Sunday I installed a trim panel in the tailgate. Always loved the look of this trim, and thanks to DC, the truck now has one. Very sharp looking in my opinion.

Will have some more changes to share on the truck in the coming weeks. Until then, thought I'd share a little venture we made with the truck to pick up a new camper.

The wife, little guy and I, brought it home last night. Got a screamer of a deal on it, as it's a 2017 model, brand new, been sitting in a local show room the last 4 years, apparently just waiting for us, haha. Right now, finding pop up campers is next to impossible, at least here in the midwest. My wife and I collectively called over 20 RV/Camper dealers within a few hours radius of us and literally the only place that had one was where we got this one from. Every dealer we called told us they can't keep pop up campers on their lots. Brand new models are 3+ months out waiting list, and when used ones come in they're sold within hours apparently. Even the used market is extraordinarily thin right now, even if you're willing to travel a great distance to get it. Seems with the whole covid situation, loads of people who are not normally the camping types, have purchased campers. How on earth the stars aligned and this one we found ended up being darn near exactly what we were looking for, I have not a clue. But it worked out great and we got a fantastic price on what is basically still a brand new camper.

 

Hey WheelMan6 that tailgate trim looks just right.
Sure would like some more details about that pop-up camper.
Especially some opened up pix inside and out.

 

Thanks! It needed it, in my opinion. Was just the right amount of trim for the tailgate.

The camper is a Coachmen Clipper Sport. Exact model is 108ST SS. In comparison to most campers these days, it's a pretty basic, "no frills" setup. When my family and I camp, we spend the majority of our time exploring. We're avid hikers, and love to see the sights, rather than sit at the camp site. So, we have never had much use for a high end extravagant camper setup. Having said that, even this model has quite a few neat little extras our old Jayco didn't have, such as extra storage (large front compartment), 3-way refrigerator (can run on AC, DC, & propane), furnace/heater with thermostat, heated mattresses, trailer brakes, and the dealer has a new awning on order for us, as the original was missing parts they could no longer get. All in all it's a perfect setup for us and our intended use, especially considering the price we got if for, and being brand new. It should serve us well for many years, and thankfully I have plenty of space to store it inside out of the elements.

Since you requested, here's a few shots of the camper set up, and from inside.

 

Thanks WheelMan.
That looks like a very comfortable set-up.
Heated matresses? Hola...must be nice.
That shed is pretty impressive too.

 

We think so too, thanks!

Yeah we were caught off guard with the heated mattresses. Not something we expected one of these little campers to have. Appears to be basically like a heated blanket. Has a little cord you plug into it with heat settings you can control it with.

The shop is a 45'x80' post frame Morton Building. Rock floor right now, as it was originally built just for farm equipment storage.

My plans are to pour a concrete floor with pex water line for in-floor heat, and spray foam insulate the building, to seal it up, give myself a space for a 2-post lift, and have year round capability to work in comfort. Hoping to get started on these plans in the next year or so.

 

No updates on the truck really, but we put a flag pole up in our yard this weekend and got what I think is a pretty cool photo of the truck with it.

Just thought it was worthy of sharing with you all.

 

I wasn't feeling the generic bumper, but have always been a fan of the roll pan look. So I'm trying it out for a while. May go back to a bumper some day, who knows. I like change, so nothing ever really stays the same when it's in my collection.


Roll pan is ready for paint, need to get that pulled off and over to the shop soon.


I needed a new frame mount receiver hitch that I could modify to fit up nicely under the roll pan, as they all seem designed to reach down low to clear a bumper. So I grabbed a nice heavy duty 3 piece Curt Class V setup that had side plates with enough meat to work with.






Relocated up as high as I could on the mounting plates


And then trimmed away the unused section of the side plates


I also decided to put some 1" leaf blocks in, as I could never really tell if the rear was actually level with the front, or a touch low. After installing them, I believe it was in fact level, because now I've got a little rake, which I actually like. I can put a little weight in the rear, or on the hitch, and not be carolina leanin' going down the road, lol. The leaf blocks are fabricated, and extremely nice quality, from PMF Suspension. Great people to work with, and the finished product is excellent quality. I threw some new 5/8 u-bolts from Bronco Graveyard on as well.




Drop hitch is from Bulletproof Hitches, and the support links as well. Very heavy duty stuff, and quick & easy to remove when not in use. It's all a bit overkill for what I'm doing with the truck, but I don't like cheap underbuilt junk. I ran the additional wires required and converted from the original 4 pin to a 7 pin electrical trailer connection, so I can utilize the brakes on my Haulmark trailer and camper.


Took the truck on a 230 mile round trip excursion this last weekend, and I sure do enjoy cruising it around. People love seeing it, and flag me down everywhere, even cruising down the interstate. Definitely makes me anxious to continue working through the rest of what I have in store for it.

 

beautiful rig.

Did you ever take it for a computer alignment after the lift?

 

What brand of roll pan is that is it bolt on? I like the roll pan look also but like my contour bumper also I have been thinking of trying a roll pan and if I change my mind I will put two holes to put the bumper brackets threw and it will clean up the gaps behind the contour bumper. Great idea on the hitch also

 

Hows the fuel mileage on that dude?

 

I had planned to, and never got around to it. With the only adjustment possible being toe in/out, I got it as close as I could myself, and it drove pretty good, so I didn't have a lot of motivation to get it over to the shop for a computer alignment. I will most likely still do this at some point though. I'll post up the results here when I do.

The roll pan is a MAR-K I ordered from Summit Racing (Part #: MRK-120459). It's a bolt on that can also be welded in if you wish, as it's galvanized steel. Still need to get mine painted.

Thanks on the hitch. Turned out pretty close to how I envisioned it. Wanted it tucked up as far as I could get it.

haha, about as bad (or good, if you're a "glass half full" kinda guy) as you'd expect, single digits. Old and tired 460, 3 spd auto, 3.50 gears, 35" tires...she guzzles.

 

Time to get started on the next phase of this project. Been waiting on this since last year, and now it's here. I've posted about it a bit in another thread, but will include the details here as well.

Last fall I found a pair of guys on Instagram, while trying to decide between a Coyote swap or this route, Godzilla. Early last year when I purchased the truck, I had intentions of going full Fat Fender Garage on this rig, to Coyote swap it. And then I caught wind of the 7.3L being available as a crate package. That ultimately led me to the guys at Godzilla Garage / The Infamous Project. Two separate entities that work together to bring guys like us a sweet package deal.

2021 7.3L Godzilla and Superduty Torqshift 6 (6R140) transmission, OEM wire harness terminated at the body (creating an engine & trans only harness) with OBD port in tact, all FEAD, water pump, power steering pump, alternator, and AC compressor, drive by wire pedal, OEM unlocked and custom tuned PCM, MAF sensor, and exhaust o2 sensors. This package, out the door, shipped from Ontario Canada to me in IL, freight and all included, was $10,700. Very fair deal all considering. Plus it's a new pull-out, delivery miles only, less than 10.

Got some Welder Series engine mounts in. Hoping to relocate and use the factory trans cross member. Still a few things on order/in route, including Dakota Digital RTX gauges with all the accessory modules, Wizard Cooling aluminum radiator, Boyd Welding aluminum fuel tank and PWM fuel management system from Fat Fender Garage, F-250 style trans dip stick (definitely not keeping that mile long van style dip stick), BlueTop rebuilt steering box, Wilwood brake booster & master cylinder with proportioning valve for front/rear, and countless other small bits and pieces. Once it's in and it's final home is established, I'll get some custom driveshafts on the way and rebuild the 9" with a Eaton TrueTrac and looks like probably a 3.70 gearset.

Decided I'm going to call her "Dentzilla"

 

Big moves!!!! This hopefully is a future project for me.

Are we to assume everything needed to run the engine standalone came with the kit? Outside of having the transmission, what makes this a better option that say the Mast Motorsports standalone setup?

 

Yes, aside from cooling system (radiator) and fuel system (tank, pump, lines, etc), this is a very complete setup, darn near turn key. Very cost effective if you can use the 6R140 transmission.

The biggest selling points to me for going this route instead of a Mast Motorsports setup (or even ford crate with OBR) were: 1) overall cost for this complete setup is considerably less, 2) OEM computer and harness that controls both the engine and trans together is already included, 3) don't have to source a transmission and standalone trans controller.

Those three were big to me, and since I'm not going for race car power, just solid power with daily drivable dependability, I knew I didn't really need the high end replacement components that Mast builds into their packages. No doubt they build some awesome options, but for my goal, and budget, I couldn't beat this pull-out setup's price to completion ratio. Not to mention it is going to save me some work as well.

Mast Motorsports' packages are targeting guys wanting to make big power. While that's awesome and all, it just didn't fit my project. Given a larger budget and different end goal in mind for my truck, I may very well have gone that route.

 

That price is very appealing for that drivetrain. If it was 4wd I’d be reconsidering my plans.