Outdoorsy and adventure seeker are adjectives that describe who I am mostly. Sure, I'm a suit-wearing city worker but I've got dust and diesel running through my veins and I run better on fresh air, solitude and 4x4 trails than smog and bitumen, and the city noise.
If you follow my blog, and actually take the time to read them, you'll know I'm always out in the country shooting, hiking, kayaking and off-roading. I often get asked questions on steemit chat about my equipment and experiences and if you go back through my blog you'll see posts answering some of those questions although I always try to respond to chat messages directly. Sometimes I just don't have the time.
I thought I'd share a few pictures of my truck today with an explanation of some of the equipment I have on board. So here goes...
2016 Ford Ranger XLT (Chrome sports bar removed because they suck). 3.2L automatic with rear differential lock and tech pack. I Needed a truck that had the right towing capacity, internal room and load capacity. My other choice was an SR5 Hilux but the little 2.8L engine didn't light my fire. I paid $57,500 for the basic, brand-new vehicle from the dealer and have added almost $23,000 of accessories in the 12 months I've had it.
Bullbar by ARB. This is the Summit steel winch-compatible bar. This piece of kit is critical if the vehicle goes out into rural areas of Australia., which mine does every week. Animal strikes are common. The bull bar is designed to protect the critical areas of the vehicle (cooling system) so the vehicle can still get you to civilisation in the advent of an animal strike. Of course, there's no guarantee that it will work. I've hit a couple of kangaroo's in other vehicles and have been lucky that the bull bar has worked as intended but many have come to grief. This one weighs about 85kg fitted and is airbag and crumple-zone compatible. It is equipped with fog lights and has spotlight mounting points. (About $2850 fitted)
ARB Intensity LED spot lights. These are pretty-much the best in the business in my opinion. I have fitted two spots rather than a flood and a spot because the spot on these lights is quite loose when projected down the road. At night I get a tunnel of light extending out to about 1 kilometre and reaching about 15-20 meters left and right. The light has also been designed to be as close to natural daylight as possible. There is no patterning as with HID or Halogen lights and at night when off-roading provide a nice even light to navigate by. The also require zero warm-up time. The mounting bracket is also very sturdy and has pinning bolts so the light, once set and fixed in place, does not move. They are expensive but worth it in my opinion. (About $1844 fitted).
UHF radio and antenna. This essential piece of equipment can be a difficult one to buy as there is a lot of choice and opinions. I went for a GME set up as they are fully Australian made. I use the GME XRS. The radio has Bluetooth compatibility with my iphone and an OLED screen on the handset making it easier to read.
The antenna currently on the truck is a 6.6 gain 900mm one which is suitable for short distance comms for when I have a spotter standing in front of my vehicle advising me on wheel placement during technical off-roading. I also have a 1200mm 9.9 gain antenna which is interchangeable which I use when on the open road for long range comms. It's great for convoy communication and to communicate with truckies on road conditions and wide-loads coming my way. (Radio and antenna fitted about $920)
The handset inside the vehicle. I don't use it in the urban areas but on the open road it comes in handy, and off-road is essential.
Sometimes people forget about the parts they can't see and focus on glitz and glamour but any good off-roader will have its soft belly-areas protected. They come with some basic factory protection but one rock and it's dented and that could possibly damage the components. I use the ARB UVP (under vehicle protection) which is 3mm thick cold-pressed steel and super tough. The plates bolt on from beneath the bull bar back to the transfer case so it protects all of the underside of the engine and gearbox. It replaces the factory rubbish altogether.
You will note I also have a recovery point fitted, the red thing. That's used to attach a snatch strap or winch cable to for recovery from bogs, creeks, rocks and sand. The factory tie-down
(UVP and recovery point is about $1250 fitted)
ARB steel sidesteps. My truck came with factory-fitted plastic sidesteps. Totally useless. I had them removed and installed these steel ones. They are not technically rock-sliders but will take the weight of the vehicle and will protect the sills from rocks when I'm 4-wheeling. I don't necessarily mean small rocks kicked up by the wheels but rocks I am driving over. When the wheels drop into holes and troughs the sills and underneath of the truck gets closer to the ground, often bottoming out and scraping. The steps also help me get into the vehicle more easily. I have a lift on the truck so it's sits higher than standard.
Off-road suspension and lift. This product again comes from ARB. Old Man Emu is owned by ARB and specialise in off-road recreational and racing suspension for 4x4's. http://www.oldmanemu.com.au The kit has lifted my vehicle 2 inches (50mm) giving greater ground clearance and drivability. The factory suspension is set up and tuned for on-road comfort which is great for the idiot who buys a truck like this with no intention of going off-road. But in an off-roading situation greater control is required and OME suspension achieves that by springing and dampening the vehicles travel with greater accuracy. It also takes into consideration the additional weight of the accessories and load the vehicle will carry.
The suspension you see on my vehicle will allow me to get airborne and land confidently knowing I'll not put a front strut through the bonnet or lose control of the steering. Not that I'm irresponsible enough to do it intentionally but at times when 4-wheeling wheels come off the ground and the vehicle drops down hard. It has also removed body-roll completely. The kit includes front and rear springs front and rear struts and all the bushes and shackles required for fitment. (About $2700 fitted and wheel aligned)
Whilst we're under the car I'll mention the long range diesel tank. Unfortunately the factory 70L tank doesn't provide enough range for the average off-roader and certainly not me. Vehicle manufacturers need to make each component fit easily on the production line and within a given cycle-time for efficient productivity. This makes them inefficient though as they don't use all of the available space.
The ARB Frontier tank is 140L in capacity and replaces the factory tank completely. It simply uses the available space more efficiently. It uses the same fuel pick-up and fuel system components so is quite easily fitted. I have 1400km of range now which is great and the tank provides a little more ground clearance through sitting more snugly to the underbody/floor. ($1400 fitted)
I had to use this image off the ARB website to demonstrate it as mine is underneath my car obviously. https://www.arb.com.au
Roof storage system and awning. What you see here is a mix of products from 3 different manufacturers. (All Australian). The platform is by Rhino Rack and is their Pioneer Platform. http://www.rhinorack.com.au/products/roof/roof-trays/pioneer-platforms It's an adjustable and adaptable system for which I can buy almost endless fittings for to attach just about everything from light bars, gas bottles, spare wheels, shovels and even roof-top tents. So many options plus the ability to ties down other loads like my swag, gun cases, kayaks and more. (Pioneer platform ($1200)
The black items you see on the left of the platform are MaxTrax https://www.maxtrax.com.au recovery tracks. When bogged one would place them under the tyres as a traction aid in sand, mud, gravel and the like. I also use them to bridge fissures in the track by stacking them on top of each other. They take the full weight of the truck. I have two permanently on my truck, two on my off-road camper trailer and another two lose, so six all up. (MaxTrax are $300 a pair. so $900 total)
The last item bolted to the left of the platform is an ARB awning. https://www.arb.com.au/products/camping-accessories/awnings-and-accessories/ It is pretty-much what it sounds like; A deployable awning for shade and rain cover. It comes in handy for lunch stops on the road and at camp for quick cover. I often deploy it and place my swag underneath it to keep rain and dew off the top of my swag. It deploys and packs up in about 4 minutes with one operator. ($350)
ARB fridge freezer. This item is essential for keeping food and beverages cool and it sits in my truck 24/7 at 3 degrees celcius. In fact my wife also has a 4x4 with all of this same gear on it and the fridge is so convenient when she's out grocery shopping as well. It has 60L capacity and will keep temperature from -18 degrees and above. So, good for ice cream, frozen meat and of course...Beer. :) To run this fridge I needed a dual battery system so the main (start) battery doesn't get drained through the fridge draw. The battery system consists of a 110Ah deep-cycle battery, DCDC charger (Redarc BCDC1225LV is what I run) plus a relay, terminals and cables of course. It charges off the alternator and also I can solar-input from solar panels which I take on longer trips. The fully charged battery will keep my fridge at zero degrees constantly for about 6 days non-stop without charging.
With correct packing the fridge will sustain us with food for up to 2 weeks. That's fresh meat, cold milk and the like in the middle of nowhere. There's ample room if packed correctly and with some thought.(Fridge $1500 and battery system ($2700 fitted)
I have also fitted a bluetooth fridge monitor that provides me a monitor screen inside the truck which displays the same readout as on the fridge screen so I know what is going on back there when I'm rolling. The fridge is also on an ARB fridge slide that extends out of the bed of the truck and back in for stowage. (Slide $350)
Good tyres are essential for off-roading. I used to run chunky mud tyres but they're simply too noisy on the bitumen and decreased fuel economy too much. I have increased the diameter on my tyres from factory which has gained me another inch of lift so I have a total of 3 inches with the suspension lift (75mm). These are BF Goodrich KO2 tyres. The best in my opinion. They are great on road and off the black top they perform even better. With intelligent driving and tyre-deflation they'll get me anywhere. Depending on the situation I'll deflate them down to 10psi from the usual 38psi I run in them on the blacktop. (Tyres about $1500 fitted)
Lastly this little item is fitted in the cabin. It's a Redarc TowPro Elite V2. This little thing controls the electric brake system on my camper trailer. When I depress the brake it applies the same braking force to the brake system on my trailer allowing for safer towing. It's actually the law to have one if a trailer is over a certain weight. When a trailer is connected little LED lights light up with various colours depending on brake force and I can set it to apply more or less manually. I also use it when towing down declines off-road. I can activate it manually by pressing on the top and apply brake-force to the trailer independently. Getting overtaken by your own trailer on a steep decline is not recommended. (TowPro Elite $550 fitted)
So, there you have it. That's a brief look at some of the systems on my car. I have others of course but as this is a long post I will save them for later. Having my rig set up like this allows me to get into the outback with a lot of confidence. Of course, there's more to it than simply bolting one some bits but getting into the outback always starts with a capable vehicle.
Thanks for reading if you got this far.