malibubts's 2015 Ram 1500 CCSB Build

malibubts

Adventurer
Dog Platform Updates

The rear seat platform is another step closer to being done. I ended up deciding against the carpet as I was worried about durability as well as my abilities to make it look good when it was finished. I went with a DIY bed liner instead. After looking around Raptor Liner seemed to be a pretty popular brand and it seemed like it would be a better coating since it was a two part mixture. I went with the roll on option, which turned out pretty well. If I had an air compressor or was doing something more important than covering plywood I would have definitely shot the coating on with an air gun.

Also, be careful with this stuff. It has a pretty intense fume once you get it mixed and is really tough to get off anything once it's on there. I painted the thing in shorts and that wasn't the best idea; I had to take a pair of scissors to free some clumps of leg hair afterwards. It'll also take a good week+ to dry; I put the platform in the truck after about 5 days and I could still get a whiff of the chemical smell when getting into the truck after it sat.


IMG_0488 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

The texture turned out pretty well; not too rough, but not too soft either. I used the included rollers in the kit and they seemed to do an OK job. A bit of caution here though, pay attention to the rollers starting to rip apart. As the coating starts to set up it gets stickier and wants to rip off tiny pieces of the foam from the roller. So I have some tiny bits of foam randomly stuck to the coating. They are slowly coming off and it's not too big a deal, but something worth considering.


IMG_0489 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Mounted up inside the truck


IMG_0491 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Really the only thing left is to get some tie down points on there. Testing it out with the kennel and some other items showed things were pretty prone to sliding around. I was initially going to just go with some D Ring mounts, but after thinking it through wanted something a little more adaptable. The Decked Core Trax are on my list of items to pick up and I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to use the same style of tie downs on the platform. So the rough plan is to get two 48" airline track tie downs and mount them along the width of the platform. That should provide plenty of options to tie down whatever I have in the back.
 

wanderer-rrorc

Explorer
Yeah I knew those were around but with the short planning time I wasn't able to get those in. Went the easy route and stayed at Hope both nights. I'll take a look in the sub-forum; might have to go back equipped with a better route. I did want to make that trip but unfortunately was busy that weekend.

you missed a good weekend!

rear deck looks good!!!
 
Cool build I got a 15 big horn ccsb ecodiesel slowly building up like the shell but haul dirt bikes too much can't use one bummer.
FYI you posted locker for your truck it's actually a limited slip they don't offer locker for 1500
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Cool build I got a 15 big horn ccsb ecodiesel slowly building up like the shell but haul dirt bikes too much can't use one bummer.
FYI you posted locker for your truck it's actually a limited slip they don't offer locker for 1500
Thanks! Yeah after 6 months or so with the cap I really like it, but it's gotta be right for how you use the truck. I rarely have something in the back that causes issues so it works for me.

And yeah knew it was LSD, not sure what I was thinking when I typed Locker.

You done tires or a level yet? I think that's going to be my next move.

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Thanks! Yeah after 6 months or so with the cap I really like it, but it's gotta be right for how you use the truck. I rarely have something in the back that causes issues so it works for me.

And yeah knew it was LSD, not sure what I was thinking when I typed Locker.

You done tires or a level yet? I think that's going to be my next move.

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yeah did 285/75r17 toyo extreme with method wheels, for leveling kit i have a good friend who is an engineer at fox shocks and got me 2.0 coilovers with rear shocks to make it level and put airlift 1k bags in back for loads and trailer. truck does extremely well offroad pulls hard at 2krpm up loose hill climbs absolutely no slipping. have a arb compressor to add and maybe if i get time custom fab a hidden winch behind bumper. building this to be a reliable trail rig to go camping with daughter. tried posting picture but wont let me guess not cool enough
 
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malibubts

Adventurer
yeah did 285/75r17 toyo extreme with method wheels, for leveling kit i have a good friend who is an engineer at fox shocks and got me 2.0 coilovers with rear shocks to make it level and put airlift 1k bags in back for loads and trailer. truck does extremely well offroad pulls hard at 2krpm up loose hill climbs absolutely no slipping. have a arb compressor to add and maybe if i get time custom fab a hidden winch behind bumper. building this to be a reliable trail rig to go camping with daughter. tried posting picture but wont let me guess not cool enough

Sounds like you got quite the deal on the suspension! I'll probably be going with Bilstein 5100s or 6112s up front; the fox kit or something else high end that like would be awesome, but I can't justify the price for my uses. Going to run with just the front for a little while I think and see what I want out in the back; will likely go with 5100s in the rear and either a new spring set or air bags.

As far as posting a picture of your truck, pretty sure there is a post threshold you need to hit to post links. I think it might be 10, but I'm not completely sure about that.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Allegheny National Forest

Had a great time out in PA last weekend exploring a bit of the Alleghenies. I've been camping all around Ohio and Kentucky, and have wanted to get over there for a while. One of the nice things about now living in NEO is ANF is only 2-3 hours away from me depending on where you go.

I originally had this trip planned out for about a month back, but a forecast of 90% chance of rain had us in Zaleski instead. The forecast showed rain on Sunday this time around, but we just went for it anyway.

The route I had planed out had us driving to Chapman State Park for the first night of camping. It's a very well built up site, but I am easing my girlfriend into the primitive camping and this site had a shower house. We just spent the night there and got packed up in the morning pretty early to go explore.


Allegheny 06042017 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Took some forest roads to the first stop, Hearts Content. It's not the longest or most challenging hike by any means, but there is a portion of the area that is a virgin forest. A lot of area has been cut at least once, but this area was never cut and later donated to the ANF. Really cool spot to check out if you are ever in the area.


IMG_0504 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_0529 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

This took us to about halfway through Saturday and we were off to the next campsite, Minister Creek. This is a much more primitive site, located near the start of the backpacking loop in the area. It is only a 6 site camp ground, so it was a bit of a roll of the dice not getting there until mid day Saturday, but there were a few spots open when we got there. I really liked this site, it was tucked back in and had some great scenery.


IMG_0926 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_0672 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

After setting up camp we took the Middle Loop of the backpacking trail.


IMG_0785 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_0759 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_0854 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_0886 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

It ended up raining on Sunday morning so we packed up pretty early and headed back home. All in all it was a pretty solid trip and I'm looking forward to the next trip back.

Since we stayed at the same site last trip we just used the tent, this time around though we slept under the cap in the back. It worked out really well and the Decked gave us a ton of space in the back. We were able to get our sleeping pads and our dog's bed in the width of the bed with the flat surface you get on top. I do wish we had a little more head room though, almost kicking myself a bit for not getting a mid-high shell.

Completely unrelated to the trip; I got a free sticker from Midwest Overlanders in a little Facebook raffle, so I stuck it on my cooler.


IMG_0721 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 
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malibubts

Adventurer
More Platform Updates

Think this should be the last update on the dog platform. I got the Core Trax tie dows installed and I think they'll be pretty useful. I have the dog in the truck enough I don't really take out the kennel and it's been sliding all over the place recently. It was a pretty simply job; just drill the holes and through bolt.


2017-06-22 17.44.07 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


2017-06-22 17.43.54 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

In the truck. I just pieced the tie downs together from what I have, I probably need to get some better sized ones. I also only got 4 load locks in the kit and want to get some more, but it seems they charge almost $20 a piece for them. Since you can basically buy another kit for the same price, I'm going to have to figure out something to do.


2017-06-22 17.50.43 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I also picked up a few bins from Lowe's to use to pack up; a smaller one for in the cab I plan to use for clothes and then a larger one for the bed to keep some kitchen gear in.

2017-06-22 17.56.53 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Not for the dog platform, but after the last trip I realized it was a real pain to open/close the tail gate when you're in the bed. You have to reach over with one hand to get the latch and awkwardly hold the outside to let the tailgate down without dropping it. Figured a little strap on the inside would be perfect and I had a little extra webbing laying around. I just cut it to size, drilled a couple holes, fused it, and ran a tailgate panel bolt through. Seems to work pretty well in my testing so far.


2017-06-22 17.51.02 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Decked CoreTrax

I got the CoreTrax tie downs for the Decked installed as well. These are sold through Decked as they are sized a bit differently than their standard kits, but they still manufacture them from Decked. As with the set on the dog platform it took me around 30 minutes for the install and it was pretty straight forward.


2017-06-25 17.00.10 by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Haven't had to secure anything down in the back, but I'm glad to have some tie down points back. Getting into the bed to push everything to the back to use the cargo bar was getting a little old.
 

wanderer-rrorc

Explorer
Nice!! I just got back from the alleghenys 2 weeks ago..just missed you...I did kinzua dam and sky walk, jakes rock and ran all over eventually ending up at kelletville campground...

we are going with MWO mid atlantic and some guys from overland bound august 5th!! events posted on the facebook pages..
 

malibubts

Adventurer
Nice!! I just got back from the alleghenys 2 weeks ago..just missed you...I did kinzua dam and sky walk, jakes rock and ran all over eventually ending up at kelletville campground...

we are going with MWO mid atlantic and some guys from overland bound august 5th!! events posted on the facebook pages..
Going to try and make that run. Pulled down your GPX files and it looks like mostly different areas than I ran. Won't know for a little bit longer, but want to make it.

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malibubts

Adventurer
Allegheny National Forest

Had another free weekend where I wasn't on call and wanted to get back out somewhere. Last time around I really only got to hit maybe 20% of ANF so I wanted to head back and see some more. I'm hopefully also going to make it on the MWO run here in a month or so and tried to plan the route out to not overlap too much.


2017_07_14
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

It was just the dog and me since the girlfriend was out of town; the map was what I had planned out but I made it down some other roads. I had a bit more freedom just myself and was able to find some pretty cool forest roads and dispersed camp sites I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Night 1 camped off of Forest Road 137. This was a pretty cool spot near a bend in a road and situated pretty close a few small creeks.


IMG_1127
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_1178
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

Night 2 camped off of Forest Road 160. I wasn't as big of a fan of this site since it was so open, but it was the best that wasn't taken. People understandably post up on Friday night so finding camp Saturday evening isn't the easiest.


IMG_1475
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I also got the first couple nights out on the new sleep system. I had a Klymit inflatable pad, but it wasn't the most comfortable and was also a pain to deflate and inflate every day. I found another thread where someone was talking about a folding foam mattress and that looked like a really great idea.


IMG_1232
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

This was much more comfortable than the Kylmit and it was a hell of a lot easier to use. It also fit well in the bed of the truck, which is a plus. I do wish the cover material was more heavy duty, it was definitely made to be used indoors. Hopefully it doesn't wear out to quickly and have me back looking for another solution.

Since Maya is a bit of an energetic breed I did have to make sure to mix in some hiking so she wasn't cooped up in her kennel all day. We hit the Rimrock Overlook trail first thing in the morning for about 3 miles of hiking and then the Kinzua Valley Trail for another 3 miles later in the day.


IMG_1319
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I bought a little more gear to test out on the trip as well. I'm a big fan of grilling, and more specifically with charcoal. I have a portable grill but it was still pretty large so I looked around for a collapsible version and found the UCO Flat Pack. I also needed to find a chimney that would break down and found that Camp Maid made a version. I grilled dinner both nights of the trip and the two worked very well.


IMG_1250
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr


IMG_1261
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr

I had to get a photo with a Forest Service sign.


IMG_1105
by ebeiersdorfer, on Flickr
 
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