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Backstory: I grew up 4-wheeling. My family has taken 4-wheelers and side by sides in Colorado, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana. I love it. It's ABSOLUTELY my favorite pastime.
Problem: I'm a 29 year old electrician with 4 kids. I'm not a wealthy man. I can't afford a machine to take all my family 4-wheeling.
Solution: So, enter my project. I have a 2011 supercab F150 4x4 with an ecoboost. I love this truck. I bought it 14 months ago with 136000 miles on it. It's now got 147000. Runs fantastic. Only problems have been the typical limited slip issue, and some 02 sensors.
Goal: We are planning a trip to Moab, Utah as well as Ouray, CO. this late July/early August. So, as my whole family (young and small) all fit reasonably comfortably in my truck, I want to make it capable enough to do some mild wheeling. We want to explore mountains and terrain.
So I'm modding the truck. It's currently stock. But the parts are on the way, or just arriving.
Parts List: Full Fox 2.0 shocks/struts all the way around.
275/70R 18 Mastercraft Courses AXTs on 18x9 Ultra Mavericks.
EBC pads and rotors.
Front sway bar delete.
Painting the grille surround body color. Cause I have to. For reasons.
TL;DR Doing a few (mainly 4-wheeling related) mods. Letting ya'll know how they work.
Absolutely. Not looking for that kind of trail. Appears as though there are some trails a little less extreme where I'm hoping to see if the truck can handle them.
There's plenty to do and see in So. Utah, don't let anyone scare you off..
Check out Beef Basin and White Rim Trail. Lockhart Canyon is likely a no-no for you though, which connects lower Canyonlands area with Moab. You could even conceivably make a run at Hell's Revenge, just stay out of the "tubs". I'd be careful at Fins-n-Things too (if at all). I recommend you get Charles Wells' trail book for the areas (Amazon)
There's a camping/wheeling road out the north end of Arches (definitely worth a visit).
Then there's Capitol Reef to the west, and some hairy wheeling in Escalante (Hole-in-the-Wall trail, e.g.)
Ouray: The wife and I did 5 passes in 2 days 2 years ago. Imogene is a day-long trip from Telluride to Ouray (recommended direction). Ophir Pass can go either way to get to Telluride. They can both be done in 1 day, but you're going to be in a hurry (no fun).
From Ouray, head up to Animas Forks, and you can do 1/2 of the Alpine Loop in 1 day. Lake City has rooms and campsites.
Now, the biggest mistake people make in these places? Tires. Most of these trails chew up even tough tires. I run Load E/10 ply tires. I don't have problems. But I also carry an ARB plug kit and air pump, just in case.
Feel free to PM me if you want. Have a great time!
Along Engineer Pass:
Last edited by STingray1300; 02-04-2017 at 12:42 AM.
There's plenty to do and see in So. Utah, don't let anyone scare you off..
Check out Beef Basin and White Rim Trail. Lockhart Canyon is likely a no-no for you though, which connects lower Canyonlands area with Moab. You could even conceivably make a run at Hell's Revenge, just stay out of the "tubs". I'd be careful at Fins-n-Things too (if at all). I recommend you get Charles Wells' trail book for the areas (Amazon)
There's a camping/wheeling road out the north end of Arches (definitely worth a visit).
Then there's Capitol Reef to the west, and some hairy wheeling in Escalante (Hole-in-the-Wall trail, e.g.)
Ouray: The wife and I did 5 passes in 2 days 2 years ago. Imogene is a day-long trip from Telluride to Ouray (recommended direction). Ophir Pass can go either way to get to Telluride. They can both be done in 1 day, but you're going to be in a hurry (no fun).
From Ouray, head up to Animas Forks, and you can do 1/2 of the Alpine Loop in 1 day. Lake City has rooms and campsites.
Now, the biggest mistake people make in these places? Tires. Most of these trails chew up even tough tires. I run Load E/10 ply tires. I don't have problems. But I also carry an ARB plug kit and air pump, just in case.
Feel free to PM me if you want. Have a great time!
Along Engineer Pass:
Thanks for the tips! I love seeing functional trucks doing what they were supposed to do. Your truck looks great! I really wanted to do hells revenge, since that's where you go when you go to Moab, but was unsure I'd make it. I may reconsider based on your recommendation.
My plan is to take a Hi-Lift jack, straps, full-sized spare, install an inverter, and a compressor. The plug kit is a great idea. I was thinking taking slime, but that obviously is not going to work on a legit rock puncture.
White Rim would be a good trail, there might be only one spot where you'd want a spotter..around Hogsback.
Reserve your campsites online, and as early as you can. It's a long trail to do in a day, especially with kids.
I think you'd be ok to do Imogene pass, it's a bit tight in a few spots. It probably won't be clear until July, this year. Imogene runs between Ouray and Telluride.
You could take the back entrance to/from Arches, it goes by another arch, I forget the name. YOu'll see it on the maps.
There's plenty to do and see in So. Utah, don't let anyone scare you off..
Check out Beef Basin and White Rim Trail. Lockhart Canyon is likely a no-no for you though, which connects lower Canyonlands area with Moab. You could even conceivably make a run at Hell's Revenge, just stay out of the "tubs". I'd be careful at Fins-n-Things too (if at all). I recommend you get Charles Wells' trail book for the areas (Amazon)
There's a camping/wheeling road out the north end of Arches (definitely worth a visit).
Then there's Capitol Reef to the west, and some hairy wheeling in Escalante (Hole-in-the-Wall trail, e.g.)
Ouray: The wife and I did 5 passes in 2 days 2 years ago. Imogene is a day-long trip from Telluride to Ouray (recommended direction). Ophir Pass can go either way to get to Telluride. They can both be done in 1 day, but you're going to be in a hurry (no fun).
From Ouray, head up to Animas Forks, and you can do 1/2 of the Alpine Loop in 1 day. Lake City has rooms and campsites.
Now, the biggest mistake people make in these places? Tires. Most of these trails chew up even tough tires. I run Load E/10 ply tires. I don't have problems. But I also carry an ARB plug kit and air pump, just in case.
Feel free to PM me if you want. Have a great time!
Along Engineer Pass:
Glad to see the F150 fits on those Colorado passes, I'd like to get back and do Engineer this year!
Painting the grille surround to match the truck. TIP: For anybody doing this project themselves:
When you get the underhood bolts out, the grille then pulls straight up and out of 5 clips in the hood. If you wiggle the grille too much, you'll bust a couple of those clips fairly easily. Don't ask how I know.
02-03-2017, 07:13 PM
My Experiment
