99% complete build for adventure photography overlanding

[Direvarg]

Awesome bronco and great writeup. How did you run the wires for your rear chase/dust lights? I have some to install but don’t want to drill through the top.

I did what this guy in the video is doing. The part about getting the wires to the roof is near the end but I’d recommend watching the entire thing. I found I could get two wires through on each side pretty easily, and I used where the accessory mounts over the windshield as the ground. I’m the same way, I hated the idea of drilling through the roof.

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[dangerfoot]

Those motion blur photos of the bikers look amazing!

Thanks! Love the flash and pan technique, really isolates the rider and embues the sense of speed

 

[SeptuagenarianSasquatch]

Wow, a place for everything! Of course, if you derive income from your photography, it's tax deductible. Keep your receipts, and don't forget depreciation!

I'm impressed with your ARB rear gate location. Is the plate you used (to replace the plastic louvre) your own manufacture, or where did you get it? I notice it's bolted in place. I'd like a steel plate, hinged, with a lock to stow and secure valuables. If you bought that, maybe they have a door-like plate.

 

[Direvarg]

Wow, a place for everything! Of course, if you derive income from your photography, it's tax deductible. Keep your receipts, and don't forget depreciation!

I'm impressed with your ARB rear gate location. Is the plate you used (to replace the plastic louvre) your own manufacture, or where did you get it? I notice it's bolted in place. I'd like a steel plate, hinged, with a lock to stow and secure valuables. If you bought that, maybe they have a door-like plate.

The arb plate is made by American adventure lab. I don’t think they have a storage compartment door but I’ve seen other manufactures sell them

 

[Direvarg]

Nicely done! Drop a link to what you shoot!

I shoot night sky stuff for fun and on location studio for work
https://www.brightwoodphotos.com/

 

[SeptuagenarianSasquatch]

The arb plate is made by American adventure lab. I don’t think they have a storage compartment door but I’ve seen other manufactures sell them

Thanks for the heads up. I looked around Amazon and other search sites, and found one that's plastic, and is handy for minor stuff, but I'm looking for serious security. I wrote American Adventure Lab's support email with my suggestions, and added the photo (below) off of Amazon. I also suggested that a hinged, lockable molle panel might be appreciated by some. But I'd want powder-coated steel.

 

[Direvarg]

Thanks for the heads up. I looked around Amazon and other search sites, and found one that's plastic, and is handy for minor stuff, but I'm looking for serious security. I wrote American Adventure Lab's support email with my suggestions, and added the photo (below) off of Amazon. I also suggested that a hinged, lockable molle panel might be appreciated by some. But I'd want powder-coated steel.

I also found this one. I think it’s the same company judging by the logo but I’ve bought their tailgate limiter and they make good quality. Company is called mountains 2 metal
https://mountains2metal.com/tailgat...nCQLdj-o2zQkcACxB7d185Y6TzKCDwhgaAmMREALw_wcB

 

[SeptuagenarianSasquatch]

I also found this one. I think it’s the same company judging by the logo but I’ve bought their tailgate limiter and they make good quality. Company is called mountains 2 metal
https://mountains2metal.com/tailgat...nCQLdj-o2zQkcACxB7d185Y6TzKCDwhgaAmMREALw_wcB

Thanks a lot! I've seen the plastic one marketed by different vendors. The Mountains2metal one looks great, but at $400...wow. I'm in a period of financial uncertainty right now, so I'll pass, but I'm impressed. I think a plate, shaped to fit over the tailgate cavity, hinged on one side with a locking mechanism, would be sufficient. Maybe American Adventure Lab will follow up on my idea/suggestion.
The M2M looks nice, but with the built-in compartment(s), methinks it might be a bit over-engineered. I'm looking for a way to secure a firearm for those occasions I'm visiting a facility that wants to be "gun-free." A good lock, plus a cable or trigger lock when secreted, should do the job. (I just hope the bad guys abide by "gun-free" restrictions!")

I appreciate your personal posts, and, to get back on-thread, you've put together an utterly magnificent build, what a mix of beauty and function! Just make sure you share all your receipts with your tax preparer!
I do some writing, and much of my fiction is set in Utah. If I sell a manuscript, you can be sure I'm hitting the Great Basin for "research!" To be honest, I have visited much of the books' locales, but having derived no income from this activity, I can't take any deductions. Maybe this tax year!

 

[Direvarg]

Thanks a lot! I've seen the plastic one marketed by different vendors. The Mountains2metal one looks great, but at $400...wow. I'm in a period of financial uncertainty right now, so I'll pass, but I'm impressed. I think a plate, shaped to fit over the tailgate cavity, hinged on one side with a locking mechanism, would be sufficient. Maybe American Adventure Lab will follow up on my idea/suggestion.
The M2M looks nice, but with the built-in compartment(s), methinks it might be a bit over-engineered. I'm looking for a way to secure a firearm for those occasions I'm visiting a facility that wants to be "gun-free." A good lock, plus a cable or trigger lock when secreted, should do the job. (I just hope the bad guys abide by "gun-free" restrictions!")

Totally understand. That’s why that middle drawer of mine has the lock for my gun but also for camera gear

 

[AK SNO RIDER]

That's one hell of a build. Special shoutout to those Step22 bags though!

 

[JustWideman]

My previous build was an F150 that I loved and hated at the same time. For this build I decided to have everything planned out well in advance instead of adding one thing at a time and hoping it would fit with the other stuff. This is a 2024 Sasquatch Badlands.
I'm using a trailrax roofrack with Heretic light bar and Freespirit Recreation Aspen V2 tent, 2 rotopax gas cans on the drivers side. The ski carriers are only on during the winter.

On the passenger side I have the new maxtrax lites and a GP factor shovel using the Kuat shovel/axe mounts. The shovel was a bit too short to be bolted directly to the crossbars of the roofrack so I used some scrap aluminum to make a crossbar between the two supports and bolt the shovel mount to those.

On the rear of the truck, I replaced the stock tire carrier with the RTR spare tire carrier. This allowed me to also mount their jerry can mount and antenna/flag mount. The jerry can mount had to be modified to fit the Lifesaver water purifier jerry can. This thing rattles a LOT so I had to put rubber bushings in all the moving parts and attach some thick rubber strips to the jerry can to keep it quiet. The antenna is for my Weboost cellular booster. It works surprisingly well, especially living up in the mountains in Colorado. The awning is a 4ft wide Roam awning bolted directly to the back of the rooftop tent using FSR's awning mounts (awning not in some photos) I also have two rear mounted amber baja designs S2 mounted to my roofrack for my dont tailgate me/dust lights.

Inside the rear is where things get pretty cool. I have a drawer system, fridge slider, shelf and air compressor mount made by American Adventure Labs. One of my drawers has a lock on it for keeping my camera equipment secure (though I usually dont leave it in the truck for very long) The fridge slider opens up to be a table with some storage inside it. I made a DIY version of pelicans trekpak dividers for the drawers and used Step 22 bags for organization of tools etc. On top of the drawers is where I have the ladder for my tent. Its secured using those modl infinity tool strap things we keep getting ads for on facebook. They are actually pretty awesome. The Fridge is a Dometic CFX5 55L and that red thing is two milwaukee packouts. The top one is a First aid kit and the larger bottom one is a trauma kit.

This is my onboard air supply, again by american adventure labs. Its using an ARB compressor.

I installed 2 Kingpin lightbars, one on the bottom of the trim of the rear glass and the other to the panel below the roof in the trunk. Its wired to a small switch. It lights up the interior and everything below the glass when its raised. I also added two Baja designs dome lights (the one with the buttons) to the backseat since it gets really dark in there. You have to be careful with the wirerun on this as thats were airbags are and you dont want the wire to interfere with their deployment. The hammoc in the back seat is from Orvis, to keep my dog from getting the truck all muddy/hairy.

In the front seat I have the Garmin Xumo as a secondary GPS and the Midland 50 watt gmrs radio mounted to the Builtright dash molle panel. A guy on one of the facebook groups told me about this awesome setup he did where he glued a magnet behind the dash board and attached one to the radio mic(unfortunately I forgot his name but he was super helpful). Totally hidden when not in use and easy to store it when it is. I used the rugged radios mount for the stubby antenna. It did need to be modified slightly since the midland antenna had a wider base than the rugged radios one.

For suspension, the guys at Colorado Bronco Upfitters installed some Accutune Ride shocks and upper control arms to accommodate the increase in weight I've added as well as RPG tie rods. You'll also notice in the upper right corner of the photo the rock lights I mounted to the wheel well. These were a bit tricky as theyre attached the the fabric wheel liners. I used some plumbers rubber on the backside of the wheel well to thicken it up before running the bolts through it and using very large washers to bolt down to a larger surface area.

On the front, I mounted the Westin brush guard directly to the stock metal bumper. I have two yellow Baja LP6s I will be mounting to it soon as well as a Warn Winch mounted via Lobo Offroads Hidden winch mount. I'm still waiting on some parts for that though. I'm also going to be installing American adventure labs dual battery setup under the drawers in the trunk but also waiting on that.

Interesting to see what a "money no object" build can be. Good idea with the camera gear.

 

[VirginiaHeritage]

Awesome build. I’m slightly concerned for your camera lenses, especially if you’re going off-road. I would want soft foam in those slots custom cut for each lens so you get zero movement. That’s just me and I’m paranoid about these things.

 

[Direvarg]

Awesome build. I’m slightly concerned for your camera lenses, especially if you’re going off-road. I would want soft foam in those slots custom cut for each lens so you get zero movement. That’s just me and I’m paranoid about these things.

I have soft foam at the bottom of the each slot which really helps to immobilize the lenses. That being said, I’ve never broken a lens and I’m very rough on my equipment

 

[SixEighty680]

[/QUOTE]

That's really nice until you have the unfortunate event of the rear washer fluid not working like many of us have had lol. It's a random decoupling of the hose at a random joint. Sometimes it's near, sometimes....it's right in the middle of the Bronco. I had to remove the side panel and the rear seat to fix mine.

 

[ElDuderino]

Any info on the DIY dividers you made for your drawers? The metal ones that came with them are nice, but it would be nice to cut down on some of the noise with stuff rattling around in them.

Great looking build!

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