Raul, rig is much further along then I have been able to post so far still playing catch up to what it is now. Your F-150 is really nice also!

 

[Daryl 32]

The roof rack got removed and finished when we returned from the Anza trip for more welding and last minute add-ons. So once I was sure I had thought of everything I took it over to be sandblasted and then powder coated.

Note - plug for "R&R sandblasting" If you are near the Corona east Riverside area R&R Powder Coating is a great place to go, great friendly people and I also get a fair price on things and the quality is wonderful. I have had well over 100 things done including a 65 Chevelle chassis and suspension parts for 5 cars or so over the last 8 years or so.

One thing I added to the rack were 3/8" tubing pieces across the front bottom tube, drivers side bottom tube and across the rear bottom tube. Reason is so I can run the wiring for the lighting in them and not have to drill into the main tubing for clamps and such.









“Necessity being the Mother of Invention”.

We have had a number of Shepherd mixes through the years, our current 3 year old "Ernie" is not very steady on the rear seat. All our previous dogs were great travelers and were every sure footed in the back seats of our crew cab trucks. Ernie not so much, lots of car sickness, anxiety and not able to stay on the seat always falling on the floor as the truck changed speed or direction. Ernie is the first dog we have had to get motion sickness and anxiety med's for, but they did not keep him on top of the rear seat. What to do?

So I designed and made storage boxes for the floor of the back seat as high as the seat. I also design boxes for each side of the back outer corners of the bed area for storage.

All boxes are made of ½” cabinet grade sealed Birch. The bed boxes have curved bottoms to match the shape of the bed floor to sides. The bottom of the bed boxes being .060” aluminum screwed in place and then sealed with door and window silicon.
The bed boxes were also designed to be in line with the wheel wells in order to be able to lay 4x8 sheets of flat material flat on the bed floor. Along with sealed to allow me to hose out the bed and not have things in the boxes get wet.
Both boxes are the same in size and shape and both are screwed to the floor and inner walls of the bed.





Found these bags at Home Depot about four months age, they are called document bags. I was looking for something like these as the drivers side box was over flowing with things. These work great I have things sorted and bagged in groups and no longer have to remove lots of tangled straps - tie downs to get one out.
All this fits neatly into the drivers side box







Also found these great twisty ties that work great and can would some good weight. I first found them at Tack 511 I think it is? I keep them on the bed's tie down loops at the rear sides.



Boxes for the back floor of the cab, needed to be as big as possible while allowing the driver’s seat to go back far enough for my long legs to be comfortable on long drives.

This is another big reason we went with a full size truck, comfort for me and my long legs on long trips. We have done 11 hour days of driving and other then the diesel noise the inside is great.

Both cab boxes are the same design with lids, they do not meet in the center of the truck. I made a fill cover that allows for quick hidden storage in the middle between the two boxes. Now Ernie has a complete flat table top for trips and it is big enough for has glamping bed to fit, so he feels at home while driving and when we get to our spot.







The tops were left the bare finished birch at first, but it was too slippery for Ernie to stand on and he was still falling just not on the floor. So we got some indoor outdoor carpet at Home Depot and 3M 77 spray glue and glued the carpet to the tops of the lids. Now Ernie is stable and good to stand at the window with face out in the wind!

Duct type on the bottom of the lids is to stop the clicking and banging of the lids on the tops of the boxes.



The shell came with an 18" wide shelf at the front for the PO's dog to sit on. We use it for clothes and stuff when we go camping/overlanding as we sleep inside the shell. It works out great as we sleep heads to the tail gate, so when we sit up, we are facing the front of the truck & shelf to grab things easily.



Also you can see purple para cords and a net hanging from the ceiling of the shell. I used the bolts holding the rack to the shell along with some old holes from the PO. I put bolts in them to pug them. I got 1/8" steel "S" hooks, fender washers and some nylock nuts to do this with. All the hardware including the bolts are stainless steel to avoid rusting. All the bolts were packed with wind shield adhesive/sealant to insure they would not leak. We were having issues with leaks before this.



We use the net for flip-flops socks underwear and things we want to get to easily.





We use the para cord lines for hanging wet things such as clothing, towels and dash rags to dry on during the day when not sleeping in bed.

We have cut some of that aluminum covered bubble wrap to the size of the side winds in the shell and applied sticky backed Velcro to one side. The inside of the shell is completely covered with a factory glued on carpet that the velcro sticks to really well! Almost too good. The carpet lining also helps to keep the inside warmer on cold nights.

I will cover the on board air, electrical and more in the next update.

 

[Daryl 32]

Adding gear to the truck and finding places to put it all is an on going task. As putting things in places or making places to easily access them seems to be an on going revolving saga. Because you try something and then realize that just does not work.

First place I filled was the area behind the rear seat. In the Ford Super Duty Crew cab the rear seat back floods forward to expose a good size area for things. The factory bottle jack is there on the passenger side the rest is empty while some owners choose to fill this area with stereo equipment. I choose to put tools, recovery gear, extra oil and some extra small engine parts for break downs.

The red plastic tub on the far side is a plastic tool box that had a carry handle in the middle with a tub on each side. I cut it in half so one side could fit behind the seat. I originally had both in there but as I bought more tools and tool bags I took one out. Also I had made the boxes in the bed, so I was able to move stuff was back there for easier access and use.



Because of all the stuff I have put back there it was getting difficult to get my thumb or finger in there to push up the release knob. So I bought a couple of repair lawnmower start pull cords with rubber "T" handles. Drilled a 3/16" hole in both of the plastic seat knobs and attached the cord to it so now I can just pull put and forward on the "T".





I had bought some TRED's will working at TJM USA so once the rack was done I was able to mount them up in the roof out of the way and always there and one less thing to load before leaving. There are bolted at the front with 1/2" plated "J" bolts that there radius j's fit perfectly around the 1" cross tubing of the rack. The rears are strapped down in place. they take some time to get off, but that is not really a bad thing. They are tucked away in the Passenger Side front behind the TJM awning and the front rack front wind deflector.



Something we picked up at Overland Expo 2014 that was prompted the high winds that year were some ARB Supergrip Sandpegs "stacks" for the awning. These things are great - pricey but great, I think they were around $6.00 each. We have used them at Moron Lake which is silty dry sand, Anza and other desert camping, and they have held in 40 to 50 MPH winds! Need a pry tool to pull them out.



Another piece of gear we saw Overland Expo this time 2016 was the ARB twin 100% duty cycle compressor. It was a hard buy because of the price, but after looking at compressors for a few years this was the one we needed. Because the Super Duty is fitted with E rated tires and run them at 75psi when towing Bob on the highway any other compressor would just take way too long to re-inflate the tires after being aired down. Or if we ever have a plug able flat.

I choose to mount it in the front of the bed out of the way for us to sleep and pack the bed for track days. Which by the way it works great for airing up the track car and trailer tires also! There is no extra room at all in the engine bay with the 7.3's dual batteries, air, countless coolers, piping and engine, so the bed or under the truck was my only option.



the temporary air plumbing and bed electrical, I plan to move the air fittings to the bumpers once I make them as well as add more charging capabilities down the road. For now this works well and we can plug the Solar into the truck and top off the trucks batteries. I also have room to add in lighting and maybe a radio in the back.