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30-Day Road Trip – Fort Worth, TX to Bowen Island, BC and Back
This summer I was fortunate enough to take a 30-day road trip from Fort Worth, Texas, to a small island off Vancouver (Bowen Island, BC) and back. I was able to hit up some great trails and off-road experiences along the way too (Engineer Pass, Top of the World, Rainier, Samoa Dunes, Umpqua Dunes, etc.). Photos attached of some of the best Bronco spots and pics. Also attached is my build list. Thought I would share which mods were the most helpful, any that were not, and which ones I immediately added once I got home as a result of what I learned.
Gear I LOVE:
- My Fox Racing 3.0s – Being able to switch to stiff suspension and not get blown all around on highway rides with high wind, then quickly adjust to cloud-soft for off-road and crawling, was incredible. I didn’t expect the difference with these to be so impactful and noticeable. There was no sway exhaustion on the road like typical with soft suspension on the highway. These performed flawlessly and improved the trip greatly.
- Armadillo Top – Having the side gullwings for quick access and everything super secure in the back was great. Having all my recovery gear on the shelf separate from the trip gear was also helpful. The slantback bothered me none as I quickly realized the space “lost” is the hardest and last you would ever fill up anyway (all the way at the top and all the way to the back).
- Teraflex Wheels and ARB Compressor – These two in unison were so handy. My wheels allow for a super quick built-in valve deflation that finishes by the time you walk around the Bronco. This would get me down to a preset PSI in seconds. Then being able to air myself back up from my engine-bay mounted dual ARB compressor made this process super simple and convenient.
- Recovery Gear – Although I didn’t need it, I was so grateful for my recovery gear being externally mounted and present just in case. My APG/Exp1 bumper mounted my hi-lift, my shovel, and my rear winch. Everything was there and gave me peace of mind, and gratefully I had zero issues or recovery needs. I also have recovery boards mounted to the Armadillo back, and tire patch gear and tie-rod repair kits stored inside. Again, I would rather have and not need than need and not have.
- ProCal Tune – Having the module up to see temps and other details throughout the trip was nice peace of mind and would have been a great early indicator if I needed to pull over to check on something or let something cool. Again, nothing came of it, but it proved a great safety net and peace of mind from start to finish.
- Most of the items I have done helped. They may not have been “critical,” but they served their purpose. The only item I think I had to work around (won’t say regret) was the Turbosmart blow-off valve. Unless using adaptive cruise control or in Eco, on long highway drives it feels like it is blowing off constantly. In my normal day-to-day I love the sound, and that’s all I bought it for. It’s genuinely not improving anything (let’s be honest). But on such a long drive it was kind of annoying. However, switching to adaptive cruise control (which was ideal anyway for the trip) makes it virtually nonexistent.
- Gas Mileage – 17 mpg for the entire trip. This genuinely impressed me. Remember, I am on 37s, lifted a bit, fully loaded, with 3.5 occupants (pregnant wife) in the vehicle. This also includes all the sand dunes, trails, crawling, and off-roading as well, in which the mileage is terrible. I expected much lower, to be honest, and was really impressed with that being the final number.
- WeBoost – The WeBoost might have been a game changer, but I don’t know. It was just on if the car was on the way I wired it. I am not sure any areas the signal would have been unusable without it, because it is just doing its thing. So when I got home, I wired in a switch into my console box to turn it off and on. This way I can see a difference in lost signal, or if I am able to gain what I need at the press of a button. I am assuming it helped a lot, but it’s hard to tell.
- Rear Lighting – My gear on the Armadillo top shelf covers my rear light and makes for zero visibility in my cargo area at night. I ended up mounting a headlamp to the cargo hatch for the trip as it was so hard to see at night and quite annoying. I have since wired in two lights to the hatch rails that about look factory and have completely resolved the issue. They are tapped in to turn on when any other interior lights would turn on (switch, door open, unlock, etc.).
I am just beyond impressed with this vehicle. The ability to have such great on-road comfort and then easily pull over to tackle tough trails, dunes, and rock crawling is incredible. I am really happy with my setup and it performs so well both on and off road with plenty of comfort and features to make the experience fantastic. Having no issues the entire way was a plus as well. Nothing broke, popped, fell off, or stopped working. Completely reliable from start to finish. Temps all stayed where they needed to be without issue as well. I had such an incredible experience I will remember for the rest of my life and such amazing stories to tell.
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