Gorillamel's X- Interceptor Edition

[MadMike]

Totally jealous right now, looks like you'll have an awesome time!

 

[gorillamel]

Overland Idaho Adventure 2013 has ended. I posted up pics on my photo adventure thread here (look at the post just above it, too. I separated Lolo and Magruder into two different posts): http://www.xterranation.org/showthread.php?428-SW-Idaho-Wheeling-(pic-heavy)&p=115357#post115357

Here is my adventure buddy rig:

Inside

And my fav pic of the who trip (along Magruder):

GoPro Time!

 

[gorillamel]

After spending far too much time on Expedition Portal and doing many overland trips, I have come up with a list of things the X should have to make life easier and safer when out in BFE.

• Dual battery: either put spare in rear or make room in engine bay
• 40ct refrigerator ($650)
• Aftermarket roof rack that can hold an RTT (or a lot of weight)
• More water tanks (that can withstand abuse)
• Scangague: to monitor engine/oil temps (~$160)
• Build up storage shelf in back for drawers
• Convert inside lights to LEDs
• maxtrax (or cheaper brand) (~$150)
• trasharoo ($44.99)
• Get 2nd full size spare and store where original spare was
• Beef up AAL (Alcans or go to Boise Springworks)
• Get a better on board air compressor --> ViAir ($200)
• Snorkel
• Get Hi Lift tire adapter and off road base and slider holder
• Tablet or some sort of small computer to map routes and monitor GPS (see previous post about what Toyman uses in his X)
• Beef up survival/first aid kit
• Get smart phone so can have GoPro app, monitor altitude, speed, pitch/yaw etc.
• back up lights
• awning (~$200)

GoPro video of some of Lolo Motorway Trail from this past weekend event
[video=youtube_share;g70ZfarhiOA]http://youtu.be/g70ZfarhiOA[/video]

 

[dhyde79]

After spending far too much time on Expedition Portal and doing many overland trips, I have come up with a list of things the X should have to make life easier and safer when out in BFE.


[*]Dual battery: either put spare in rear or make room in engine bay
[*]40ct refrigerator ($650)
[*]Aftermarket roof rack that can hold an RTT (or a lot of weight)
[*]More water tanks (that can withstand abuse)
[*]Scangague: to monitor engine/oil temps (~$160)
[*]Build up storage shelf in back for drawers
[*]Convert inside lights to LEDs
[*]maxtrax (or cheaper brand) (~$150)
[*]trasharoo ($44.99)
[*]Get 2nd full size spare and store where original spare was
[*]Beef up AAL (Alcans or go to Boise Springworks)
[*]Get a better on board air compressor --> ViAir ($200)
[*]Snorkel
[*]Get Hi Lift tire adapter and off road base and slider holder
[*]Tablet or some sort of small computer to map routes and monitor GPS (see previous post about what Toyman uses in his X)
[*]Beef up survival/first aid kit
[*]Get smart phone so can have GoPro app, monitor altitude, speed, pitch/yaw etc.
[*]back up lights
[*]awning (~$200)


GoPro video of some of Lolo Motorway Trail from this past weekend event
Video Link: http://youtu.be/g70ZfarhiOA

Well, I concur with most of your additions, here are my tips:

Dual battery: driver rear fender is wide open behind the plastic, that's where mine's going.

Roof rack: you have a gen2, go get a dephep, I've had upwards of 900lbs stacked in/on my rack that's similar, and no signs of any problems...

Bullydog instead of scangauge, same features and then some, like WOT delete. The ability to neuter that crap out is a hell of an offroading upgrade.

Shelf: hells yes! Make a "secret compartment" that's forward facing that's a perfect fit right up against the back of the seats...

Maxtrax: if you find cheap ones, let me know!

Leaf springs: go local, they can rebuild your whole pack and get you much better load, ride, and height

Snorkel: make it yourself! There's a thread on here in which another user gave a great set of pointers for making one yourself from fiberglass

Tablet: make sure you find one with offline capable topo maps

Survival/first aid kit: we have an area for that here

Smartphone: go iPhone, loads of great expo beneficial apps , I've got a large number of them already

Back up lights: see prime about some 6" led bars

Awning: someone posted a DIY awning, great idea, will save you money too...

 

[MadMike]

Seeing your list of ideas is giving me ideas of my own for future mods.

Sent from my HTC Rezound

 

[Jack Stilts]

• Aftermarket roof rack that can hold an RTT (or a lot of weight) - RTT I ordered (only weighs 120) and DepHep it up!
• maxtrax (or cheaper brand) (~$150) - Got mine from ORPP Smittybilt brand; haven't used them yet but they seem to be pretty tough. And they're WAY bigger & stiffer than they appear to be in pictures.

 

[gorillamel]

The original plan is a dephep, but I'm looking at other possibilities. Not sure if I want to keep the original rack or go with something more like a slimeline- flat-topped w/o sides.

And the maxtrax type things I'm planning on are the ones from orpp (just cannot remember the brand name). HE already sent me the link of where they are located on his website, haha!

I'm leaning more toward placing the extra battery in the engine bay so that it keeps the rest of the area in the X free for gear.

All the ideas I have listed in the above post I already sourced what I am getting and what I plan to do. I just needed a place to write it all down, haha. But thanks for the recommendations. I shall definitely keep them in mind.

Sent from my PantechP8000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[NismoFire]

I love your hood. I know it's been like that for a while, but yeah...that's just bad azz, sister.


And I'm jealous of your expo!!!!!! I wish we had those types of roads/trails out here to do that with..one day...

 

[gorillamel]

^Thanks! Compliments are always welcome, no matter how old the mod, haha!

Yeah, I love Idaho. There are so many places to explore/overland and be so far away from civilisation that those extra gallons of gas come in handy! I figure the more I prepare the X for such trips, the better off I will be. I want it to be less a rock crawler and more a long distance exploratory rig.

 

[Mr_Scott]

But rocks are sooooo much fun! Great looking X you have built. I'm looking through your pics and seeing how you use your rig, quickly approaching 200k....big sigh of relief! I just hit 80k

 

[gorillamel]

Thanks! Rocks are fun, I agree. And damaging and limited in scope. I plan to continue to do rocks, but not as often. Exploring is more my style.

Going to try to get the Trasharoo here soon for my next adventure next weekend. Going wheeling on some more gnarly rocks this Saturday near-ish Bruneau, ID @Hooker Canyon. Pretty excited.

 

[NMTerras]

I hear ya mel and your post made me stop and think. I do love me some rocks but i spend more time exploring camping fishing. Thats why ive refocused efforts on my second gen. Its more comfortable and versatile.


Sent from my brain using technology

 

[gamecock257]

9 times out of 10 I'd rather take a service road for a scenic drive or an easy trail just to chill on and enjoy the sights.

But there is that one time when you just want to go crawl and you have to find a rock garden to play in.

I really like your rig Mel. Keep up the awesome work.

 

[NismoFire]

9 times out of 10 I'd rather take a service road for a scenic drive or an easy trail just to chill on and enjoy the sights.

But there is that one time when you just want to go crawl and you have to find a rock garden to play in.

I really like your rig Mel. Keep up the awesome work.

This. I couldn't have said it better.

 

[MadMike]

9 times out of 10 I'd rather take a service road for a scenic drive or an easy trail just to chill on and enjoy the sights.

But there is that one time when you just want to go crawl and you have to find a rock garden to play in.

I really like your rig Mel. Keep up the awesome work.

This x 2. Will always enjoy off-roading, but there is something completely relaxing about jumping on a Forest Service road and finding some beautiful scenery.

 

[Maxterra]

^Thanks! Compliments are always welcome, no matter how old the mod, haha!

Yeah, I love Idaho. There are so many places to explore/overland and be so far away from civilisation that those extra gallons of gas come in handy! I figure the more I prepare the X for such trips, the better off I will be. I want it to be less a rock crawler and more a long distance exploratory rig.

^^^ Ditto "UTAH" and ID, wyo, nv. ^^^

Love traveling all day on the back roads and trails!!

Rig is getting more badass all the time Mel !

We gotta hook up sometime, over landing that is.

Dave

 

[rokdaddy]

Thanks! Rocks are fun, I agree. And damaging and limited in scope. I plan to continue to do rocks, but not as often. Exploring is more my style.

I hear ya mel and your post made me stop and think. I do love me some rocks but i spend more time exploring camping fishing. Thats why ive refocused efforts on my second gen. Its more comfortable and versatile.

Yeah, I love Idaho. There are so many places to explore/overland and be so far away from civilisation that those extra gallons of gas come in handy! I figure the more I prepare the X for such trips, the better off I will be. I want it to be less a rock crawler and more a long distance exploratory rig.

^^^ Ditto "UTAH" and ID, wyo, nv. ^^^

Love traveling all day on the back roads and trails!!

This x 2. Will always enjoy off-roading, but there is something completely relaxing about jumping on a Forest Service road and finding some beautiful scenery.

Y'all are speaking to my soul...

The Idaho/Wyoming/Utah/Colorado border is ripe with awesome trails. What do you think about think about putting together a mountain region overland trip? I'll bet that if we pool our experiences, we could put together an awesome trek.

-Rok

 

[gorillamel]

^OMG yes! Each of us who live in those respective states can come up with trails to do and share our ideas and then we can plan it out accordingly!

Yesterday I did a rock run. It very well may be the last one I do. I REALLY beat up the X a lot. It was fun, but also stressful. I have such high miles on my stock axles that I am kind of waiting for the moment they decide to go kaput on me. I prefer trails with some rocks that I can eventually surmount, not trails that are mostly rocks that involve massive use of my sliders.

I appreciate everyone's input. You share the same mentality that I do. Glad I'm not the only one.
Here are some pics (I'll post others in my adventure thread in the events section):

 

[dhyde79]

Sorry to see the body wrinkle...maybe it's time for some trimming for 35's?

I'm muchly in the same opinion as you, the scenery of a trail is what I enjoy, not rock humping...though, I do so making the jeep buddy eat his words when he says I can't make it over something

 

[Xterraforce]

I'm with you on that one Mel. I like some rocks on a trail but not mostly rocks. My sliders are intended as "just in case" protection, not "now I can grind over that" devices. When I hear them scrape I'm sure glad I have them but I still cringe a little

 

[gorillamel]

Sorry to see the body wrinkle...maybe it's time for some trimming for 35's?

I'm muchly in the same opinion as you, the scenery of a trail is what I enjoy, not rock humping...though, I do so making the jeep buddy eat his words when he says I can't make it over something

Ha, right. I actually have no interest in getting bigger tires. I would like to re-gear, which means getting different axles (I'm thinking Ford 8.8 rear and Titan front) for the gears that I want (4.54s). But I am in no rush to do so. The list I made a few posts above are higher priority than the most expensive endeavor. My off road club members are more than willing to help me find the axles I want (mostly Jeepers, so they find this project "curious").

One of the biggest downfalls on the rock run yesterday was that the X weighs so dang much! I'd just get bogged down in the soft ground while trying to overcome some rocks. I do not even have a full skid set yet! I was probably one of, if not the, heaviest rigs out there.

 

[mistertinkle]

I like your 'expedition' plan Mel. I don't have a Scangauge or BullyDog, so I don't the full features of either. Since you are considering a tablet for maps/GPS, you might also consider a OBDII bluetooth device that can connect to a tablet. It won't give you WOT (which would be nice), but it will let you get engine temp, intake temp, RPMS, speed, and a host of other factory sensors. I use a 7" Android based tablet in my truck for maps (GPS, Google maps, Backcountry Navigator), music/audio books, and I use TorquePro to monitor truck stuff. TorquePro will also let you read and clear ECU codes.

 

[Mr_Scott]

I think whenever you are hanging out with them damn Jeep guys, you are always going to be beating on the X. Whenever I show up to do a run with my local club, I'm a single X in a sea of Jeeps. I know for a fact the last one I did I was the only IFS rig and the only one on 33"s.

Sorry for your trail damage:sad:

 

[gorillamel]

Took the X to my fabricator (who helped make my front bumper) to look at the damage on the bumper from the winch mishap.

I'll just leave it angled into the fenders (probably cut them back a bit). He's going to weld the bumper to the frame and make it super extra strong (at no cost to me). He's going to add recovery points to the front as well.

Bought the d-ring clevis shackles this morning from a local farm and tractor store (woooo ag business!).

He'll help me make the home-made snorkel as well after I gather all the parts for it, too.

Pics of the points of bumper that started to "rip" and come away from frame:
Driver

Passenger (slight tear in middle of pic):

While looking at bumper I discovered that I put a massive dent in my rad skid as well:

(profile view from pass side)

Sent from my PantechP8000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Slasa]

Phew! Better that rad skid than the rad! Please tell me you dented it running over a Prius! Haha!
I intend to weld my frame/ bumper mounts, too.

 

[gorillamel]

Hahaha exactly! I wheel the crap out of my X. Bangs and bruises are to be expected, I guess. I just do not like paying for them, bah!

 

[Maxterra]

I can't really tell from your pics, but is your bumper just attached to the front of the frame? (If I'm wrong, disregard following blab)

For winching, really needs to pick up the two frame holes underneath too. Front mounts are too light by themselves.

This is the only pics I can find from my build. Kinda hard to see front & bottom connection between the two.

Might show that to your fab guy for ideas.

I'd be glad to fix up your skid plate when you're out here

 

[gorillamel]

I'll double check to see if the bottom mount is on there. I thought it was, but it's good to double check. Thanks for the pics! I'll explain it to him.

Ha, thanks for the offer! I need to learn to treat the X a little better, rock crawling is on the back burner. Goodness me, I LOVE skids! I'd hate to see how the others look, haha!

 

[gorillamel]

Dropped the X off at fabricator this weekend (and sent him your pics, Dave, thanks!). He is also going to fab up some mounts for me to put up the 7" Hanma light bar on the front bumper. May also try to tune the X as well.

Got a call from a coworker this morning asking for my X's assistance in helping a friend of his get unstuck from a fairly difficult trail (Tiddy Springs near Silver City, ID, roughly here: 43.064122,-116.743496). Picked up the X from fabricator and headed over to meet him and some friends. They took up their 4-wheelers and I followed in the X. VERY overgrown and rutted out trail. Nearly rolled the X when I went into a slide going down a gravelly steep hill and hit the brakes and lost control for a bit. Another reason to re-gear IMO.

Apparently the friend got lost/disoriented in his gf's 2WD 4Runner and could not make it out once he got so far down the mountainous terrain. It was my job to pull him out and over the rocky and steep sections with the X. At one point as I was pulling him, I slid into a massive rut and the more I tried to pull him, the more my front up came up nearly laying the X onto its side (would not have been hard to push it upright again the rut was so large). Friends came to the rescue and got me out of there and re-aligned to 4Runner to pull him up and out. Gotta say, an overgrown, tight trail with rocks and trees right up on you warning of body damage while pulling a 2WD equally as heavy vehicle up a mountain is no easy task. BUT we got it done!

I forgot my SPOT GPS and the GoPro, so no action pics. Sorry. Only the completed pics:

They were all so thankful and grateful. I do not know how to take massive compliments well. I'm just glad to help and flattered they thought of me to come help them. 4Runner was so happy he gave me some money. MOAR money for MODS!!!

It occurred to me today, that wheeling is a very important aspect of my life. And the fact that someone in need thought of me as a person to come to for rescue is utterly flattering and quite an accomplishment. My passenger said he was amazed at how well I drove. Really? I never thought about it before. I drive/wheel b/c it is my passion. Never really considered it an art. Huh.

 

[gorillamel]

X got the light bar installed today and the front tow points on the bumper. He also fixed the skid plate (one of the bolt holes was stripped), but not the dent. Guess I know where my rescue money is going, haha!

Sent from my PantechP8000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Timrich]

Nice! I like it Mel!

Sent from over there...

 

[Macland]

That's a really cool story Mel.

 

[gorillamel]

Thanks, guys!

Picked the X up today. Fabricator asked me if I noticed that a chunk of my transfer case was mssing. Wha?!

Sure enough. Lesson: even if you're dirt poor, go buy a full set of skids. Just put them on a credit card. Alas, this is what I shall have to do to complete my set (engine and t-case).

Also fianlly gave the X a good clean out, vacuum and organisation today.

Sent from my PantechP8000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[RATTFINK]

Good read. I need skids, badly.

Sent Using Tapatalk 4
from a Galaxy SIII
FAR, FAR AWAY

 

[Roadwarrior]

I'm lucky to have pegged a pair for NXM.

 

[MadMike]

Makes me kinda re-think my mod order for the new rig, may need to look into a full set of skids (or at least getting the skids to cover the holes where coverage is lacking from stock skids).

 

[dhyde79]

Makes me kinda re-think my mod order for the new rig, may need to look into a full set of skids (or at least getting the skids to cover the holes where coverage is lacking from stock skids).

Stock skids are better than none...I've bashed a fair bit of rocks and my stock skids are doing just fine...I don't think Mel had any stock skids....

 

[gorillamel]

^I do not, alas. I have the "S" model. I've been meaning to finish my set and simply kept putting it on the back burner. Well, there's no time like the present. Since I have the orig NXRocks skids, I was hoping to keep them all that way, but no one is selling the ones that I need of those. Ah well, just going to get some Hefty ones I guess.

I'm going over to an off road friend's place on Monday to finish installing and moving my lights around. I asked if he would help me look at the X's underside to help make sure there is no more damage and to make sure nothing internally wrong with t-case.

 

[Jack Stilts]

Dang. I don't do a ton of off-roading with rocks; mostly just sand and woods, but reading this makes me want to put skids on my list. Thanks for the inspiration / reminder! And hopefully the repairs go smoothly

 

[dhyde79]

^I do not, alas. I have the "S" model. I've been meaning to finish my set and simply kept putting it on the back burner. Well, there's no time like the present. Since I have the orig NXRocks skids, I was hoping to keep them all that way, but no one is selling the ones that I need of those. Ah well, just going to get some Hefty ones I guess.

I'm going over to an off road friend's place on Monday to finish installing and moving my lights around. I asked if he would help me look at the X's underside to help make sure there is no more damage and to make sure nothing internally wrong with t-case.

Diehard offroader buddy says "no leak=no worries"