[Y E T I]

Went out to Mojave National Preserve with Kevin for some relaxation and jackrabbit hunting. We got some relaxation at least.

We arrived in camp shortly before sunset and set up camp. Gotta love how fast the GFC sets up. We then had some Popeye’s chicken for dinner and hung out by the fire pit until it got too cold.


Night sky


The windmill backlit by the lights of Vegas


Up to a cold crisp morning



After a leisurely breakfast, we got set to go out and hunt some jackrabbits


After not finding any, we went back to camp to work on some projects and to relax. Kevin installed some LED lights inside his shell and I installed my chase and back up lights using 3D printed clips from a guy on the GFC forum. It looks like hell for now because I used the wiring from when I had my roof rack but I really wanted to get an idea how this would work out and get my lights up. So ignore the ugly wiring




We grilled up some ribeyes and baked potatoes and par boiled some broccoli for dinner. It was delicious.


Then we chilled by the camp fire and star gazed



We were up early this morning and headed home for chores and wives. All in all, a great weekend.

 

[Y E T I]

Today I built home made roof rack bars out of 10-20 and some other parts I found listed on the GFC forum. They will only be used to carry my Maxtrax and (maybe some day) solar panels. Plenty strong for that.

It only took me three trips to Ace for hardware. 1st trip to get hardware. 2nd trip to get more hardware because I only got enough hardware for one bar the first trip. 3rd trip to get four more 1/4x20 bolts because somehow on either trip 1 or 2 I got some metric bolts instead of 1/4x20. FFS







Tomorrow I’ll be going back to Ace to get some longer 10/32 bolts so I can install the Quick Fists to carry my shovel…

 

[Y E T I]

I was going to go camping this weekend but the campground was a mud bog so I took care of a couple of projects at home.
Installed the headliner in the tent of my GFC using white Velcro from McMaster-Carr so the roof will still be light when I take the headliner out:


I adjusted it a little after I took this picture to close the gaps:


Added a pull cord for the tailgate for closing it when I'm in the bed:


And re-did the Quick Fists with BuiltRite spacers:


The I installed LED lights in the tent for the third time because the headliner covered up the second set I installed because #pisspoorplanning



I also put most of my patches up

I also put Velcro hook on the back of my little battery pack I use for my LED lights when the Jackery is not up there.

I tried a Pack Rack half bench in the bed. I thought it would be perfect for my needs and provide a bench for climbing into the tent while storing my Plano crate underneath. While the Plano does fit under it, it’s just too wide and takes up too much space in the bed. It would probably be perfect for someone who has a full-size truck. (Sorry for the potato-cam picture, not sure what happened) If a full-size owner in the SoCal area wants to give it a try I’ll give you a good deal

 

[Y E T I]

Had a productive day today. First, I learned last weekend that Colorados have big holes under the corners of the bed rail which allow a ton of dust in. A friend gave me some foam pieces and I stuffed those up in there.

My rear panel struts were shot so I ordered new struts from GFC and installed them today. Took all of 2 minutes and getting my head cracked once when I took the first strut out and the panel tried to take me out


So, in the picture above you can see how far down my bedding catch sags when loaded, partially blocking my view out the back. I’ve seen a few others had track up there and used t-nuts but because I have a short bed I didn’t have that option. What I did was measure up where the right spot would be and drilled a hole in the ledge the bed panel rests on. Then I bolted up a flat hex bolt with a picture hanger. I ordered a grommet kit of eBay and used that to put a grommet in the bedding catch. I have one of the cool Nite-ize carabiners somewhere in my multiple camping and hunting boxes, I couldn’t find it so I just used a mini carabiner. Works perfectly






Lastly, I added L-track to the side rails. These are not intended for anything heavy, just for hanging points and organization. I found black powder coated L-track and bought two 48" pieces. I then cut them each to 35 1/2". I measured where the captive nuts are on the frame rail and drilled two holes and mounted the L-track using the existing nuts.



Next weekend is the annual hunting club campout in the dessert so I'll get to spend a couple of nights in the truck!

 

[Y E T I]

This weekend was my varmint hunting club's annual camp out. It was really windy Friday night but fortunately it was blowing directly into the big window of the tent which made for a nice breeze to sleep in and the tent didn't flap too much.

Saturday morning it was crisp and clear with just a bit of wind.

After eggs and bacon for breakfast we went into the quarry to shoot. I brought my Henry 45-70 and my 6.5 Grendel AR. With the Grendel, it was easy to hit a 12" plate at 500 yards.

While I was out there, I realized one of the bolts which supports my Front Runner table had disappeared. Luckily, I have a ton of miscellaneous nuts and bolts and was able to find something to replace it.

I'm supposed to go turkey hunting soon so that'll probably be my next adventure...

 

[Y E T I]

Today I “installed” my two Filstrand rear frame bags. Super high quality bags, excellent customer service, and they fit perfectly. James used my Colorado as the test bed for the Gen 2 Colorado. Now I need to decide what to put in them . . .





I also received my Pro nut upgrade kit. I only did the four needed to hold my L-track in place so they’re much more secure now





Not sure what’s next other than camping in a few weeks with Kevin over Father's Day weekend

 

[Y E T I]

Went camping with Kevin this weekend. We have both had a lot on our plates lately so we decided to go to an established campground where we could have a campfire. Our timing was perfect too, as we arrived at exactly the same time.



Got to try out my new Turtlebox Ranger bluetooth speaker. Nice feature, it has powerful magnets so I could just stick it on the side of my truck



We enjoyed a nice firepit and called it a night.



We realized we needed a couple of ingredients for our breakfast burritos and dinner so we did a 5.5 mile hike down to the local market, only to find out they didn’t open for another hour. Oh well, it was great workout. Back at camp, Kevin made HUGE breakfast burritos which were delicious. We just hung out around camp until Kevin made garlic fried chicken with potatoes and gravy. (I think he took picture, I was too busy eating.) Then more time around the firepit





Woke up the next morning to a beautiful moon:



Headed out early to get home for Father's Day fun. Next weekend is maintenance, airing it out to get the campfire smell out, and fixing a couple of broken things…

 

[Psycho Mike]

Nice set-up. Mine went soft tent and the rifle that would lean up against it is ~58" of flintlock longrifle

 

[Y E T I]

Nice set-up. Mine went soft tent and the rifle that would lean up against it is ~58" of flintlock longrifle

View attachment 487498

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Ironically, I drew a very rare tag this year. It's a muzzle loader only, late season hunt from December 20-31. I haven't shot my muzzle loaders in a couple of years so I better start practicing

 

[Psycho Mike]

Ironically, I drew a very rare tag this year. It's a muzzle loader only, late season hunt from December 20-31. I haven't shot my muzzle loaders in a couple of years so I better start practicing

I live in an area where the next county over (outskirts of a major city....lots of acreages and hobby farms) has such a deer issue that they have a higher bag limit and special archery and muzzleloader / shotgun w/ slug seasons. Part of the reason I picked up that Kibler kit to make a long flinter.

I haven't shot much at all over the last number of years (urban settings, little ones and firearms can be a contentious mix for the mrs.), but now that our little isn't little, I have some more latitude to rekindle some of my old hobbies.

 

[Y E T I]

I live in an area where the next county over (outskirts of a major city....lots of acreages and hobby farms) has such a deer issue that they have a higher bag limit and special archery and muzzleloader / shotgun w/ slug seasons. Part of the reason I picked up that Kibler kit to make a long flinter.

I haven't shot much at all over the last number of years (urban settings, little ones and firearms can be a contentious mix for the mrs.), but now that our little isn't little, I have some more latitude to rekindle some of my old hobbies.

Nice! I have a couple Hawken percussion cap muzzleloaders. The one I hunt with is a .50 cal. We are not allowed to have anything other than iron sights which I actually like the challenge of.

 

[Psycho Mike]

Nice! I have a couple Hawken percussion cap muzzleloaders. The one I hunt with is a .50 cal. We are not allowed to have anything other than iron sights which I actually like the challenge of.

I used to have a Lyman Plains rifle (not the Great Plains) in .45cal...percussion with a peep and globe...that was my long range gopher rifle (much to the chagrin of the nudist colony next door 😆 ).

 

[Y E T I]

My driver's seat got a small tear so I decided to get seat covers.

After a lot of looking and researching, I went with the CoverKing Spacer Mesh seat covers. They installed very easily and look great.

Not sure what's next, no camping trips planned, just a fishing trip the middle of next month...

 

[CanyonNL]

Great build and I enjoyed reading the progress. I did not recall reading anything about you replacing the upper control arms and I’m curious if you had any alignment issues with the 2 1/2 lift? Also with that front height have you noticed any driveline vibrations or cv axle issues? I’m looking to lift mine soon and just researching and gathering parts now.

 

[Y E T I]

Great build and I enjoyed reading the progress. I did not recall reading anything about you replacing the upper control arms and I’m curious if you had any alignment issues with the 2 1/2 lift? Also with that front height have you noticed any driveline vibrations or cv axle issues? I’m looking to lift mine soon and just researching and gathering parts now.

Thank you! I'm pretty sure I only have a 2" lift in front. I have not changed my UCAs nor a diff drop and I have had zero issues. My last set of KO2s lasted 60k miles so the alignment seems spot on.

 

[AZDieselGuy]

I put Coverking (horse blanket) covers on mine.

 

[Y E T I]

I put Coverking (horse blanket) covers on mine.

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View attachment 489086

They make a good product don't they? I'm very impressed based on what I've seen from other brands.

 

[Y E T I]

Since I only had two weekends available to me for archery season this year, I decided to camp 7 out of 9 days in a row. The first weekend, my Marine Corps friend and I camped in a dispersed spot off a dead end trail.



We arrived Friday afternoon, set up camp and went out for a hunt. Didn’t see anything other than a few does but I got my steps in. We had dinner and sat around my Howl firepit. I really like the Howl other than it doesn’t put out as much heat as I expected.



We woke up to a beautiful morning on Saturday



We took it easy in the morning and then headed out for an afternoon hunt



I didn’t even see any does this time but I did get to listen to my Padres beating the White Sox so at least there was that

We had another night around the Howl



And then hit the rack as we both had family obligations on Sunday



I was home Sunday afternoon, Monday, and Tuesday, and then headed back to Big Bear Wednesday morning. This time we camped at Hanna Flats campground as we had a veterans group event there for the weekend.



After setting up we went and took our bows for a long walk and only saw a few does to show for it. Then it was back to camp for steak and potatoes



On Thursday we slept in and then worked remotely using our Starlinks. This was my first time using my Starlink Mini and it worked seamlessly except for one problem. A couple of years ago I was looking for a battery pack and ended up buying a RockPals 500 as it was much cheaper than the comparable Jackery. Well, there’s a reason RockPals went out of business. The AC part of my battery would not work so I only had a Jackery 300 to use which severely limited my time on Starlink. I was really surprised how much power it uses! (I ordered a Jackery 500 during my limited time on Starlink and it’s now sitting on my desk at work getting charged)





Thursday afternoon we went back out look for bucks. I didn’t take my crossbow this time, electing to just glass for Kevin and hopefully video him getting a deer.



He did not get a deer but when we got back to camp Kevin made some amazing fish tacos. I don’t usually post food pictures, but these warrant it



After the tacos we sat next to the campfire and had a couple of beers



Friday and Saturday were spent with a veterans group we’re both part of. Kevin did the cooking (amazing) and I just did whatever was needed to help around camp. I was a great weekend spending time with some very interesting guys. Sunday morning I had to leave early to pick up my wife at the airport. Unfortunately, I had a dead battery but I always have a jump pack in my truck but of course it was in the storage area under my fridge.. I made it back to San Diego in record time and even had time to shower before picking up my wife which I’m sure she appreciated…