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Project MULE - Expedition build on a 1991 1500 4x4 Suburban

I've never seen a DIY pre-cut kit for NATO cans but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I have messed around with the idea of a pre-cut can kit. It's actually one of my first ideas I had just never went anywhere with it. I may revisit it.

This propane mount will be available in kit form soon if it's an item you are looking for.
 
It's been a while since I have posted up so I thought I would get some updates posted.

Well its been a couple months with the sliders and they have been awesome. They work great for everything they were designed for. stepping on, bouncing off, lifting and good old protection. and yes sliding!:D However... One thing I did not anticipate (well I did a little but not this much) was the amount of road noise and vibration transferred to the body. I had expected some but this is frankly annoying as hell!:eek1:

So I will remove the frame mounted hing bushing and in place put a "L" plate that bolts onto the side and underneath the frame and weld the 2x2" legs to that and remove the pinch seam bolts. It will then float their like a normal Frame mounted slider/step.

I would not call it a failure, just a learning experience. and I wont loose much in cost rebuilding the frame mounts.
 
Thanks for the feedback on that. I had a tube rear bumper that was hitting the corner of my rear quarter panel. It was in an area hard to see but what a boom this thing created under the right circumstances for such a small contact area.
 
Rear bumper updates.

The passenger side swing out has had me perplexed for a few weeks trying to figure out how to get the hi-lift, propane tank, CO2 tank and two Jerry cans on there. Well the Muse finally hit me Monday and I figure it out.

Both swing outs are done. Right now I am creating the skirt that will cover up the gap between the body and the bumper. This bumper sits higher then normal so the OEM plastic skirt I don't think would work. I don't know because i don't have mine anymore to verify.

Installed the Destaco latch today and am thinking of using pop-pins to lock the arms in the open position. I hope to do the final drive test with it fully loaded on a washboard road we have a couple miles away.

Anyways, here are some pics. Some are form my phone so quality may not be normal.

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One of the main ideas was to be capable of opening just the one door and get in with out having to swing open both arms.

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Well I'm glad you posted your findings on the sliders, thanks! The rear bumper looks great, you really packed a lot of stuff onto that thing. Are the lights for cut outs in the bumper going to be wired into the brake lights?
 
pma4x4 said:
The oval cut outs are for led backup lights.
Click to expand...

only reason i ask is that in one photo it looks like the taillights are blocked. i'm sure they aren't though. probably just some barrel distortion in the photo from the lens.

the more i look at it, the more i like the swing outs. i see the tire bumps into the body on the drivers side, how about the pass side? did you adjust the door limit straps or just let the doors bump into the swing outs when open?
 
Yeah the picture is deceiving. It is close but neither of the lights are blocked plus I have fully functio al brake lights on the roof rack.
 
Where did you get the tool holders for the shovel/axe/pick etc?
I have a bumper coming from hefty fab works and thats all i need to finish it off.

DW
 
how much do you think all of that weighs?? looks pretty heavy
 
Muddysub

The dual swing out is the friggin cats meow!:D Right now the tire does hit but both will be getting pop pins to lock them in place. The doors are on the shorted loop right now but they will have stops that will lock them to the swing outs when they are opened. Pretty much the same T locking device onthe back of camper doors to lock them open.


Azblazer

Those are Quickfist clamps. We sell those in our cargo section on our website.
https://amzn.to/2Psvsof


lloydrage

I dont have an exact weight yet. I have had this similar amount of weight on this design before. I think this one will be about 40lbs heavier on the passenger side swing out then before but this is the key idea for going with TWO swing outs. It distributes the load among st two spindles instead of just one.
 
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I decided to shift gears on Monday and get the onboard charger installed and wired. I chose the Noco Genius Charger due to its proven reliability, waterproofing and excellence against vibration. Uses a multi-step process and even a desulfation process. This is a really nice "all-in-one" type charger.

This is a two bank model so I can maintain both the starter battery and the house batteries. The built in smart isolator I have separates the two banks.

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Originally I was wanting to mount the port plug high up close to the driver side door but there was too much structure there. The spot in the picture below was a good second option but in order to get to that area I had to fully remove my whole house battery and relay rack out :doah:

Out came the 2" hole saw

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You can see where you can get to it in this picture.

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Quick install really in regards to the port plug. removing the battery and relay rack is what took all day.

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You can see it has a low profile so I don't expect much snagging.

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Mounting the charger to the relay rack on the bench

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Getting it put all back together

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The little wires are from the charger

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I figured while I was in that area I would replace my tranny cooler fan temperature relay.

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My dogs not helping me so much

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Finally back together again

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Very cool! That's a nice charger. I also love how you've got things laid out on the inner fender.
 
Well that fender was screaming for attention. It felt so left out that the pass side fender had all the cool toys. So i gave it some!:rolleyes:
 
Very interesting, never would have thought to put a plug in that spot. Honest question: what is your purpose behind mounting a 110v plug in that area, just for electricity around camp or?

As always, I like your attention to detail.
 
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