Last year’s trip to Colorado was a bit of a disappointment. Rock slides, high snow levels, and a shortage of staff to clear Black Bear Pass (BBP), resulted in the mountain pass getting shut down for the season.
Some off-road newbies ignored the Sheriff’s clear and strict warnings to stay off BBP, and got themselves in trouble. As expected, they tried to winch themselves out – who would ever think to attach a winch line to a 50 pound rock. #DUH So they needed to be rescued. They were from Texas, where there are no mountains, and thought their Toyota 4Runners were capable enough. They were right, but it’s the driver that needs to be capable.
So they earned the Sheriff’s Ass ClownsAward – similar to the Snow Bozo award given out at the major skiing resorts. The putting themselves and others at risk. Not to mention their recklessness resulted in valuable resources being pulled off of other priority trail clearing work. The Sheriff got fed up and the BBP mountain pass got shut down for whole season.
Fast forward ten months and it’s looking like BBP might open this year. Time to check a few things off of my Jeep todo list.
Fridge
I’ve been rolling with a Dometic CFX3 35 fridge for a few years. It ran non stop since it was installed without issues. Dometic is the biggest name in camping fridges. The problem was the model I had could only hold 3-4 days of food and drink. Not including water, since I keep a 2.5 gallon Spector container filled with clean water in the Jeep. I usually keep a couple 2L distilled water bottles in the fridge topped off for cold cooking and drinking water.
Being hypoglycemic, a good fridge is an important piece of equipment. I will be off grid for roughly a week on my next trip. So I needed a bigger fridge. My Camp Kitchen 2.3 sliding fridge/stove enclosure has a max fridge size of 15W x 20H x 25D. After looking at different fridges, I decided to get an ARB Classic II 50L. I included their Bluetooth module and insulating sleeve.
It turned out to be a perfect fit. I guess the Camp Kitchen 2.3 was designed around that fridge, the most popular fridge when the enclosure was released. The Bluetooth module is important to be able to monitor temp, settings, etc., and the insulator sleeve will help with power usage.
Old 37LNew 50L
Tent
Rather than using my iKamper Mini RTT, this year I plan to use my two person primitive tent. I want Koda with me at night, rather than have him in his Ruffland kennel in the Jeep. He hasn’t been able to learn how to climb the ladder to get into the RTT. The weather will be fine, it’s more about my desire to make the trip as enjoyable as possible for the mutt. Heck, I might gain a MPG or three on the trip.
Tires
My BFG KO2 315/70R17c tires have about 45,000 miles on them, and they’re rated for 50,000 miles, so the tread is well within tolerance. They probably have 5-6 thousand miles left on them. I am wrestling with the idea of replacing them before my trip. Traction at BBP is a must. I have two thoughts.
First, my spare is in great shape. The Jeep dealer confirmed it is as good as new. So I plan to buy three new tires. This way I can promote the current spare to active, and demote one of the active to be the new spare. That’ll save me $400 or so, no sense in wasting money.
Second, my wheels are ICON Rebound Pros, which have radial pins on the outer rim, pointing out from the hub, to lock the outer bead. A modern bead lock design that is street legal…but a PITA to deal with when replacing tires. Most shops don’t want to deal with them. So I am looking for a shop that will let me handle the pins, since the seals and pins will be new, and lubing the seals and torquing the pins is a lot of work requiring patience and precision.
The shop I bought the wheels from admitted there was so much work involved that they may have a surcharge for the next customer.
Handheld Radios
I roll with high powered mobile radios for HAM, GMRS, and CB. They’re all headless, where the body is mounted under my driver’s seat, and the head unit is mounted by the center console. This takes up little room and makes it harder for a thief to steal.
I have a challenge with my handheld radios. They all have removable battery packs and a spare battery that can only be charged when attached to the powered down radio, mounted to its proprietary AC table charger. I need to find a way to keep my spare batteries charged while I’m using the radio which has the primary battery attached. Not much hope for a solution but I will see what I can whip up as a custom detached battery charger. This way handhelds can last on long days that require their use.
The white elephant
A couple years ago my Jeep lost a fight with my garage. I was lifting the rear to upgrade my diff covers, and I miscalculated the distance to the top of the door. Just minor cracks, no major damage. But in an effort to ensure there would be no leaks, I used some marine patching tape to seal the cracks. Worked great for a year or so. But the Texas sun is wearing them out. Rather than remove and replace the marine patching tape. I think I might grind, fill, and seal, and paint. Assuming I can find the proper Snazzberry color paint from the dealer.
I have a month or two before the trip, lots to do before then.
Overlander at large 