Well after a non-productive Saturday, I was able to get a little work done Sunday afternoon. I noticed that there were a few rust bubbles showing on the bottom of the rockers this summer during an oil change. Decided that I needed to do something about it. They don't make a replacement rocker section for the Tahoe, unless you want to buy a replacement uniside section for $600. They do make just the rockers for crew cabs though for a measly $89. After a little measuring and trimming, the rockers were a good fit.
I had previously acid primed and then sealed the inner of the rockers. Welding will burn and destroy the corrosion protection and create a hotspot for rust to start again, so we used a high shear strength structural adhesive from 3m. This product is what we use when we rivet bond frame rails into vehicles. The mating surfaces have to be prepped with a 36 grit tooth in order for the adhesive to have something to grab on to. You apply a bead of adhesive to both bonding surfaces and then cover all the bare metal with adhesive by brushing it out with an acid brush. The parts are joined, clamped and screwed together where clamps won't reach. This is a slow cure adhesive and can't the vehicle can't be moved for 12 hours after bonding. There is a visual indicator of complete cure, the glue turns purple when it is cured. I will get a shot of that today. As you can see from the pictures, those small rust bubbles on the outside were nothing compared to what the insides look liked. The drivers side took about four hours to complete and I expect the passenger side to be about the same.

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Just a quick update, I have a potential employee making the trip from the big city out here today, so the likelihood of getting the breakfast burrito mix made up this afternoon is slim. I should have time tomorrow after church to get it going though, so look for a photo update tomorrow evening!

Good morning gentlemen! I was able to get the doors and liftgate lined last night. I went with the current Jeep color called commando. It is sort of a split between ww2 olive drab and the current desert sand colors. I figured now that I am back out in the grasslands, that green wouldn't serve me as well as a more tan color would. I can't remember if I mentioned that I had become a Speedliner dealer or not, but I am. Speedliner is a Kevlar reinforced spray on bedliner product that is beyond tough. My plan for the morning is to get the hood and fenders off of the Tahoe. I have a recruit coming out midday to meet with me about coming to work, so time will tell how much I can get done. Here are some photos:

The last one is for comparison to the original green on the truck. I have been researching a film that helps to make glass more impact resistant. Considering adding that to the windows while they are out and also looking into Kevlar sheets to install inside of the door shells to help slow any inbound materials (God forbid it ever comes to that)

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When we are storing things for long term storage, we always handle the food with gloved hands to prevent contamination, we weigh the food into certain portions (1 serving, 4 servings, ounces etc) vacuum seal the portion in a bag with and o2 absorber and then package it in a heavy mil mylar bag which we then push as much of the air out of and then sealer with an induction sealer. We always write on the outside the contents, the date dried and stored and always how much water to rehydrate the meal with.

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We bought ours last fall when they were on sale and paid $2795.00. They are on sale right now:


They now have a larger and a smaller size, but the standard size suits our needs just fine!

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Leftovers don't last long in our house. I would have to make stuff special to freeze dry. Once in a while when we do have a few leftovers that start to get old it goes to the animals.

I would use it more for freeze drying fresh vegetables out of my garden. I can a lot now but that only last a couple years. 

How do you package freze dried foods. Just vacuum seal them?

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We usually make four extra servings we were are cooking dinner and reserve them for freeze drying. It only takes a few additional ingredients and minute or two longer to make 4 or 8 servings. To pack them for long term storage, an oxygen absorber is vacuum packed in with the food and then they are sealed in 7 mil mylar bags, the labeled and stored. For items we rotate through like eggs and cheese, we pack them with o2 absorbers in pint jars. Once we open the jars, we re-vacuum seal the jars and keep them in the kitchen. Everything else is stored in our pantry. I will get some pics soon.

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I know they seem like a big investment right from the onset, but once you break down the numbers, they become so much more reasonable. For example:

The average American family of four throws away $2275 worth of food each year. The freeze drier costs around $2800 (depending on what sale Harvest Right is having) plus shipping ($300). To run a batch in the freeze drier, we use around $1.20 in electricity. We run our drier 4 to 5 times a week.

So if you amortize the freeze drier over the course of 2 years, it costs per month:

Machine: $129.16
Electricity: $36.00
For a total of: $165.16

The average per month of dollars wasted in food: $189.58

If you look at it this way, over the course of two years, the purchase of a freeze drier actually saves you $24.42 each month.

I know a lot of people who spend more than $165 on satellite or cable TV. Eliminate the garbage on the boob tube and your freeze drier is paid for.

And here is the best part of the thing, all those leftovers that get shoved to the back of the fridge, they now become your own homemade Mountain House meals, just way tastier and with less processed crap in them. I usually grab one of the individual serving meals that we put together when I go on a day hike. Both my wife and I will take them to work for lunch on occasion as well. She can attest, when you are rehydrating turkey and noodles with mashed potatoes that where made at Thanksgiving, while others are unwrapping McDonald's burgers, they give you some jealous looks!


Now I understand that a freeze drier is only worth having while the grid is up, but during this time of luxury, we are doing everything we can to make sure that we are as fully prepared as we can be. 

Sorry, been swamped at the shop and battling a monster cold here.

Don, to answer your question, yes yes and yes.

Actually, I decided that when I became a Speedliner dealer, I would redo the Tahoe in it as a rolling promotional. I get asked all the time about the finish on it and figured this would be a good way to draw some business out of it. I was rushed in getting things finished for our trip two years ago and didn't get to do everything that I wanted to her, so this is my do over. So far the plans include:

Heat exchangers on the hood
An ARB front bumper
Custom rear bumper with fuel and tire swing outs
Fresh air snorkel install
New rocker panels
Rock slider/assist steps for my lovely but vertically challenged wife.
New trailer hitch
Brackets for the roof rack and addition of side lights

That is the plan for the exterior. Once I get that finished up, I will let you in on the interior mods.

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Technically yes, but the vast majority of them are being built like this one.

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I had the opportunity to buy the body shop in my home town last year. After quite a bit of back and  forth with the owner we were able to settle on terms that worked for both of us, so last July I left the dealership body shop I had ran for the previous six years and we moved from Omaha to Aurora. It has been an adventure for sure!

JR: that is a cat c16 engine. A company in Doniphan (about 30 miles from here) builds glider semis. They put older cat engines in them to skirt around the emissions regulations that our former buddy @ 1600 Pennsylvanian Avenue pushed through. Each engine is custom painted for the customer. This is the first of 10 that they contracted with me to do.

Here is what they look like when I get them:


I soda blast the engine and on this one did some polish work:

I promise I will document and post more than every 18 months!

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Hello everyone! I figured that I would check in as it has been ages since I posted on the forum. I have stalked the message boards once every few weeks, but haven't had the time to dedicate to continuing my build thread. To catch everyone up, I still have the AdventureHoe, she hasn't had much done to her other than routine maintenance. The family and I moved out of the city this summer and back to my home town. I was able to buy the local body shop from the retiring owner and since August 1st, I have reverted to sleeping about as much as when my kids were babies! Have been debating on buying an ex-army diesel truck or blazer and building that into a BOV but realistically completing a task like that is going to be a few years down the road (if we have that much time). For now, am just making preparations for whats to come, whether it be a market crash or an all out nuclear war with (fill in the blank). Interesting enough, I have noticed that our families lifestyle of preparation fits in well in my hometown, I believe there are more closet preppers here than one would think per capita. Another gentleman and I will be starting a Sunday evening bible study on end times after the first of the year. I will try to make it a habit to check in more often that I have! God Bless you fellow men and talk to you all soon!

I will throw in my real world experience with the Wylde chambering. The scary black rifle in the picture is an 18" barreled .223 Wylde. You can shoot 223 and 5.56 out of a Wylde barrel. The difference between the Wylde and other barrels is that the chamber in the Wylde barrel is slightly tighter than a 5.56 barrel, and the lands are closer to the chamber by 1/100 of an inch which allows the round to engage the rifling once the round is chambered instead of having to jump in other barrels when the round is fired. The standard m4 barrels are not chambered as tightly and have the lands as close in order to allow the rapid fire of a three shot burst or full auto. .223 Wylde is a fantastic chambering if you are looking for 200-300 yard gun. Much past that and you need a heavier larger caliber like .308.

The .223 Wylde gun is my mid range gun, while my Ruger GSR is my long range and my other 16" AR is my close quarters gun. And no the pink camp isn't my close range gun, that is my wife's newest gun.


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No reverse. No manual 3 2 1 either. I would think that even if there was an electrical issue, I would still be able to get the vehicle into gear, just not have auto shift due to the electronic valve body.

Just a quick check in to let you fellows know that I am still in the land of the living. I have been so incredibly busy with work and life since we returned from our out west trip and I haven't had a chance to upload any photos so I can post them up for you all! I am hoping to get an hour or two to myself this weekend and then the posting can commence!

We are heading northwest from Omaha to ash fall fossil beds. The up to Valentine to the Mackenzie forest then further west to Fort Robinson then south to Scottsbluff, Chimney Rock, jailhouse and courthouse rock. The a detour south to the canyon massacre site, probably going to stop in Grand Island and go the the Stuhr museum. My hometown is only 20 minutes from there so we have to stop and see mom and dad too.
It is going to be an interesting trip. My wife is from Missouri so she hasn't seen any of the Nebraska history sites yet either.


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W E L L,  E R R R,  A H H H

You have a pretty cool and unique truck going on so far. Good products, lots of labor, and a pretty unique vehicle overall.

You haven't been all that attuned to cost up to this point, favoring quality over cost, I think.
So
Why would you have changed up that formula?

Obviously you know why conduit is so much lighter and costs less...There's less of it there
And the metal is of a low quality and made thin wall so electricians can easily bend it on the job. Same way it is going to bend when a person steps on it, a kid tries a chin up on it, you put a water or fuel can on it and so forth

Conduit is not structural, only a metal sheath for wire. It will not last and when it starts to bend your cool truck is going to start to look otherwise.

Regular 1" steel tubing is not very expensive and won't bend up, well under normal expedition vehicle loads, won't.

I applaud your building a roof rack but would encourage you throw out the insulation and go get some real steel tubing.

Soldier on!

Let's just say this is roof rack 1.0. :) I've never fab up anything like this so this is going to be my learning curve project.

On the other hand, we are taking a six day trip out to western Nebraska to introduce my soon to be fourth grader to some of the sites he is going to learn this year in Nebraska history, so I am in a bit of a time crunch to get this one made. If all goes well on it, plan for a heavier roof rack 2.0 in the future!


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Loving the rear carrier! Keep up the good work!


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That turned out really well.  Did you like the door jams?  Also did you do anything special when rolling across a body seam?  I've been thinking about doing this with my truck but was wondering how well rolling it on will get the color into the gaps between panels.

The door jambs are a slightly darker olive drab color but it isn't noticeable with doors closed. I would have liked to liner the jambs but I have a buddy who lined his and the weatherstripping first discolored it and then it started peeling.

The only thing I did special when going over a seam is to make sure that the liner was able to wrap around the edge of the panel to give it a more finished look.

We spent the weekend out west at my folks so no progress was made on the Tahoe this weekend. I am hoping to get the flares lined and mounted over the course of the next week.


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Oh yeah. I know. One of my fondest truck memories is running my old 92 F250 7.3idi with old motor oil and tranny fluid mixed in with the fuel. I could roll black coal for miles just with normal driving.

You guys have for me to thinking that this may be a doable idea.... I think my folks still have an old d350 sitting at their place....


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Quote from: Flyin6 on June 30, 2015, 02:59:43 PM

Or just drop a 4BT in there!

I like this idea

I will get you all my wife's email address and you can convince her!


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That's a tough, low gloss (Low reflectivity) finish you have there.

Glad you're tackling one of these Tahoe/burbs of recent vintage. Many of them out there these days and very affordable, so you really get to be on the leading edge of what I believe will be an ever increasing wave of mods to these capable vehicles.

Thanks for the compliments and the encouragement! I am really looking forward to continue to build up the Tahoe into a survival and adventure-mobile. At first I wasn't so sure about the choice of this platform but I had an epiphany sitting at a stoplight on my way home from work one evening. In the course of the two lights that I sat through I counted 42 vehicles that were built on the GMT800 platform (Tahoes, Suburbans, Yukons, Yukon XLs, Sierras, Silverados and Caddillac variants). The thought process went something like this:
If I was traveling from point a to b after an emergency and blew the second tire of the trip, could I find a replacement in the way. What about a water pump, belt, etc etc etc.

I originally wanted a Land Cruiser but the initial purchase price plus rarity of them made it hard to realize that dream, so after trading in my truck for the wife's 4Runner, I realized that the Tahoe would be a very workable platform to build into our everyday getaway truck.

I am working on obtaining duplicate computers for the vehicle and storing them in Faraday boxes to protect them from EMPs. The addition of a second fuel tank should help increase our range to help get us away from the city and to our retreat location (until we can make the move there to full time).

I have so many ideas rattling around in my head right now I wish I had the time to just do them but unfortunately work calls. Have a great day all and I look forward to updating you all soon.


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And that new front end:

2500HD Hood, plasti-dipped the grille and upper bumper cap (until I can fab up a Don worthy winch bumper)



Now to let the body and wallet recover a little bit before I dive into the roof basket and auxiliary lighting project, front winch bumper build and rear spare tire carrier bumper.

And some more of the first coat.





Now I think I mentioned that it was hot. I am not normally a weenie about the heat, but when applying a catalyzed product I didn't have the luxury of time to stop and take photos. I had to hustle throughout the process to get the other two coats (three total) on before the bedliner gelled and was ruined. If I had to do it over again, I would have just ran it up the climate controlled paint booth and shot it in there.

Spent the weekend working on the Hoe. Couple of hiccups along the way. One, my compressor wouldn't pressure up above 15 psi (thinking the rings on the pistons aren't sealing anymore), and it was HOT. It was suppose to be in the low eighties with relatively low humidity and being that I was planning on working on this at home and not the shop, I was looking for a couple of days with decent weather. Well, it was in the low eighties, at 9:00 am. Then the temperature kept rising and not a lick of wind to help drive away the radiant heat. Despite the set backs, we soldiered on.

After de-triming the Hoe, we sanded and prepared the hood and roof to begin with.





Then we started measuring out the ingredients of the Raptor Liner.



And that pretty Field Green Toner: