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Davidshourd's build (Titan Swap @ page 9) - Went Camping last Weekend

52K views 116 replies 33 participants last post by  davidshourd 
#1 · (Edited)
this thread has turned into more of an ongoing build thread plus random outing pictures. so I changed up the title to reflect that.
7/26/12 (page 9) got my titan swap wraped up!

>>>>original post<<<<
couple shots from our camping trip last weekend here in Oregon. Tons of rain...and snow on our day (turned into night) trip when we headed up the mountains. Let the girlfriend drive until I had no more fingernails to bite... then I ended up getting pretty damn high centered on wet heavy snow while trying to plow through the road. my buddy with the other nissan tried winching me out and he was just dragging himself into me. even tried a "tug" rope and he was just bouncing around, not even budging my truck. in the end I put my winch in the rear reciever and found a tree about 100ft away. pulled right out. good times. and to think of you guys out in Moab soaking up the sun! Have fun...
 

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#2 ·
How high up did you hit that snow?
I've been trying to get to some lakes east of Sweet Home & there is old snow up around 4000 feet.
Looks like a fun trip!
 
#4 ·
Where in Oregon? Looks like a decent place to camp.

Also, what's the make and model of the camper?
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
snow was right around 4000k feet with about 6" of fresh snow from the previous week. it was snowing up there for about an hour and got another 1/2" or so. damn north faces! This spot is east of sweet home on "Quartzville Dr" that turns into fores road 11, about 30miles up (from 20 where you turned off onto quartzville dr) on your right there is a little turn off that gets right down on the river. there were huge red woods all over the area. we ended up continue forth on forest road 11 and came out on 22 about 18 miles east of detriot lake. they plowed road 11 earlier that week so it was easy going. shoot me an email @ davidshourd@hotmail.com, I can get you more details on the area, we did tons of exploreing and found some sweet spots. I think we are going back for 4 days this weekend, or to hells creek res. south/east of Oakridge.

As for the girlfriend driving, I may have had one or two beers to flex my judgement and let her drive. ha.

The camper is a Four Wheel Camper, about 800# fully loaded. check out Expedition Portal: Vehicle-Dependent Overland Expedition Community, all sorts of sweet set ups. Four Wheel Campers
 
#10 ·
I know what you mean about the snow! I am ready for some summer, hell even spring would be nice. snow level was right around 3500 last week!

"^-----That right there makes my paint cringe." I gave up on my paint. brush is just too thick on the fun trails. my tactic: dont wash the truck and you can hardly see the scratches! ha. and line-x'ed the rockers and fenders, that helps too.
 
#11 ·
Just found a couple more pictures on my girlfriends computer. some of the sweet HUGE trees, makes our trucks look little. and one showing evidence that my girlfriend is highly qualified to out perform yours, offroad that is. ha :). (this picture was taken after the trucks were put away for the night, dont worry)
 

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#15 ·
Im so jelious of that spot! I love the looks of the HUGE trees, but the ground cover is all cleared away. It reminds me of TV from the 50's. They had thier "set" in the woods. It was all fake, because it was all to pretty and ground cover was all cleared away to be real..... your is tho.

Sorry Jordo, I'm siding with mike...I've seen his wife wheel on youtube and in person....you, not even a picture of that nice truck of yours getting dirty.:thatswck: hahahaha

HA! Fair enough! Well lets get somthing planed! Im ready!.... Well when My PRG stuff gets here......

Well Its because I'm an off road ninja, just cause you dont see me, doesnt mean I'm not there!...... You by that?
 
#13 ·
Cool-
We explore alot in that area--so nice & uncrowded.
Is that camper meant to be used like that when not on the back of the truck? I like the idea of one of those, but don't like the idea of having to pack everything up if we want to go exploring from base camp.
Thanks!
 
#16 ·
If the camper is out of the back of the truck there is no getting in it, so no its not suppose to be used when out of the truck unless you have it sitting on some saw horses or a picnic bench. but really, it only takes about 5-10minutes to go from completely off to turnbuckled down and ready to go.

check these sweet videos out from last year when we went to GoneMoab then loaded up and went to Canyonlands with the camper for a couple days. these campers are pretty danm tough.

YouTube - Four Wheel Camper Nissan Elephant Hill Canyon Lands

YouTube - Four Wheel Camper Nissan Elephant Hill Canyon Lands
 
#14 ·
nice pics looks like you guys had fun.
 
#19 ·
So I went camping again last weekend, and I found snow again, and I got stuck again. This time it was a bit more serious, I was sliding off the edge of the road to a 15' fall inot the trees below. good stuff, Once again I used the winch to pull out. had to hook it in the front and make a pull, then the back and make a pull, dragging the truck sideways a foot or two at a time. couple pictures from that and some other poser shots.
oh and before I forget, I put a nice dent/scratch in my passenger door backing up AFTER getting unstuck and parallel parking between my buddies rigs, WHAT I did not see was a 3" diameter RUSTY steel gate post! it was just high enough to be below my mirror. fortunately because I was coming in with my nose I did not drag the thing down my door, just bummed into it. it hit the sliders first but it was leaning over a bit, I guess it could have been worse. how embarrassing! that really bummed me out!
 

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#20 · (Edited)
What a weekend. Sorry bout the scratch--thats a doosey. Where was that at?
We Went out to try to get to Ollalie lake area Sunday (just North of Detroit lake). It was also snowed in. I didn't try to get past a certain spot--I don't have the winch yet & there was a spot just like what you encountered w/ a jeep stuck. We were doing the 3-point u-turn (okay, like 12 point turn) & I put a nice deep dent in the rear bumper. Okay, I'm really just working on reasons to justify the f&r bumpers to the wifey. Once I get enuf damage to them, she'll be on board. :)

Also,
if you did things over w/ the bumpers, would you get the same setup or the winch mounted in the front?
 
#21 ·
This was up off of 19 out of Oakridge, near Huckleberry Flats OHV park (maybe road 1938?), there was a lookout tower not more then a mile up the road from where we got stuck. We had 2 old chevys try it with chains too, they only made it about half as far as I did and an old 94 pathfinder with 32", he got right up on top of the snow then dropped in! ha.

As for the bumpers, if I had to do it again I would do it exactly the same. Though I am still in teh market for a rear bumper with a built in hitch, just hard to find one with the right looks and lead time! though with a front winch and a couple of snatch blocks you can nearly get your self out of anything you could by moving the winch front to back. built in winch bumpers are allot cleaner though, I give them that.

we should meet up sometime and give those snow patches a run! just winch our selves over it...or wait another week or two and hope its melted.
 
#22 ·
Went camping again this last weekend. headed down to Medford Oregon area (269mi south of Portland) friday evening for a concert and camped out in the woods that night and woke up early and headed up to Roseberg where we headed east and tried to stick to gravel. put on about 700mi over the weekend with about 1/3 of that on gravel. Oregon loves to pave their back logging roads! So this was the first trip out with the volant intake and snorkel. the set up seemed to improve MPG's and throttle response on the highway at higher speeds. I averaged 20.2 MPG's on my way down to Medford (I5 going between 55-75 for 269miles). Honestly, I have not been looking at my gas mileage in a while, so I am not even sure if this is any better then I was normaly getting. but given I had probably 400# of camping STUFF, larger tires, bumper, winch and lift, I dont think it is to bad. by the time I got home yesterday with 700miles behind me I was at 17.2MPG. keep in mind there was a bit of 4wheel drive in snow, ideling as we planned our next turn or were enjoying the sites, so I think the average was really killed by the 0 MPG ideling times. given all of the dry gravel roads and following my buddy I sucked in a good bit of dust with the snorkel. I opened up the volant last night and the filter is pretty dirty. I really need to get a pre-filter!

wondering about something like this:
AEV / Nth Degree 40306041AA - AEV Snorkel Pre-Filter Top for 07-10 Jeep® Wrangler & Wrangler Unlimited JK - Quadratec

and discussed here:
ARB Snorkel - Pre-filter question...
think it would fit? seems like an awesome solution for those weekends where you are in tons of dust.
 

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#24 ·
Nice pix. Looks like fun.

I work about a half an hour from Quadratec and have a jeep. Been going there for years. Good company to deal with. Just call them and I'm sure they will help get you the dimensions of the bottom fitting on that pre-filter. Then all you have to do is measure yours. Looks like a good design. Especially for water. Looks very similiar to intakes i've seen on forklifts.

I need a snorkel but I have a system for wheelin in dusty/wet conditions too. I use a K&N all the time but bring a paper filter with me while offroading. At the end of the trip, I swap out the dirty K&N with the paper one for the trip home till I get a chance to clean it. Sometimes I get a little water in the air box too. Paper elements get warped and funky when they get wet, shortening the life of it IMO.

Oh yeah, I've wheeled with Mike and his wife on two different occasions. She can hold her own on the trails.
 
#25 ·
I missed that pic w/ the washed out road! I'm showing that one to the wife...she wouldn't 'let' me continue up the road to Elk lake last weekend due to some 'minor' washout (seriously...only like 2' deep ruts...but we had our son & neighbors kid, so she was being all paranoid).
 
#30 ·
regarding the snork and pre-filter: I emailed AirFlow (austrailian company) and they said take 5-8 shots of my truck with their snorkel on it and they will send me a pre-filter for free OR pay 27$ AUS. so needless to say I took a bunch of pictures this morning and sent them off, I should hear back from them by about 5pm my time. I will keep you guys posted. what amazing customer service!

My Eagle Camper is an 08' that I got used about a year ago. first off, finding one used was compleltly by chance! just out on a sunday drive and went through Junction City (West of Eugene Oregon) and there it was sitting in their used lot! to find a FWC at all, there yet the exact model that fits your truck is just 1 and a million. anyway, I ended up picking it up from them for 7800$. I was happy with the deal given people will pay 12-14k for the same one new. I have since upgraded some things: added 45watts of solar panels on the roof to charge the on board battery, removed on board ater tank and sink and added additional storage. removed the build in stove top in opted for a regular camping fold out stove. features it came with: 3 way fridge (gas, DC or AC), gas furnace, on board propane tank, wired for AC/DC, Queen size bed up top, and a fold out coutch bed below.


For a crew cab Short bed there are some guys who run the Eagle, but the Hawk is probably the way to go. it keeps the center of gravity of the camper over the axle. once you load one of these things up with all the gear and everything, I am sure you are pushing really close to 1000#. so keeping the weight as far forward as possible is the way to go for stearing and stoping.

Jdub: did you see any snow up towards elk lake? I ran into snow last weekend at about 4500-5500 feet depending on what side of the mountain I was on. I am thinking of heading up to Elk lake this weekend to go camping. anyone else?
 
#33 ·
regarding the snork and pre-filter: I emailed AirFlow (austrailian company) and they said take 5-8 shots of my truck with their snorkel on it and they will send me a pre-filter for free OR pay 27$ AUS. so needless to say I took a bunch of pictures this morning and sent them off, I should hear back from them by about 5pm my time. I will keep you guys posted. what amazing customer service!
That is awesome.
 
#31 ·
The only snow at Elk was in the shadows--the road was clear, but I never did make it to the lake due to the washout area. We hiked another 1/2 mile, but with a 2.5 year old & 7 year old, we turned back. They weren't in the listening mode...
 
#32 ·
Good to know. I am tired of running into snow this year! I think I will give it a try this weekend if I can break free for a night. I have never been up there and only heard good things.
 
#38 ·
missed this one: I drilled four holes and put in big eye bolts with a chunk of 1/4" angle under the bed/frame rail to distribute the load. though I usualy just use two of the hold downs and snug it up against the cab end of the bed. I got mine used (about a year old) an amazing find as they are REALLY hard to come across used! but keep an eye out and you may get lucky. ohh and check wanderthewest.com and expeditionportal.com for more info and postings on people selling them. every so often someone parts with theirs and posts it up there, but they go SUPER quick so keep your eyes peeled.
 
#36 ·
been a while since I posted, and yes I did make it to Elk Lake, road was clear and there were tons of campers up there, so I headed else where that weekend. here are some pictures from the past few weekends around Mt. Hood. no real wheeling, just some slow boat'n around with the camper. WHAT a difference the ride made with the new bilstein shocks in he rear and the sway bar back on with the extended PRG endlinks. I was with my buddy (shown in the 04' nissan) and managed to go anywhere he tried to loose me at. worst thing was coming across the all to common overgrown back roads in oregon, put some serious scratches on my truck and camper! ohh well, thats what the truck bed liner is for!
 

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#37 ·
couple more from a few weekends back.

crawfish from the local stream/lake on a camping trip.
shot of the temp "prefilter" I made for the snorkel (some thin foam material sprayed with some K&N filter oil) worked great.
some other random shots of my durty truck in the garage.
 

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#39 ·
Hey thanks again for posting the pics of your adventures! We just got back from Canada where we camped for a few nights...the time up there was cut short due to the campfire ban. Amazing how much the campfire adds to the experience! We didn't do any real backwoods stuff there, as we're still just using my dads old Jayco, which is most definitely NOT even gravel road rated.
will post pics soon tho.
 
#42 ·
went camping around MT hood, Mt st Helens and Mt Adams over the weekend. had some amazing views and temps from 75 on friday night to 39 saturday night. found some real sweet roads going up and over from the columbia river over to MT Adams. Still amazed at how well the truck handles even with the camper.
 

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#43 ·
kind of using this string as a build section for my truck and camper. I just got a Thule track and rack installed over the weekend. it was a real pain. damn flare nuts only worked about half the time so I ended up tack welding them to add a little extra attachment. worked well and no concern of how solid they are now. took more time in layout and fire blanket set up then actually doing the instal! anyway here is a couple pics. my biggest reasonfor install was for the wind fairing when the camper is on. not to mention it looks kindof bad A too!
 

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#44 · (Edited)
Very cool!! I envy your setup dude!
We went snow camping this past weekend by Breitenbush. Sneaked in Thurs & Sat nights to the hot springs...sooo awesome. We also caught a few trout in Detroit lake & ate like kings. **** like peasants (in the woods :)
 
#45 ·
nice! where exactly did you camp at? girlfriend and I are looking to go camping this weekend. wondering if the snow events they are calling for the valley will really happen. If they do we will probably head coast bound, but would like to know what spots around brietenbushare accessable. PM me. would you be up for a meet one of these upcoming weekends? do some light wheelin?
 
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