(Part 2) Best products from r/overlanding

First order of business is to get it in as good running condition as possible. All the mods in the world won't help if you are broken down. Find out what is causing your CEL and get it fixed.

The bouncy ride is likely due to bad/worn out shocks. Replace them with higher quality parts. You can get Monroe load adjusting rear shocks (look like coil overs) for about $90 for both. They are helpful for fighting rear end sag when you are loaded up. There are a lot of options for the front shocks depending on what kind of ride you prefer.

If your shocks were neglected, your other suspension components might be used up too. Replace the upper control arms, lower ball joints, tie rod ends, and might as well check the brakes too. Check to make the bearings in your wheel hubs aren't worn out either. If you can't stop or a wheel falls off, you will be in rough shape.

Change all of your fluids too if you can. This includes your differentials, transfer case, engine oil, trans, and coolant. You never know when the last time some of those have been changed, or what kind of condition the oil/fluid is in until you check. Test your battery or replace it if it is over 5 years old.

As far as mods go, start off with the basics. Get good tires that are designed for off road use, not passenger rated street tires. You can fit 31x10.5r15 tires with no problems or modification needed. Your tire choice will vary depending on the terrain you most often travel on and budget. Because of the 4wd system in your v8 explorer, you should also get a spare in the same size as your other tires. If you do get a flat, you can burn out drivetrain components because the smaller spare has to spin more than the larger tires in order to cover the same distance.

If you do want a slight lift, you can crank your torsion bar adjusting bolts in the front for a 1.5" gain. Any more than that and you will be putting too much strain on your cv joints. You will need to get an alignment after a torsion twist though. However, if you are replacing your ball joints and other front end parts too, you'll need to get an alignment anyway. For the back, you can buy a set of longer shackles (Warrior 153) that connect the rear part of your springs to the frame. That should get you about 2" more clearance in the back. You can also use an add a leaf spring to help bring the rear up more. An add a leaf will make your ride much more stiff in the rear though. If you have running boards, remove them for more clearance as well.

Set up proper recovery points in the front and rear. There aren't any good places to pull from stock, and you don't want to go breaking anything while you are trying to get out of a mess in the middle of nowhere. Also, check to make sure you have the factory fuel tank skid plate. It isn't 1/4" laser cut steel, but it is better than nothing. If you don't have one, look in a local junk yard.

You might want to get some new headlight housings too. They tend to fog and not do much at all. They are easy enough to replace and will make a huge difference on and off road. Auxiliary lights like Hellas, KCs, or maybe a lightbar will be very helpful if you find yourself off-road in the dark very often. Most of these aux lights come in a kit complete with a relay, fuse, switch, and a wiring harness. Installation is pretty straight forward and can be done well in a few hours (even if you have never done any electrical work before).

Other than that, just get out and enjoy the process of figuring out what you really need from your vehicle. Learn proper recovery techniques and always go with another vehicle if you can. Always pack emergency gear like a first aid kit, extra clothes, food, water, flashlight, and a handful of tools for quick fixes. You might find that you need a winch, awning, rtt, storage drawers, dual batteries, and full armor eventually, but it is better to build as you go to find out what is really necessary for you.

There are not a ton of aftermarket modifications for second gen Explorers, so you might have to do some custom work (or find someone who can do it for you). I'd advise that you do as much of the maintenance on your own as you can. That way if something fails, you will know where to begin troubleshooting and will hopefully be able to fix it. If you haven't already found it, ExplorerForum.com is a VERY helpful place. Tons of DIY guides and other resources for Explorer owners.

Over the past 13-14 years I have and still do own most of these:
Coleman 52qt Xtreme - https://www.coleman.com/52-quart-xtreme-5-cooler/6050A748.html?cgid=coleman-coolersandwaterjugs-hardcoolers#start=21
Coleman 54 qt Stainless https://www.coleman.com/54-quart-coleman-stainless-steel-cooler/6155B707.html
Yeti 65 – https://www.yeti.com/hard-coolers/tundra-65-cooler/YT65.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkd3VBRDzARIsAAdGzMC-teO37ALdA7fh6N8XGJyNAbuk1f2TDBbPyvdSeuGeDOhYdcoHmbEaAnK6EALw_wcB
Grizzly 60 – https://www.grizzlycoolers.com/coolers/grizzly-60
Pelican 70 – https://www.amazon.com/Pelican-Elite-Quart-Cooler-White/dp/B01G7KGB8G/ref=sr_1_2?s=outdoor-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1522004609&sr=1-2&keywords=pelican+cooler&refinements=p_89%3APelican
Coolest Cooler – https://www.amazon.com/Coolest-Cooler-BLK60/dp/B01MQVF1HH/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522004510&sr=8-2&keywords=coolest+cooler&dpID=41eJrFEyBoL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

As several people have already said. I can make that $50 Coleman Xtreme last a solid 4 day camping/drinking trip through the Rubicon. But that means:

• Military style diligence regarding ANYONE opening the cooler more often than absolutely necessary. (Wifey hates it when I have to be the cooler nazi.
  
• Paying attention ALL DAY to make sure the cooler is out of the sun.
  
• I will usually soak beach towels at any water crossings to lay over the cooler if it is in the sun.
  
• DO NOT DRAIN WATER. Less space = Less melty, but unless you packed all of your food/perishables in double water tight containers, I guarantee you will end up eating a soggy sandwich.
  

• If you can make it last….The last beer out of this cooler is even colder and tastier than the first one!<br />

• If you use frozen water bottles or ice packs, you can make the cheapest cooler last 4 days…and food will remain fresh. But we all know that the beer bobbing around in floating ice water is WAY better.
  
  But all of this is easier in any of the big 3 (yeti, grizzly, Pelican). I love the latches on the Pelican, but it holds the same as my Yeti 60 and is overall bigger, so I sold it to a buddy. The Grizzly and Yeti are damn near identical imo, and if I didn’t have two rigs that those coolers stayed on, I’d probably sell the Grizzly. I have friends with the Rtic and Ozark brand coolers and they stack up pretty well from what I can tell, but I have never owned one personally.
  
  I think there is a purpose for all of these coolers, and the two you are shopping, but I would think that they fill different voids. I would look into getting both! Maybe buy the Tundra 45, because I don’t think you can go wrong with that cooler, and shop for one of the RTIC or Ozark soft sided cooler on discount or clearance or second hand or whatever.
  
  Beach days = Hopper Two (I use the Coolest Cooler on beach days with my chick, but that’s ONLY because she got in on round one of their kickstarter campaign, so we got one of the first run coolers for $100. NOT WORTH THE GOING PRICE NOW. But killer if you can get em cheap.
  Car camping = Tundra 45 (I use the yeti 65 for everything minus beer, and then have a 18 pack cheapo cooler that is more accessible 😉)but can make do with the Yeti easily.
  Road trips = Same as car camping
  Tailgates = Tundra 45 (not much a tailgater here, but I’m pretty sure I would have no reason for the hopper, unless I had both. Then Beer in the Tundra, Lil smokeys and nacho cheese in the hopper with frozen bottles).
  
  Wow. That got long quickly! Hope some of that helps.
  

I also have a kid and a popup. http://i.imgur.com/Cltv8qq.jpg. we love it. I plan on doing a spring over for more ground clearance. Yours looks great. After you use it a couple of times you will learn what works and what's not needed. Here are a few of my recommendations. The bal leveler is great https://www.amazon.com/BAL-28050-Light-Trailer-Leveler/dp/B000BH5MAA. This and installing a T level gauge on the tongue will make leveling the trailer super easy. We got a bunch of plastic bins from home depot to store all our supplies in. They are all the same so the stack and work great for storage. If you know you can fill the water tank at our near your camp site tow it empty and fill it there. That will save a lot of dead weight. If I can think of more I'll post again. Enjoy it man. Camping with the family is great. Good memories will be made

Good, glad it helps.

So, obviously the benefit of the iPad vs the Garmin in your truck is the screen size. If that's what you want to move forward with you can pick up a bluetooth GPS receiver to make you current iPad FAR more accurate. Should be as accurate as your Garmin... I've used from from a company called Dual Electronics. I loved it. I see, however, that Garmin makes a unit that includes GLONASS for improved accuracy for $99 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-GLONASS-Receiver-Vehicle/dp/B00AYAZENY

At least then you're basically just comparing UI and available basemaps. Check out some of the apps mentioned. I'll tell you now that I've tried a ton of these apps before I found that I really liked Gaia. And, really, I've yet to find anything, including a Garmin I used to have, that I've REALLY liked. They all have their issues...

Hope you find something you like!

As long as you're taking some long drives or you're doing extra charging at the correct voltage for AGM you should be good without a diode mod, I'm not sure how the voltage regulator works exactly, but I'm guessing this just tricks it into regulating at a higher voltage since silicon diodes have a forward voltage of about 0.7v this would raise an alternator putting out 14.2v to 14.9v. How the stock regulator adjusts for bulk, absorption, equalization, and float charge I'm not sure, and I'm not sure how this mod would effect it. But it looks like enough people have done it that if there were issues it would be known by now, I wouldn't do as some people are doing and just putting a diode in place of a fuse, but put it in line with a fuse like the product above is with an add a circuit mod.

I'd just get a cheap volt meter to measure usage. As long as the battery isn't under much load, it should be accurate enough. Typically you don't want to run a deep cycle battery below 50% for best life, though you can go down to 20% occasionally without much damage to a quality deep cycle, for an AGM that is usually 12.2v(50% @80ºF) and 11.8v(20% @80ºF) with full charge being around 12.8v after the float charge is gone. With a big battery like this you could probably start your truck with 20% charge, but I'd carry a lithium jump pack if I was planning on trying it alone with no one around to jump me.

The switch pro units do look pretty awesome, despite being expensive. Being able to use ignition only wired thing by using the app rather than putting the key in does look like an awesome feature. As well as output dimming for lights that support it. 2 year warranty does seem kind crummy, but I imagine most failure would be DOA/Crib deaths or from abuse, being solid state and not using relays that wear out over time.

A noco G3500 or G7200 is plenty for overnight charging of a single 100ah battery like yours, especially if just topping it off. Get the 7200 if you think you'll go dual battery in the future.

The best thing you can is build a bed platform and some full length drawers for storing all your stuff, then install a decent high capacity (150ah+) secondary battery set up. This is a great write up on how to charge the secondary battery from your alternator. Once you have that you can have a fridge, get a decent 12v compressor and it'll last for ages, we have this wynter one and absolutely love it. As a fridge we've had it running for 4+ days off our 225ah batteries without recharging. Once you have a fridge the food you can keep makes all the difference in the world. We lived for 3 months in our bus with this setup and it was so nice.

From there you can add some cheap solar panels and you can stay in one spot for ages, although we have one, we barely use it because we were driving every couple days.

The best thing about this setup is that it's all totally removable, so if you want to sell or upgrade later you take it all out and put it in your new rig. Plus you're not limiting your resell market (most truck owners don't want an overlanding rig).

You have yourself an awesome truck, I loved our 96 T100, with 225k miles and it still ran like a champ, never broke down on us and everything except the shocks and wheels were stock.

A few...

101 Things to do with a Dutch Oven

My Lodge Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: 101 Popular & Delicious Cast Iron Skillet Recipes

This same author did a bunch for "scouts." I like them because they are pretty simple and easy to follow:

• Scout's Dutch Oven Cookbook
  
• Scout's Outdoor Cookbook
  
• Scout's Backpacking Cookbook
  
  Official Boy Scout Outdoor Cooking Guide
  
  Sunset The Great Outdoors Cookbook: Adventures in Cooking Under the Open Sky
  
  But pretty much any cookbook with a good recipe can be adapted to cook outdoors. The only thing that changes is the view and the heat.

This isn't on an overlanding vehicle, but some of you guys may find it useful....


This is a 2010 Hyundai Veracruz (good car). With it's third-row seating, it can comfortable fit seven people with no luggage, or four/five people with luggage. I've got to take seven people on vacation, so that's a problem.

The OEM Hyundai roof rack crossbars are almost $200. No thank you.

This setup was purchased entirely at Home Depot and costs around $50 (you could do it for $40 without painting and depending on your choice of hardware). It consists of a 10-foot piece of UniStrut ($20) cut basically in half and fastened to the main cargo bars with 2.5-inch U-Bolts (pipe clamps, make sure you measure the width and height of your vehicle's main cargo bars to ensure your U-bolts will fit around and stick up above it far enough to accept the hardware). I also installed some 5/16 I-bolts out on the edges to serve as loops for ratchet straps/bungee cords, although the UniStrut has plenty of holes in it and you could probably skip this step if you want. I also used several large washers (15 to 20 cents each) to give the bolts some extra grip, as the UniStrut slots are kind of large.

Last step was to paint it black and wrap a pair of bungee cords around the bars. The bungee cords are necessary to break up the singing noise the wind makes at 40 mph as it whistles through the bars (instead of a roar or whistle, mine sounded like a high-pitch whine... think of people who play water glasses).

For $50 or less, it's on there so tight you can rock the whole car back and forth by the bars. I bought a box of lock washers and didn't even use them. I got this idea on some YouTube videos where guys were using aluminum box tubing. I couldn't get any such tubing at Home Depot, and that's fine because you don't have to drill any holes in the UniStrut.

Super siphon! I think it's about $12 and it makes it super easy to put gas from cans into your tank! Just shake the end in the can and suddenly it starts to flow!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EM3CHP6

I also love my tablet mount I use for my tablet. I run a Samsung galaxy tab A 10.1" with back country navigator. I keep it in a mount attached to the passenger seat rail, and it holds it securely and easily view able!

Also I love my Anker 12v USB converter. It is the first 12V usb converter that I have seen that actually puts out enough power to charge my tablet and phone at the same time, and quickly!

Even without a bumper-mount winch, it's not a bad idea to have one of these and a quality strap. Those may not be as "classy" nor as long-spooling as a bumper mounted winch but our dads and grandfathers did an awful lot of work with them, they do still serve a purpose and better to have one than to have nothing.

If you don't have any other kind of winch, it's not a bad idea to know how to make a flip-flop winch out of some branches - may never save your bacon but knowledge is something you can carry around for free without taking up any space or weight.

Any rope or strap you intend to use should not have any knots in it, knots reduce the strength drastically. Keep them clean and put them away with care. Ropes and straps must be considered consumable goods, they do not last forever and when they reach the end of their safe working life must be retired or permanently repurposed to a lighter duty task.