Extreme Home Makeover: 4x4 Edition

As the miles started to rack up on The Betty and the challenge of finding a camping or parking spot started to wear on me. I began to think about other RV options(taking some advice from my last posting).  With over 2000 miles covered and six weeks never touching a highway or hooking up to power.  Passing up forest service roads were beginning to be frustrating both for the fact of exploration and the opportunity for rustic camping.
While I was parked in my lot in Breckenridge The Betty was perfect.  Large enough to weather a record winter without being to cramped.  But as the "road" part of the trip started I felt like it was time for a smaller and more rugged rig.

The space of a 10x20 unit came in very handy

Having a more off road capable rig has always been on my mind, I mean who doesn't dream of pulling up to Red Bull Rampage in a fully decked out EarthRoamer!   The majority of us don't have a cool quarter million laying around so I decided I would assemble my own.
Once the decision was made The Betty went up for sale on Ebay.  It was a tough decision, the RV had been trouble free and she had been my home for the last 8 months. 
It sold on Ebay while I was biking in Park City to a gentleman in Tulsa, OK.  We agreed to meet in Hays, KS to do the exchange.  I was heading back to Denver to start building The Betty II, so this was only a few hours past that.

Unloading, I'll be living out of a storage unit for a bit.

Selling it was the easy part, figuring out were I'm going to live and what to do with all my stuff in the interim was the hard part.  I was going to need to lean on some of my Denver friends for this undertaking.
I didn't give myself much wiggle room on completing this task.  I had 3 days to get from Park City, UT to Denver, unload my entire life out of the RV, then get to the middle of nowhere Kansas for delivery.  I managed to find a 10x20 storage unit in Denver which at the time I though was way too much space.  They were having a special, the first month was only 22 bucks! By the time I had unloaded the RV the 200 square feet was full.

Hanging at the Golden Ox

Now that she was empty it was time to head to Kansas for delivery.  It was another 4-5 hours to our meet up point from Denver so I got an early start.  I threw a few things in a backpack and hit the road.  The sale went off without a hitch and the buyer was more than happy.  She went to a good home, a fellow 7.3L enthusiast who will appreciate her prowess.
Once the deal was done, I grabbed my back pack, did one last "over the shoulder look back", and walked off.  I missed her more than I thought I would.  Maybe being in a tiny town in Kansas with nothing more than a backpack made it worse.

Pit stop at Mcdonalds

I think riding a Grey Hound bus is an experience everyone should undertake.  This was the mode of transportation I chose to get back to Denver.  Of course the bus was running about two hours late.  Once it arrived at the Golden Ox station it was nearly full with passengers already frustrated with the breakdown that caused the delay.  The driver wasted no time loading its fresh batch of patrons; we were finally Denver bound.  There was some interesting characters on the hound with "bus banter" to match.   It was about a 6 hour trip, arriving downtown at about 2 am.  I called a cab and heading to a friends to spend what was left of the night.

Can't beat this classic body style

I'd had been shopping for the new truck once the RV went of for sale.  Once back in Denver I started calling on a handful of trucks that caught my eye.  Again, I was looking for a very specific truck.   I wanted the 7.3L diesel again, in the 95-98 year range.  After a couple showings and more than a few phone calls I pulled the trigger on the new stead.  A 1997 Ford F250 crew cab short bed with just under 225,000 miles on it.  The miles were high but the truck was mechanic owned and spent its life in Texas, I felt confident in the purchase.

Making a pit stop in Breck

Now that the power plant was purchased, it was time for the camper.  I had one already picked out, with money down, in Grand Junction.  It was a 2002 Palomino 8801, a simple camper coming in at just under 9 feet.   Once I picked up the camper in GJ, I turned around and headed back to Denver.  My hangout for the next week was going to be my storage unit, repacking and getting the new set up expedition ready.

On top of the whirlwind of switching homes and the urge to be on the road, I had managed to bang up my elbow.  It happened in Park City and It was a "shoulda got stitches" situation.  When I finally made the call to see a doctor they put me in a sling for a week.  Not the best timing but I made it work.
I set a timeline of 10 days from the sale of The Betty 1 to the maiden voyage of The Betty 2.  My friend Everett made the trip down from Breckenridge to help, thanks dude!  I had a list of things that I wanted to get done, mostly based on storage related projects.  First off, I needed a cargo box for the roof.  I managed to find one on craigslist for a steal.  It was the biggest one that Yakima made at 31 cubic feet of storage. I filled it to the brim. 

I was still scratching my head on how I was going to get all my stuff in the new rig.   I had quarantined some stuff for storage but it was still not enough.  Everett had the genius idea of taking out the back seat.  With the crew cab I had four full sized doors.  Problem solved!  Everett pulled out the back seat while I gave advice from the sidelines, my arm in a sling.  With the seat gone I could have almost just lived there!  I threw together some quick plans on a shelving system and got started.

Working on the cabinets at "the shop", aka a storage unit in Denver.

Putting together the frame for the shelving. So much room for activities!

Beer and a level....

Some sweet slide out baskets from the local home improvement store

Locked and Loaded

Fit in the essential tools, and most importantly, duct tape.

The last step was loosing the cargo trailer.   It was handy, safe, and kept the bikes out of the weather, but I decided I didn't want to tow it.  Images of me jack knifed on some National Forest road kept popping into my head.  I loaded it with the stuff labeled for storage.  This also included leaving the road bike and dirt jumper behind.  Once the cargo trailer was packed it went into a storage unit on the front range.

We packed up the last things from the unit and I was nearly ready to hit the road.

There were a few mechanical items that I had also been working on with the pick up.  With the high mileage I expected it would need a few things.  So I replaced a few sensors and a couple rubber boots.  It also needed brakes.  I had done pads and rotors before but this truck turned out to be a huge pain in the ass.  Being a 3/4 ton truck made it much more difficult.  I had to disassemble the four wheel drive hubs just to remove the rotors.  This required a couple special tools and some you tube clips.  what should have taken a few hours took all day.  Even once I had reassembled everything I still had to take it to Ford to have the bolts on the rotors pressed in.
Thankfully I had the hospitably of some friends.  They helped out big time, not only with the brakes, but also with hot meals and the elusive hot shower.  Thanks Dave and Mary!

17 days into my 10 day schedule I was nearly ready.  The last big task was to paint her.  I wanted something that would blend both in an urban and natural setting.  I decided to go with a "grove" green.  A quick sanding and some rollers we had the thing painted and ready to go. 

Painting The Betty at a friends above Breck. Not a bad backdrop for the project.

Everett finishing up some detail work

The Betty lives!!!!

With the trailer gone, bikes mounted like hood ornaments, and The Betty once again flying, I was back on the open road!