The “Yeti” Build, aka “Whitey Ford”

[Bill]

It’s a big white Ford ....

So when I bought the truck I knew it was going to have to fill a few roles. I commute 110 miles a day for my M-F day job and we own and operate our own small farm where we sell chicken, beef and eggs and we’ve had a renewed interest in camping and traveling and are looking to get into over landing. It’s been a bit of a back and forth trying to pick a direction and run with it because so many options worked great for one of those roles but not the others. So the build will be a balancing act with plenty of compromises along the way to make sure I can get the best overall balance to fit my needs.

This will be a working post; I have some things already done, some pretty well decided and others that I’ve got ideas for but haven’t landed on the actual parts or install. The basic premise I’m trying to work with is: Leave as much of the towing and payload capacity intact, ability to still put pallets in the bed, ability to transport our kayaks and bikes, maintain good on-road driving attitude while trying to maximize off-road capabilities and still be able to daily drive the truck while getting my family and 2 dogs out on some trips. So on-road attitude, reliability and fuel economy are important to keep intact.

So, where’s the truck stand so far?

Watch here for a tour of our truck and how we have it setup for life on the road.

2020 Ford F-250 Tremor XLT, 6.7L Diesel
Here is a link to a Google Sheet with a lot of the parts we use on the road, either in the truck or the RV. I'll keep adding to it as time goes on.
Parts List

Exterior -
Tint - Fronts matched to factory Rear tint level
Ford OEM Mud Flaps
Ronin Stubby Antenna
B&W Tow & Stow 3-Ball Mount with 7.5” drop
WeatherTech TechLiner for the bed and tailgate
BuiltRight Bedside Racks
Maxtrax Recovery Boards
Factor 55 HitchLink 3.0 + Warn Epic Shackle
S&B 60Gal Fuel Tank
ARB Dual Compressor w/ 2gal Tank
Hornblaster Tug Horn
ARE “V” Topper with OTR Finish
Subtle Design - Tank Warden Locking Fuel/DEF Caps
Limitless Mirror Spot Speed Override Harness
Subtle Design - Ditch Light Mount Kit - ON ORDER
Baja Designs S2 Wide White Cornering Lights - ON ORDER
Odyssey X2 AGM Batteries
Putco Venture Tec Rack - Removed
RetraxPRO XR - Removed/Sold
BAK Revolver X4s - Removed/Sold

Interior -
WeatherTech Floor Liners, front and back
BuiltRight Rear Seat Release
4Knines Rear Seat Cover - hold over from the last truck
E&G Console Vault
BuiltRight Dash Mount with power and 67 Design Mounts
Raptor Steering Wheel + Paddle Shifters
Garmin Dash Cam 47
Rough Country Seat Covers

Performance and Handling -
Fox ATS Front Steering Stabilizer
SuperSprings SumoSprings 2,800#
Yankum “Cobra” Kinetic Rope 1.5” x 30’
Banks PedalMonster - Sold
PMF 1.5” Front Leveling Blocks - Sold

Update as of 12/9/21 - we’ve had our 25’ Airstream Globetrotter Front Bed Queen since August and have been taking some little trips and making adjustments to plans and parts as needed. We are still on track to go full time in the RV starting in April of 2022.



Update as of 6/14/21 - we put a deposit down on a 27‘ Airstream Flying Cloud Front Bed Queen with the Rear Hatch. The move to a travel trailer certainly changes the game and will mean changes to future mods and plans but should work better with both dogs and the wife’s new job that allows her to work 100% remote. The plan for now is to have a rig that we can take around and boondock as needed/desire. Neither my wife or I want to be tethered to RV parks or established camp sites only.

Future plans include a roof top tent, air compressor (on-board or portable), some form of additional electrical power, maybe wheels and tires, water storage, winch, maybe bumpers, and probably plenty more I’m forgetting or will come up with later.

Ultimately I’d like to have a rig that we can use for the farm and daily needs while also being able to take long trips and be self-supported.

 

[Bill]

Here is the link to the install of the BuiltRight bed panels. I did this when I had the Retrax installed so it covers the cuts that have to be made.

Post in thread 'RetraxPro XR and BuiltRight Bedside Racks - Does it Fit?'
https://www.fordtremor.com/threads/...ight-bedside-racks-does-it-fit.775/post-76140

And here are some pics of the recently installed Bak Revolver X4s

 

[Bill]

And here are some pictures of the Putco Venture Tec Rack install that I did this weekend.

 

[Bill]

Ordered an additional cross rail for the Venture Tec Rack and some Maxtrax recovery boards today. The Maxtrax are on backorder, so we’ll see when the shipment finally arrives and I get them, Then the plan will be to fabricate a simple bracket to mount the tracks under the top beams of the rack, and ultimately under the tent that will be mounted up there. That should keep them up and out of the way, but still easy enough to get to when needed.

Something like this picture, but flipped under the rack instead of on top and mounted at the front of the bed, not the back. Although I may run them like in the picture until I get the tent so they don’t just collect water and turn into mobile birdbaths in the meantime.

 

[oops]

Nice truck. Even nicer farm!

 

[Randy77]

Looking good!

I really like that putco rack. Why did you change course and get rid of the retrax? was it fitment issues with the rack?

 

[Bill]

Looking good!

I really like that putco rack. Why did you change course and get rid of the retrax? was it fitment issues with the rack?

I really liked the Retrax cover and d been looking at them since I had my 2015 F250. Once I saw they had a version that allowed some racks to be used I was sold. It actually came down to a limitation on the racks, which forced me to change directions.

The Putco won’t fit with the Retrax. It requires access to the stake pockets, as well as plenty of real estate around them. Even the Retrax with the rails designed for access to the stake pockets won’t work with the Putco rack.

My original plan was to use the Yakima OverHaul HD towers with the Retrax, but after accounting for the loss in carrying capacity by mounting the towers to the Retrax I realized I didn’t have enough load handling to mount the tent I’m planning on using plus account for myself, wife and 2 dogs … let alone any other gear that may find it’s way on to the rack.

The Yakima towers are rated at 800lbs static/500lbs on road/300lbs off road when mounted directly to the bed rails. But when mounting to a Retrax those values are reduced by 40% and you end up with 480/300/180 and that didn’t work for me.
In comparison the Putco is rated at 1,000/600/300. That I could work with.

 

[Bill]

As of today I’ve got the Maxtraxs on order as of a few weeks ago, just waiting for them to arrive, and I ordered an additional cross brace for the top of the Putco rack. The plan will be to mount the boards between the cross braces to keep them up and out of the way, but still accessible.

I took part in the May Group Buy for the Fox Steering Stabilizer. It got delivered yesterday and if all goes well I should have it in this weekend.

And I’ve got the E&G Console Vault on order through dumb luck. Dan (Modified) just introduced Apollo Optics as a new supporting vendor and while checking out their site I saw the safes. I’ve been trying to find one of these since first seeing one posted here but everyone seemed to be out. So now I’ll have a place to better secure important papers, small valuables, etc while out on the road or trail.

Otherwise it sounds like the build may be making another turn for a few reasons; should know more in a month or so. But we’re looking at travel trailers now. They were the last thing on my list when we originally started planning, as I liked the self-contained setup of keeping all things on the truck, but after weighting out some of the possible new requirements the travel trailer checks all the boxes. More to come over the next few weeks.

 

[MTTremor]

Nice looking truck. Congrats ?

 

[Bill]

Got the Fox ATS Steering Stabilizer installed and first impressions are really positive. The install went pretty smooth, and with the updated instructions from Fox it should be a breeze for others.

I’m set at 12 right now and will give it a few drives to see if I need to tighten or loosen that up.

 

[Bill]

And plans changed … go figure. We are scrapping the Roof Top Tent idea and just placed a deposit on a travel trailer, expected delivery sometime in November (maybe sooner).

27’ Airstream Flying Cloud Front Bed Queen with the Rear Hatch. More updates to come on the truck and trailer as we progress.

 

[DrinkingInTheWoods]

Yeti? Aren't they anti-gun?

 

[Bill]

Yeti? Aren't they anti-gun?

Yeti, as in the creature from Himalayan folklore, not the cooler company. I’m guessing the Yeti, like Bigfoot, doesn’t worry much about guns. Gotta see them to shoot ’em. lol

 

[Bill]

Installed the E&G Console Vault this morning. It was a straight forward install and took about the 30 minutes they say.

One minor difference where my truck suffered from the instructions was the bolts that hold the top of the console on. The instructions state they are 7mm hex but mine were T20 (pretty sure that’s what they were) instead. No big deal, but figured I’d mention it.

Now we’ve got some secure storage for spare keys, important documents and other things when we are on the road.

 

[Sludgemonkey44]

Installed the E&G Console Vault this morning. It was a straight forward install and took about the 30 minutes they say.

One minor difference where my truck suffered from the instructions was the bolts that hold the top of the console on. The instructions state they are 7mm hex but mine were T20 (pretty sure that’s what they were) instead. No big deal, but figured I’d mention it.

Now we’ve got some secure storage for spare keys, important documents and other things when we are on the road.

That looks like a really nice setup. The “halfer” style vault makes the most sense to me so you don’t have to be constantly unlocking and accessing it. That’s sweet to be able to still have the other half of the space for less valuable or more easily replaceable things. Great job! ????

 

[Bill]

That looks like a really nice setup. The “halfer” style vault makes the most sense to me so you don’t have to be constantly unlocking and accessing it. That’s sweet to be able to still have the other half of the space for less valuable or more easily replaceable things. Great job! ????

That’s what really sold me on this one, and the fact that it is beefy as hell. I’m in and out of the console so I would likely just end up leaving a full safe unlocked. And I liked that I kept the use of the tray.

 

[Silverslug]

What does that safe run $? Looks entirely more useful than the full safe

 

[Bill]

What does that safe run $? Looks e tiredly more useful than the full safe

$298 through Nick @ Apollo Optics, supporting vendor here on the board. I got it within a week.

 

[Bill]

Test fit the Maxtrax on the Putco rack, using the Putco included “tent mounting” brackets. I’ll bring them into the shop on Monday to drill them out and finish up the mounting next week.

 

[WaterboyOU812]

Got the Fox ATS Steering Stabilizer installed and first impressions are really positive. The install went pretty smooth, and with the updated instructions from Fox it should be a breeze for others.

I’m set at 12 right now and will give it a few drives to see if I need to tighten or loosen that up.

Let me first say...I rarely drive (4K miles in a year) my $80K Tremor, but just had to have one...Wife just loves to see it sit there! Primarily used to pull my boat back forth to ramp <5 miles. No off road, no mudding, occasional pallet of mulch and like. Definitely best to describe myself as a "tinkerer". Other than to say I have one and it looks awesome, do I really need a better than stock steering stabilizer?