Been a few weeks, so a few bits and bobs of progress...
First off, the truck has just over 7,300 miles in 5 weeks of ownership, so that's fun
The drive out to Overland Expo West in Flagstaff was great; the way out was 2x 15hr drive days and a 5-ish hour morning "commute" the final day; the way home had a 7hr, 16.5hr, and 12hr drive day. After all those hours the seats are still super comfortable, the 1 finger driving is better than the 14hr drive home (the steering really broke in after the first 1,500-2,000mi, just like the motor did with fuel economy).
Hand calculated (and taking into account the 4.4% odometer variance from the 33" tires) I averaged 15.8MPG covering around 4,700mi, with a moving average speed of 67MPH. Most of the time cruising speed was 77-83MPH (actual), with a good chunk of Oklahoma having faster cruising speeds than that given the 80mph speed limit. My best tank was 18.3mpg, headed East between Gallup, NM and Santa Rosa, NM. Worst tank (not including the tank that included driving around Flagstaff for 2 days) was headed West between Rolla, MO and Joplin, MO at 13.8MPG.
Now for the actual changes! First thing after getting back was to give it a bit of a rinse, nearly the entire drive West until Texas was done in the rain, so I gave it a quick bath in Flagstaff; the drive East was just full of bugs. So. Many. Bugs.
Not a thorough cleaning, just a quick pre-soak on all the forward facing surfaces with some P&S Mud Buster (4:1) and Chemical Guys Bug & Tar Remover (6:1) and then a wash with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss. If you're wanting to get into the weeds, the "basic" wash also includes P&S Brake Buster with agitation on the wheels/tires and then Sonax "The Beast" wheel cleaner as a round. After 5 weeks the Griots 3-in-1 Spray Wax and P&S Clean Maker combo seems to still be holding up well for hydrophobic properties, but the smoothness on the paint is lacking a bit.
Anyways, back to the alterations! I finally got around to assembling my DIY drawer set up, ironically, without the drawers themselves as I still haven't decided whether I'm framing the drawers in aluminum extrusion or doing them in wood (or HDPE). Obviously, I'm also missing the top and sides; but wanted to get it assembled to make sure my measurements were correct and that everything fit appropriately.
Outer dimensions are 37" deep (front to back), 41" wide, and 9" tall (without the top panel). This makes it a bit taller than a "flat" sleeping surface, but that wasn't my goal. The fridge slide is from DFG Off Road, and intended to be used specifically with the CFX3-45 fridge. One of my biggest reasons for moving the seats into the commercial (or "Quartermaster") position was to gain another 3.5" of space in the cargo area, allowing me to "stash" the subwoofer between the fridge and the rear seat, in a space that normally is wasted.
The frame is constructed with 1"x1" Aluminum Extrusion (often called 80/20, but these came from TNutz). The middle horizontal pieces are for the drawers slides to bolt to, and thus can be freely adjusted in height based on the drawer construction that I decide to go with. Hard to see in the photo, but while the passenger side has one "brace" (between center and right side, on top); the driver's side has two, specifically because the fridge slide has 3 pairs of holes, and I wanted each set of holes to have a solid mounting point.
If you're wondering how close the drawer system is to the rear doors,
Also, keen eyes will notice that the cargo mat is sitting higher than normal; that's because there is a layer of 0.40" thick 3M Minicell closed cell foam under it, and 2 layers where the original Interior Utility rail used to be.
Final touch for the weekend was to
finally get around to installing the XPel Door Sill Guard. My install method was to cut to length (front to back of vehicle), then tuck one edge between the rocker and body and work it up in sections towards the factory kick panel protector. Then use a razor knife to cut it where it meets the plastic kick panel protector.
That's all for now I think...
